Wow- long time huh?

Hi. Thanks for still reading my blog. It has been a good long time. I'll try not to make this really long and catch up at the same time. We'll see. Ellie, Lily and Bridger were up last night with a stomach bug and so we are home from church. Everyone is pretty relaxed and laying around in their jammies so it seemd like an ideal time to catch up with the blog.

The kids are all doing well. Cassie is DRIVING!! It is a dream though because she loves to drive and do errands and run around for me. I'm sure that the newness will wear off for her and there may be grumbling about it in the future but it is really nice right now. She is involved in show choir and student council. She also has a part time job at our grocery store.

Treven is getting ready for basketball try-outs right before Christmas. He has a great group of friends that he does a lot with and it seem like there are always at least two extra teenage boys over here on the weekends. I love that they enjoy coming over.

Bridger got his cast off but missed basketball because of his broken arm. I can't believe that he will be in middle school next year. I go in and help in his classroom and he is very serious at school but not so much at home. He has a strong spirit and a desire to do what is right.

Ellie is enjoying 2nd grade. She is a reader and one of those kids that just keeps trying unitl she gets it done. She is such a good big sister to Lily and Emmie, very patient and caring.

Lily is almost always happy and she loves making new frineds. After a rocky start ("But I just miss you so MUCH mom that when I think about you I cry" to "I didn't think about you at all today" ) she really enjoys kindergarten.

Emmie is a goer and has the vocabulary of a ten year old which makes her a highly entertaining challenge to her mom. She LOVES her dad the most but will come and snuggle with me if she wakes up first. She likes hair paraphernalia and it is not uncommon for her to have ponytails, plus a headband and various clips, bows and barrets in at the same time. Our Christmas tree is completely un-decorated until the end of Emmie's arm length. It will be a really fun Christmas because she understands what the purpose of Santa Clause is now and wants to write him a letter everyday.

Jared is working hard at the insurance business. He loves being his own boss. I still need to post pictures of our building. It has been a drug store, mortuary, Dr's office, courtroom, florist. I have been trying to find out the history of it because we would like to slowly restore it. Unfortunately it has been neglected and there is a lot of work to do. We just got a new roof put on. New windows are next.

The embroidery business is busy. I am enjoying it more and have discovered that I like the creative process of taking someone's idea and turning it into something that they can hold in their hands and enjoy. I'll post some pictures of some of the projects I've done. Hopefully soon. :)

Four of my siblings and their families along with my Mom and Dad came to Montpelier for Thanksgiving. It was so enjoyable having them here. I love the feeling of a house full of family eating, visiting and enjoying each other. We were sad to see them go. The day ofter Thanksgiving we went skiing and Jared taught Lily to ski. She did great. My favorite quote of the day, "Mom, I did so good and the next time I will do even gooder!!"

True

I'm not sure why the whole screen isn't there but what this young woman in saying is true. LBJ's "war on poverty" was a tragic thing.

It's getting clearer

oregano harvest


The summer has flown by. We have enjoyed the heck out of it. We are waiting patiently for tomatoes to ripen and zucchini to get bigger. The cool spring that we had has set things back a bit. We are hoping that our usual "third week of August frost" will skip us this year. The kids are getting ready to go back to school and about this time I always have the "should I homeschool" conversation in my head. This year the answer is no. I have been attending all of the school board meetings through the summer and it has been a valuable experience. I love where we live. The Bear Lake community is wonderful. Jared has been in the insurance business for about three weeks now. I'll post a picture of our 100 year old building. We have to wait a year to change the name so it will still be "Hulme Insurance" for that time period. I admire his drive and am thankful for his desire to protect and provide for his family.



I am in the process of rereading "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis. The book is a series of letters from Screwtape to his nephew Wormwood. Screwtape is a senior devil giving advice to Wormwood a junior devil on how to tempt a human (referred to as his "patient") that he has been assigned to. It is an incredible book and it has made it more plain to me that there really aren't any "new" ideologies. There may be new technology or new packaging but it really comes back to the same battle of ideas that have always been. One of my favorite quotes so far in the book:

"Do what you will, there is going to be some benevolence, as well as some malice, in your patient's soul. The great thing is to direct the malice to his immediate neighbors whom he meets every day and to thrust his benevolence out to the remote circumference, to people he does not know. The malice thus becomes wholly real and the benevolence largely imaginary."

Sunday Comics

Bridger: Hey Mom.
Me: Yes?
Bridger: I quit my job at the helium factory. I couldn't stand being talked to that way.

So thankful....

It's Sunday morning and Jared has left for his meetings. Things are quiet and the kids are reading or getting ready for church. I got on the computer to look up something that I had read on chocolateonmycranium . It's one of my favorite blogs. She had a thumbnail of this Minerva Tiechert painting on her site. I probably mentioned this before but I love this painting. It is called Christ in a Red Robe.

I am just profoundly thankful for all of the good things in my life. We went through a big change recently with Jared's change in career. He is now a small business owner. We are purchasing an insurance agency here in Montpelier. It was previously known as Hulme Insurance, now Sharp Insurance. He has always wanted to work for himself and to have his own business. He has an incredible work ethic. I am very happy for him. I am so thankful for prayer and faith and the knowledge that this life is just a brief but vital part of our eternity. I am thankful for covenants and the power that comes with those promises, made and kept. I am thankful for family, this big diverse group of people that agreed to go on this adventure with each other. Happy Sabbath!

