Enjoying a Few of My Favorite Things. . .

Hello my friends,

 

I have so many favorite things, but being asked to go on an adventure with our kids tops the list.

 

Our youngest daughter, Kylee invited us to go on a hike to Shadow Lake and try a little fishing.

 

Kylee and her boyfriend, Forest

 

Our Tree Cutting Adventure. . .

Hello my friends,

many of you know what a 'theme' gal I am.  Yup, give me a theme and I'll do my best to run with it.

 

A couple of weeks ago I was laying in bed.  Trying to fall asleep, but visions just kept popping into my head.  (wink)

 

I was contemplating on how I wanted to decorate our front porch for Christmas this year.  That's when it came to me, "decorate it like a tree farm"  :) I pictured a porch full of pines with tree stumps and boughs overflowing everywhere.

 

Oh, and why not add a cocoa bar while I'm at it.  A fun place to sip a cup while hanging out in my tree farm.

 

Now, back to the trees.  Being the cheap, I mean frugal gal that I am I was not about to pay big bucks for trees to go on my porch.  My daughter in law came to the rescue.  Seems that if you have a deer license and you don't get a deer you can cut a free tree. (who knew?)  Well, with quite a few hunters in our family she rounded me up 4 permits.

 

Our youngest daughter had the day off, so us three amigos loaded up in hubby's truck and headed to the designated

 'Christmas Tree Cutting' spot.

 

I had shed the coat by now and as you can see I am mad about plaid!  lol!

 

 

I gave the thumbs up on this one and,

 

 

hubby cut it down.

 

He suggested only taking the top half of this one.  Brilliant, because we know how these trees look small out in the wild.  Get them home and they are monsters!

 

 

Cute Kylee dragging both the tree and the chain saw down the hill.  What a woman!!

 

 

The sun shining through the clouds caught my eye.  I have no idea what that tiny blue speck is on the bottom right.

 

 

I look like an idiot in this photo, but just something about holding a power tool. (hee-hee) Yup, I cut this one all by myself.

 

 

Four trees down the hill and tagged for the journey home.

 

 

All loaded up.

 

Saying good-bye to our beautiful Utah mountains

 

 

Kylee had a bit of fun playing with my phone.  Showing off the new boots her boyfriend gave her.

 

One never knows what they might run across when traveling the backroads.

 

 

 

Anyone in need of a new pair of shoes?  Well, maybe not so new!  lol!

 

Trees arrived home safely and have been placed in

 buckets of water.

 

Can't wait to see if my "Christmas tree farm" is everything I imagine it to be!

 

Have you had any visions of sugar plums or such running rampant in your head lately?

 

hugs,

Jann

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Joy of Motherhood. . .

Hello my friends,

one of my greatest joys is that of being a mother!

 

I'll never forget the day that I held our first born in my arms.  I was a young 21 year old and that precious little one changed my life forever!  I felt the same each time a new bundle of joy entered into our lives.

 

I've put together a simple vignette honoring motherhood.  I know that not everyone has children.  I hope that they realize that they are an important motherly example to friends and family members

 who have children!!

 

The two books were recent thrift store finds.

 

I've yet to read either, but hope to soon!  :)

 

 

I placed the books on a concrete pedestal and topped them with a vintage pincushion that I bought at an estate sale a few years ago.  Of course my thoughts turn to my own dear mother on Mother's Day.  She was an amazing seamstress!

 

The sweet flower and heart were attached when I bought it.

 

 

It's made from vintage linens.  Love!!

 

 

Recently I spied this Mellomints tin in the case at one of our local thrifts.  It said sold, but it had been over an hour and the person had not picked it up.  The clerk told me that I was welcome to buy it.

 



I opened it up and found it filled with buttons.  That brought a smile to my face.  Mom kept her buttons in a large round tin.

 

I love how it is time worn!  I can just picture some sweet mother h holding this small tin in her hands.

 



 

 

The Mother/daughter figurines were another estate sale find  I picked up last year.

 

 

Look at those sweet faces!

 

And last of all, a sweet bride and groom cake toppers.  At our last estate sale we had 6 or 7 fabulous cake toppers.  This little one was left after the sale, and I could not resist!  (wink)

 

 

I put it all together for a simple but sweet Mother's Day vignette.

 

 

 

 I'll leave you with a few images of one of my

 mother's favorite flowers.

 

Things are blooming a bit earlier in the garden than usual.  My Iris usually don't bloom until just before Memorial Day.

 

 

There are more variety of Iris to bloom and I can't wait!

 

Happy Mother's Day!

 

Jann

 

I will be sharing with these fun parties:

Vintage Charm

The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home

 

 

 

The night before Thanksgiving my
chalkboard says it all!

