DEAR MISSIONARY: BIRTHDAY LETTER ALBUMS

I have had a lot people ask me for some creative birthday ideas for missionaries!

I often hear people saying that missionary birthdays are so hard because they don't want to get their 

missionary anything too impractical, too big (shipping is expensive!), too boring, etc.

As I have been thinking about my mission experience, I realized---  you know what? 

Missionary birthdays aren't all as hard as we make them out to be!

I mean seriously...they really only want one thing... LETTERS!

I remember while serving, for one of my birthdays, 

my mom took the time to gather notes and pictures from a bunch of people that I loved. 

Honestly, it was by far the best gift she could have ever given me. 

I cherished those letters more than any object or treat she could have ever sent me,.

In fact, I still have them today.

So, I decided to create a couple little mini birthday albums that you could send to your missionary for their birthday!

Yes, it takes a little work gathering the notes, but I promise, it will be SO worth it to your missionary. 

Below are 4x6 printable cards for an Elder and Sister missionary birthday album. 

The printables include a cover page, note cards for people to write their letters on, and a few cute quotes.

(you can download them by right clicking on the picture and selecting "save image as"...

you can copy and paste the images in a word document and manipulate the size as desired)  

You can print them off and hand them to people to fill out, wishing your missionary a very happy birthday!

If you are extra ambitious, you could also try gather a recent photo from the people that are writing the notes to include in the album as well. 

After gathering all the notes, all you will need to do is put them together and send them off to your missionary!

EASY AS PIE!

 (You can either put them in a 4x6 photo album, combine them on a ring, etc. - so many options!)

Show your missionary some love this birthday with lots of letters!

SISTER MISSIONARY BIRTHDAY ALBUM

ELDER MISSIONARY BIRTHDAY ALBUM

YW Birthday: Stand Ye in Holy Places Socks

I have have been really excited about the birthday gifts 

we have been giving our YW this year and wanted to share!

I originally found this sock poem on sugardoodle.net from Brittany Olsen...

(CLICK HERE TO SEE ORIGINAL POEM)

I thought it was just the sweetest thing and adored how it coordinated with the mutual theme.

I also loved the idea of giving the girls socks because they are something everyone can use, 

and hey...they are cheap!

I actually used the socks and turned them into a cupcake and attached the cute poem.

I thought they turned out really cute, and the girls have just LOVED them so far!

I decided to slightly re-create the design of the original poem.

(I wanted to re-create it so that it would match the socks that I had found).

You can download and print off these tags by clicking HERE

For the supplies you will need, a pair of socks,

 some sort of item to use as a topper for your cupcake (pom pom balls, etc), 

cupcake liners, cellophane and ribbon.

There are a lot of cheap and cute socks out there. 

I actually found these cute heart socks at the dollar store.

Again, you will also need some type of cupcake topper. 

I found this glittery pom poms at Target in the party aisle. 

They actually come with a stick on it, which makes it really easy when wrapping the sock 

because you are able to just wrap it around it.

I also found some cupcake liners that coordinated with the socks and pom poms. 

I choose to use a heavier duty cupcake liner, just so that it would maintain it's structure. 

The process for making the cupcakes is really simple! 

Seriously, anyone could do it!

1. Take a pair of socks and hold them together at the top so they match up evenly

2. Fold the socks in half long way ("hot dog" style)

3. Take the end of the folded socks and hold them up to the end of your pom pom stick

4. Begin wrapping socks around the stick of the pom pom (wrap at a slight angle)

Once you have completed wrapping the sock around the stick, place it in a cupcake liner.

To finish it off, I wrapper my sock cupcakes with cellophane to hold it together, 

and topped it off with a cute birthday wish and poem!

Again, it's a super easy process, and they look super cute when you are all finished!

Feel free to use the ideas, print off tags, and leave any comments!

Thanks for visiting! 

Another year older...and deeper in debt!

I may be aging myself here by making the title of my post today a reference to an old, old, old, way old song, but since this post is about my birthday I suppose it's fitting.

Wow, I had to go and google that song just to make sure it was as old and I said; and it is. The song about a coal miner was first released in 1946 by Merle Travis. The version I remember was recorded in 1955 by Tennessee Ernie Ford! Hey, wait, I'm way tooooooooo young to even know who these singers were! I think it's just that I'm very musically educated, cause I know it's not because I'm old!

Anyway, I'm another year older...and really, aren't we all deeper in debt? As long as we're all in the same boat together it's not so bad.

