July 24th, 1847 is the day that Mormon Pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley.  In the LDS Church, we commemorate that event with pioneer songs, parades and activities to some degree throughout the church.  Probably less so here in Phoenix than in Utah, but still, it is an important date to us.  One of my ancestors was a pioneer who came from Denmark on one of the last wooden sailing vessels to then make the trek to Salt Lake first by train then by handcart.  On the way, his mother and older brother died of cholera.  His father was already gone before they embarked on the trip.  This left my great grandfather and his siblings orphans.  They were cared for and raised by other members of the church when they reached Salt Lake.  His name was Niels Rasmussen.

      So, because of this family history, I have a strong love for Pioneer Day.  I don't want to only spend 1 Sunday singing Pioneer Songs.  I want to make it more special than that.  This Sunday is the week before the actual 24th.  In past weeks, I have introduced a couple of pioneer songs, so the kids are beginning to be familiar with them.  In the midst of singing the pioneer songs, we also need to practice our Sacrament Meeting Presentation songs, especially, "I Love to See the Temple".  The kids know the first verse really well, but they are a little week on the second verse.  I have decided to tie this song to the idea of the Pioneers having to leave Nauvoo, shortly after the temple was built there and how the temple work was being done around the clock as they were also leaving to avoid persecution.  Joseph Smith had just been killed and they were being driven from their homes.  Brigham Young was leading them and as they looked back at their beautiful city and temple, they saw the temple burning.  The story of their trials is heart wrenching.  What a blessing that they had the knowledge that their families are eternal.  I want our children to understand the sacrifice those pioneers made in order to uphold their religious freedom.  
     For this week I have created a wagon wheel spinner for the kids to use to choose the songs that we will sing.  When the spinner lands on "I Love to see the Temple", I will talk about the Nauvoo Temple and use some Primary Symbol pictures found on LDS..org  to review the song.  I also have pictures to review the Pioneer Songs.  It is pretty simple and not that fancy, but I think the kids will like it.  Here was my process:

!    I will use some of the girl's sing/boy's sing signs on some of the songs and other variations to mix things up.  I will have kids come up and hold pictures.  
     Next week will be the actual 24th of July.  I think that I will make a fake campfire and have the kids sit around it.  I'm debating about making butter that they can shake in rhythm as they sing.  I need to check with my Primary President and see what she thinks.  But, I will fill you in when I decide what to do.  I just want to make it special and have the kids learn why we sing these songs and understand their heritage.
      If you have any great ideas for making this Pioneer Day special, please share! If you want to make some pioneer bonnets, I found this tutorial.  I'll let you know how this week goes!

Camp was a blast! The girls loved all of the stuff we did for them!  They loved thepillow cases here, and here! Now I am home again to my own shower and my own mattress! I am so grateful to my daughter, Alicia, for the wonderful post she did about peanut butter powder.  I am sure this will not be the last time we hear about this product, not the last time we hear from Alicia either.  

I wanted to let everyone know that we have a new affiliate over on our sidebar! It is with Oriental Trading. They are a great place to order so many novel items at great prices, as you can see at that link, it is where I purchased the sailor hats for camp.  We also got these cuteanchor bags at a great price.  Oriental Trading has items for almost any party theme imaginable.  We have also purchased some cute stuff for wedding favors that I will show at a later date!  (We don't want to give away the surprise!)  

 So, now it is back to wedding preparations and working on my house! It is going to be a whirlwind over the next few weeks! I hope you will hang in here with me! 

Hey this is Helen's daughter Alicia. I am doing a guest post today because my mom is doing girls camp. (BTW I'm the one who didn't like camp but that's a story for another day).

Anyways my Mom wanted me to tell you guys about this great stuff my husband and I found at Sam's Club. It's called PB Fit Peanut Butter Powder. Basically all it is is dehydrated roasted peanuts ground into powder. It has 85% less fat than normal peanut butter and it's sugar free. It's from a company called Better Body Foods.

(I just looked on their website and they have CHOCOLATE PBFIT, so now I'll have to try that.)

Anyways, this powder can be mixed with water to make peanut butter like you would normally use in  a sandwich with your favorite jelly/jam. I use a little less water and add honey to make it a little sweeter.  But you don't need it! If you're thinking "Oh I've had those natural peanut butters and they always taste and look like someone chewed up peanuts and spit them in a jar!" then THIS is the natural peanut butter for you! Because that is exactly what I thought every time I had "natural" peanut butter before. But this stuff actually tastes good. (And I'm not even being paid to say this, I just like to share what I like. And I like this stuff.)

Or I also like to use it to add some protein to my shakes. I like it because it doesn't really add a huge peanut butter flavor unless you add a lot of it.  And then I get protein (because it's way less expensive than protein powder, and tastier too).

Ok but my favorite thing and my husbands favorite thing is the fudge we make with it. It's 4 ingredients and you don't have to turn on your stove!

I'm going to have to add pictures later tonight because I ran out of two of the ingredients because we made it so much because it's that good. Oh and if you're on a diet or whatever (like my husband and I are which is how I discovered this), it's diet friendly..

So we're doing the 15 day Ideal Lean challenge, only, like I said we are too poor to buy protein powder. One of the recipes on the meal plan is a fudge where you mix Ideal Lean and coconut oil together and freeze it. Then you have to  thaw it for 20 minutes and you can eat it. 

I have no idea how that tastes, it's probably good but here's my version:

For 1 serving

1Tb PB Fit Peanut Butter Powder
1Tb Hershey's Cocoa Powder
1Tb Coconut Oil
about 1 tsp Honey

Mix it together until it's a brownie batter consistency. To me that means a little bit thick but still liquid.. You may need to add more peanut butter powder to thicken it but not too much more. Also I have never actually measured exactly how much honey i added but I've eyeballed it to about a teaspoon. Then you freeze it. I'd say for an hour is good but I've frozen it in less time as well.

I only make single servings because then I'm not tempted to eat the leftovers in one sitting while binge watching "Friends", or "Gilmore Girls".

My Little One likes it too, that's how you know its good!

Also I like Hershey's chocolate baking powder the best for baking and I put it in my shakes too!

   I was all finished with camp crafts I thought.  Then I went to Walmart and found this fabric.  9 more pillowcases complete!  Why are anchors so cute! I leave on Monday morning for camp.  I have a couple of guest bloggers in the wings, so be on the look out for them! If you missed my pillowcase tutorial, look here!  These just had to have the hem panel added separately.  Still french seamed! I love them even if the girls don't!  Talk to you in a week!