Oh Boy Waffles

My Dad had a recipe for waffles that was the best you can possibly imagine. They are 100% whole wheat and very good for you. I like to make them and pour blended fruit over them and then top it all with whip cream. It has less calories then syrup so my health agrees. If you would like to have some of these you can. Here is the recipe:

3 cups of Wheat Flour. (You can use white but that will just make you fat and it doesn't taste as good.)

3 eggs beaten

1/4 cups oil

1 tsp Salt

1 1/2 Tbs Sugar

4 tsp Baking Powder

2 3/4 cups Milk

I first beat my eggs till they are foamy then add milk and oil. Mix these together and then add the dry ingredients. Poor into a waffle iron or onto a hot griddle and enjoy. (If you want them fluffier just add a little watter to make it more runny.)

A few days ago I got out the powdered egg and powdered milk and made up a mix that makes 10 times this much. It was a lot of fun. Now I can just scoop out some mix, add the water and oil and I am eating in no time. Maybe on my free time this week I will work up a brownie mix!

TGIF!

Some weeks are longer then others and this one is just such a week. I am glad it is over. I was out sick the first two days and it has been a grind at work each day. Maybe I will get to relax this weekend. That usually never happens but hey, we can always hope.

It is Friday the 13th of November and it rained in Eagle Mountain last night, not snow but rain. It is like it just can't get cold enough to snow. I am of course perfectly fine with that but it is a little weird. Oh well life goes on, snow or no snow.

Anyway there is some randomness for you. Have a great weekend.

A sad state of affairs.

As most of you know I am a resident of Eagle Mountain UT. I love Eagle Mountain and have many friends who live there with me. It is a quiet little community that is growing at an incredible rate. It is estimated that they will grow by 10% a year for the next few years at least. In 1996 they had about 250 residence and according to the US Census Bureau in 2008 there were approximately 22,309 people living here. The population is largely young families. In a 2007 statistical survey, more than 85% of residents rated their quality of life as “good” or “excellent.” This brings me to the point of my blog this morning.

This week we had a municipal election. It was a vote for Mayor and for 2 city councilmen. Not a "big" election some would say. I disagree. It is my opinion that what impacts us the most is what takes place on a local level not so much state and national. With the populationof Eagle Mountain at 22,309 and assuming each home has 2 parents and 3 children I came up with the following voter information.

Potential registered voters - 8923

Actual registered voters - 7578

Number that don't care to vote - 1345

Now These 1345 for the most part are uninvolved and uninformed people who are probably to stupid to vote and I am fine with them not participating anyway. There is no end to the damage that can be done by a large number of stupid people. I am sure that in that group are some great people who for one reason or another have a good reason why they have not yet been added to the voter registry. The other 1339 can be left out of the voting pool and I do not care.

Registered voters - 7578

Votes cast - 1655

Total voter turnout - 21.8%

Less then one in 4 people voted in this last election. In the Book of Mormon Mosiah points out that it is not usual for the voice of the people to choose that which is wrong or bad. However 21.8% really is not the voice of the people. It is becoming clear to me that the voice of the people is "I don't care, I am to busy with my little world to care about anything or anyone else." It is kind of ironic that this is about the same percentage as the home teaching numbers I was seeing when I was the High Priest group leader.

I sit in Sunday school or at different activities with people and hear about how bad things are in "the world" and how hard it is to raise kids. Just yesterday Kenneth came home and said that the Westlake library has more books on gay marriage then they do on us history. I have not been down and counted them myself but Kenneth is pretty good with his facts so I will assume he is right. When you tell someone that they shake there head and say what is happening to us. Why is there so much evil and wickedness in the world. I submit to you that it is the good men and women who turn their focus inward and have left the "gates of the city" unattended. For example, the school board makes the decision on what happens in our schools. I am sure that they do not select each book that gets put in the library however I wonder if anyone has submitted complaints to them about this. I have not. I do not know what their agenda is nor do I know what their track record is. I have allowed just the watchmen of my children's education to go unchecked. I have allowed the watchmen for my community and nation to go unchecked and the as such we now have the fox guarding the hen house.

It is a sad state of affairs and a dangerous one. It is time that the people wake up and take action if it is already not to late. (Ps. Start by doing your home teaching!)

I love power tools

Every year my kids love to get out the knives and carve the pumpkins. It is a lot of fun and I enjoy seeing all the different creative ideas that they come up with. However cutting out all those pumpkins with a knife, no matter how sharp, is a bit tedious. A couple years ago I saw something on a web page where someone used power tools to carve their pumpkin. I thought it was cool and so I tried it. I have taken this idea and never looked back. A one inch wood drill bit makes a perfect circular hole and cut thing out the mouth and eyes with a jigsaw is fast and easy. I break out the dremal for the detail work and within a third of the time I have a finished product. If you have never used power tools you should try it.



