In my opinion, chocolate cookies are the answer to most of life questions. My oldest, Emily, has decided that this summer she wants to learn to make chocolate chip cookies all by herself. She is four and I love her.
Well, as you may remember from this post, my niece showed you how to make some delicious brookies! When we watched the video Emily told me that she wanted to make a cooking video for grandma's blog too! I asked her if she wanted to make a video of herself making chocolate chip cookies and she was all in. Thus it was that a new series was born, "Baking with kids."

I've been baking with Emily since she was about a year and a half, in fact, here is a collage of photos of some of our previous baking adventures.

Teaching your kids how to cook is just so valuable. It's a great intro into math and science for kids, plus it teaches them practical skills. Someday, Emily will make family dinner once a week. Someday even later she will leave home and I know she'll be able to fend for herself and not starve to death. Plus, once she learns how to make chocolate chip cookies by herself, I know she'll know the solution to life's problems.
So, enjoy my cutie pie teaching you how to bake cookies. I WOULD suggest using the recipe measurements below rather than what she says in the video. She is cute, but she is still learning how to make chocolate chip cookies.

Are your kids out of school yet where you are? Kids get out of school early here in Arizona (because for some reason they have to start school at the BEGINNING of AUGUST). My husband and I both work from home, but we don't want our oldest, Emily, to sit around watching TV or playing games all day.

It can be hard to keep to a schedule for a summer that'll keep your kids engaged. For Emily I decided to come up with a chart. It has a list of things she has to get done before she can sit and watch TV or play a game on her tablet. I'm hoping in conjunction with everything we have planned out of the house as well this will make for a fun and productive summer for her.

​I've decided to share this chart with you. I've left the first page blank. The second page has a list of ideas you can use with your kids, or come up with your own! There is also a page of pictures for younger kids who can't read yet. You can attach the pictures to the page and they can remove them as they finish each one. Who doesn't love checking things off their to do list?

​I hope this chart can help you with your kids this summer as well!

In the Christian world, today is Good Friday. Sometimes I wonder who came up with that name. I think about the people who stood at the foot of the cross of the Savior Jesus Christ. They probably didn't feel like it was a very good day.
Of course, the Good News of that Friday was that Sunday was coming.

If you are subscribed to our email then you would have heard the news about our baby boy Henry Merrill. 
You might recall this post where I wrote about our second daughter Elodie.  Nine months after Elodie's birth and death I was once again pregnant. We were hopeful and nervous about this third little baby who was coming to our family. Would he or she be perfectly healthy like his oldest sister Emily? Or would he too have Meckel Gruber Syndrome like his sister Elodie?

On September 13 I went in for a doctor's appointment when I was about 17 weeks pregnant. My doctor tried to do an ultrasound, but found there was no amniotic fluid around the baby. I don't know if you've ever seen an ultrasound image of a baby with no amniotic fluid, but it is impossible to see anything. The lack of fluid suggested that this baby had a problem with his or her kidneys, one of the symptoms of Meckel Gruber Syndrome. I went to see a specialist where it was confirmed that this baby had Meckel Gruber Syndrome as well. We did a blood test to find out the baby's gender and found out we were going to have a little boy, our little Henry.

After losing a child once, the second time around feels even darker and harder somehow. You've already had to do this once, how can you possibly do it again? I spent many nights praying and begging God to please please please save my baby.

Henry made his debut into the world a little earlier than planned. At 31 weeks I started bleeding. At 33 weeks I went into labor on my own. Henry was born on January 2, 2022 at 6:13 PM. He lived for 3 hours and 13 minutes. In this life he was able to meet his parents, his oldest sister, and his two grandmothers. He was sweet, tiny, and so handsome. As he passed I knew his sister Elodie was there to greet him and welcome him to the Spirit World.

Henry's time on this earth was so brief. Unlike Elodie we didn't get to bring him home and take family photos. My mom took that one at the top of all of us after his birth. I can't fully explain to you the depths of my heartache at losing him too, and now having two sweet babies waiting for me in the Spirit World. As we have explained on here before, we believe that families can be, and in fact are meant to be, eternal, and that death is not the end. Although I do truly have faith that I will see my children again someday, that doesn't mean I walk through this life without thinking about them and missing them every single day. They have impacted my life in so many ways. I love them so deeply and I'm so grateful to be their mother. Sometimes though, sometimes I feel like living each day without all of your children alive and healthy is the circle of hell that Dante was afraid to go to.

On this Good Friday I reflect back to those standing at the foot of the cross of Jesus Christ. Looking up at their Savior, the Promised Messiah as He hung, nailed to a tree, suffering for us all. How dark it must have felt for those who loved Him. Although there were countless scriptures prophesying of His coming, of His death AND resurrection, there was so much they couldn't understand. What they could understand was that it was painful to watch someone whom they loved so deeply be crucified despite the fact that He was innocent of any wrong doing.

I feel that Good Friday sorrow deeply. Christ understood perfectly their suffering. Yet, despite the fact that He was perfectly capable of doing so, He did not get down from where He hung. He knew what He must do, and why.

Christ has given us all the promise that our Good Fridays will end. The sun will go down, and long will be the night. But Sunday is coming. On Good Friday I invite you all to look forward to the promise of that glorious Sunday. Holding Elodie and Henry as they slipped from this world to the next was both deeply painful and spiritual. Painful because I don't want to be parted from my sweet children. Spiritual because I know what Christ has promised me.

Thanks to my Savior who stayed on that cross, Sunday came. He overcame death and sorrow and gives me the promise that one day I will see Elodie and Henry again. They will live. They are my children to raise. On that joyous day I know that I will never have to say good-bye to them, or anyone else I love, ever again.

​So you see, this is a Good Friday.

It's time for another pumpkin recipe, and this one is one of my favorites!!! It seems to be a fall tradition to make chili around Halloween, I don't know if it's the same for you, but I highly recommend it. Our church does a trunk or treat every year, and no matter what ward (like a congregation) that we are in, there is always a chili cook off, and I always like to bring my pumpkin chili, because it is ridiculously delicious.

It is also ridiculously easy. You grill the turkey meat beforehand and saute the onions. Then you dump everything in the crock pot and let it cook for a few hours and you get a delicious chili that you will feel like you can't eat enough of! Someday soon I will also share with you my favorite cornbread recipe, but for now, enjoy the chili.

Also! Don't forget to check out our Etsy shop! We have a few items for sale, and it will continue to grow. We love doing this blog, but really, to be successful we count on all of you to be part of it with us. Thank you for shopping and being a part of this with us! With this post I'd suggest our Bloggelicious Baking sheets! Buy them and download them to put into a binder where you can have your own cook book of all the recipes you find here and anywhere else!