Grandma's Snicker Doodle Cookies

It's been a busy couple of weeks around here. Our grandmother passed away Christmas morning. Some people would think that it should have been a sad day...but it wasn't. We'll miss her immensely, but we were comforted by the fact that she didn't have to suffer. (She had been diagnosed two weeks earlier with pancreatic cancer.) Right up to the very end, she was thinking of everyone else by leaving earth life when it would be most convenient for family and friends to come together to celebrate her life. Because her funeral was during the Christmas break, everyone got to attend and it really was quite a joyful occasion.

This past Sunday evening I learned that another grandparent had passed away. He wasn't a direct grandfather, but he was a Grandparent Superhero by his incredible love and amazing example.

If you ask my kids about their memories of Grandma, they'll be sure to include stories of her Snicker Doodle cookies. One time, my kids had a cookie eating contest to see who could eat the most Snicker Doodles (I happened to have been out during this grand moment of brain loss.) We got to enjoy the game for weeks as my youngest WON the contest and shared the spoils later that night by literally tossing his cookies all over the car!

As we were clearing out Grandma's things we came across a treasure... a copy of her cookie recipe. I knew immediately what needed to be done! Each of my kids got a copy in ornament form.

These cookies are GOOD! We'll share the cookie recipe here. If you want to finish the project, it's been designed for a 5x6 placard. To finish the backside of the ornament, you can use scrap book paper (pink - on right), fabric (brown dots - on left) or personalize it with a family picture (center one is going to my son in the Netherlands so he can enjoy a little bit of Grandma love!!!)

We'll be offering this project at our March class at Deseret Book for those local to the Salt Lake area.

Get recipe cards here. (BIG file, be patient while it loads!)

Still trying to think of something to keep our memories of Stan close to our heart. More to come!

It's a Small World!

Last night I spent some time on a project for a dear friend. We've been working on her parent's personal histories. It's been a work-in-progress...for a very long time. We are now pulling out the stops and pushing hard in hopes of having a book ready for Christmas. Recently my friend brought over 3 very large family albums with priceless memorabilia that needed preserving. As I was going through one of the books, I came across a picture that had a familiar looking name. The photograph snapped more than 60 years ago and lovingly kept all these years by close friends was my own husband's Uncle K and Aunt Ina.

Not only am I helping to tell my friend's story, but in the process, I found a small family story of my own!

24 hours and Counting

Today is the day before we drop our oldest boy off at the MTC in Provo for a two-year mission that will take him half way around the world and only allow me brief visits via email and 2 phone calls per year. There was a LOT to get done today!

Son and hubby met me downtown for a quick lunch. Blocks from our destination my car konked out without any warning. Just a slight whimper and she was gone. Gratefully my strapping 19-year-old didn't mind pushing an over-sized SUV through downtown traffic to the one available parking spot. Did I mention that it was pouring rain?

That put a slight damper on the day, but hubby graciously waited for the tow truck and son and I dashed off to our new favorite dining spot, Bruges Waffles and Frites for a delicious 'last lunch date.' Oh my, it was good. I ate at least a pound of potatoes that I dipped in this amazing fry sauce (something mayonnaisey with a bit of kick) and more than my fair share of the most delicious caramelized waffles. T's new home away from home promises to treat him well in the food category!


We found out the fuel pump on my car needs replacing...not exactly how we wanted to spend $500, but grateful it was nothing more serious. We took just enough time to grab a second waffle for kind dad (who took pulled the short straw so we could have our lunch date) and ran to pick him up and rent a car for the big day. Somehow, cramming the family into the Honda Prelude, not to mention the two big bags that is holding all of my son's earthly possessions for the next two years, did NOT sound like fun.

We were moments from our freeway exit when traffic came to a screeching halt. The first few seconds of waiting weren't bad, but as the minutes ticked on it became painfully apparent that we were not going anywhere soon. As i sat there thinking of the things were were supposed to be getting done, I started to nimble on the waffle that I so lovingly held for my better half.

It took more than an hour, but traffic finally started moving again. We got to the school in time to rush in for an end-of-year recital. We made it the bank to take care of all the important paperwork that we left until the very last moment. We ran by several friends homes for quick last good byes.

