Birthday Boys and Our Missionary

There was lots to celebrate on December 26, 2021.  First, it was David's 75th birthday.
 

Mike and Heidi invited us to their house to celebrate, and Heidi made a spectacular birthday cake!  It was a chocolate cake, covered with white chocolate “bark” that Heidi had striped with dark chocolate ribbons to make it look authentic.  The cake tasted as good as it looked.  I continue to be amazed at Heidi’s talents!  We missed celebrating with Sophia, whose 17th birthday was also on December 26.  Sophie is in Boston with Steve, Camille, and their family this Christmas.

Jonny and Jenny also blessed their new baby Jonathan, and gave him a name.  Jonathan was born on October 21, 2021, but his family waited to do the blessing ceremony until they could be with family in Salt Lake City.  Jenny's parents, Dave and Shelly Leatham, joined us for dinner and the father's blessing.

Whenever my grandchildren return from missions, I honor them with a dinner featuring special foods from their mission.  We have had dinners from Romania, Slovakia, East Los Angeles (Mexican food), Japan, and even Wyoming (beef steaks and a peach crisp using home-canned fruit; the only deer meat I could find was dog food).  On December 26, we honored Kirsten, as a missionary to Independence, Missouri.  Independence is near Kansas City.

Kansas City barbecue is renowned, so the entree was barbecued ribs.

Kirsten told us that "cheesy corn" is a distinctive, Kansas City "side" to a barbecue, so I looked up a recipe.  I hesitated to add as much processed, Velveeta cheese as the recipe called for, but I'm glad I did. The cheesy corn was delicious!  Several guests asked for the recipe.

Waffle cones were invented in Kansas City, so we had homemade waffle cones filled with homemade ice cream.

After dinner, following Jonathan's blessing, the Spendlove tribe said “nice things” about Dave to celebrate his birthday.  Several family members commented on Dave's generosity and kindness.  Daniel Moreland, Janice’s son, who joined us for dinner, told about Dave taking a special interest in him after he approached Dave for a referral for a physician.  They go to lunch regularly.  Michael K commented on  how much his and Rebekah’s friends, the Cyrs, appreciated Dave giving them a generous cash gift, even though they were just guests at our house for Christmas morning.

We finished the program with Kirsten’s report on her mission.  Kirsten had prepared power point slides about Kansas City and the two Church sites where she served her mission—the Visitors Center in Independence and Liberty Jail.  Kirsten’s presentation was clever, clear, inspiring and just right.

Independence is the location of many sites important to LDS people.  Someday, a temple will be built there, as Joseph Smith predicted.

Liberty Jail is the spot where Joseph Smith was imprisoned for several months, and where his most  beautiful prayer to the Lord was written.