Yesterday was my big, bad, 53rd birthday, and I have to tell ya, it was a great day! One of the best birthday's I've ever celebrated. Lots of birthday greetings and phone calls. Even before I left to go to work; huh? what? Well of course I went to work on my birthday, why wouldn't I? Actually I'm taking Monday off to compensate, but more about that later.

Back to what I was saying, even before I left to go to work I received a call from my brother Fred who had his birthday the day before mine so he never has any excuse to forget mine :-)   Then I received a call from my dear, sweet, precious Aunt Ninfa who never forgets to give me a call, she's so wonderful and thoughtful! Oh and I must give a shout-out to my equally wonderful, thoughtful, special cousin Stella who sent me the most awesome present ever. I'll share that with you guys next week when I have time to photograph it. Thanks Stella!

Then I got to work and my co-worker Angelica had made for me a low-carb cheesecake, just take a gander at this deliciousness! I know the photo is not the best, it's from my cell phone camera, but look at all those luscious strawberries! Yum! Thanks Angelica!

My co-workers also got me flowers and they all signed a card and sang to me while I sat there with a sappy smile :-)            You thought I was kidding huh? Nope, proof below of that sappy smile! Oh and we got Starbucks too! I was a happy camper!

I also received a million and one birthday greetings on facebook...and even though everyone gets them, they still make you feel really special and loved!

After work my family took me to dinner at Chili's and that was fun and tasty. They of course had to tell the waiter it was my birthday so they could come over and embarrass me by singing to me one of those silly little birthday songs....but we did get a free brownie with vanilla ice cream on it (which didn't do me any good because I can't eat it due to the carbs, although between you and me, I did take a small spoonful *shhhh*).

This weekend I'm heading off to Vegas for a romantic get-a-way weekend with a new gentleman friend *giggle*. I swear I'm all giggly and silly, but I'm having the time of my life and this birthday definitely was one of the best so far! Photos from Vegas to follow next week! Tune in!

A Birthday, A Recipe and Family for Biscocho Day!

This was a super busy weekend for being the last shopping weekend before Christmas. We also saw record rainfall here in Kern County. We broke the record last set in 1931!! Unbelievable! Unfortunately we aren't prepared for that much rain and right now we have a lot of flooding and fear of the Lake Isabella Dam bursting...so everyone is really very concerned. We hope the rain ceases soon even though the weather reporters predict it will last through Wednesday.

On Saturday my cousin David's family threw him a surprise birthday party. He was really surprised and we all had a really great time. We cousins all grew up together and it's not often we all get together, so it was so special to be able to see each other again.

Here's a picture of Cousin David and his family. David is the one with the ball cap on. His brother Steve is to the left of David, his sister Elpedia is beside him in yellow. His mom, Casi (my mom's sister) is in the long blue trench coat, then his other sister Mary Helen. Behind Mary Helen his brother Art (the oldest) and then the baby of the family, Hector. Isn't it wonderful that all his brothers and sisters were there to help him celebrate? I love you all so much!

The next day was my own dear mom's birthday. We had already planned to make Biscochos that day. Biscochos are a small, crispy cookie that we all grew up with. Our Tia Nico, my mom's sister would spend days and days before all holiday's making these cookies. She would then store them in empty coffee cans and no one left with empty hands, each family took home a coffee can filled with these delicious cookies. These probably aren't as wonderful as hers or maybe the memories of childhood can never match the present, but these are biscochos.

That's 20 cups of flour and 4 cups of sugar and 6 cups of shortening and 6 eggs plus lots of other spices and cooking ingredients. I'll share the recipe with everyone in a separate post tomorrow.

Since it was my mom's birthday we had a full house to help with the making of the Biscochos, so I'd like to share some pictures.

My job was to cream the shortening and the sugar. Last year my poor sister Lisa and I did it by hand. I forgot I had this beautiful pink Kitchen-Aid Mixer in the closet because my generous daughter April had given it to me for Mothers Day and I had never unpacked it! This mixer is the greatest! I just stood there watching everyone else work while the mixer did it all for me.

The harder job went to my sister Lisa and her youngest son Isaac (my Godson). Their job was to sift the dry ingredients and then blend the dry and wet ingredients by hand.

Here they are sifting. Isaac refused to wear an Apron! I think next year I'm going to get him a Bobby Flay manly apron!

Here Lisa and Isaac are blending dry and wet ingredients. My brother Fred is in the background, he was admiring my Kitchen-Aid Mixer.

Here Isaac is doing what we in spanish call "Amasando" (in English kneading). With 20 pounds of flour this is very labor intensive!

