nestle crunch hotline

Call the Nestle Crunch Hotline at 1-800-295-0051, When you are asked if you want to continue in English or Spanish, just wait quietly for about 10 seconds and you will smile. Promise! Keep going and press 4. Listen to the options...then press 7. If you comment on this after listening, don't give away the surprise!

(As seen on facebook!)

Also, "HAPPY ANNIVERSARY" to Tyler and Nicole - and "CONGRATULATIONS" to Nicole for hanging on SO LONG ! ! ! . . . four 'short' years and ETERNITY to go ! ! ! ! haha!

adventures of HABA

This is HABA! HABA is new to our blog - come back often to see the "Many Adventures of HABA!" See you soon.

Journal Notes:
Coming soon - out there living it!

The following thought was sent to me by Heather:
"A strong woman has faith that she is strong enough for the journey,
but a woman of strength has faith that it is in the journey that she
will become strong."

yep, i'm polish - mosaic monday

I noticed "Mary" had the neatest collection of pillows on her blog this week and wondered what I could share! Geeese, I have a great collection of dirty dishes, collection of sox with NO mates, collection of dirty/stinky dogs - what COULD I share? Hey wait! There IS something I could share with you . . .

I am of Polish decent and IF, for some reason, you don't believe me - take a gander at my nose! Dead give-away! These are a few pieces in my collection of Polish Pottery - which I adore. Every pattern you see is hand stamped with small sponges cut into designs - you have to have a steady hand to get the pattern to come out exact! They are so practical, a bit spendy - but so worth it. I have a gorgeous bowl that I didn't have time to photograph - but will try and slip it in later! (Opps, shown below!) My kids helped me collect a few pieces and the rest I've been buying over the past few years. Yes, we have no food to serve on them because it takes all our money to purchase them - but hey . . . they're nice to look at, right?!!!!!



This is my contribution to "Monday Mosaic". Head on over to Mary's place and see what the others are showing for their "Mosaic Monday"! It's a lot of fun & FREE - you can join in too, if you want.

spiced nuts - recipe

This recipe is 'to die' for! Have you ever walked in the mall around Christmas and smelled the almonds roasting? Well, this recipe is it - OR pretty darn close to what the mall sells - crunchy-delicious!

l lb. mixed nuts (1 can)

1/2 lb. peanuts (1/2 can)

1 tsp water

1 egg white

1 tsp Pumpkin spice

3/4 cups sugar

Slightly beat egg white with water.

Add nuts and toss to coat.

Combine sugar and pumpkin spice

in a bowl. Mix, then add to nuts.

Bake 300 degrees

20-25 minutes - stir

Cool on wax paper. Store in air tight container.

henry's day

One week ago today we traveled 3.50 hours down south to visit Henry and his family. Henry was getting blessed by his father - a baby blessing! There was a lot of family there to support our little Henry. We stayed the night with Cameron and Leah then, Sunday morning, we headed to Cort and Ash's. We got there a little early so we had a good seat for the meeting - front and center. The meeting was amazing - the spirit was strong and it was amazing and wonderful. Representing our family were Bob and I, Great-grandma Alice, Cameron and Leah and Morgan. We left our area in terrible weather and road conditions and arrived in Utah - it felt like Spring - no snow on roads and little in yards.

Both sides of the family met after the meeting for a wonderful luncheon at Ashley's sister's home where we ate salads, sandwiches and cookies! Henry's little cousin, Fiona, was blessed the same day as Henry - they were born a day apart! How does that happen?

we thank you SO much . . .

for our amazing Christmas presents -

This gift was given to us by Schuy, Whit and Bodin. I was totally surprised by this gift as I wrote about it in this blog. I saw the book in a bookstore in Sun Valley and fell in love with it! It's called "WISDOM" and it's a very thick and a big book crammed with WISDOM from people over 65 years old - from all over the world.
#1 The book is mostly monochromatic - but occasionally there is an amazing splash of color
#2 Andrew Wyeth - an American artist - one of the world's most collectible, living artists
#3 Clint Eastwood - an American actor / Whit also gave me a chic (red, cause I'm hot!) wallet and makeup bag - Love!
#4 Jane Goodall - English - noted for her work with chimpanzee society
#5 Title page of the 12" x 12" book.
If you get to Barnes and Noble, seek this book out and take a look - I think you'd find it interesting.



