Help Make a Miracle for Baby Daylon

HELP MAKE A MIRACLE FOR BABY DAYLON

I got this picture from the newspaper.
It was taken by David Bauman from the Press-Enterprise.
To read the whole article by Jennifer Dean click here

(If you only have a minute and can't take time to read my whole post,

go to this web site now

http://helpmakeamiracle.org/Home.html

Please do what you can to help.)

This is Brian and Jennifer Edling with 2 of their children, Caleb and Daylon.
Daylon, who is now 9 months old was born with cruel and painful disease

called junctional epidermolysis bullosa or(EB).

These babies are sometimes called "Butterfly Children"
because their skin is as fragile as a butterfly's wings.
Daylon develops blisters and then raw, bloody sores everywhere he is touched.
These children suffer terribly and die before their first birthday.
...
However, the Edlings are being given a breath of hope.
Daylon has been chosen to take part in a

clinical trial treatment they believe will cure him.
It involves chemo therapy and a bone marrow transplant among other things.
His three year old brother, Caleb, is a perfect match and will be the donor.

...

I have been friends with Daylon's grandmother for many years.

The Edlings are wonderful people.

Daylon's grandfather was a religious leader and

served as Bishop of his ward (Congregation).

The family is loving and giving.

Now we need to give to them.

The Edling family have faith and believe in miracles.

However, this miracle in the making costs a lot of money.

An unbelievable amount of money.

They need all the help they can get.

...

Please go to the Help Make a Miracle website.

Read about EB and little Daylon.

Please pray for Daylon and his family.

Please donate what you can.

If we all give what we can we can make this miracle happen.

Every penny of your donation will go towards making

this miracle come true.

Your support will be very much appreciated.

This clinical trial may not only save Daylon's life,

it will give the doctors knowledge that can help other EB babies.

...

To read about another EB baby, Jonah, click here

Jonah and his family need your prayers too.

Thank you

Amish Smiles and a Friendship Bread Recipe

My goodness I have had trouble making my post today.

My computer keeps freezing up.

This also has been happening each time

I try to go visit Marie at Oak Cottage.

I get to Oak Cottage and then everything freezes

and I have to turn off my computer.

The worst part is.... I have not been able to visit Marie for days.
I know she misses me dropping by (lol).... and I know I miss her...

So I am not smiling about that.... but I do have lots to smile about.

...

Today I will share some of my Amish Smiles with you

While we were visiting our son back east

we took off a day to visit Amish country.
It was a long drive for us but it was worth the effort.
We enjoyed the ride through the beautiful country side.

There were many nice places to visit

but since our time was limited we choose

this one.

Yep.... there we are.
If Grampy had a beard he would fit right in don't you think?
There was an antique mall, a craft mall and all sorts of interesting Amish stores.

We also took a ride in an Amish buggy and had a delightful visit with our driver.

He told us about their beliefs. I think that it would be really hard to live without electricity or cars but I really admire them.

I admire them having the courage to sacrifice for their beliefs.

Who knows??? Maybe they are the smart ones???

Maybe they have a peace and calmness

we miss in our busy, fast paced lives filled with technology.

But how would I live without cell phones,computers, blogs, skype

cars or airplanes???

We went in this Amish farm house and had a nice visit with

Alma who was making cookies.

Of course we had to buy some, along with her

home made soap and hand lotion.
Wouldn't it be nice to be that self sufficient!

We toured the house.

They use gas but no electricity.

This is a treadle sewing machine.

Their water is pumped in.

This is an ice box....not a refrigerator.
It works just fine for them.
Also note the hand made rocker. We saw this style rocker everywhere we went.
I wish that I could have brought one home with me on the air plane.

My favorite shop was Gramma's Quilt Barn.

It was full of beautiful quilts and quilting supplies.

I wished that my blog friend Marlene from Stitching by the Lake could
have been there with me. She is a quilter.
I know you would have loved it Marlene.
Can you imagine making these beautiful quilts without
using an electric sewing machine?
It boggles my mind..... and makes me smile.

I also loved this candle shop.
I thought of another blog friend Linda
from Behind My Red Door when I saw the primitives sign out front.
Linda is a world famous prim... Her home has been featured in magazines.
I wish you could have been there with me Linda.
I think you would have been in heaven in their antique mall.

I enjoyed watching the candle maker make beautiful wax carved candles...
...but I ended up buying this one in a crock.

On the way home we ate at the famous
Der Dutchman restaurant.

I have never had better food!

I don't think this is a typical Amish dessert.... but John enjoyed it anyway.
This was our cute little Amish waitress.
You can't see her Amish bonnet but it was there on the back of her head.
...
Seeing all of the delicious Amish food made us hungry for more.

