Rinse away the Snow . . .

We went to the temple and did sealings the other night with some amazing friends. It was made an especially awesome experience because the sealer who married us was their! I have to share this little story . . . while we were waiting in the hallway my friend and I started talking to one of the workers their . . . a darling lady who had raised her family in Florida and California before settling in St. George . . . anyways she told us that it took a little getting used to . . . that is comimg from very warm climates to Utah. She said the first winter that they moved to St. George she looked out the window and their was snow . . . so she went and got her garden house and "rinsed the snow off of her sidewalk and driveway!" Her northern Utah native neighbors came out to see what she was doing and she told them . . "rinsing away the snow!" They got a good laugh . . . especially at her self made ice rink in the front yard!
To follow up our great experience we went to the Honolulu grill . . which apparently everyone else doing temple work that night thought of doing too . . . yeah I never think of going their although it is one of Toph's favorites . . . next time anyone wants to make a temple trip let us know . . . they were all out of their amazing cakes . . . so we have another reason to hit it again.

The Zombie Song -- Stephanie Mabey

The Annual Liechty Halloween Party

The annual Liechty Halloween Party was a success once again! We had a few friends come over to munch on some grindage and play games and show of their mad costumes!!! Everyone looked very festive! I came downstairs and had no idea who Alycia was for a minute . . . and of course no one recognized the southside rapper "Chrissss" . . . too bad you can't see his tats . . . I was so afraid that they wouldn't come off and that he would roll his sleeves up the next day at church and show his forearms . . . but they came off! This Hippie and rapper boy had a kickin' time with the crew! Happy Halloween all!!! Until next time!

Brilliant clip from Studio 5. . .

Thanks Jenn for the heads up! You are an amazing friend lady!!!

A visit from the Knapp's!!!

My last mission companion came to visit with her husband Samuel last week and we had a blast!!! We wanted to go to the temple but it was closed to be cleaned . . . it was blindingly white! We went to the Brigham Young home and Snow Canyon and hung out and had a movie night and relaxed and caught up and in general had an amazing time!!! I could not believe how many details Elisa remembered from our time together! She was a wonderful comp and we had great success together (and good times!)It turned out to be an unbelievably hot day! As in melt your tennies hot!!! So naturally we went hiking in Snow Canyon . . .We went to Jenny's slot canyon after hiking a bit . . . it had to be at least 25 degrees cooler their . . . so nice!
The Knapp's enjoyed the photo ops . . .
The kinda creepy walls . . . reminds me of an alien movie . . .
Blondie and I had fun entertaining them while Toph was at work . . . it was fun!!!
Danke fuer euer besuch Elisa und Sameul! Ihr seid IMMER herzlich wilkommen bei uns!!!

Two Swiss Misses' . . .

So Saturday I was busy at work and two ladies walked in from Switzerland who were traveling across the U.S. and were essentially stranded in our fair city for a few days . . . they wanted to see the national parks and planned on transportation being easily accessible to travel around the parks . . . well unfortunately since they were only 20 they couldn't rent a car and being the busy summer season arranging alternative transportation was almost impossible (and very expensive) so I thought "why not . . .?" So Toph and I became travel guides for a few days with the generous hospitality of my parents and little sister! Laurence and Andrea thank you for being such delightful company and for making us appreciate trailor parks, walmart, wendy's and swiss chocolate! You, your family and friends are welcome back anytime!!! We hope you enjoy your trip!!!

More Neighborly love . . . you wish you were our neighbors!

So . . . we didn't want our other amazing neighbors to not feel a little Liechty love upon their return from Kentucky . . . nothing says welcome home like a poster promoting pork!!! Shout out to another good sported pair!

Neighborly Love . . .

We have incredible neighbors! We have so much fun when we get together for dinner and/or have game night or just do whatever . . . so we decided to leave a little gift for one lovely couple who was out of town on their door to greet them when they got home . . . with unibrow . . .without unibrow . . . they were also kindly shared with their neighbors as well . . .