#6 Ty and Nic sent an awesome BOX of goodies: big container of chocolate/caramel pretzels and a huge selection of chocolate/carmel goodies - it was so big and delicious and well, I'll be running on the treadmill for the rest of my life! Only our family can guess who probably picked this gift out!!!!!!! (This is a huge family joke!) Thank you guys - such a wonderful, festive gift for Christmas and all the way from Reno! I have to confess that I shared much of it with everyone and still had a ton left.

#7 Brian and Heather gave us an amazing potpourri of gifts. What you see pictured is a 'treasure' (for me) as it has everyone's (in the family) birthdays and anniversaries laminated - the dates and names have been removed to protect the innocent!!!! Then, Heather made the most amazing CD with tons of pictures on it set to music - one of those things that make you cry and cry just watching it! It's priceless and I'm sure took her tons of time to make! I'll treasure it forever. THEN, she made some sugar coated almonds (the kind you pay a fortune for in the mall) with the recipe included.

#8 Ahhhhh, Polish Pottery! What more can I say? I love this stuff - I shouldn't call it stuff as it's super-expensive! I'm gradually collecting them. I've never seen a platter with handles so, that was a super-sweet surprise. I love, love, love the pattern - so happy! My family doesn't realize how much I use it and how versatile it really is. As long as you don't drop it - it'll last a life-time. Since I'm of Polish decent, it has special meaning to me. Thanks so much, you guys, for choosing such a personal gift.

#9 Okay, if you come to visit, don't think about borrowing this blue, cuddly blanket! It's huge - covers a queen-sized + bed with ease. We already have a feather comforter on our bed but with our -24 (and colder) degree weather, it just doesn't cut it - but with this 'blue-baby' it's perfect. Leah and Cameron were so kind when they gave us this 'lovely'! Thanks, you two!

#10 This book is a treasure, for sure! Shawn and Kandee gave us this keepsake of their family with tons of gorgeous photos of their family. Kandee's sister is a pro photographer and took loads of family pics this fall and included them all in this beautiful book. I'll treasure it forever - okay, that's a long time - till I die! Thanks for the great gift of family, you guys!

#11 Grif and Katrina sent this gift full of food, food, food - breakfast food, to be exact! It literally fed our family on Christmas morning and beyond!!! In fact, we're still eating some of the English muffins. These yummy goodies came in a huge tower of boxes tied by a bow. How fun it was to open each box and peek inside and hear "Yummmm!" Cinnamon rolls and jam were gone Christmas morning, cakes gone by New Years and English muffins (there were tons) totally gone yesterday!!! Seriously, it was a years-supply of food - sooooo delicious.

Thanks EVERYONE for making our Christmas so special with your THOUGHTFUL gifts. You know, there's some wisdom in having (7) kids - haha!!!!!!

five dogs, two cats and five humans

That's WHO/WHAT is living in our home right now and it's -21 degrees (F) windchill outside - but, we're coexisting quite well!

Whitney went to the store today and brought home this interesting and most delicious POMELO fruit! I had never seen/eaten one before - but, for that matter, neither had they! It's the size of a cantaloupe (you can't tell by this picture) and tastes a little like grapefruit but not as acidic. I don't like grapefruit but, I love this! So refreshing when it's SO cold outside.

So much has happened around here lately - I'm going to have to get caught up - it's just been so crazy around here I haven't really had time to sit down and gather my thoughts about anything! All I could think all the month of December was, "Just get through THIS day!" Then the next day would come and I would 'self-talk' all over again. We got through it!!!!! It was wild, it was crazy.

• We had a GREAT Christmas celebration together. We were missing two families this year - it amazes me how EMPTY it feels when they're not here
• After New Years, we moved Schuyler and Whitney out of their home - job market just not good in their area. They'll be going to school in about three months so it will help them save some mula for their move
• We got everyone situated in our basement and 99% of their belongings are in Heather and Brian's storage unit. So many came to help them - it was an interesting experience trying to move in a snow storm and temps in the single digits - but, we did it
• New Years Eve was spent at Shawn and Kandee's health club - games, racquetball, food, food, food
• We traveled to Utah for Henry's baby blessing - SO GOOD to see our cute family there
• Guitar lessons resumed after a MONTH off - holy cow, that was a nice rest
• I hope to get pictures loaded and caught up soon
• THANKS for being so wonderfully patient with me as I get my life put back together and organized a little better. I've GOT TO WRITE before I start forgetting things from this past month.