All in all, I'd say our day was better than this poor driver's!
I was NOT driving when I took this picture. T was behind the wheel!!

Hug the one's you love and let them know how grateful you are to have them in your life!

Forts in April

One thing about living in Utah is having the greatest snow on earth. Somehow I have a hard time enjoying the 'greatest snow on earth' in April. Honestly, it's been snowing and snowing all weekend. Some spring break! But I'll be grateful for the water when it's water skiing season! (Which, I am sure, is right around the corner!) Instead of complain about all of the white stuff, my boys made the most of their spring break. Here is the proof! Max spent hours building - pretty impressive!!

California Cousins

Some things in life are inevitable. Unfortunately, death is one of those things. My brother-in-law had a death in his family this past week. Among the sadness there were a lot of smiles because my sister and her 3 girls got to come to Utah (from sunny San Diego) to see us for a quick dinner!

(Max, Luke & Lucy)

We're always happy when we get to see family - and this was the first time Ben had met his California cousins. They all loved each other!

(Lucy, Sofi, Luke, Max, Kaylee, Ben)

Glad we got to see you guys!

(Bills Family with Mom & Dad)

Thanks to my sis for the pictures!

Grandma's Teacups

We're at it again...using Grandma's old teacups. If you remember, we first put grandma's teacups on display as a bird feeder. I had more cups that needed to be out there! Once I saw this beautiful lamp I knew I needed my own personalized version.

What you'll need:

A variety of teacups and saucers
Bowl for base
Diamond drill bit (I used 1/2")
Cordless drill
E6000
Lamp Kit (I found mine at WalMart for around $5)
Lamp shade

The hardest part was figuring out the configuration. Play around - use different pieces, upside down, matched or not, big and small. Once you know how you want it, take a picture! It will be helpful to reference when putting your lamp together.


Now to drill. Remember, you MUST use water with this drill bit! (or you will be very sad when your drill bit is ruined.) I eyeballed the center of each piece and went for it. I'm sure if you want it perfect you could measure! Drill each piece.


Now for assembly. I started with the bowl at the base and threaded the cord through the holes. Then the next piece. And the next. I put the cord through one piece at a time, and glued as I went. It's helpful if the cups and saucers balance on their own, but if not, hold them together until the glue sets.


Once your lamp base is done, wire the light socket, put a light bulb in and put your lamp shade on.

Enjoy your own creation featuring Grandma's teacups!

For a more detailed tutorial check out Vintage Revivals.

Family Scrabble Names

What a FUN way to display your family names. We saw this idea over at the Creative Homemaker and had to show you!

This past week has been a crazy one for me. My cute mom gave us quite a scare with a mini-stroke which has resulted in many, many tests. She is doing fine and is excited to have found a fabulous doctor to help her figure things out. This whole week I have been reminded of family and how lucky I am to have such a wonderful one! Now go give your momma a hug!

~suni

Remember Me Bingo

Wow. Where does the time go? I can't believe it's nearly been a month since our last posting. It's not that we have nothing to talk about. We're just running too fast to share what we've been working on.

Last week we attended the South Davis Family History Fair. We enjoyed sharing our ideas for telling family stories and LOVED hearing all of your great ideas. One idea that we've just gotta try is the family calendar challenge:
Every year there's a family out there that creates a new and unique family calendar. One year they challenged extended family members to submit pictures of where (or what) they want to be 10 years from that date. Kids shared photos of career dreams. Adult shared visions of exotic trips. The family patriarch wanted to share his picture pushing daisy at the local cemetery. His wife overturned that idea! What a great way to share family pictures and preserve history and capture future dreams!

We were excited to share our newest project. It was received with lots and LOTS of positive comments.

Remember Me Bingo

We partnered with Lasting Impressions to create another Quick Mix to be used with Memory Mixer.

For six big ones...yep, that's right (Six bucks will buy you the Quick Mix to make 1 or 100 of these bingo games. (Remember, you need the Memory Mixer software in addition to this Quick Mix.)

It's as easy as dragging pictures on to the page and typing up a short story for each picture.

If you set up your pictures ahead of time you won't need to make any alterations.