Playing in the snow . . .

Three of our nephews came to play in the snow and go to the SUU basketball game and sleepover . . . they have a LOT of energy and we had fun during their visit!

Flower Headbands and Barrettes . . .

My Young Womens class was in charge of our activity last night and for weeks now the girls in YW have been asking me to teach them to make flower barrettes and headbands . . . so last night we finally got out the glue guns, ribbons, feathers, beads, and material and went to work!
I wish that I had brought my camera to take pictures of the girls creations . . . but it didn't happen . . . so all I have is what I made . . . before and after the activity.
The girls did a great job and we made (and cleaned up) quite a mess! I have plenty of leftover stuff if anyone feels inspired and wants to make something!
Some of the flowers I made are pretty big and will most likely end up as pins and who knows what else . . . . I love the headbands! The feathers are vavoom, vavoom . . . plus some of the headbands are animal print! It was way fun! Our YW rock!

Travel, Crafts, Goods, and Tunes . . .

We in the Liechty home finally succumbed to using the infamous ocean breeze blue paint and brown glaze to do a few projects with . . . a wreath wall hanging and 3 picture frames with the family proclamation, the articles of faith, and the ten virtues. So I guess we feel pretty hip . . . or something. Actually almost every time Toph comes home our walls and furniture have been changed somehow . . . poor guy . . . just can't keep up with his wife's crafts and "flips." We are trying to go through all of our "storage stuff" . . .that is the stuff at our home . . . not all the goods at my parents house still . . . we continually get rid of stuff, just about as fast as new comes in. Our office officially looks like an office now . . . as for the guest room (currently named "the mess") it is progressing.We managed a quick trip up to Logan last weekend for our nieces baptism and I was pretty pumped to have my Westlife CD arrive in the mail in time for our road trip. Toph was not as excited as I was to listen to their kickin' tunes, but I figured I more than made up for it listening to his choice of the AC/DC Iron Man 2 soundtrack . . . lovely dear, but the boy melted my heart playing Uncle Kracker's new CD . . . love the song "Smile!" Anywho we had a great trip! Thanks NLC! (Northern Liechty Clan) for the good times! Love you guys! AND if you haven't heard of Westlife check them out. They are from Ireland and I LOVE their tunes! (I am sure that my sisters will like them!)A few weeks ago Toph won an official world cup soccer ball online . . . along with a load of other goodies . . . including an Addidas gift card and a case of powerade . . . so that is pretty exciting for us lowly college kids! Other than that we look forward to Halloween and am loving this amazing fall weather. I promise to do a post this week on the Open Pantry kiddles . . . it will happen!

Day off = Cleaning and Crafting

I won't lie . . . I have been in my pajamas all day and it has been wonderful! It has been a while since I have had a day to get caught up with no outside demands for the day. I got SOOO much done! I have had all the Harry Potter movies going all day while I have worked and crafted and cleaned and decluttered and reorganized etc . . . and it has been SOOO nice! I have no idea why I hang on to some things . . . like boxes . . . as in boxes for picture frames, figurines, candles, all sorts of things . . . I had an entire closet FILLED with boxes and I finally got rid of them and am oogling the space left behind . . . I think I was saving them for when we move . . . but they were pointless for the most part . . . so Toph will be thrilled . . . also this week I made banana cupcakes with Nutella frosting . . . so my freezer is now filled with frosted goodness of the remaining cupcakes after sending a plate home with Chris' buddy for he and his roommates. . . so if you need a cupcake and have no nut allergies come on by anytime!
Also I got a little crafting done . . . a mirror that I LOVE and some letters that needed a little vamping . . . good day overall!
Nutella Frosting

1 small jar Nutella
1 stick Butter, softened
1/2 tsp Vanilla
4-5 cups Powder Sugar
2-3 Tbsp Milk

Fudgy Style

Melt the butter and beat together with the nutella, add vanilla, powder sugar and milk until desired consistency is reached. (This frosting thickens more as it cools, so hang back on the powder sugar a bit at first)

Buttercream Style

Cream together the butter and nutella, add the vanilla, powder sugar and milk until desired consistency is reached.

