mini coconut muffins

i love simple, good recipes and knowing that they can be thrown together without much time, ingredients or effort when needed. i saw this beauty on the 4 ingredients facebook page a little while ago and decided to give it a whirl... honestly believing that without egg that there was little chance of them being any good.

i stand corrected. they are actually amazing - and i have tried them with diary free milk for a friend whose son has a milk allergy... just as good. we are onto a winner and i am filing this one away for frequent reference.

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mini coconut muffins 

(makes 24)

1 cup self raising flour'

1 cup desiccated coconut

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup milk

mix all ingredients together and place spoonfuls into a mini muffin tin

bake at 160 deg celcius preheated oven for 18-20 minutes or until tops are golden

enjoy!

relief society ward history: a rs birthday celebration

i love being able to attend our ward relief society activities. after being the ward relief society president and knowing what kind of effort (and stress!) go into each and every one of them, i try never to miss a single one as i remember how much i would worry for the entire day that people wouldn't come.

this was an exceptional activity. each year we celebrate the founding of the relief society (march 17th 1842) with an activity to gather the sisters of our wards together. this was a celebration of the sisters of our ward particularly... with photos of all of our past relief society presidents in one of the displays. i was so honoured and incredibly humbled to be counted among these incredible women. i know and love so many of them and would never have expected to be placed alongside them. it is amazing what the lord can do with us when we are ready and willing to serve.

we played relief society bingo, which was an absolute riot. i can never get over how competitive these women can be.

some absolutely beautiful displays showed the talents and hobbies of some of our sisters

and days of relief society in the beginning

and there was a pile of throwback photos from days gone by.

the hall was set up to make us all really feel at home, like we were relaxing in the lounge

and of course when the relief society sister are involved, there is always the best refreshments! 

i truly love being part of the largest womens organisation in the world! ❤

rugby roos

after a whole bunch of convincing from heaps of people we know, especially our bishop paul, joseph has embarked on a rugby clinic covering the next few weeks. day one was yesterday and he really liked it! sooooo that's good. he ran, he caught the ball, he gasbagged with the other boys (see above lol) and we will do it all again next week. let's hope he still likes it then. 

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edited to add. he loved it! but then grandma died and he missed the last one which was a full day workshop to end them off, as it was the day of her funeral :( hopefully next year once the season starts again he'll get back into it and give it another try. doug's family have always been rugby obsessed so we can only hope he gives it a go sometime in the future.

the first vision: a primary lesson

 

**all artwork found on google images, used simply for this post. if you are the owner of an image and wish to have it removed, please contact me so that i can do so**

in our religion, we believe that god the father and his son jesus christ appeared to the boy joseph in the spring of 1820. we believe they appeared in response to his fervent plea to know of which of the religions of the day was the right one and which one would lead him to his father in heaven. there are so many artists depictions of this moment and over the years i have loved so many of them, but none have ever had quite the effect on me as seeing this one. i don't doubt joseph would have been overwhelmed and likely afraid. seeing this version where he is being held by his heavenly father gave me chills. knowing he was loved and that he was no doubt comforted by them in that moment was incredible to me. what a wonderful feeling it gave me.

i was scheduled to teach our primary lesson today and really wanted to teach something that the children needed (and would want) to know. all week as i considered the options, i kept coming back to the first vision over and over. it's been a long time since we had classes in person after covid came along and ruined everything, but we are back - with an all in primary set up. nursery through to 11 years old - and it's loud and messy, but a lot of fun. 

a lot of the really junior kids have probably never seen a lesson on the first vision, because the doctrine and covenants/ pearl of great price along with the other standard works are only covered once every four years. so we watched a kids video of how it went down here, read the scripture that prompted joseph to offer that first prayer in james 1:5 "if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of god, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."

then we all recited the first article of faith together: "we believe in god, the eternal father, and in his son, jesus christ - and in the holy ghost."

before we taught them the first verse of the hymn joseph smith's first prayer to finish up. it went really well and i was so pleased with my choice, especially when i learned that the "come follow me" theme for this week was the restoration. coincidence? i think not. haha.

oh how lovely was the morning!

radiant beamed the sun above.

bees were humming, sweet birds singing,

music ringing through the grove.

when within the shady woodland

joseph sought the god of love.

when within the shady woodland,

joseph sought the god of love.

you can listen to a beautiful version of the song in full here.

it goes on with further verses as so:

humbly kneeling, sweet appealing,

'twas the boys first uttered prayer

when the powers of sing assailing

filled his soul with deep despair

but undaunted still he trusted

in his heavenly fathers care

but undaunted still he trusted

in his heavenly fathers care

suddenly a light descended

brighter far then noonday sun

and a shining glorious pillar

over him fell, around him shone.

while appeared two heavenly beings

god the father and the son

while appeared two heavenly beings

god the father and the son.

joseph this is my beloved,

hear him! oh how sweet the word!

joseph's humble prayer was answered,

and he listened to the lord.

oh, what rapture filled his bosom, 

for he saw the living god.

oh, what rapture filled his bosom, 

for he saw the living god.

it will never cease to amaze me, the incredible things that took place that day. that a teenage boy had enough faith to be ready to see god himself and his son jesus christ and be the one chosen to restore their gospel to the earth in the latter days.

how very blessed i feel to know the truth and to be able to raise my family in the gospel.

d&c 76:22-24 

and now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: that he lives! for we saw him, even on the right hand of god; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the only begotten of the father- that by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters of god.

catered breakfast

i got the huuuugest compliment last sunday. a friend from church came and asked me if i would do some food for her husbands birthday party the following weekend. now this chick is a foodie like no other. she's south american, looooves beautiful food - and she asked me. i was gobsmacked. even more so, because i don't think she's ever even tasted anthing i have made. but she came to me and when i said that, she was like, "well he has! and i've seen enough of it online to know i want to order some!" amazing!

she decided on ham and cheese croissants (no, i do not make those from scratch, you would legit have to be insane) ready to go in the oven to melt the cheese, spinach and ricotta parcels and a batch of blueberry muffins. i was super stoked and got to work. apparently it was amazing (it was a surprise and he was very surprised), all the food (well all of mine!) got polished off quickly and it was a great day. hooray! i even got sent a banquet photo, which looked incredible. hopefully more orders come from it, cause i don't mind a bit!

flowers from my love

there is absolutely nothing more wonderful than getting flowers for no reason. better than my birthday, valentine's day or any anniversary, is simply for no reason at all. every now and then my husband delivers and today was that day. he even got my favourites, yellow roses, which i had in my wedding bouquet. today was a good day. ❤

 

pro baller

this little nugget started basketball boot camp (okay maybe it's u10 basketball skills) at a nearby rec centre a few weeks ago. oh my gosh does he love it! he is freaking ruthless and is always out to get that ball and get it in the hoop. he's actually not done too badly with it either, with a lot of his shots making it in. it's so nice to see him running and moving and being into sport. bball was always on the cards, because his dad loves it and the most important person in the world, his precious aunty dom loves it. lol. i'm hoping that by doing the rest of the term, he'll like it enough to play in the summer season as it arrives around again in term 4. funers crossed we have another sports mad child in the house. haha.