When we got home Emma helped me make

Amish Friendship Bread

I took the starter with me when we went to visit.

Emma loves to cook....

and I love cooking with Emma.

It is so good. We had to make it again before we left.

All of these experiences made me smile.

I think eating this Amish Friendship Bread would make you smile too.

Here is the recipe.

To make the starter...

put 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of milk and 1 cup of sugar into a gallon size zip lock bag.

Mush the bag to mix up these 3 ingredients

DO NOT REFRIGERATE

If air gets in the bag let it out. It is normal for this to happen as the batter raises, bubbles and ferments.

Follow these directions

DAY 1... do nothing

DAY 2... mush the bag

DAY 3... mush the bag

DAY 4... mush the bag

DAY 5... Add to the bag 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup milk... mush the bag

DAY 6... mush the bag

DAY 7... mush the bag

DAY 8...mush the bag

DAY 9...mush the bag

DAY 10.. ** MIX AND DIVIDE THE STARTER

**Pour the entire contents of the bag into a large glass or plastic bowl-no Metal

Add 1 1/2 cup milk, 1 1/2 cup sugar and 1 1/2 cup sugar. Mix well with a wooden spoon. Measure out 4 separate batters of 1 cup each into 4 separate 1 gallon Ziploc bags. Keep 1 bag for yourself, and give the other 3 to friends, along with a copy of this recipe.

preheat the oven to 325. To the remaining batter in the bowl, add:

3 eggs

1 cup oil or 1/2 cup oil and 1/2 cup applesauce

1/2 cup milk

1 cup sugar

2 tsp. Cinnamon

1/2 tsp. vanilla

11/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups flour

1 large box (5.1 oz) Instant vanilla pudding (However it work with a small box if that is all you have. Also it is good with banana instant pudding too.)

Grease 2 large loaf pans. Coat the bottom with a mixture of sugar and cinnamon. Pour batter evenly into the 2 greased pans and sprinkle the tops with sugar and cinnamon.

Bake 1 hour.... check for doneness... it may take longer if extra big pans are used.

Cool until bread loosens from pan- about 10 minutes. Turn out into a serving dish.

ENJOY THIS YUMMY TREAT!

Notes from Lura:

If you do not give away all the extra bags of starter you made you can use them up yourself making more bread. If you forget what day you are on don't worry. Just make your best guess and start up again. The starter is not suppose to be refrigerated but if I am not going to use it within the 10 days I put it in the refrigerator and then take it out for a day or two before making it up again. Sometimes I make the bread before I wait a full 10 days and it has always turned out fine. It it very forgiving.

This may seem like a lot of work but it is REALLY GOOD and worth the bother.

I must stop and go do dinner dishes.... and visit your blogs.

I have been so busy this week I didn't get much time to read your blogs.

I hope I can get caught up.

I hope Oak Cottage will let me drop by and read it.
I send hugs to all. Grammy Lura

Sunday Smiles for April 18th

We have been back home in CA for a week now.

I still have enough smiles saved up from our visit with precious family

that I could go on for weeks.... and I probably will.

...

I also got to meet a sweet blog friend last week

and played with my friends

...

I really do have lots of smiles to share
so I had better get busy.

The grandkiddos were excited to see that their favorite little ice cream shop

had opened for the season.

They could hardly wait for us to take them for ice cream.

It was lots of fun until we started to leave.

We got hit in the parking lot.

That did not make us smile ...

...but the way everyone handled it did.
The lady that hit us, Marla and Dave, the insurance company...

everyone was nice and had a good attitude.

Hopefully Marla's car is back good as new now.
...
Taking the kids to the zoo and botanical gardens made us smile.

I think that they were the prettiest flowers in the garden...

...don't you???

I was sad to leave(Note the Kleenex and the red eyes and nose)
but we were smiling and grateful for the wonderful visit we had.

We waved goodbye to these sweet ones....

...and 81/2 hours later there we were looking down on our
own So. Cal freeway not far from our house.
Isn't it amazing that we can go across the country in a few hours.
What would our pioneer ancestors think about that?
...
Two days after we got home we had to go to San Diego for another ship inspection.
While we were there we got to meet some special blog friends.
Can you guess who this is?

This is darling Sarah from TuTu Monkey
Isn't she just the cutest little gal!
And she has a personality to match!

Her mom, Dana, is just as darling as she is.
In spite of her husband being deployed

Dana is cheerful and has a positive attitude.

I really admire her.

We had a delightful time with them.

We had a royal tea party...
and homemade cookies...

and salsa and chips...