I can . . . therefore I am!

I need this sign in my house!!! This week I have been canning like crazy! I ordered a basket of veggies/fruit from bountiful baskets along with a case of mango's . . . thus there was a plethora of goods to utilize to make jams, salsa, jelly, etc from. Now added to our jars from last year are mango-raspberry jam, which I made with my Beehives this week (um, the best stuff ever!), mango jam, nectarine mustard, salsa, mango salsa, and cinnamon plum jelly. Stop by and take a jar or two!!! We also have apple butter, apple sauce, canned cherries (yeah no idea what I am going to do with them, but they are in my favorite jars and look nice . . .), strawberry-rhubarb jam, and I am sure that I have forgotten a thing or two. . . The peach butter I made last year went fast, as has the sweet onion jelly (although there is one still sitting patiently on my parents counter). I think I can handle another round or two. I want to make chow-chow and chili sauce still . . . but need good tomatoes . . . so we will see what else ends up in our pantry! Needless to say I LOVE canning!

Daymakers . . .

Reading "Undaunted" by Gerald Lund . . . and boom . . . my Great-Great-Great Grandfather (C.J) Christopher Jones Arthur is in it . . . as himself . . . he was made the bishop of Cedar City in 1877, became a Patriarch in 1893 and was the 4th Mayor of Cedar City . . . my grandmother in the picture is the lady seated with the child on her lap, Jane Condie Arthur.

The past few weeks I have been hit big time with the family history bug!

The other day I found my Great-Great-Great Grandpa Fredrickson's death certificate and was able to connect him to his parents (and a long line of ancestors already connected) and our family! The hard part will be finding all of the info from Denmark . . . it is a live and learn experience all the way and is so much fun to do! I LOVE finding more stories and info about our ancestors!!!

*Okay I had to add to this after my cousin Amy (congrats on expecting by the way!!!) commented about the above photo . . . SUU has quite a few pictures of Grandpa Arthur and of other Parry family members . . . I am going this week to see about getting copies . . . will be happy to share!

Summer is almost over . . . but we had fun!!!

Can it be that summer is almost over once again??? NOOOOO!!! We in the Liechty home are not ready to surrender to the demands of school (well I'm not . . . Toph is going year round and hasn't had the luxury of a break . . . sorry luv) and the gray, wet, cold, snowy, slippery days of winter! The little bits of stress seeping in caused me to have a craft attack today . . . as you can see . . .
We have had some great times this summer though . . . so I don't feel inclined to sit here whine but rather remember the awesome times that we have had . . .

Christensen Family Reunion:
Last weeks family reunion left me with only 1 misquito bite this year (!!!), no bears attacked us, we were thoroughly entertained by the Christensen clan and I even felt like I was 12 again when crashing through the woods at night playing "Ghosts in the Graveyard" with my awesome cousins!!! (How anyone escaped being gored by branches or running into trees is a miracle!) My faith in my mothers abilities on a 4 wheeler while climbing VERY steep, muddy, and rocky trails has shot sky high (and kudos to Erin too who followed us making things that turned my stomach in knots look easy to blaze over!)
Toph proved to be quite the clay pigeon thrower and we had fun shooting, fishing, chatting, riding horses (NOT ME!), fourwheelers, food, etc. We also talked about our family history and I was able to translate (hopefully correctly) some of my aunts geneology from German for her.
I know everyone wanted to see Grandma's before and after mountain glamour shots . . . so enjoy!

