The bonding and blending of a granddaughter, grandmother, cinnamon rolls, and strawberries!

What happens when you add a granddaughter who is celebrating a birthday, a grandmother, a host of baking ingredients, some cups of strawberries, and an almost new kitchen? You get the best homemade cinnamon rolls, strawberry jam, and scones.

Some ingredients for cinnamon rolls and strawberry jam!

 Emiline, our oldest granddaughter, recently celebrated a birthday. When her mother asked what she wanted for her birthday. Her reply was simple: “I want Grandma Hammon to teach me how to make cinnamon rolls and strawberry jam."

Emiline and her ingredients

So much for a new Barbie doll or anything unicornish!

So, Emiline and Joanne gathered up the necessary ingredients, and we drove to their new home in Draper.

Emiline and Grandma Hammon

Soon, Emiline and her grandmother put their heads together and read the recipes, and then organized the ingredients for both the strawberry jam and cinnamon rolls to make sure everything was there.

First the strawberry jam…

They washed the strawberries and then carefully cut out the green stems. Grandma showed Emiline a slick way to save as much berry as possible as you cut out the stems. Then, Emiline sliced and placed the sliced strawberries into a glass bowl.

Let the slicing begin!

Now, the work began for Emiline as she began smashing and smushing the strawberries. Soon, with a bit of elbow grease and effort, that was done, she added the pectin and let the berries sit.

"Smashing these strawberries is pretty hard!"

"Let's try with both of us smashing berries!"

Now, on to cinnamon rolls….

Grandma told Emiline how important the yeast was, so they needed to be careful how they created it.. Grandma showed her how to measure the warm water, using a thermometer, so it was just the right temperature as not to “kill” the yeast. They used the thermometer to make sure the water was not too hot.

Checking the temperature of the water.

Then, they poured the yeast into the warm water and mixed.

Measuring and adding yeast to water...

While that was working, Emiline went back to her jam where she began to add the sugar. Her comment was, “Wow! I didn’t know you had to put in so much sugar!” And that is the reason everyone likes jam—six berries and five cups of sugar. Delicious!

Adding sugar to stawberries--an awakening!

Once the strawberries and pectin were mixed, sugar added, Emiline poured the jam into four plastic containers to sit and gel and then to the freezer for safe storage--for a time!

Emiline and her first jam!

3.25 cups of strawberries + four cups of sugar = strawberry jam!

Now, on to Round 2 of the cinnamon rolls making….

The mixing of the dough

Emiline began adding the ingredients: the yeast mixture and then began adding cup by cup of flour all the while the mixer was mixing until the mixture was just perfect for rolling out and continuing the process of making the cinnamon rolls. Once the dough was ready, it was set aside to rise.

Once the dough was ready, Joanne began to show her how to select the ingredients for the filling.

 Grandma directed her to “punch” the dough to deflate it. They Emiline spread some flour on her new countertops and begin to roll out the dough into a square.

"So, how flat shall I roll this dough?"

Basting and sprinkling: the art of making cinnamon rolls.

 She rolled out the dough, cover the dough with melted butter and sprinkled on the special ingredients of sugar and cinnamon.

Poof! Cinnamon rolls ready to rise once more before baking!

 After basting it with butter and sprinkling all of the dry ingredients on top, she cut out the dough into strips, and rolled each of them up until they looked like a folded flat cookie and placed on a pan to rise some more.

Almost there....almost!

 Not long after, the cinnamon rolls came out of the oven, sat for a moment or two, and then Emiline and Grandma began to frost them with a powdered sugar frosting.

Butter + powdered sugar + creme cheese + vanilla = the topping for a divine cinnamon roll!

 Before too long, they were ready to be eaten and enjoyed. And they were delicious!

Bonus round: Scones!

Then, the bonus round of baking and cooking scones for dinner. They made some more dough, let it rise for a moment or two, rolled it out, and then cut it into strips--and a couple of circles.

Scone dough

Cutting the dough for scones

While Emiline was busily rolling out and cutting the dough, Grandma was carefully heating up the grease so they could fry the bread, thus making fry bread for dinner.

  

Cooking the fry bread....

After dinner, Emiline opened up her presents.

Emiline and her new headphones

Who said birthdays had to be filled with presents? Emiline’s favorite present for her birthday was working alongside her Grandmother Hammon while they made strawberry jam, cinnamon rolls, and scones, all in one afternoon.

Emiline and Grandma Hammon (Joanne) making jam together!

Happy Birthday Emiline!

Grandpa and Grandma Hammon

Mothers are precious!

Mothers are precious

We all have them, cherish them in different ways,

even see them differently, as diverse human beings.

