Happy Easter

Mark & I had been hoping to get down to BYU to view the Carl Bloch exhibit for months.  We finally made it!  What a perfect week to view it - the paintings were spectacular and it is remarkable to think that the people of Denmark would share these alter paintings for an extended time.  What a gift.  We picked up Lindsey and Molly on the way down and my sister, Shelley met us there.  We enjoyed our morning together.

It's a great museum...behind Molly is a giant sculpture made out of books.  

Each corner lined up perfectly.

Loved the trees covered in popcorn!

Molly and Papa chased ducks around the parking lot.

We took Mark's mom and dad out for lunch to celebrate Marie's birthday.

Lindsey and Shelley were camera shy that day.

Last Sunday we attended a missionary farewell for a sweet friend of ours.

Megan has now left for the MTC and will be serving in the Independence Missouri Mission.

We are so proud of her and who she is.  We loved spending a little time with them and catching up.  The only free time Mark had was an early morning breakfast at Angie's...they graciously accepted the offer. We have been friends with the Harrells for neary twenty years!  We met them on base in California and they moved to Alaska when we did.  We have many happy memories shared with their family.

Best wishes to you, Megan!

Megan, Cathy and Leisa

***

 Today we celebrated Easter as well as Davis' 21st birthday.  We love you, Davis!

Would you like the recipe for this scrumptious Chocolate Tart? Here is the modified version I made from my friend, Jen's recipe. (Who with her hubby, had Mark & I over along with the Kings for a delicious Lobster Dinner Friday and topped the meal off with this amazing dessert!)

Chocolate Tart

For the crust, combine 7 chocolate graham crackers, 4 T butter cut in small pieces and 2 T of slivered almonds in a food processor.  Press into the bottom of a buttered, 10" spring form pan or tart pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes. Let cool 20 minutes.

Heat 3/4 cup heavy cream and 1/4 cup honey just until boiling.  Pour over two cups of semi sweet chocolate chips. ( I used a combo of bittersweet, semisweet and milk chocolate I had from Kitchen Kneads) Stir until chocolate is well incorporated. Stir in 1 teaspoon of butter and 1 teaspoon of vanilla.  Pour over cookie crust.  Chill at least 5 hours. Serve with fresh berries and whipped cream..and a glass of ice cold milk.

 Rich and decadent, just as chocolate and a 21st Birthday should be :)

Happy Easter everyone!
Hope your baskets were filled with treats you love!
(Or in our case...jars)

A Peek At The Studio

But first this...There is an old yellow building, run down and rather dilapidated just a stones throw from our home.  Well maybe quite a large throw... But I have always wondered what it was like inside.  Did someone really live there? I knew it had originally been an LDS chapel. Well last Saturday I had a chance to take a peek inside.  They had a garage sale in the building.  I have never seen so many Christmas decorations from one persons collection in my entire life. I couldn't get over how much STUFF there was.  I vow to have my possessions in check when I leave this life.  Oh my.  It was just a scratch in the surface apparently and there may be more garage sales in near future.  It sound like they will be demolishing the building and subdividing the land. That will be a good thing.  It is heartbreaking for many of the older folks in our neighborhood who's parents and grand parents really sacrificed to build that chapel to see it in such disrepair.  This is one reason the LDS church now tears down old buildings rather than sell them.

The fun part of morning was discovering the sweetest retro chartreuse crushed velvet love seat that will soon reside in Em's bedroom!  This photo does not do the color justice.  I snapped it with my phone camera inside the building.  It was pretty dark inside.  It has the cutest shape and the tufted back is adorable!!  We are looking into replacing the piping with a black & white fabric.

 This is in where the chapel would have been.

And here are the ceiling tiles.  I am guessing they were added when they

remodeled it.  It was a photo studio and a reception hall.

The words read:

Logan Eighth Ward

Erected 1908

I had never noticed it.  I love it.

*************

Now for a peek at the Studio...It's very hard to not wait until it is just perfect before I show photos..but alas, it IS a work in progress so I will share it in stages.  My kids living out of state are anxious for a peek. The wall color is Stone Grey from Porter Paints.  The floor is of course an original.  Never to be duplicated again!  I will post the steps we took some other day.  

 I varnished this little table this afternoon.  It proudly sits under this little gem of a light!  I had a little chandelier high my wish list and Mark kept asking me, are you sure?  I was sure.  It's perfect. A little bling for beading parties!  I loved the black and she isn't too showy.  She is just right.

 This table was love at first sight! I walked into a consignment shop I have driven by dozens of times and had never stopped.  It was a set with a beautiful hutch.  Sadly, the hutch just wasn't right for the plans of our room and luckily the owner was willing to split the set. I hope someone finds the hutch and gives it a wonderful home.

I love the grey fabric on these chairs! And the little wings on the backs?! For some crazy reason every time I look at this dining room set it reminds of Hawaii.  Maybe the motif is a bit pineapple-like.  But it puts a smile on my face.  A great table for games or dinner or a wool class!

 Where the messy table is will be a nice built in piece that Mark is currently constructing. The far end will be the wool dying kitchen and then through the door is the bathroom...with a shower for overnight stays ;) You can see the shape of the old room as it frames the entrance.  It was tiny.

 A close up the one of the love seats.  Amazing finds. The light color will remind my grandchildren that this is a fun room, but one we will take care of....right....

 I found twin red chairs at the Savvy Brother's Consignment shop.  They are perfect.  I plan to paint a couple of older chairs we have kicking around here...maybe black?? You can see where the bunk beds will go - back behind the love-seat against the wall. A set for each side of the room.  The bottom bed will be a double and top a twin.  I need to get the quilts going for those!! So much to do but it is a process we are enjoying.  It is great to be able to be up in the room now.