The Quick Mix will even add a name (just follow the instructions that are included).


The project comes with 4 different background designs. Make 4 boards or 40 boards. It's a perfect project for an upcoming family reunion, school party or special birthday party.

You'll make one call-out card for every featured picture. Here are a few of my stories:

Remember, you won't find the software on our website. You've gotta go to Memory Mixer to check it out. Just be sure to come back and tell us what you think!

For those of you who came to the Bountiful event: If you want the same professional print job as our sample set, send your final file to Tueller's Press. You know we can't say enough good things about Tueller's Press!

Ready for Christmas

It's December 13, and I'm feeling pretty good about where we are on the ol' Christmas To Do list! It helps that my kids are older and the Santa list has shortened considerably as the price per item has risen. It also helps that I've lowered my holiday expectation and no longer try to do everything for everyone!

This year's focus was on the tree. Or, should I say trees? I concentrated my efforts on getting the living and family room trees decorated. The last two years, I've had to delegate the job to my kids. They did a fine job, but let's face it... it looked like a bunch of boys had thrown stuff in the general direction of the tree and called it a day because that's pretty much their method of decorating! Our trees were in some dire need of TLC.

For years, I've wanted to turn our Christmas tree into a FAMILY Tree. As always, it's a work in progress, but I LOVE the story that our trees are now telling!

Here's our family room tree: this one focuses on our immediate family. It holds every Christmas ornament that my kids have made over the year. It also has a nice collection of our block ornaments.

About a month ago, I stumbled upon some fabulously thin wood plates that I just knew would look great as ornaments. They measure about 5x6". They seriously took less than 10 minutes per ornament (and that's only because I decorated the backside of each ornament with some festive paper).


I think they add a nice splash of color!

The best part was the trip down memory lane as I searched our Christmas' Past for the perfect pictures.

My boys-nearly-men will never, NEVER get dressed up like this again...


And here is tree #2:


Our living room tree is a bit more formal, but it's every bit as committed to remembering family!

I found these beautiful mini-frames a year ago on a girlfriend's get-away in Boston. So glad I bought them. Just wish I would have bought a few dozen more!

Of course, no story is complete without my kids jumping in to help tell it. Dog came flying into this picture, complements of my sixteen-year-old. She looks as surprised as I was!

A Season of Thankfulness

It's mid-November! Where has the time gone? My sweet baby is two-months-old and growing way too fast. In my spare time (ha!) I gathered a few supplies and made this banner. All I needed was some burlap, twine, paint and a sewing machine. Oh, and a sleeping baby so I could put it together!!

It hangs in my kitchen where we can all see it everyday. It's a great reminder that we have much to be thankful for. And with this new season, I am trying to help my kids say THANKS for all that they have.

I used butcher paper to create a simple stencil of each letter. A quick dab of black paint with a stencil brush added the lettering to each triangle of burlap. The fabric pieces are connected with the twine, sewn in place using a zigzag stitch. The dot garland was even easier! I cut out dozens of different colored circles using a 1" and 1.5" circle punch. All that was left was stringing them together using a straight stitch on my sewing machine.

Of course, Lauri had to have one also! She made her own dot garland, with a slight twist.

Wishing you a Thankful November!

October is Family History Month

Did you know that October is officially designated as "Family History Month" in the United States? S.RES.175 passed back in July of 2003. This was a big deal to genealogists. It was also meaningful to the more than 80 million American's that are said to be actively searching for information about their ancestors. Even if you're not so interested in the distant past, someday, you'll be an ancestor to some future generation. Wouldn't it be nice to have your story told the way YOU WANT to be remembered?

If you are at all familiar with the mission of Stories by Me, you know our passion for preserving life's many stories. It didn't take us long to figure out that not all stories are preserved in book format. There are as many ways to preserve a memory as there are stories to tell.

Just like most of you, we're running hard to keep up. There is never enough time to get it all done. One thing that we've learned along life's journey, though, is that zero times any number will ALWAYS be zero. So, if I make zero effort to preserve my life stories for the next 12 months, I will have nothing to account for those 12 months. But, if I'm able to squeeze one meaningful task out a month, at the end of the year, I will have 12 beautifully preserved memories that will be enjoyed for generations to come.

