HAPPY BIRTHDAY DOÑA MARIA !

Maria Alvarez Hatch The Alvarez Family

Some of the Hatch family who attended.

On Friday it was Doña Maria´s 80th Birthday! (She´s my step mother-in-law!) I tell you, this woman is a sweet heart! She married my father-in-law a few years after my mother-in-law died from cancer! She was so devoted to him & took such good care of him ! What a blessing she was in his life! I just love her ! Her daughter Nancy fixed a lot of yummy food... (she is a VERY good cook,) and invited family and friends over to celebrate! It was a fun evening! Gil put the frosting on the cake when he set off a few fire crackers for our entertainment before we all went home! Doña Maria has really been suffering with pain in her hip! The doctor says she has a lot of degeneration! I know it is hard for her to smile and be cheerful but she does her best! I enjoy stoping by her house once in a while on Tuesday morning after I work in the temple!

Going to the White House to speak with Pres. Obama !

A while back, my dad found this anonimous letter in his mailbox. This person was fed up with all the drug related crime going on around us and he had the idea of going to Washington D.C., to the White House to speak with Pres. Obama to ask for help in dealing with the problem! The big problem for him was that he didn't have papers to cross the border nor the money to make the trip. In this letter he asks my dad to donate 5000 dollars so he could pay a "coyote" (smuggler) to get him across the border and then continue his trip to the White House. I doubt he was able to "raise" much money for his trip! I know my dad didn't donate although I don't know why not! It was for a VERY good cause!! ha ha! Desperate times call for desperate measures, I guess!

Kim's Midnight Brownie Recipe

Those of you who know me well, know that if there is any

food that I LOVE and crave, it's CHOCOLATE! I am

forever looking for a yummy chocolate recipe that I can

enjoy without the guilt and worry of those dreaded extra

pounds! The other morning on the Dr. Oz Show... they

demonstrated this very low-fat nutricious BROWNIE recipe!

Of course, I HAD to try it! This recipe is made

with pinto beans instead of any kind of fat...oil, margarine or

butter! The Agave syrup is lower in calories than regular sugar,

and better for you because it is not so refined! Two egg whites

are used instead of a regular egg... thus eliminating the 7 fat

grams of the egg yolk! I had to wait for a trip to El Paso to buy

the "self rising flour" and you only use 1/2 cup of flour for this

recipe! The cool thing about this recipe is that you just put all

the ingredients in the food processor and push the button!

Voila!! After the Brownies are baked they are topped with a

Cream Cheese Frosting made of fat-free cream cheese! Of

course, when you make a wonderful discovery like this, you

just have to share it with the people you love! They all agreeded that these very low fat brownies are yummy too!

Kim's Midnight Brownies

1 - 15 oz can of black beans, drained

and rinsed. (I used 2 cups of fresh

Pinto Beans)

1/2 cup Agave Syrup

1/2 cup of self-rising flour

1/2 cup of egg whites

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

2 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. baking powder

6 Tbsp. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Put all of the ingredients except the

chocolate chips in the food processor.

Blend on high until smooth. Clean off

the sides and blend for another 20

seconds. Add the chips in and stir well.

Spray an 8X8 inch pan with Pam, and

pour in the brownie mix. Bake 25

minutes at 350 degrees or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool.

Frosting

6 oz. of fat free cream cheese

1/4 cup agave syrup

2 tsp. vanilla

2 tbs. semisweet mini chocolate chips melted.

Blend cream cheese, agave syrup and vanilla

with an electric mixer. Spread evenly over the

top of the brownies. In a microwave safe bowl, melt the chocolate chips and drizzle or spread

over the top of the cream cheese frosting.

Allow to set in the refrigerator for 20 minutes! Serve and enjoy!

Don't forget to have seconds!!!

My New Years Resolution

While in California during the holidays we spent Family Home Evening at Mike & Angie's house. It was Mike's turn for the lesson and he presented this video clip of Pres. Henry Eyring, called " Oh Remember, Remember!" I was touched by The Spirit as I watched this clip and decided to make President Eyring's idea my New Years Resolution! So each evening, before I write in my journal, I ask myself these three questions" Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to me today? Did God send a message that was just for me? Did I see His hand in my life? I have LOVED doing this every evening and realize that my life seems much fuller and I feel more blessed as I recognize the ways I have seen the Lord's hand in my life.

 
This is the guy I share my life with!  We have been married for ...37 years!  (Long enough for me to have to look it up, just to be sure!)  Yep!  We were married August 8th 1972.  Frank is a fun loving guy who LOVES to talk and has lots and lots of friends!  When I picture him in my mind, this is what I see!  Sometimes I think he loves his cell phone more than he loves me!

Frank loves to golf and can be found often on the golf course he helped make with his buddies!   They often wager an ice cold bottle of water on the game and when he comes home he either announces proudly to me that he took a bottle of water from Ron or Kelly... or else humbly admits that one of them took it from him!

Coaching is also one of his talents and he has been involved in coaching in some way or another most of our married life!   He has coached high school basketball and baseball and in recent years has been coaching the Faraones Semi Pro Basketball team for the Municipio of Nuevo Casas Grandes.   We are getting ready to start another season in a few weeks!

Another thing that Frank does REALLY well is SLEEP!

I swear, this guy can sleep anytime, any place... and for hours and hours on end!!  (For a wife who struggles to get to sleep and stay asleep, this about drives me bonkers!)  Years ago, when we only had one little granddaugher, (Rylee) she nick named him "Big Bear" because when she heard him snoring she thought he sounded like a big bear! Hense, he has been known as Big Bear to his grandchildren!

Lita is a nick name for " Abuelita !" These little people ( 15 of them!) call me "Lita!" They are the JOY of my life!  If I could spend time with anyone in the world, anytime I wanted to, I would choose to spend it with them.... Rylee, Hayden, Hunter, Keaton, Olivia, Tessa, Clara, Kayla, Cam, Hanna, Kate, Emily, Denali, Tyson and Sayda!

So... for the purpose of this blog...

Frank and Cathy will be known as

Big Bear and Lita !

Here, I need to acknowledge the 10 people who have (and will) blessed us with these grandchildren we love so much!

Preston and Alixe

(contributed 4 little darlins!)

Mike and Angie

(3 with another "in the oven!")

Brandon and Laura

(leading the way with FIVE!)

Demy and Ashley

( raising 3 geniuses!)

Darron and Shauny 

(slow starters.. but working on it! I hope! )

A special thanks to these people for giving my life meaning and purpose during "the golden years!"   I LOVE you all a bunch!!!   

XOXOXO

Families are FOREVER !

I am so thankful for this knowledge!