Emily has been organizing the wool and it is pretty obvious that I better get busy and dye some more!
Thanks for taking a peek!  Hope you can stop by and see it in person soon!

Mid April

I remember the year Brady and Danielle were married.  May 6, 2005. We had lost about 5 trees in similar storm to the one that took down eight last week. I was fretting that the yard would be empty and brown - similar to what it looks like now.  But within a week of their wedding day with the reception to be in our yard, the world started to blossom and wake up from its long winter slumber.  The spring green flooded our yard and all was well.  Here I caught two deer and two ducks wandering around as if the place was all theirs.  We have had a cute little partridge couple strutting around as well.  They are too quick for a photo.  

The yard is begining to bloom.

AND...this weekend we moved into the studio!  What a moment.  I love it up there and I can't wait to share it.  There is still some finishing work to do around the windows and the wool dying kitchen will take some time to complete, but we are up and running!  Mark is working on a built in work area that is turning out beautifully and will start on the bunk beds when it is finished.  Next will be the cabinets and desk area so we are months away from completion - but very happy to have this wonderful room to be a work in progress!  The remaining siding was delivered on Friday so hopefully this week they will have that up this week. A finished look outside will be wonderful!

Cell phone photos...not the greatest...

There will be more photos to come.  Promise.

Aren't these little love seats cute?  KSL classifieds. 

$145. for BOTH. Awesome Grandma pillows included!

Thank you Carla in Tremonton!!

SpRiNg Break 2011

Well...not so much "spring" during spring break this year.  We did have some good times though.

 Camber had a great trip to Moab with friends (and sisters) Erin and Kira.  They lucked out and got some great sun...along with and incredible windstorm and snow!  She was so happy for the get-away.

We took everyone to The King's Speech.  Loved it!

Ate meals out just because...

Did some shopping - who needs spring weather to buy shorts, sunglasses and summer tees?

NOT us!

Emily and I spent one night in SLC with Jake, Linds & Molly.  We took Em to to Ikea for her first visit...enjoyed In & Out Burgers, fries and shakes...Sweet Tooth Fairy for cupcakes...Molly time...breakfast at Gourmandise...and more shopping.  Is the youngest always spoiled??

We also took care of Harley and enjoyed his spunk! 

Mark, Jake & buddies had to bag their trip to St George for the century ride - due to weather!  

But he had several days off and was a busy boy down in his wood shop. 

He is a talented guy that uses every minute in the day...and many in the night delivering babies!

Things Happen...

Change is a continuum everywhere and at all times. Change begets change, and so is in perpetual motion.

It's been said that you never step twice into the same river. The flow of water ensures that. It's constantly changing, just as you are. For, like the flowing river, you too are not the same person. Your body is not the same; neither are your thoughts. Physically, you are undergoing constant change. The thoughts that run through your mind, your observations, perceptions, attitude, everything is as fluid as the water's flow. The river is not the same and neither are you.    ~Based on Heraclitus' Theory

April 7. 2011 - Heavy wet snow...more than the trees could stand up under.  The first loud crack was heard about 9:30 that evening and just like that one large tree snapped in half and took her two sisters down with her. The tops of the branches crashed onto the roof and slowly over the next 5 or 6 hours the trees slid down the back of our house.  Around 3:00 am we heard a very loud crack.  Mark was up to deliver a baby.  That was the sound of three more falling into the the road on the south of our property.  It's an uneasy feeling seeing and hearing your world crash down around you.  I can't imagine experiencing a devastating earthquake, tsunami or fire.

 We fell in love with the wooded landscape...and so many trees!  They have been beautiful back drops for many different occasions in our yard and a wonderful source of shade and serenity. They have held lights that twinkled throughout the year, a hammock to lounge in, many a birdie, lost hula hoop or frisbee.  Cats have climbed them and birds have nested in them.

 What will this change bring to pass? A little more sun and a chance to grow new plants.  Choosing a new tree to replace the old.  Patience and wonder at nature.  But right now its a little hard to look outside.

 This photo was taken right after the trees fell.

And what we saw when we woke up Friday morning.

You can see where the first tree snapped and when the other two went down they were uprooted.  There is nothing glorious about a box elder tree.  They are messy and house the yucky box elder bug.  They aren't very strong and have very shallow root systems for their huge height.  Nonetheless...they will be missed.

 These fell and blocked the road going up the south end of our property.  Brian and Brad were so very nice to help us cut them all down.  They are great guys with awesome tools and hearts of gold.  Brain has such a sense of adventure! It took some discussion to decide how to best take the trees down so the trunks wouldn't crash through the windows.

The two broken trunks you see above are two we purposely took down.  They looked unsafe and when Brian just started cutting through the bark they snapped!  So scary!  There was sooo much tension on them.  Very glad they hadn't fallen on anyone!

So thankful no one was hurt and there wasn't serious damage. 

And tomorrow is a new day.

A vulture spooked by the sound of the chain saws.  Maybe he was thinking he would be getting breakfast with all the excitement going on.  I spotted him in our giant tree in the front yard and made a dash to the house for my camera.  I had been outside with the photographer from the Herald Joural (Jenn) and she snapped this. He was gone by the time I came back out. Thanks for sharing, Jenn!  We love photos of animals who visit Deer Hollow.

The red floor has two coats of polyurethane down and we are hoping to get the baseboards up tomorrow then the final two coats of poly.  We should be ready to start moving things into the room in about a week!! We LOVE the floor!