"The Heart Tree is Lost!"

As I slipped into the back of Primary today to hear my son participate in closing exercises, I was delighted to see many of the children clutching their light pink "hearts" to hang on our heart tree.

At the conclusion of the meeting: "Sister Pugsley, the heart tree is LOST!" A sweet little primary child came up to me to tell me that when they went to class the bright red tree that lives in the west foyer was NOT there, and they were just not going to be able to hang their hearts on the tree.

Luckily, all was not lost and although the tree was a little late in its arrival in the foyer, it did make it in time for heart-hanging after Primary.

It warms my heart that our Primary children are focused on serving others. Our tree is covered in hearts of various colors - many of them light pink. I am grateful for the examples of our Primary children.

Purify Your Heart - February RS Activity

Flower Arranging with Libbie Archibald

“The Earth Laughs in Flowers” Ralph Waldo Emmerson

Flowers bring about positive emotional feelings and health & brighten people’s day. So, in the spirit of this month’s theme, to purify our hearts by sharing love through flowers, Libbie taught us the art of flower arranging.

The Art of Clumping

1. Select your container. Anything will do from a terra cotta pot to a short vase.
2. Line the container with cellophane or even a large Ziploc bag. Just cut off the zipper.
3. Get some pre-soaked oasis. Cut it with a knife to fit your container. (It is ok to use 2 or 3 pieces if needed.) Be sure you have soaked the oasis for several hours in water. Let it stick out of the top of the container a little bit.
4. Select your flowers: take off some of the outside petals (roses) so the flowers don’t have dark spots and are uniformly sized. Cut the flowers on the bottom with a slanted cut. Libbie prefers a knife, some people use clippers. Cut the flowers with 4-6” long stems (but this depends on the size of your arrangement).
5. Poke each flower into the oasis and arrange.
6. Trim the cellophane so it is within ¼ of the top of the container with scissors after all of your flowers have been pressed into the oasis in the container.
7. Use decorative moss to cover the cellophane. This moss may be purchased at craft stores. Press the moss into the space between the edge of the container and the cellophane covering the oasis (to hide the oasis).
8. Nice flowers to use: roses, sunflowers wrapped with twine with apples at the bottom

Flowers to clump in a clear vase:

- ranunculus, carnations, roses
- Hold the flowers in your hand and add another flower one at a time until you have a lovely mound of flowers.
- Cut off all of the stems at one time at just the height so the blossoms sit right on top of the container.

- Trick: to hold all of the stems together, use a clear plastic hair elastic
If you don’t like the look of stems in a vase when you are not using oasis (or if you are) and you would like to hide them, use big leaves on either the inside or outside of the vase wrapped horizontally around the oasis. Or, you can take moss and wrap it around the outside of the vase. Or you can take a really wide ribbon and wrap it around the outside of the vase.

Taking Care of our Hearts and Bodies with Sarah Ingebretsen

Sarah gave us some tips on how to stay healthy with some simple exercises. She recommended mixing strengthening exercises into a training program that works for you.

Examples of Strengthening Exercises:

Lunges – alternate forward and backward
Push ups – normal and staggered
Squats
Arm curls
Hamstring curls
Tricep extensions
Calf raises / jump rope
Up downs
Stabilization – front, sides and back

When creating YOUR training program, she explained that you should plan your exercise days of the week and stagger how hard you intend to train. It is important to always give yourself time to recover from hard workout days. For example, if on Monday you walk for 15 min (a light day), Tuesday you walk for 45 minutes (a medium day), Wednesday you walk 60 minutes (a heavy day), Thursday you should either take off to rest or walk only 15 minutes (a rest day or light day), Friday walk 30 minutes (medium day), Saturday walk 15 minutes (light day), Sunday (rest day). By so doing, you are able to give your body time to recover from a harder work out. This same type of pattern applies to running longer distances.
You should always remember to stretch out before and after each workout. And remember to allow time after your workout to bring your heart rate back to a normal level.

From our Hearts to Yours Service Project

We had the most wonderful outpouring of love from the Relief Society, Primary and Young Men/Young Women of this ward! We were able to put together 3 dozen care packages to be delivered to the Gundry’s inner-city mission ward. Each care package contained fresh fruit, jello, canned protein, canned fruit, canned veggies, and a treat. What a wonderful little treat to be able to send.

** By this Sunday, we had received a wonderful hand-signed card (many of the notes were in Spanish) from the Gundry’s ward thanking us for the sweet little treats. We were told that each little care package was received into homes where the impact was greatly needed. Thank you to each of you who contributed to this effort!

Quilt for Nick Massey

A beautiful quilt has been pieced in honor of Nick Massey, injured in Afghanistan, recovering at Walter Reed Hospital. Inspirational quotes are being collected and written on the quilt. We will be donating it in his name to the V.A. Hospital.

Red Velvet Cake

Here's another delicious recipe from Maria.

She didn't get to make it during our activity but she highly recommends we all give it a try.

