The Gathering of Friends my favorite cookbooks

I was so excited last weekend when DeWayne and I were invited over to some friends house for dinner, Mike and Debbie Jones are great friends of ours and we try to get together once in awhile. Some times we meet at a restaurant or at each others home. This time we went to their home.   Their home is beautiful, it looks like something out of a magazine. They don't have grandkids yet and their kids are all grown so their house is immaculate! Debbie and I have been friends for nearly 30 years and our tastes and interests are very much alike so we have fun inspiring each other.

Well was I surprised to find out when we got there that she was making dinner with her new volume #3 of
The Gathering of Friends cookbook.......I didn't even know it was out yet.

I'm the one who showed her my cookbooks (volume #1 and #2) and she fell in love with them.....she ordered hers and since then we have both given them for birthday gifts and wedding gifts......everyone loves these cookbooks!!!

Michelle Huckstable, the woman that wrote them is also and interior decorator and the photos in her books of beautiful rooms and beautiful tablescapes are very inspiring. She also has the same taste in decorating as me and Debbie do so we get tons of ideas for our homes from these cookbooks. (who would have ever thought you could get decorating ideas from a cookbook?)
Thanks Michelle!!!


I just ordered volume #3  of my favorite cookbooks of all time....:o)

I have quiet a collection of cookbooks and I love to cook, set a pretty table and have family gatherings.
I started doing dinner parties a few years ago for adult birthdays....I set the table with all the pretty stuff I have collected, tall stemmed cut glass water goblets, colorful place mats, cloth napkins, candles and my red toile dishes that I bought at TJ Maxx (love that store). My mother has even gotten in on the fun and picked up some nice pieces she has come across at yard sales.  SO FUN!!  I also do a nice table for Holidays. Its a great creative outlet for me. The birthday person gets to go through my "The Gathering of Friends" cookbooks and select their menu. With all the grandkids there are 10 of us so I set two tables, one for the adults and one for the kids. I think I have tried most of the recipes in volumes 1&2 and I can't wait to get #3.

So if you like to cook like cookbooks and pretty tablescapes go check out these cookbooks and buy one...... I bet you will love them too!  warning though you'll want to collect them all :o)


Blessings!
*Susan*

R. Kelly - The Storm Is Over Now

I stumbled accross this song and it went streight to my spirit.....this sense of joy came over me as I listened to it the first time and I knew that the storm that has been raging inside of me for a year now , was over.
Some things are bittersweet...some just not for this time in our lives....
Whatever the case may be."God is faithful!"
I am smiling
*Susan*

Kennecott Copper Mine:

Today we went on a field trip to the  Kennecott Copper Mine

Jana, her sister Lara and I took all the kids to the world famous Bingham Canyon Mine.  The mine has produced more copper than any other mine in history. It is one of two man made objects seen from space. To give you some idea about the size of this mine, it’s three-quarters of a mile deep and more than 2 3/4 miles across at the top. It is the largest open pit mine in the world.

DeWayne acually worked for Kennocott for 5 years when our boys were babies and he drove one of these huge trucks.

This is what the face of the mountain looks like where the mine is.

This view is looking west from the Salt Lake Valley.

 

Kennecott Utah Copper: Take a virtual tour

Portia has been studying American History and this morning we watch a movie about the Statue of Liberty.
She ask me if they painted it.....I said I did not know. Then while we where at the copper mine in the visitors center we saw a model of the Statue of Liberty and we learned that she is covered sheets of copper and her green color is the nice patina from age that copper goes when it is out in the weather......so cool....I might have known this at one time but if I did I have forgotten.

Hope your having a wonder summer
Blessings
*Susan*

UNEQUALLY DOTTY 2001 - 2011

This week we said a very tearful goodbye to one of our precious mares, Dotty.

She suffered a twisted intestine and we had to have her euthanized.
This is a hard loss for me. Dotty is one of he last colts that I bred and raised when I was showing and breeding horses. I owned her beautiful sire his name was Unequalled and I owned her dam, her name was Dunny.

After my daughter in-law (Christine) died 6 years ago and I went back to being a full time mom and I sold most of my breeding horses. Running a breeding operation is a full time job, so is being a mom.

I kept Dotty because she was such a nice mare. She became my daughter in-law's (Jana) horse and has been such a sweet heart of a mare to own. Jana had Dotty bred and she gave birth to Bella three years ago. Bella is still Jana's and she too is very sweet. (I'm glad Jana still has Bella) Dotty was the best mother horse I had ever seen, she really loved her filly.  She protected her and would run any other horse off in the pasture if they got too close to Bella.  Dotty loved the barn and loved to be in her stall at night. She was born in my barn and she died in my barn. She will be sorely missed!

Thank you to my Lord for entrusting these wonderful creatures to my care.
Thank you to Jen the vet that came out at midnight and helped us,
Thank you to the Bishops, neighbors that I called on for help until the vet got here...wonderful people!, better neighbors could not be found.
Thank you to my son Wayne for taking off work to come and dig the whole out in the pasture where we buried Dotty. It was not the most pleasant job but he cowboyed up and got the job done.

Thank you Wayne! 

Last but not least thank you also to my husband who has been so good to me over the years by lavishly blessing me with these horses. Keeping horses is not cheap.

I could have missed the pain but I would have had to miss the dance.

Goodbye my beautiful Dotty, I really did love you!   RUN FREE

I LOVE SUMMER

I love my yard in the summer

Dewayne gave me money to fill my flower pots for Mother's Day :o)

 can you see the daisies?  They grow wild all over our property even out in the horse pastures. I love them they are one of my favorite flowers. Iv thought of planting them up and down our lane and calling this place Daisey Lane........What do you think?

 This is the family hang out in the summer This is a great spot because it is shady after 4pm and great for BBQs

We love to ride horses in the mountains in the summer

This is DeWayne with my Boogie Man.....I was nice and let him ride my horse :o)

 Our guide and farrier James with his pack mules

 This was my view on Dotty

 Bella gets loves from Jaren my grandson, she just had a bath

 HoneyPie gets a bath too

 Get the face good

Paris gets a ridding lesson on Boe from Aunt Jana

 Boe gets a bath too

 and all Sammy does is sleep

Grab life by the tail and run with it.....enjoy every day and everyone that is in your life.
Things can change so quickly none of us know what tomorrow will bring so grab today!
Blessings and I hope you all are having a wonderful summer!
*Susan*

I want to add here that when you know Jesus Christ as your personal savior even though we may not know what tomorrow holds........you KNOW who holds tomorrow!!! and He IS GOD!

Happy 4th of July

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.” Psalm 33:12 NKJV

Isaiah 40:31

But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.


Today Im jogging then later its a  BBQ and tonight its off to the rodeo and fireworks with my sons and my five grand kids.........not sure if my hubby will be able to go or not......He has been very sick........please pray for him.