Pecan Pie

I had some left over dough from a quiche I made the other night and also some pecans from a desert I made so I thought I would try making a pecan pie.  I had never made it before, it is not something I grew up eating and for some reason I thought it was not easy to make. But I looked on line for a recipe and I found a video of how to make it. It was super easy and so delicious!!

Before going in the oven

Yummy!

Alison's first email from Italy

We got our first email from Alison. She is in the city of Verona and her companion is new to the Verona area so she is not familiar with Verona.  Alison said that they get lost in the city a lot.  The first day they got stuck in the elevator of her apartment, while trying to get all their stuff up to their new place.  She said the people use the bus to get everywhere. She bought a bike. She said that a lot of people smoke and it drives her crazy. They already taught a lesson and she felt the spirit very strong.

I posted her letter on her blog, sorellaalisonhanson.blogspot.com

General Relief Society Broadcast and dinner

Before the RS broadcast we had a dinner.  I was exhausted, we worked so hard,  especially the week before the conference.  This is my first experience with a dinner like this, we prepared for 300 sisters.

During the past year the sisters in our Stake have been working on quilts , they were donated to the new Veterans hospital in Orlando. Each Ward was responsible for 20 quilts and it was achieved.  There were some really beautiful quilts. Some were tied, crocheted, pieced and fleece.  Now our next big thing in January is Leadership training meeting, again it will be my first. I liked being the secretary before, not a lot of responsibility but still a lot of work. I feel I am being stretched, which is a good thing, but it can be overwhelming! But I love my calling!

Cub Scouts

For his Den meeting Conner went to the firestation

He got to go inside the engine

After learning all about the firestation they had their Pack meeting in the station. Conner got his bowling belt loop and pin.

Yesterday we also worked on his achievements and he needed to go to a historical place or a government building.  In downtown Windermere we visited the Old School complex, the first school in Windermere, it dates back to 1916.

The Town hall.

Sister Alison Hanson

Alison's Mission President, President Wolfgramm, called Brent today.  He said she made it to the mission and when she got there she was sick with motion sickness. Brent told him that it is normal for Alison to get sick with motion sickness.  The President said she was better and was out in the Market in Milan doing some proselyting.  She has been assigned to Verona, Italy and that her companion is Sister Oaks from Provo, Utah.  Her p-day is on Wednesdays so she will not be able to write to us today, it will be next week and so it will be a while before we hear from her. She will be having a dinner tonight with the group of new missionaries and the Mission President. We are so excited for her!!

I love Conner's school and teacher

Today I had a parent/teacher conference with Conner's teacher.  I am so convinced that moving Conner to this school was the BEST thing for him.  Ever since he was in pre-school he has had struggles with making friends and having kids not accept him. I know it is because of the issues that he has, I can't even explain them but he has social issues. His classmates in pre-school at times were not kind to him and then in kindergarten they would tell him "you are not our kind" and they would not play with him.  He would come home crying.  It kept happening in all the other grades and his teachers would just say he had issues and kind of turned it back on him like it was all his fault and so his teachers at the other school were no help.  His teacher today was so nice, she was telling me, before I even said anything about what had happened at the other school, she said that she noticed that the other kids were not being nice to Conner and she did not like that. She warned them and told them to stop and if they did not she would call in all of their parents and have a talk with them.  I was holding back my tears, for the first time somebody cared, somebody was on our side!!! Conner is a good kid, who wants to have friends, but has issues that annoy other kids and because of that he gets labeled.  She said Conner is very smart and academically he has no problems!! His problems are mostly social behavior.  She asked me if his pediatrician ever said anything about Autism or Aspergers.  I said no but that we are working with an occupational therapist who suggested I speak with the Psychologist about OCD.  I looked at asperger online and I think his teacher might be right.  I will speak to the psychologist and see what she has to say.  His teacher said that there is a boy in another 3rd grade class that has become Conner's best friend.  They are always together, she said that they are very similar and so they get along well.  The 3rd grade teachers have decided that for the next school year Conner and this boy will be placed in the same class!!

Zumbathon event

We had a fun time at the Zumbathon.  There were a few teachers showing their routines.  The four of us were on stage doing Karen's routines.  There were about 200 people at the event.  It was a little bit intimidating at first but once you got going with the dance it was fine and since we knew the choreography really well it was not too bad.  I left home in such a hurry because I was running late and this place is about 50 minutes away that I completely forgot to wear pink.  It was for a breast cancer fundraiser. At least my shoes were kind of pink.

Karen and I

Karen, Becky, Natty and I