I can't wait to visit Dana and Sarah again.
They made us smile all day long.

Speaking of smiles makes me think of the fun time I had

playing with my dear friends Kris and Jan.
Jan was flying home and I got to see her 1 more time.

...

They came over to visit me the day after we got home.

I was tired from the long trip the day before...

I was kind of down and missing David's kids.

...

I might have wasted half the day staying in bed

if they had not been coming over..

...but with them coming I got up...

got dressed...

put on make up...

unpacked...

cleaned up the patio...
made dessert...

AND HAD A FABULOUS VISIT WITH THEM.

Kris brought me these lovely flowers from her garden.

Kris is our Stake Relief Society President.

She is a very busy lady... but she takes time to be my friend.

Isn't it wonderful to have friends like Kris and Jan to lift you up when you need it!!!!
They make me smile.
...
Well that is my smiles for this week.
I am also smiling because Marie is almost settled in her new home..

...and she is back on line.

Welcome back Marie...

We all missed you.

...

Next time I will tell you what has put big smiles on Grampy's face.

Until then I hope that you have a great week.
Please take a minute to tell me about your smiles.

Hugs, Lura

More smiles from our trip

I am so rich!

I may not have an abundance of money but

in the things that really matter

I am down right wealthy.

As you know we flew back east to visit our son and his family.

We did so many fun things that I could go on for weeks about our smiles.

In fact, I collected a bizillion or more of them.

We just got back home.

We miss them already....

... but we are thankful for the treasury of sweet smiles we
have tucked in our hearts.

We got to go fun places

with fun people

We read lots of fun stories
with darling kids

I got to make fun projects
with my talented Emma

I think the most fun we had was attending

Karaoke shows.
David made his little hams a karaoke stage for Christmas this year...

It has a disco ball and different color lights

It has microphones and stars.... it is a perfect karaoke stage.

The whole family got into the act.

You can't get the proper effect when I used my flash...

...and...

the picture turned out blurry when I didn't use my flash...

...but even though the pictures aren't great....

...we were having a great time.

Singing together is so much fun.
Karaoke is a great smile maker.

Even a simple trip to the mall turned out to be fun.

Cooking with Emma made both my heart and my tummy smile.

I'll tell you what she was making....

why she was making it....and...

the special place we went....
...next time.

I have so much to share with you.... about what we did on this trip..

and... I got to meet a dear blog friend for the first time....

but I will wait until next time to tell you more.

Until then I hope you have a blessed week full of smiles.

Hugs, Grammy

P.S. I hope Marie hurries back to blog world.

I miss her..... don't you???

Sunday Smiles on Saturday

Dear Blog friends

We have had special smiles this week.

I want to share them with you today

since tomorrow we will be busy with Easter Celebration,

family and worship.

Last week we packed up our bags and


we got our son-in-law, Ernie to drive us to the airport.
I wonder if he is smiling because he is happy for us....
...or because he is glad we are leaving???

Ahhh...Ernie loves us.... he is just happy for us.... don't you think???

After a long day of sitting on a plane

and flying across the country

we finally arrived at our son's home

where we were greeted by this sign

and sweet kids. We were all full of smiles.
...
One day Grampy and I went to school to have lunch with the girls.

We were as excited as they were to spend this time at school with them.

Smile, smile smile

Meanwhile at home we were having fun at all kinds of activities

We had exciting basketball games...

That were enjoyed by all....

...big and small.
...

Our little slugger, Davey, starred in...

a thrilling baseball game played in the front yard.

Gracie barely made it to base on this hit.

and all ran in to score.,,,even Grampy.

What fun!

There was play time at the park.

and bike riding adventures.

You should see little Davey go on his two wheeler.
Nothing slows that boy down.
This week he rode 3 miles with his daddy who has always loved biking.
Last year he rode 5 miles when he still had the training wheels on.

Yesterday we took a day trip to Kirtland.

It is a town rich in Mormon pioneer history.
We enjoyed going through all the tourist sites.

These sister missionaries were our tour guides.
They have such a sweet spirit and did a great job.

I will tell you all about it on a later post.

...
I must run now.

I just found out that the Easter Bunny has been here.
He has always come to our house on Saturday since he knows

that we like to have our Easter Bunny fun on Saturday

and celebrate the spiritual side of Easter on Sunday.

I've heard that the bunny has hidden the 4 baskets somewhere in the house and we will have to follow the clues and go on a treasure hunt to find them.
He also hid a lot of eggs outside we need to find.

We need to do that before it is time to start watching our

churches general conference

So...
Happy Easter

I will be back soon

Hugs, Lura