The list of meaningful projects are ENDLESS!

We've decided to lump these projects into four different categories:

COLLECT / PROTECT
CREATE
DOCUMENT/ RESEARCH
CONNECT with FAMILY

For the next four weeks, Suni and I are committing to focus a personal effort in each category. At the beginning of the week, I'll share a list of possible projects and then during the week we will both report on our success (or failure) at our efforts. We will keep it real! Suni just had a baby and since my baby is nearly 14, I recently returned to the work force, so some days it's all we can do to keep our heads above water!

We would LOVE for you to take the Stories by Me challenge. Maybe all you can do is ONE Family History project during the month. Guess what? You've got ONE thing DONE! We'll even sweeten the deal by offering a giveaway each week to everyone who shares a story or comments!

We'd love to hear what you're doing. Send us your story at mythoughts@storiesbyme.com or add a comment with a link to your blog.

Top Ten Vacation Memories

We spent nearly two weeks of our summer tasting life in the big Apple.

It had been nearly 20 years since my last visit. Back then, I was visiting on the company dime. In a previous life, I was a jewelry buyer for Macy's. Seeing New York City with my kids was an even better adventure!

We started with a plan, trying to organize our activities by interest level and location. We soon realized that we could pound through the list and see everything once...or maybe even twice. It helped that the kids are now big enough to keep up! In hindsight, it might have made more sense to visit the Empire State Building when it wasn't overcast and stormy. We thought we were pretty clever to have found the one attraction in the city that didn't have an hour wait. Come to find out that all there's to see 80 floors up is clouds and rain drops when it's raining.

Duh!


My hubby found the perfect nesting spot, smack dab in the middle of Time Square. The window to our room opened up right on to the square. The kids loved the action so much we never closed our curtains. Our trip took place during the World Cup. (We happen to have an avid ...sometimes it's borderline rabid, soccer fan in the family.) He was in seventh heaven to be surrounded by other soccer enthusiasts. The party in Time Square celebrating Spain's win is something my son will never forget!


I always have the best intentions of putting together a family memory book of our adventures. I could easily fill a 200 page book with all of our memories of two weeks on the road... but that's not going to happen! I've found that if I want any hope of finishing a project, it has to be SHORT and SIMPLE. Pocket books are the perfect format!!

We decided to document our top ten favorite memories of our time in New York.


Before we even got home, we had a book. Let me rephrase that... we had a FINISHED book! I could have printed it from home, but I wanted a larger version for each family member, so I sent the file off to our printer for a professional print job.

Because we limited our pages to the TOP ten memories, we didn't document some of the more obscure experiences...like the two brothers ditching their youngest brother on a bike ride through Central Park. I'm sure he'll need counseling to get over the fact that his mother told him to wait for his brothers on a park bench since I was just walking into the Metropolitan Museum of Art when he called (and given that the Museum was closing in less than an hour, wasn't about to leave for a rescue). I know...no mother of year award for me.

Our sixth Top Reason for LOVING NEW YORK was the FOOD! The book pays homage to a dinner spent in Little Italy. We could have easily had a page dedicated to cheesecake, or pizza, but this dinner held a special memory as we lost our youngest moments after dining on the most amazing meal of creamy cheese and garlic! What was that? Lost our son...again? Yes, it was a reoccurring theme with this child. The next twenty minutes were a blur as we vacillated back and forth between reason and panic.

The child did end up coming home with us, although there were a few other moments during the two week jaunt that his father and I seriously thought about ditching him.

Our #2 reason for LOVING New York was being able to connect with neighbors thousands of miles from home!

The best thing about the Pocket Book format is that each page makes a pocket which is the perfect place for holding extra stories or memories. I now have a place for all of the tickets, maps and brochures that I hauled from place to place. You know the stuff that you typically sit on for a year before throwing it out because you don't know what to do with it.

Last night, we took some time to write down some of our personal memories of the trip (to be stored in the pockets...of course!) It was fun to get the different family members perspectives of each memory.

While our memories might differ slightly from activity to activity, we were ALL in agreement about the NUMBER ONE reason that we LOVE New York...