Daniel got grossed out by the pumpkin guts so he went and got a sandwich bag to use as a glove. It was kind of funny. Boys are all rough, tough and macho but it is funny the things that will turn that whole notion upside down.


This was Krislyn's first year where she actually designed the pumpkin. It was a simple design but cute. She really did have fun with it. Notice the nice jig saw laying on the table in front of her?

Meet the Flintstones!

Lisa and I have not been big Halloween people. It is fun to let the kids dress up and go out and trick-or-treat but we have never gotten into it much. However the last few years my friend Aaron has been inviting me to his halloween parties and so we have dressed up. This year Lisa and I were Fred and Willma Flintstone. It was a lot of fun. I made both costumes, not bad for an amature. After all a sewing machine is nothing but a powertool with thread. I would actually like to get a new one but the one we have does what we need. The funniest part was all the kids who did not know who the flintstones were! This rising generation needs some good old fashion cartoons. We thought it a great deal of fun to go as a famouse couple. Does any one have any suggestions for us for next year?

Redneck Friends!

People call me a red neck and they are right I have lots of redneck tendencies that Lisa, try as she may, has not been able to get worked out of me. It is my redneck friends that make me who I am. They are very dear to me and their ways and habits are just a little to persuasive to my natural down home tendencies. Take my friends here, Dave and Melisa Leatherwood.



They are the salt of the earth and some of the best people on the planet. I enjoy spending time with them as much as I do any family member. Heck some relatives I would love to replace them with. Although Dave has a mullet and rotten teeth and Melisa wears a hat everywhere she goes they are great company and I look forward to spending time with them.



They love bowling, 4 wheeling and all kinds of Redneck activities. Who cares that they have a shovel like this for camping? If you ever have an opportunity to meet David and Melisa Leatherwood just be sure to look past their redneckedness and see them for what they are on the inside, just downright good folk that make the world a better place to live.

Scouting is awsome.

I am now the 11 year old scout leader. I started back in July so I guess it has been a little while. This last weekend I took the boys on a camp out. We had a few of them who have just turned 12 and a few others who will be turning 12 in the next little bit so we decided to take them and the older boys so they could get used to each other. It was a great camp out. We did not have as many of the older boys go but the two that went are awesome.

My Adam and Jackson Balser were the two older boys who showed up. What I like about these two is they show up and generally carry their weight around camp. You don't have to be their mother. Their packs are packed with the right stuff, you never hear them say, "my mom didn't pack me..." nor do we have to tell them everything to do. They are a good influence on the younger boys and I was glad to have them along. I told all the younger boys that these guys are the ones to watch and be like. I think a key part of the scouting program is good scout leaders and older scouts to roll model the younger boys.

There were 8 boys and 3 leaders/parents who went with us and in the picture they are left to right, Daniel, Tanner, Adam, Brother Gardner(Cadens Dad), Brendon, Pk, Brother Balif(Scout Master), Jackson, Caden and Ben, I was taking the picture. I am excited for this group as they are all really good together and have the potential to be a solid group of good peer pressure.

We went hiking up American Fork Canyon by Tibbel fork. It was a little bit past the season of fall colors. There were still a few leaves left on the trees but not many. It would have been a lot better 3 weeks earlier. It was only relatively cold so all in all the whole things was a success. We did a 5 mile hike that was quite an adventure. We took a wrong turn and indeed up having to climb strait up the side of the mountain through the underbrush to get back on track after the trail we were on ended. I would recommend that hike to anyone who wants to see some of the beauty that exists in the rocky mountains, just make sure that you take the turn to the left when the trail forks.

There were some breathtaking views when we got to the top. I saw a hawk circling over the lake below and watched him with my binoculars. It was really cool. The lake you see way down below the boys on the left is Tibbel. Adam is about half way up the side of the mountain where we had to blaze our own trail. I did not have enough room for all the pictures but just out of the picture of Adam there are two caves on the far mountain. Maybe some day I will hike up there and check them out.

I try to be the last one in line when on the trail so that I can pick up any stragglers that might be falling behind. This was a section of the trail that I pictured as being just beautiful 3 weeks ago. Right now it is just bare oak trees but picture all those leaves you see on the ground still attached to the trees above and full of color. I love the outdoors and I love the scouting program because it gives me an excuse to go out and enjoy it.