The Christmas Sweater - A must read for the whole family!

James and I listen to Glenn Beck on 570 KNRS almost daily. He is a convert to the LDS church and he is a very sincere, and inspiring man who has similar values and a very humble heart. He had a rough life growing up, and went down a very long road headed for destruction until he had an incredible dream and was turned around by other experiences and people in his life and found the LDS church and the Atonement, and realized he could be forgiven and have a second chance. Based on a true story, he wrote this book about his life experiences and lessons to give to his children but felt impressed it was meant for a lot more than that. This is a book to read with the whole family and you will all be touched by the incredible message and spirit felt as it unravels the True Meaning of Christmas and the most precious gift of all.....the Gift of the Atonement! It took James and I only 3 nights to read it, and then we went and saw his broadcast of the play, and wow, what a spiritually uplifting and inspiring book, I hope you all take the chance to read it.

We took Trax to Temple Square - they loved it!

The Keilman Elves

I don't know what made us laugh harder, watching us doing the Charleston and the other dances, or putting the stupid cat in there. haha, we all had a good laugh either way!

Keilman Elves

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Yummy Fluffy Whole Wheat Marmalade Pancakes!

Found this recipe this morning and tried it out, these pancakes are so light, fluffy and sweet, and good for you and your kids will love them!

Blend together:

3 egg whites

1 cup milk

1/3 cup applesauce (I used cinnamon applesauce)

Then add:

2 Tb sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup orange marmalade

Approx 2 cups whole wheat flour (add til it gets to oatmeal consistency) - I used hard white wheat four milled on the finest setting

Whisk all ingredients together - cook on preheated griddle around 300-325, and enjoy!

The Evolution of Wheat Bread...Keilman Style!

Have you ever had the Honey Wheat Bread at Great Harvest? James and I love their bread, they are 100% natural, no preservatives, and are made with only 5 simple ingredients (100% Whole wheat flour, Water, Honey, Yeast, & a pinch of Salt). I wanted to find a recipe like theirs to start using some of our wheat we have stored, and there are SO MANY wheat bread recipes with those 5 ingredients plus a whole bunch of other ingredients I didn't want, so I started experimenting...HAHAHA, yah, I have a new appreciation for those who make bread and make it well, it is an art, one that takes trial and error(s) and then a few more errors :) At the end of 4 trials, we ended up with a KEEPER and a lesson to our children if at first you don't succeed, try try try and then try again!

The Evolution of Wheat Bread:

First try: I don't have a picture of, it went in the garbage before I thought of taking pictures, I somehow expected I would get it right the first try! Oh, so optimistic, yet SO wrong! LOL The loaf was the size of a breadstick, and hard as a rock. Great for spanking kids with! J/K Recipe was for white bread, I substituted wheat - didn't work at all, needless to say.

Second try: Made a large batch (different recipe) (not smart). We had high hopes, they were rising beautifully, looked totally different than the first batch, and then.....THEY FELL! And I baked them and there you go....tasted ok, or a little less than ok, edible, but dry and very heavy and not very pleasing to the eye.

Third try: I read more on the internet, and got too many opinions that were all different, don't knead the dough as much, don't add as much flour, use more yeast, leave it stickier, so I used the same recipe as above with a lot less flour, more yeast, more honey, and added oatmeal on top to hide any ugly moon craters, and what did I get....a SUNKEN CRATER that the oatmeal unfortunately did not hide. Tasted too yeasty, and was very spongy...had a visit to the trash can.

Fourth try: So I decided this was going to go outside of my natural talents...haha and I called Allison Dastrup (if only I would have called her first!) She informed me that my sunken breads were as a result of letting them rise TOO LONG! So I went back to the first recipe (cut it in 3rds - enough to only make or waste 1 loaf of bread) Oh yah, my wheel was turning now! Added more honey, same yeast, little less flour, only let the loaf double in size and then immediately put in the oven, and voila..... A KEEPER! It didn't sink, and it was YUMMY! We bought the Montana Hard White Wheat early this year, and I love it, it has a lighter color, texture, and taste than the red wheat, and I'm excited that I finally can make a loaf of bread with it if the need arises! If anyone else has a great Whole wheat bread recipe that is "Fool proof" :) Let me know, I'd love to try it!

The Finished Product....for now!

Santa's Reindeer & A walk in Bethlehem

FHE started with a trip to Thanksgiving Point to see Santa's reindeer, and then Harmony told us about a Live Nativity in Alpine, so we drove by to see if it was still going on, and it happened to be the last night they were doing it, and it was INCREDIBLE! I guess they do it every year as one of the neighbor's husband died of Cancer, and ever since she has put on this Live Nativity for free and just ask for donations that go to the Huntsman Cancer Institute. You park at the church and they load you into horse trailers sitting on bails of hay and drive you up to meet a Shepherd who then directs you up a snowy hill to Jerusalem. You walk up the hill and into a barn where they have little shops with people dressed up making crafts and bread and they have plenty of animals for the kids to see, including a camel! And beware of the Roman soldiers riding their horses by, not to let them know where baby Jesus is. Then you go into the manger where they had a couple and their baby fast asleep. It was such a wonderful experience and despite the freezing cold, the kids had sooo much fun, and had some hot chocolate to top it off. I definitely recommend everyone going to see it next year! They do it the first weekend in December.



Santa's Reindeer - Thanksgiving Point


Jenna & Taylor loving the snow.


Trying to pet the antlers :)

The Live Nativity "A walk in Bethlehem" - Blacksmith's making horseshoes

Camel - so awesome, wondering how they got the permit for that???

The Roman Soldiers riding around.

Woman making a scarf.

Couple dressed up as Mary, Joseph & baby Jesus