I am blessed with several different views of mothers.

Joanne, an incredible and loving woman!

First, my dearest wife Joanne, mother to Anna Rose and Hailey

who stayed much longer in the premortal life than we expected.

Yet, they came, a bit unwillingly, but they came, both strawberry blondes,

full of spunk and vigor and very independent in their own ways.

She taught them things that she learned in Relief Society, from books,

from the Spirit, from being in the right place at the right time.

She read to them, rocked them for hours when they cried,

attended their plays, substituted in their classes,

even taught them in Young Women’s, taught them

to pray and read scriptures, taught them to love God,

nourished them both physically and spiritually,

corrected them when they needed, showed forth more love

when needed, and cried with them over boys, those ever-annoying boys.

Hailey, Joanne, and Anna Rose

Our daughters are now mothers, each with a daughter and a son,

full of spunk and vigor and very independent in their own unique ways.

When they compare pictures of their daughters, they see themselves

when they were little. It dawns on them, sometimes,

that their children are or eventually are becoming like they were.

Fortunately, they grow out of many of the challenges

that doth beset them when they were little. 

Avonlea

Hailey--see any similarities between her and Avonlea?

Emiline and Anna Rose--similarities?

Both Anna Rose and Hailey have been delightful and caring mothers,

still full of spunk and vigor, but now seasoned with wisdom

and vision of what needs to be or should be, pattering their lives

in subtle ways, just their own mother did along their childhood path,

whether they believe it or not at the very moment of times.

At some point, though, they will look in the mirror or their children

from a far and realize—maybe much to their chagrin and angst—

they are a bit like their dearest mother.  

My mother, Barbara Hammon

Darrel, my mother (Barbara), and Dennis (my oldest brother) when we received our Eagle Scout Awards

My sisters with my Dad: Delaina, Telecia, Dad, Shawna, and Jaralyn

Another mother is my own mother, Barbara, who had eight of us,

yes, full of spunk and vigor, often a bit more than we should have.

Sometimes, when I look back at the past—from my version, of course—

I see a woman who was determined to make sure her children, 

her sons and her daughters, towed the line and learned how to work.

I especially loved working in the garden with my mother,

picking raspberries early in the morning coolness

with our gallon buckets hooked on a belt or piece of baling twine.

We mostly picked in silence, stopping periodically to partake

of the luscious red berries, so sweet and divine, and bask

in the quietness of the morning without the cacophony of children.

Joanne with a gift from one of our missionaries

All in all, mothers are precious souls, more precious than life itself.

In childhood, even teenager years, we were at odds with them,

tempting and taunting them because of their old-fashioned ways

of living and mothering, often causing them to cry when no one was looking.

But  the tauntings and teasings turn into our own teachings and leanings,

perhaps a shade or tow to the left or to the right of the pattern

we once learned while pulling against the apron strings of our mothers.

1

Christiaan, Anna Rose, Emiline, and William

Clark, Joseph, Hailey, and Avonlea

Mothers’ memories live in our hearts and minds forever, roasting

there in their own juices, shimmering at the right temperature.

We add a dash of this and that, and our mothers become larger than life,

more sincere and loving, perhaps even more kind that we remember.

Let the memories live on within us, propelling us to places we have never gone.

Our mothers will be with us forever—in life or in death—

for we become them in some way or another.

Artist's rendition of us with our grandchildren

Tour de Idaho, Montana, and Washington and back again!

What a grand week we have had this past week. I finished up at Utah Valley University (UVU) on Friday, and we left on Saturday morning for our Idaho and Montana tour to visit family and friends along the way before we leave for our mission in the California Riverside Mission on June 24.

Lou Jean, Kevin, Brian, Gayelynn, Marla Jo, Joanne, Karen, Jeff, Julie, and John

First stop was Joanne’s cousins’ reunion at Brian and Karen Andersen’s home in Idaho Falls. It was wonderful to see these incredible people. Ironically, I went to school with two of them Gayelynn and Marla Jo at Rigby High School. Who knew then we would become family later on when I married their first cousin Joanne. 

Idaho Falls Temple (thanks to Dennis Hammon Photography for this beautiful shot!)

Then, we went to the Idaho Falls Temple dedication at my brother Brad’s stake center. The Idaho Falls Temple has special meaning to Joanne and me. We were both sealed to our families there. We were married there. Anna Rose and Christiaan were married there. While we would have loved to have been inside during the dedication, sitting in a beautiful stake center and watching it on satellite was almost as good. We enjoyed being with Brad and Kathryn.