Red Velvet Cake with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting


1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1 bottle (1 ounce) McCormick® Red Food Color
2 teaspoons McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 2 (9-inch) round cake pans. Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

2. Beat butter and granulated sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time. Mix in sour cream, milk, food color and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until just blended. Do not overbeat. Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely on wire rack.


Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened
2 tablespoons sour cream
2 teaspoons McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract
1 box (16 ounces) confectioners' sugar

For the Frosting, beat cream cheese, butter, sour cream and vanilla in large bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until smooth. Fill and frost cooled cake with frosting.

Cherry Chocolate Torte

Cherry Chocolate Torte

1 box devil’s food cake baked according to package directions in two 8 or 9 inch cake pans
1 recipe white chocolate mousse ~OR~ one 8 oz container cool whip
1 large can cherry pie filling

Level cake tops first, then let cakes cool. Take bottom layer of cake and place on dish. Top with 1/3 -1/2 of the white chocolate mousse. Then top with about ½ can of pie filling. Repeat process with top layer of cake. You can reserve some mousse for a border decoration on top of cake.

Mixing up the pie filling before adding it on top of the mousse.

Repeat on the next layer.

And Viola. . .

A beautiful and tasty cake!

Acts of Service - What Have YOU Seen?

I treated myself yesterday. I just stood and read the hearts hanging sweetly from the red limbs of our "heart tree" hanging in the west foyer of the church. Each heart represents an anonymous act of service that "WE" are performing for each other.

I hope each of you have noticed this "tree" and have read some of these wonderful acts of service.

Some of my favorites:

- cookies delivered to my doorstep

- did the dinner dishes

- received a thank you note

- gave a back rub to my hot wife

- wrote a thank you note

- husband helped wash my hair

- vacuumed the house

- babysat the kids

- received an unexpected telephone call

- brought treat to RS presidency after Visiting Teaching conferences

- nice note after I gave sacrament meeting talk

- invited to dinner at neighbors' house

- sat by someone at lunch

- "maked" my bed


I hope you will perform some sweet act of service for someone today. And if someone does something for you...please record these on a heart for our tree.

“For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Matt. 6:21) I hope our hearts will be turned toward serving each other all month long.

Raspberry Frappe

Raspberry Frappe

½ of half gallon raspberry sherbet
¼ of half gallon vanilla ice cream
½-1 Cup 7-up
Fresh raspberries

Let ice cream and sherbet sit out until softened enough to work with. In large mixing bowl mix together ice cream and sherbet until thick milk shake consistency. Then add 7-up to thin it out a little, add as much or as little to your taste. Serve in fancy glasses and top with raspberries for an elegant and easy dessert.

Dessert for 2

Dessert for 2


3 Tbsp seedless red raspberry jam or syrup

1 cup fresh raspberries

2 Twinkies snack cakes

Stir jam and 1 Tbsp water in a bowl until smooth. Add raspberries; toss gently to coat. Cut Twinkies in half diagonally, starting about 1 in. down from top left to 1 in. from bottom of opposite side (do not cut the curves). For each heart, put 2 halves together on 1 serving plate. Spoon raspberry mixture over and around hearts. Garnish with mint, if desired.

Warm Your Heart Night Meeting

Open Your Heart

Cream Filled Strawberries & Chocolate Silk Mousse

This Week Maria taught us to make some deliciously delightful treats. 

All of the recipes she shared will be posted however not all in the same post.

Today's recipes are Chocolate Silk Mousse and Cream Filled Strawberries.

Chocolate Silk Mousse

4 oz Softened Cream Cheese (Maria actually doubled the amount of cream cheese and left everything else the same in this recipe)
2 Tbs Powdered Sugar
¼ tsp Vanilla
½ C chocolate morsels (white, semi-sweet, milk chocolate, etc.) (Maria used white chocolate chips)
1 8oz container cool whip

Melt chocolate in a double boiler and let cool a little. 

(A glass bowl that can sit in the top of a small pan works as a wonderful double boiler)

Mix cream cheese and chocolate together.

Fold in ½ of the cool whip until blended. Then fold in the rest of the cool whip until mixed well.

This can then be piped into a glass or dessert cup and served with a little fruit on top

or in another recipe, such as the one below.

Cream Filled Strawberries

16-20 Large strawberries
1 recipe of white chocolate mousse (see recipe above) ~OR~ filling of choice

You want the strawberries to sit flat, on the stems. So if they are a little wobbly with the stems left on, cut the green stems off the strawberries so they will stand upright when placed on your serving tray. With a small sharp knife, cut an "X" in each strawberry, cutting almost to the bottom of each strawberry. (The cut should be such that the strawberry will open up but not fall apart.) Gently, with your fingertips, spread each strawberry apart to make "petals".

Spoon the mousse into a pastry bag fitted with a large open star tip (I used a Wilton 1M tip). Pipe the cream into the strawberries. If not serving immediately, cover, and place in the refrigerator until serving time.

Jane and a few others gave piping the strawberries a try. 

It takes a bit of practice to get them as beautiful as Maria's.

Thank you for such a fun experience Maria and we look forward to more classes.

Thank you Jenna for organizing this great event and thank you to Connie for allowing us to invade your beautiful home.

