Shoot 'em up!

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Kelley was in charge of the Bates Family Reunion this year.  We went to the Hiawatha Shooting Range.  It was cool.  We gathered at the Old Castle Town, where there were targets to shoot at out every building.  I watched as Jacob and Heidi showed off their shooting skills.  It was sad not to have mom with us this year.

Farewell Meriam

This was an absolutely wonderful Sabbath Day. Meriam gave her missionary farewell talk in church today. She is prepared to serve the Lord! Meriam is the 24th missionary in the family. Out of the family, Fourteen missions were served in foreign lands and Eleven were served in the states. Mom and Dad has served two missions. What an amazing example they have set for their children and grandchildren and for generations to come!

After Sacrament meeting, Steven and Ann treated us to a fabulous lunch. All the kids performed beautiful works of music on the piano, violin, and guitar. They don't know this, but when Thomas played A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief and Raelynn played the last piece of the day, I was moved to tears. Good, inspirational music has a spritual and profound effect on my heart and soul.


Terri Meriam Susan

Day 164 - Moms cinnamon rolls

June 13

Mom's cinnamon rolls were a real treat at the Reunion this year. Growing up, she spent hours in the kitchen making these cinnamon rolls from scratch. I loved to watch her sprinkle the cinnamon and raisins on top of the rolled out dough. After she rolled it up into a nice long log roll, she would take a piece of string and slice perfect size rolls. She lined pan after pan. Waiting for them to rise seemed to take forever! The smell of cinnamon rolls baking filled the kitchen air with sweet cinnamon. After the rolls came out of the oven, mom moved them to wire racks for cooling. The thin consistency of the icing was the perfect topping on her fresh baked cinnamon rolls.

It's been awhile since I've had one of these monster rolls. They are to die for! The bread is so soft, and they have just the right amount of cinnamon, raisins, nuts, and icing. No one can make cinnamon rolls like mom!

Day 163 - Rain on our Parade

June 12

It rained on our parade! It was cold and wet, but that didn't deter our fun at the Bates Family Reunion. We had a delicious picnic under the bowery at the Lions Park in Helper. The kids watched the rain come down in sheets. It didn't take them long to decide it would be much funner running in the rain... so they did! Didn't this same scene play out 25 years ago in Pioneer Park in Price? Just another generation!