Barn Cat

 

“President Gordon B. Hinckley taught the lives of our people must be the symbol of our faith. These considerations bring me to what may be the most important of all scriptural references to the cross. It has nothing to do with pendants or jewelry, with steeples or signposts. It has to do with the rock-ribbed integrity and stiff moral backbone Christians should bring to the call Jesus has given His disciples. In every land and age, He has said to us all, ‘If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.’ This speaks of the crosses we bear rather than the ones we wear. To be a follower of Jesus Christ, one must sometimes carry a burden and go where sacrifice is required and suffering is inevitable. A true Christian cannot follow the Master only in those matters with which he or she agrees. No. We follow Him everywhere.” – Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

Air Castle

 

“What do you do if your child wants to quit a sport? Imagine your child comes back from practice and saying, ‘I hate karate! It’s too hard! I don’t want to do this anymore!’ Tell them: ‘Okay, you can quit. But not today.’ Then explain, ‘We all have bad days when we want to quit. When something feels hard, our brains and bodies resist because they want us to be comfortable. If we quit on a bad day, we’ll never become great at anything. We might regret it later. Here’s the deal: you CAN quit on a good day. If you have a successful day and you still want to quit, let’s talk.’ This approach normalizes struggle (building resilience) and honors your child’s choice if they want to try something different. We all have days when it’s just too hard. To build resilience, adopt this mantra: ‘Never quit on a bad day.’” – Nastia Liukin, Olympic Gold Medalist

Autumn Pumpkin

 

“Several years ago, a football shattered my basement window. I boarded it up, thinking I'd get to it someday. The plan was to upgrade to energy-efficient windows for the whole house, but the price was out of reach. The broken window ate at me for years. I had to address it, but I was paralyzed. Then my wife changed jobs and we had to move. I couldn’t sell a house with a broken window. I thought, "What the heck. I have to pay for it anyway." I sprayed the rusted frame with WD-40 and gave it a tug. To my astonishment, it moved. I pulled the window out and took it downtown. It was $12. I could have fixed it the day it happened. But I let it haunt me for years, shutting out light and letting in bugs. It didn't need to be the most efficient. It just needed to be a window. Doing a thing is often less painful than thinking about it.” – Nathan Howe

Wedding Cake

 

Macarons are my favorite cookies, but they’re hard to make well, and they require ingredients you won’t find in my kitchen. Gingerbread men and Christmas sugar cookies are usually easier than macarons, but they’re still work. I got pretty good at molded shortbread cookies when we lived in England, but my recipe doesn’t work well at high altitudes. Chocolate chip cookies are probably the easiest ones I make, unless they’re these:

 

Three Ingredient Cookies

 

1 cup butter, at room temperature

2/3 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar, divided

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon vanilla (It’s optional, but yummy.)

Rainbow sprinkles (Okay, that’s five ingredients. But you can skip the sprinkles if you like.)

 

Cream together butter and 2/3 cup sugar (and vanilla); add flour and mix until well combined. Shape into walnut-sized balls. Roll in remaining sugar. Place on parchment-covered baking sheet. Top with sprinkles (if using) and flatten with bottom of a glass. Bake at 325F for 15 minutes.

Leaf on Point

 

Camillus Sydney Fly – nicknamed Buck – was born in Missouri in 1849, but his family moved to California when he was a baby. Buck was a farmer in Napa Valley when he met and married Mollie McKie. Buck and Mollie were both skilled photographers when photography meant a lot more than point and shoot. They moved to the booming silver town of Tombstone, New Mexico Territory, where they set up a photography studio/boarding house on Fremont Street. Buck was one of the few photographers at the time who traveled with his equipment, capturing cowboys, miners and indigenous people. While he was away, Mollie ran the boarding house and studio, taking portraits at 35 cents a shot. Buck witnessed the shooting in front of his studio October 26, 1881 involving the Earps, the Clantons, and Doc Holliday. That’s right. The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral was actually The Gunfight at Fly’s Photography Studio. 

Rocky Mountain Chain

 

My favorite recipes are always the simplest. I’d rather enjoy whipping up a batch of made-from-scratch mac and cheese or oatmeal raisin cookies than slave over a dicey baked Alaska or beef Wellington. I have two dozen cookbooks in my kitchen, but the ones I love the most and use most often are the six that were written for children. They spell everything out, and best of all, they have pictures. My recipe for stuffed mini peppers didn’t come from a kid’s cookbook, but it would be right at home there. It has three ingredients: 1 1/2 pounds miniature sweet peppers, 12 ounces garlic/herb goat cheese, and a tablespoon of honey. You halve the peppers lengthwise, seed them and lay them cut side up on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Spoon cheese into each one, then drizzle with honey. Bake at 400F 10 minutes, then serve. It doesn’t get much simpler than that.

Raven Chase

 

“We have been married for sixty years. It is because of that experience I understand the meaning of these scriptural words: faith, hope, meekness, enduring, seeking not our own, rejoicing in the truth, not thinking evil, and above all, charity. On the basis of that experience, I can bear testimony that apparently ordinary human beings can take all of those wonderful ideals into their daily lives as they rise through the buffetings of life. Millions of you listening know such people. Many of you are such people. All of us need such encouraging examples and loving friends. When you sit with someone as their ministering sister or brother, you represent the Lord. Think of what He would do or say. He would invite them to come unto Him. He would encourage them. He would notice and praise the beginning of the changes they will need to make. And He would be the perfect example for them to emulate.” – President Henry B. Eyring