Bountiful Blessings

With Thanksgiving approaching I would like to take the time and reflect upon some of the many blessing I have in my life.
1. Family-The kind that you know you can depend on for anything.
2. Grandchildren- I love their sweet smiling faces. Especially thankful to have Saydee home safe and growing.
3. Friends-The ones that always know how to make you laugh!
4. My Home- Starting to find out things about Alpine that I love. For instance the chiming of the Town Clock that I can hear when I walk outside.
5. The Mountains-Which were absolutely breathtaking this Fall.
6. My view from my Great Room window-Snow capped mountains.
7. Income-Thanks to Shultz and all of the many orange cones.
8. Food on the table-Again thanks to Shultz and all of the many orange cones.
9. Christmas decor-That I can't seem to get enough of.
10. My health-Even if I do have a few aches and pains and arthritic hands. At least I don't have to pop a bunch of pills.
11. My religion- It gives me Hope and Faith that no matter what happens everything will be alright.
12. Gardening- even though it's been put to rest for a while I can't help but to start planning for next Spring.
13. Quilting- Gives me satisfaction during those cold Winter months

The list could go on forever, but these are some of the biggies. I hope that this might cause you to reflect upon how fortunate you are. Remember, no matter how bad it might be at times; there is always sunshine at the end of the rainbow.

Life as I know it

Life is good, so I keep telling myself. The past couple of weeks have been CRAZY hectic, but now I actually have a moment to relax and contemplate what actually has happened. Last week we moved into a new home. Yes, there are still boxes to unpack but something tells me that they are not going anywhere. It was a difficult decision to leave our home of 21 years, but I think we are going to be very happy here. At first when we woke up in the morning it felt as if we were visiting someone or on vacation somewhere and waking up in a hotel. Shultz said that he felt as though we needed to be going to some tourist attraction. But as each day passes it's beginning to feel more and more like our home. I am even starting to learn which switch turns on which light. I'm still having difficulty remembering which drawer I put what in. I'm loving the double ovens and have found myself using both diswashers often. Something I thought was just totally ridiculous and would only be used on Thanksgiving. Each day as we manage to hang a few more of my old familar decorations that I can't seem to part with I see a little more of myself creeping into this house. We have big plans for the yard and gardens and even though it won't be all done at once I know that it will really help to make this house our home. So until then all I can do is imagine and hope that my children and grandchildren will someday love this home as much as they did our home in Highland. We plan to stay here for a long time or until we move to our next home which would be just down the road aways. The Alpine Cemetary.

The Hunt

Shultz and I are thinking of moving to a home with a master on the main. As bad as I hate to admit it, I don't think I'll be up to this 5 level split when I'm 80 or so. Why not do it now while the prices are great and theres umpteen million homes out there. The hunt should be fun, but it's also a bit exasperating. It seems like the best deals are on homes that are really bigger than what we need, but you can't help but consider them because the price is good. The down side is the good priced homes have no yards so it'll be starting all over again. In some ways I'm excited to have a new home, but I can't help but think of how much I am going to miss this house. We have such fond memories here and have literally lived in our yard during the summer. It makes me a bit sad to know that some of my grand children will not get a chance to play in the play house. Who knows, maybe we can build another one. I just have to keep positive and hunt, hunt, hunt. Shultz and I also feel bad for all those people who have lost their homes. I know that this needed to happen because the housing prices were ridiculous. Just hope that those people are not homeless and have family to take them in.

This Buds for You!

Celebrating Memorial Day and visiting the cemetaries caused me to reflect upon the lifes of those who have passed away. So many of them had such a great influence on my life. Starting with my Mother and Step Father. From them I developed the love of gardening. As a teenager I was not required to do too many jobs around the house. One thing I did do was mow the lawn. To this day I still love mowing the lawn and the smell of that freshly cut grass. My Mother was such a kind and generous person. She loved every kind of flower, as do I. My real father died when I was only 9 months old, so my Step Father was my Dad. I love and miss both of them terribly. Shultz's mom passed away two years ago. From her I learned to make delicious homemade stuffing. I can't help but think about her every Thanksgiving as I am stuffing that bird. I think that my oldest brother Dennis left to serve his country right after he graduated. I don't remember spending alot of time with him growing up. I do remember him teasing me, flipping me with a towel, and calling me "Pencil Butt". Isn't that what brothers do best? I had wonderful Aunts that took the place of Grand Parents for me. Aunt Viola and Aunt Dorothy. Yum, I can smell and taste their wonderful bread, custard, and rice pudding. wish I had some right now! Aunt Carma was a classic! She was so beautiful and so much fun! I have two great friends that have passed. Sheron a childhood neighbor and Pam my oh so fun college roomie. I have Sheron to thank for the Gospel. She is the one who invited me to go to Primary with her. Many of my favorite recipes came from Pam. Sweet and Sour Chicken, Lasagne, and Cheese Fondue. I know that these are some of my kids favorites also.

I miss and love all of you and just want to say "This Buds for You!"

The Bomb

Mothers Day was the BOMB! Some of the family came for dinner and Shultz cooked delicious BBQ Pork in the dutch oven. The kids came bearing gifts and I loved them all. Falco may not have spent $150, but he gave me a bunch of Burts Bees stuff . My hands and feet are gonna be so happy! Ky and Dustin gave me a gorgeous geranium basket and Nichole gave me a subscription to Taste of Home healthy eating. Lonnie and Tracy gave me a cute garden decoration. I love anything for the garden! I hope all of you mothers had a great day also. We took lilacs to both my mom and Shultz's moms graves. They loved flowers as much as I do.
I miss them terribly and think of them often. How thankful I am that I got to have them in my life.