Isaac did a really good job, and before you knew it, it was time to start rolling out the dough! Everyone got a chance to come and roll out some dough and cut some cookies with a giant pizza cutter. They then placed them on the cookie sheets and my sister Lisa was in charge of baking them in the oven until they were that perfect golden brown. (A few batches were that perfect golden burnt color, but several members of our family love the burned ones, go figure!)

First up...Isaac under the watchful eyes of his Nana (grandmother).

 Then he and his mom made some together. See the little rolling pin? I scoffed at it when I saw it because it was such a tiny little one while the other one in the picture is mine. It turned out that everyone preferred the little one which belongs to my sister Lisa. Kudo's to you Sis!

 I didn't want to be left out, so of course I had to come and get in on the act. Don't we look like real cooks with Aprons and everything? Mine was a gift from my sister-in-law Connie and I love it! The one my sister is wearing was sewn by my mom, many, many years ago. She gave one to each of us girls for Christmas one year. The boys I believe received hand-made bathrobes that year.

Here I am again...I'm a Biscocho making machine!

 And since it's my blog...I'll post just one more picture of me :-D  As you can tell, I was pretty happy. This was a great day!

And here's my brother Fred again, popping in to check on how things are progressing. Don't worry Fred, the first batch will be ready soon!

Next up to make a batch of biscochos? Looks like it's my other brother Jaime and his daughters. The baby, Clarissa and the oldest Sarena.

Here's Jaime showing Clarissa and Lisa his technique. Jaime and his kids actually cook together quite a bit. Last year he and Clarissa made homemade scented soaps for everyone as Christmas presents. They were heavenly!

My sister Lisa and her nieces Clarissa and Sarena. I think Sarena's already sampling the first batch...she looks happy so they must be good!

Next up...my baby girl April had to make her batch too. Now April, that's a rolling pin...not a baton!

Ok, now she's down to business! Now she's got the hang of that rolling pin. She's a natural!

Biscocho making wasn't the only thing going on. We had lots of other activities happening. People would just float from one to the other.

We had some game playing going on in the living room, on the coffee table, under the Christmas Tree. That precious puppy Chorizo loved all the attention she was getting from everyone! I don't know who was winning this game of Sorry but here's Clarissa, April, my sister-in-law Connie (the gifter of the apron mentioned earlier) and my nephew, Clarissa's brother Gabriel.

The birthday girl, my mom also had some gifts to open! Here she is with my brother Jaime and Clarissa.

So what did you get mom? Let us see. Ohhhhh, how pretty, an Angel! Good job in picking this one out Jaime, Connie, Sarena, Gabriel and Clarissa!

There was also some visiting with Cousin David who had to come by to wish his Tia Tome (his Aunt Tome, my mom) Happy Birthday! Thanks for coming David! (His mom, pictured in the first picture on this post in the blue trench coat is my mom's sister.)

We also did a lot of picture taking so we could have the memory of this day forever! Here's my mom and her son's; my very handsome brothers, Fred and Jaime. Love you Bros!

My mom and her beautiful daughters :-D   My sister Lisa.and me!

My mom with her daughters and her sons.

My mom with some of her grandchildren. Missing were my brother Fred's children who came over later and my son who was AWOL for the day and my sister's son Sean who came over later and will be in a picture a little later in the post. Pictured from left to right, Gabriel, Isaac, April, Sarena, Clarissa and their Nana!

They insisted on taking a silly picture as well. . .they are kids after all :-D

My sister Lisa had purchased some miniature chocolate bottles filled with various liqueurs. I had one with Orange flavored Russian Vodka. Oh my gosh these are so good, but so rich you can only eat/drink one so no danger of getting drunk on these! If you compare the bottle to the little crystal twinkle light you can see how really miniature they are.

Here's Jaime and April both enjoying a chocolate liqueur. Don't worry, even though he's my baby brother and she's my baby girl, they're both way over 21!

My sister's son Sean was working but came by during his lunch hour to wish his Nana a Happy Birthday.

We ended the day by singing Happy Birthday to my mom and taking a group picture with her. We had to do this one is two shots. I'm in this one sitting in the chair.

And my sister Lisa is in this one sitting in the chair. I really need a tripod! Santa...if you're listening?

I can't imagine Christmas Day topping this day. What? Oh yeah, well yeah...true, there will be presents. But c'mon...this was the bestest day ever! Thank you all for making it so special!

Thank you Ale, Bebe, Little Fred and Adrianna for coming by later and spending time with Nana and for bringing that precious little Melissa to give her Nana a birthday hug before the day was over. I love you all so much!