(Just a reminder . . . I still vote for the handcart trek next year peeps!) I have been doing geneology research and finding so many awesome stories and pictures of my ancestors . . . I am determined to keep searching and trace our lines as far back as I can . . . it is just awesome learning about your ancestors and feeling such a strong connection!!! I have started binders for each side of our fam and will share the info that I find as I go fam!
Today Toph and I went and saw "Dinner for Shmucks" . . . funny but it had some less than desirable stuff in it . . . When I got home I just felt like crafting . . . crafting . . . crafting . . . here are a few things . . .

This L is screaming for a little more love . . . we will see what I find this week . . .

Yeah I saw the pattern for this 3-D star wreath and had to make one . . . even though nothing in my house is blue like this . . . Bran if baby Dylan wants this for his nursery it is yours . . . this photo really doesn't do it justice . . . you are the only one I could think of with blue in a room in your house . . . anywho anyone else wants it . . . it is yours . . . it took me way to long to cut, fold, and glue these stars to rid myself of it . . . it really is cute!
The picture on the top of this entry was a plaque redo over a saying that I hated . . . I like it and the fact that it has one of my favorite engagement pics, red, and damask just makes it nearer and dearer to my heart. I have more crafts that I pulled out and have been working on . . . although many will only see the light of day again when they are eventually hung in our kids rooms . . . someday . . . anywho we are screaming to have one more event that will get us out of the house before we are tied down for the fall (for the most part) . . . Zion has free access next Saturday if anyone would be interested in a picnic!!! Let me know kiddles! Okay I need to finish my prepping for my YW lesson tomorrow . . . but I need to share a message that gave me a much needed boost this week . . . check it out here.

24th of July Parade . . . our ward float!

We had fun celebrating the 24th of July this year by gathering for breakfast with friends and family before settling in to watch the parade!
This year our Stake President wanted all of the wards to do a float . . . and ours rocked the house!I am ueber proud of the Young Men and Young Women who participated! You are all awesome!!! I was more than thrilled to cheer you on! We seriously have an awesome ward and the Young Women are just over the top amazing!

Girls Camp 2010

The folds of the American Flag

I found this on the net and thought that it was too good not to share . . . Happy Independence day!
-The first fold of the flag is a symbol of life.
-The second fold of the flag is a symbol of the people's belief in the eternal life.
-The third fold of the flag is made in honor and remembrance of the Veteran departing ranks who gave a portion of life for the defense of the country to attain peace throughout the world.
-The fourth fold of the flag represents the people's weaker nature. For as American citizens trusting in God, it is to Him the people turn to in times of peace as well as in times of war for His divine guidance.
-The fifth fold of the flag is a tribute to the country, for in the words of Stephen Decauter, “Our country, in dealing with the other countries, may she always be right, but it is still our country, right or wrong."
-The sixth fold of the flag is for where people's hearts lie. It is with hearts that people pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
-The seventh fold of the flag is a tribute to the Armed Forces, for it is through them that the people protect the country and flag against all enemies, whether they be found within or without the boundaries of the Republic.
-The eighth fold of the flag is a tribute to the one who entered into the valley of the shadow of death, that people might see the light of day, and to honor one's mother, for whom it flies on Mother’s Day.
-The ninth fold of the flag is a tribute to womanhood, for it has been through their faith, love, loyalty and devotion the character of the men and women who have made the country great molded.
-The tenth fold of the flag is a tribute to father, for he too, has given his sons and daughters for the defense of the country since he or she was first born.
-The eleventh fold of the flag, in the eyes of Hebrew citizens, represents the lower portion of the seal of King David and King Solomon and glorifies, in their eyes, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
-The twelfth fold of the flag, in the eyes of a Christian citizen, represents an emblem of eternity and glorifies, in their eyes, God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
-Upon the thirteenth and final fold of the flag, the stars are uppermost in remembrance of the United States' national motto, “In God We Trust.”

Wanted: Spring

I went on a field trip with my Utah Geography class last week and we did a little exploring . . . here are a few pics . . . now if only the weather was like that today!!! Lund: I really like this picture!
Dinosaur tracks in the Parowan gap . . . Yes Utah is an exciting place kids!