On Sunday, members of my family came to Brad and Kathryn’s house for a BBQ. What a great event! Dennis, Telecia, Brad, Delaina, and I were the siblings who could make it. They brought some of their family members. The ones who couldn’t make it were Shawna and Jaralyn. My cousins Lloyd and Doyle came as well. It’s been ages since I have since them. We ate great food and just visited. We love these people.

Clark, Joseph, Hailey, and Avonlea (Dennis Hammon Photography)

On Monday morning, we headed to Cheney, Washington, to spend a few days with Hailey and her wonderful little family. We drove up I-15 to Butte and then on to I-84 and Cheney. Everything is green, green, green! It never ceases to amaze me at the beauty of Idaho and Montana, particularly as you drive along I-84 west. You can see why people want to visit and live there. Who wouldn’t? Lots of trees, mountains, fresh air, rivers, and streams galore.

We arrived in Cheney and experienced a great greeting with Hailey and family, especially the little ones. They, too, have grown. 

Grandma and Avonlea

We enjoyed being with them and spending time with Clark and Avonlea. 

Grandpa and Avonlea

They are so cute and so smart. 

Grandpa and Clark

We spent a lot of time eating, cooking hotcakes with chocolate chips (Is there any other way?), watching movies, playing T-ball and soccer in the yard, eating Dutch oven cooking (Joanne was teaching Hailey how it is to be done), 

Clark and Grandma touching the Spokane Temple

going to the Spokane Temple (Joanne and Hailey while I was able to stay home and play with the little ones), preparing and planting flower beds for Hailey, and just hanging out.

Darrel and Joanne--Boise River

After four days there, we headed south to Boise, passing through some incredible country. We landed in Boise on Friday night. How it has changed! We stayed at a hotel on Park Center. We drove around after checking in. Change! Major changes! Wow! 

Lone goose checking out the Greenbelt

We arose early and went for a walk along the greenbelt. 

No running or walking here. Perhaps, swimming at your own risk!

The Boise River has taken over everything along the way!

Apparently, the Boise River didn’t know we were coming and basically flooded most of the greenbelt. We did find a patch to do some walking. Incredible! What a great asset Boise has in the Boise River and the greenbelt.

Shoshone Falls in Twin Falls, Idaho

From Boise, we headed home, stopping at Shoshone Falls in Twin Falls. If you haven’t done this stop, you ought to. Lots of water and an incredible falls on the famous Snake River. We loved it. We arrived home on Saturday evening. It was fun seeing Anna Rose, Christiaan, Emiline, and William. We missed them.

Outside of Cheney, Washington--the beginning of the Palouse

Overall, we had a quick tour of Idaho, Montana, and Washington—all beautiful states. The best part was visiting with our family before we leave on our mission. We do hope many of them will visit us while we are serving.

Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers and potential mothers. Many of us have experienced a loss of our mothers, and on Mother’s Day we reminisce about them and remember things and stories that have kept them alive in our memories and thoughts. On this glorious day, I urge all of you to take a moment and pen a story (or two, three, or even more) about your mother and what you have learned from them. Here is one of those stories and some of the values I learned from my mother.

Barbara Hammon, my mother who died way too early!

Learning from mothers: Using the raspberry patch to teach and learn

Mothers can be subtle in their teaching. Thankfully. Most mothers do not sit down with their children and say, “OK, I’m going to teach you X. Now get out your pencils and notebooks (iPads, Twitter and Facebook accounts, and all those other social media things) and take notes.” Rather, mothers teach through showing and loving their children. Many of those teaching moments happen during a work project or just being together.

Taking time in the raspberry patch was just one of my mother’s ways of teaching me. Although I may not have realized it at the time. She didn’t intentionally try to teach me anything. Her way of teaching was showing me how to do lots of things, in particular as we worked together picking raspberries during the summer months.

Here are five things she taught me while we picked raspberries:

Complete a task from start to finish

Completing the raspberry picking didn’t stop in the middle of the row, nor almost at the end. Picking to the end of the row was the completion of the task. Granted, we stopped periodically to rest and carefully pour the berries into little green pint baskets, but we never quit until the entire patch was picked for the day.

Always to do a good job

Most mothers are fanatics about making sure you do a good job, and do it well. She wants to make sure you do the job correctly and proficiently. When you pick raspberries, you should pick all the ripe ones, which is no small chore because many of the berries are hidden beneath leaves, inside of the bushes, and way down low on the hanging branches. Over the years, my mother showed me how to lift the vines gently with a leather glove on the left hand and pick with the right. I can still hear my mother’s voice, piercing the still morning air, saying: “Darrel, bend a bit lower and pick the big hidden ones, hanging on the lower limbs.”