Next week we will post the recipes for Cherry Chocolate Torte and Raspberry Frappe.

See You Tomorrow!

Remember, tomorrow is our 2010 Visiting Teaching Conference. We can't wait to catch up with each of you personally, find out how visiting teaching is going, and have a little breakfast. We are meeting at Kathleen's home: 2075 Sierra View Circle from 8:30 - noon. You should have received a reminder call about your appointment.

See you tomorrow!

Kathleen, Connie, Stephanie & Loralee

Missing our Single Adults

Do you miss seeing our single adults at church as much as I do?  I'm not so sure they miss us at all!  They are having a grand time in the Wilford 2nd ward meeting new people, taking on big responsibilities with grace and enthusiasum.  They are great people!  Now thanks to a new blog at http://wilford2ndward.blogspot.com/ we can all keep up with what they are doing a little easier.  There will be a permanant link to their blog on the sidebar of our blog for future use. Enjoy!

Free Transportation

When my children were little we would take rides on the bus just for fun.  Riding the bus was always a big adventure.  Because I wasn't driving I was able to enjoy the ride with them looking out the windows for animals and interesting sights.  We also had fun conversations with people we would have never met otherwise before ending up at a fun location for a new adventure.

This Friday you can have your own adventure for free!  Well at least the transportation will be free because Friday is "Try Transit Day" on UTA.  You can ride the bus, Trax or Frontrunner for FREE!  Why not plan an adventure downtown for Lunch or to the Church Museum or The Discovery Center or take Frontrunner to Ogden and explore a new city!

Click on UTA to be taken to the UTA website for more details!

Have a great Friday!

Delicious Desserts

Purify Your Heart

THEME: “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
(Matt. 6:21)

APPLICATION: PURIFY YOUR HEART

We are now in our SIXTH MONTH of our NINE MONTH preparation process. Two weeks ago, as a Ward we watched and discussed the sweet movie UP. What have you applied from the principles taught in the movie? What has changed in your life during this past five months ? We hope that every person in the Ward has experienced at least five steps of improvement, and MOVING UP, to prepare us for our day of dedication in the Temple.

Isn’t it so clearly obvious that we often allow ourselves to be caught up in the “things” of the world, which are there to distract us from the “most important” things of life. The adversary has placed so many stumbling blocks in our pathway, intended to keep us from those “most important” things of life.

When the Savior came to Israel and to the Nephites, he ended sacrifice by the shedding of blood, and he then taught them that he did not come to Destroy the Law of Moses, but to fulfill it. The new Law he gave them:

And ye shall offer for a Sacrifice unto Me, a Broken Heart
and a Contrite Spirit. (3 Nephi 9:20)

For where your treasure is, there will your HEARTS be also.
(Matt. 6:21)

Blessed are the PURE IN HEART for they shall see GOD.
(Matt. 5:28)

When the Savior challenged us that Unless ye become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 18:4), he directed us to keep CONSTANT VIGILANCE in our lives to prevent the world from contaminating our hearts.

He taught us that the Greatest Commandment of all, is to Love the Lord, thy God WITH ALL THY HEART. (Matt. 22:38)

King Mosiah called the people to the Temple and taught them:
Open your ears that ye may hear, and your HEARTS
that ye may understand, that the mysteries of God may
be unfolded to your view.

The condition of our hearts directly affects our sensitivity to Spiritual Things. May we invoke in our lives, the DAILY EXERCISE of pursuing daily choices to ELIMINATE any conditions that would interfere with the SPIRIT, that we may PURIFY OUR HEARTS,and open our Hearts to the TEACHINGS OF THE SPIRIT.


Grandview 1 Heart Tree

Throughout the month of February, there will be a HEART TREE located in the WEST FOYER. Each auxiliary will receive a different color of paper hearts on ribbons to be hung on the tree (Primary - pink, Relief Society - red, YM/YW - purple, Priesthood - white). On each of these hearts, individual anonymous acts of service and kindness are to be recorded as they are performed or noticed.

We look forward to serving, loving, and reaching out to others around you. We hope your heart will be turned towards those whom you serve. We also hope as you prepare to serve in the temple, your hearts will be turned towards those waiting for your loving service.

Birthday Breakfast Brunch Casserole

This recipe is for either a 9x13 pan or a 15x10 pan. First spray pan with cooking spray.

Ingredients:

Eggs 12 - - - 18

Sour Cream 16 oz - - - 24 oz

Chopped Onion 1 Tablespoon - - - 2 Tablespoons

Drained diced green chilis 1 small can - - - 2 small cans

Ham or bacon if desired

Salt or Pepper

Monterey Jack Cheese Shredded 3/4 lb - - - 1 lb

Method: Arrange onion, then chilis, then cheese evenly on bottom of pan. Beat eggs in blender, then add sour cream. Blend WELL. Pour over ingredients in dish. Push cheese down with a form so that it is covered. Bake for one hour or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Nancy Hansen

To Our Friend

Our deepest Condolences to Kay and her family.

Floyd's funeral will be this Friday.

Please Contact Markae if you are interested in helping with the family luncheon.