Make a Smilebox invite

OK Famliy...where are your entries?! We would love to see everyone and get some updates; like Andrew's article about his insane adventures published on an outdoor website; or Kevin's latest in SoCal; what about you Lix-you must be on the countdown! And where are Mario and Gordon these days, the two world travelers? Zak and Sam what's up with you two? We were hoping to see you a few weeks ago.

Our family is crazy busy and I am counting the days until summer when we WILL relax a bit. Yet it is fun to watch Ashton hit his "homeruns" in his first try with coach pitch baseball. Maxwell was urged to pitch for his team but he was scared he would hit someone. He finally did agree to pitch and surprised us all! He was awesome. His soccer team went undefeated and are the Season Champs. Tal was recruited by his rival team to play yet another season of basketball.  Between that and soccer, he tickles the ivory and loves scouting. Livi continues to be our cartwheeling ballerina and has been the first one to actually like playing the piano! Yea. Boston takes good care of Mr. Beaks, his new chick that was brought by the Easter Bunny.

Bruce and I are still missing Germany, but so grateful that we could make the trip. It was wonderful to see and thank the people who blessed our lives as missionaries sixteen years ago! And of course it was great to see mom and dad in action as missionaries in their homeland. Wow, talk about coming full circle. 

FYI: in the picture of the boys, Boston is wearing St. Pauli (Hamburg's people's team), Ashton is wearing Deutschland, Max is sporting Bayern Munchen (the team with the most championships as seen by the gold stars over the pocket area) and Tal is wearing Hamburg's Bundes Mannschaft.

Jarom, I need help with the basics of Lacrosse. Max is going to play in a league out here and I will likely try to coach. I am learning basics on sportstv.com and I will read a book on it as well.
I would like to know about good equipment at the youth level.... give me some name brands and rough pricing on a good helmet,youth stick, pads, gloves, etc. Any advice or referral would be greatly appreciated!

Powder

We have been having an amazing snow season this year. Our little resort in Utah County, Sundance, has received the most snow totals in the state this past week with three new feet of snow on Wednesday. Tal, Max and Olivia have been in ski school every Wed. for the past six weeks and I have been teaching Ashton during this time. But yesterday the powder was just to tempting to pass up. We put Ashton in a private lesson (pretty darn expensive babysitting! but he loved it) and Bruce and I had the best ski day ever. I have never skied in so much new powder. It was amazing. The four children are becoming awesome little skiers, especially Ashton. I think the younger you start the easier it is. He was very excited to 'burn the worm' on his second day on the slopes. Now I have to remind him to slow down! Max and Tal are crazy and seek out any tree trail, bumpy, jump-laden runs they can find. (Remember those days Kevin and Andy?) They need reminding to stay in control and make TURNS. Olivia keeps up with the boys really well and never complains about anything, especially if she knows hot chocolate in the lodge is awaiting her.

Hope you are all having great winters! You can come visit anytime when you want to do a ski get-away. 

Try this pie...

For Boston's birthday party last month, I was asked to bring a favorite pie of mine. So I brought my home made blackberry pie, with homemade crust (is homemade one word or two words?). I knew I had done something right when the master cook, Roseanne Gunther (Bruce's mom), said: "Christy this pie is a real hit. You've got to get this recipe!" That was easily the nicest compliment paid out to me in the past 60 days from a very nice person indeed.

So, without further delay and with all due respect to Betty Crocker's New Cookbook, here is the recipe:

1. Heat oven to 425 F.
2. Mix 3/4 cup sugar, 1/2 cup flour, and 1/2 teaspoon cinammon in large mixing bowl. Stir in 6 cups unsweetened blackberries. Sprinkle with 1 Tbsp lemon juice for extra flavor. Pour into 9" pasty-lined pie pan.
3. Dot with margarine.
4. Cover with second pastry and put slits in pastry for proper venting during bakin. The slits can even spell neato things like: "U of U #1" or "Feliz Navidad" or "Betty Crocker Rocks." Seal the top pastry crust with the bottom pastry crust with back side of fork around the edges of the pie.
5. Place 2-3" of aluminum on edge of pie to avoid blackening out the edges of the crust during baking. Remove during last 15 minutes for some nice browning however.
6. Bake 40-45 minutes.
7. After cooling, serve first piece of pie to Roseanne Gunther for instant validation and gratification.

Mom's Mission Memoirs (MMM)

Here is Eva speaking from Dresden/Germany. Rudy and I are happy Missionaries here. As we know the language well, we can and do help in all three branches of the church here;Foremost the YSA with reactivation but also the Shut ins of the ward, then the young Missis call often to help explain things to investigators. Rudy is an expert in that!!! We have a small Opel and a GPS - could not do much without those! Our apartment is small but cozy and warm. That is a blessing since most homes are kept very cool. The traffic is fast and furious but again Rudy has mastered it surprisingly well and quickly. The weather is grey and wet but at least not below Zero C any more. It is wonderful to meet so many different people daily and I look forward to the warmer season when we will bear testimony of the restoration to strangers on the streets. No weekly phone calls are expected - with or without blogging; just keep us in your prayers as you are in ours. Much love, your Elder and Sister Hegewald

It's a girl!

Profile shot of Jenna

The Winns are happy to announce that the first of a new generation in the Hegewald clan will be a baby girl arriving this June. This should not have come as a surprise to anyone, as this will be granddaughter number 7 for Grandma and Grandpa Winn, compared to 0 grandsons. Alixa was certain that she would be having a boy and thus had not thought about any girl names. For right now we are floating around Marley, Jenna, and Mandy. Suggestions are always welcome, as is criticism. The pictures are obviously from the ultrasound. I tried to put the video up, but it is too big and the uploading was a problem. I apologize for the fact that the kid looks like some sort of gelatinized alien, but this is the best that our technology can muster.

Marley, holding her right hand up to her right eye

Since none of you can tell what on earth this is: You are looking at her crotch from below her. On either side of the arrow are her legs, with her knees to the right.

In this one Mandy Jo seems to be doing her best Heath Ledger impression