Review the work you have done to make sure you did it correctly

Often, it seems, you have to look back on what you are doing to see if you are following the right steps, or look at the job from a different angle. Looking at it just one way doesn’t always give you the perspective you need to complete the task. Picking raspberries was no different. Once finished, we walked slowly back up the rows we had just picked so we could review what we had done — reaching out and picking one of the berries we had missed. Rather, I had missed. My mother’s words, “Good job,” never failed to give me a wonderful feeling for the day.

Work together because it is more fun

The age-old adage “Many hands make light work,” is just plain truth. Working together not only makes work a little easier, it also brings families closer together. What I enjoyed most was working side by side with mother. Sometimes we would talk about whatever, often nothing really important. We would have contests like who could pick the biggest raspberry. Winning wasn’t totally the point. It was working together as a team, finishing as a team, and having fun simultaneously.

Help others finish their tasks

Perhaps, helping others with their work was an important concept in my learning. When you work in teams, working together toward a common goal is paramount in bringing a project to successful fruition. Picking raspberries meant working as a team. While we each had a side of the row, we truly worked in tantamount. My mother would normally beat me to the end of the raspberry row. She would turn down my side and work toward me. But I suspect she held up once in a while to see if I would reciprocate. If I ever finished before she did, which was seldom, I started on her side and picked toward her. It didn’t bother me to help, and I continue doing it.

Often we learned things from our mothers that weren’t overt at the beginning. Only when we look back on the situation does it finally occur to us, “Hey, I actually learned something from that incident.” Now, as I continue to complete those events, I realize I have personally reaped great benefits from the early mornings picking raspberries with my mother. A very Happy Mother's Day to my beautiful wife and my two daughters are incredible mothers because of the values and teachings they have learned and implemented from their mother:

Joanne, an incredible mother!

Hailey, Anna Rose, and Anna Rose

From: https://familyshare.com/1942/learning-from-mothers-using-the-raspberry-patch-to-teach-and-learn

Happy Temple Anniversary to My Family!

Sunday, March 26, 2017—Happy Temple Anniversary to My Family!

Idaho Falls Temple (Idaho)

                Today is the Dean and Barbara Hammon Family Anniversary. When I was almost seven-years-old, our family went to the Idaho Falls Temple and were sealed for time and eternity. I remember parts of it as vividly as if it happened today.

                I remember arriving very early in the morning. We children—Dennis, Telecia, Darrel, Brad, Shawn, and Delaina—went to the Children’s Center where we waited for our parents. While there, we played a variety of games, including red light, green light. I must have been wearing red socks that day because one of the older boys who was playing with us called me “Red Socks.” I think we were way more noisy than we should have been.

The Hammon Family sans Delaina, Heber, and Jaralyn

            I believe the part that stuck out the most is dressing all in white and then being led to a room upstairs where my parents were kneeling across the altar from one another. The children gathered at the altar and placed our hands on top of our parents. I remember Uncle Milt and Aunt Stella, Uncle Wilford and Aunt Beth, Brother and Sister Heward, and others in the room. I remember my mother and father crying. I don’t really know exactly what happened that day although I knew we were being sealed together as a family.

The Hammon Family sans my mother

                Since that day, I have been back to the temple numerous times and performed sealings for those who have passed on and witnessed other sealings. My most vivid sealing was that of Joanne and my sealing and marriage to each other for all time and eternity. Surely, there couldn’t have been a happier day in the scheme of earthly things. While we were physically here on earth, we were in an eternal House of the Lord where eternal ordinances are performed.

Our engagement photo (by Dennis Hammon)

                I know my brothers and sisters—excluding Heber and Jaralyn as they hadn’t been born 

yet—remember that day. Perhaps, it is a bit fuzzy for Shawna and Delaina as they were five and two respectively, but I remember it. I knew I liked being in the temple and have since learned the why. I enjoy going now. Joanne and I were just in the Payson Temple (Utah) on Saturday morning (yesterday), enjoying the glorious moment being in the Celestial Room, discussing our own family and the things we need to do to maintain our sealing to them.

It is in the House of the Lord where we make eternal binding covenants with our Father in Heaven. We who have been to the temple; we who have knelt at the holy altars and made sacred “covenants and obligations relative to exaltation” (Packer, p. 162); we who have received our holy endowments; we who have basked in the glory of God within the walls of this holy shrine--surely the Lord is happy with us and our title: “Keepers of covenants.”

New Provo City Center Temple

Happy Anniversary to the Dean and Barbara Hammon Family. It is now up to us!