fhe with byu

One of the wonderful blessings of Lynn serving on the High Council at BYU is that we get to have a group of students come to our home for Family Night once a month. They take care of the songs, lesson and game and we provide the refreshments. Each time, Ella watches out the front window for her "friends" to arrive and gets so sad when they have to leave. They involve her in the activities and play with her. She got to take her turn in the Skittles game (it's played by sucking Skittles through a straw--from a bowl onto a paper plate--until the next person in the circle rolls doubles on the dice). Very fun game. About half way through I noticed a bit of orange backwash on the side of the bowl. I'm pretty sure it was Ella's doing. The girls just asked for a paper towel and wiped it off.

(left to right) Courtney, Alicia, Allison, Rachel, Joran, Aaron, Nik and Chuck.

The highlight of the evening for Ella was playing with her new friends. Jaron played dollhouse with her. He was the daddy and she was the mommy. Then Jaron and Chuck helped her make cupcakes with her kitchen set.

I'm always so impressed by these young men and young women and the spirit they bring into our home. And I love that Ella has them as such wonderful examples in her life.

For refreshments I made Mountain Bars. They are so yummy! It's my go-to recipe for whenever I'm asked to bring a treat to an occasion and it's been a family favorite for years. It makes a large batch so it's great for groups. I was always asked to bring a couple of pans to Girls' Camp when I served in the Young Women's program. Last night, Courtney asked for the recipe, so here it is:

MOUNTAIN BARS

Mix together:
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla

Add:
2 1/2 cups flour (I use 1/2 white, 1/2 whole wheat sometimes)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
3 cups oatmeal

Press 2/3 of dough into bottom of a large jelly roll pan. Save the rest for topping.

Melt over medium heat:
2 T. butter
1 bag milk chocolate chips
1 can sweetened condensed milk

Add:
1 tsp. vanilla

Spread chocolate "goo" over mix in pan and crumble remainder of dough on top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown. (I always bake for 20 minutes, it makes a softer bar.)

*When you spread the remainder of the dough on top of the "goo" mixture, crumble it between your fingers. It's a bit sticky, but the bars turn out better when there's a nice even layer of topping instead of a bunch of big globs. Enjoy!