Spring foraging

We grew a bumper crop of dandelions in the field this year and so I put some of them to use and made dandelion jelly. It tastes like honey. I still have to figure out the pectin and so it really came out like thick syrup but I liked it. I made rose hip jelly last year and my family liked that better when they compared the two. Rose hips have a lot of natural pectin and so that set up nicely. The morel mushrooms came from our friend Brian. He knows these mountains like none other and he holds a special place in our hearts. Most people here are very protective of their huckleberry spots but Brian was very generous with his knowledge. He has a huge Wirehaired Pointing Griffon named Chewie. I think Chewie has some Irish Wolfhound in him because he is so big. Chewie likes huckleberries and kids so Brian brings him and we go huckleberry picking every year. Brian brought over these beautiful mushrooms to share with us and they were beyond delicious. After eating white button mushrooms most of my life I am now besotted with the flavor of wild mushrooms. Brian told us how to find them and we are going on the hunt next spring. The kids didn't want to try them and so Jared and I happily ate them up while listening to reasons why eating fungi had to be a horrible thing. Sweet... more for us.

Motherhood on Father's Day

I taught the teachings for our times RS lesson Sunday and it was on the conference talks by Elder Perry and Elder Foster. The talks were both on mothers. I was born of goodly parents and I am thankful for all that they taught me. I am thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ that I strive to live. I know that the family is an eternal reality and I am so thankful for that knowledge. Above are pictures of two of the best dads that I know. So I guess what I want to say with this post is that I am thankful for the opportunity to be a parent and to be a wife. I am thankful for and I honor those that have gone before me and sacrificed on my behalf. Being a good parent means hard work and sacrifice. Thank you to all of the good parents that I know.

More sourdough deliciousness

Hot homemade English muffins with crab apple jelly. Enough said.

Sourdough

A sister in my ward gave me a sourdough start about six months ago. It came from a lady in Nounan which is a valley (gorgeous place) within Bear Lake Valley. The start is supposed to be over 100 years old. My dad had a sourdough start when I was a child but I just remember not liking the smell. Now I love the smell and the taste of sourdough. I have been making homemade bread since I was in middle school and so I decided to try making food with sourdough. It has been really fun.
My favorite: sourdough huckleberry pancakes

San Francisco sourdough crust



Onion Garlic Bread


This is a really interesting article on the health benefits of sourdough. This is the wikipedia entry. Delicious.

Spoke too soon.

The rain is back. Last week the forecast for this week was sun and after the previous two weeks of rain it was a welcome sight. Summer isn't really here after all. It is beautiful and green but we could use some heat. We were hoping to get our garden planted on Wednesday. We'll see. I have discovered that I love to mow. The three oldest kids are in charge of our grass but we have a lot of alfalfa around our house that hasn't been turned to lawn yet. I love to keep it mowed and tidy. I don't know why but it gives me a happy feeling to see it done. My plants are coming up nicely and I have started several compost piles. I am determined to compost this year.

Huge white tulips and .99 after Memorial Day mums

I love Columbines.

My bionic pink poppy. I'll post a full bloom photo.

I love the plants that come back after a Bear Lake winter when they aren't supposed to. The Johnny-jump-ups and parsley and oregano hold a special place in my heart. They're tough.

Construction...done.

My Dad very kindly pointed out that this blog has been under construction for almost three months now. I told him two weeks ago that I would be posting. Sorry that I'm so late. I just got done downloading my pictures and so I will be posting tomorrow and I hope, more regularly. At least more often then every three months... sheesh.

It is finally spring here in Bear Lake. Although we don't really have much spring weather. It goes from winter to a few brief moments of spring to summer. There is nothing like a Bear Lake summer. They are truly heavenly. We are looking forward to open windows, beach days, and garden produce.

Quick update: School is finally out! The last two weeks were just hectic with field trips, track meets, award banquets and baseball. Cassie is the sophomore class president for Bear Lake High School next year. Cass and Trev are both training for cross country. All three older kids made the high honor roll and Bridger got the most Accelerated Reading points in his class. Ellie loved school and has just developed a love of reading that reminds me of her mother when she was that age...staying up late to read and read and read. Thank you Mom and Dad for instilling in me a love for reading. It has been transferred to our children and it has been a wonderful thing to see. Lily is excited for kindergarten next year. It is just going so fast and I feel so honored and blessed to be their mom.

We purchased two Barudan embroidery machines and started a home business called Sharp Stitch Studio. I will post some pictures of some of the projects we've done. It has been a good growing experience and I hope to blog some of those experiences for anyone that might be thinking of starting their own cottage industry. You can see what the machines look like here.

I posted a picture of the highlight of spring, branding in Lyman, to see if I still knew how to do it. More to come.

We're under construction.

It's time to get back to the blog. My brother suggested I blog about starting my own business and with the recent political atmosphere and the ramifications of it; I feel it is even more important to stand up for what I believe is right. See you soon!

Stating the obvious.

We are still here. Lots of new news that I hope to get to in the near future. Here is lovely vintage Valentine to enjoy courtesy of Flickr. We hope that you had a very love-filled Valentine's Day.