Quilted Bear Booth

Just a peek at our Quilted Bear booth and the cute things that we make.

We did it!!

WE DID IT!!!!!!

We actually got away for a couple of days by ourselves, no phones, no talk of business, just the two of us and no time schedules. It was strange not working and thinking about our next event. Dick surprised me with a weekend planned totally by himself right down to making the motel reservations in Park City.
We left on Friday morning (and he even packed his own suitcase, forgetting an extra pair of jeans and his shaving cream) and headed to Park City for our weekend adventure. Got there and had to wait for 30 minutes before they would let us check in, so took a drive through the residential area around the motel and got lost. Thank heavens for GPS on the phone to find our way out of the maze that we were in.
We got back to the motel and was able to check in and unload the suitcase then off to explore Old Main Street. This is one of the houses on Main Street. Park City is so neat with the homes built on hillsides and so close together one could spit and hit the other house.

This is overlooking old Park City from a very winding and scary road way above the town. You can see the old mixed into the new as they continue to build. To bad way back when no one wanted to be from Park City let alone live there, we did not foresee the future and purchase thousands of acres of land. We would be rolling in dough now and living in one of those homes that are high on the mountain side overlooking the valley of gold.
After our tour of Park City we left and drove to Kamas and on to Mirror Lake in the high Uintah's. The road was again a windy, scary road and took us almost to the tree line on the mountain. As you can tell I am not fond of roads that are windy and scary. If there is a drop off, I almost faint and throw up. My driver is very considerate of my feelings and drives very slow and careful so there is no throwing up in the car.

Mirror Lake is gorgeous and the only thing missing was our camper. It would have been a blast to camp here and take our boat out on the lake. It would be a place on my wants to go back to. We did fish from the bank, but had no nibbles at all. Who really needs to catch fish as long as you have a line in the water and all your troubles just flow from your mind down the line into the water and are left there.

On the way down the mountain to Kamas, there was a place called PROVO RIVER FALLS and we stopped there and walked around. These are picture of us at the falls. They were so pretty and it was fun to have our pictures taken there. To bad someone was not there to offer to take ours together, but I did get one of Dick which is almost unheard of. These pictures are to document that we really did go on a mini-cation together and had fun.

Friday night we went back to Park City and had a wonderful dinner at the motel then off to dreamland. We woke early Saturday morning, ate breakfast, then off to Wanship, down to Oakley and up to Smith and Morehouse. This is a man made lake and so fun. We fished and I did catch one trout. I let him go then remembered that I forgot to take a picture of him and never caught anything after that. What a bummer!!! great for documenting our trip, not even a picture of the lake. Believe me we really did go up to Smith and Morehouse!!!

We drove around the lake after finishing our fishing and found some wild raspberries and stopped and picked two, one for me and one for Dick. I was generous in leaving the rest for the bears and birds (really the reason for only two, was the hill was so steep I kept sliding down and was afraid of getting road rash if I climbed higher).

We left the lake and started for home. Along the way in Peoa, we found an old cemetery that we walked through. This is an old, old cemetery that has lots of pioneers buried there. We love to walk through them and feel the spirits of the people that are buried there. So many babies are there. One family had babies die in 1887, 1889, 1892 & 1893. How sad to loose every child that you bore in six years. So much history there and you only wished you could hear their stories.

We continued on to our next stop, the cemetery in Wanship where my Uncle Paul Y. Pace, first husband to my Aunt Verdell, is buried. I had not been back to his grave since Verdell had his headstone placed 30+ years ago. It was wonderful to visit and feel peace within my heart as I felt him close by today. I do miss him and his fun ways. The way he made you feel like you were more important that gold to him, the way he took your problems and tried to find solutions that would best benefit you, the way he was always there as your friend. Yes, I really do miss him and what a very, very sad day it was when we lost him.

We did have a very fun time on our mini-cation and are looking forward to finishing our season and then maybe a real vacation.

Another Year Older!!

Happy Birthday Carl. Hope you have a wonderful day. Alas, you have made it to another milestone in your life. Enjoy it!!

Activity Aprons

Last week Wendy called me to see if I had ever made crayon aprons. Well the answer was "no" but I could figure it out for her if she wanted me to.
I have an apron that is Evan's and I used it to make my pattern (after buying one that I did not like) and with a little creativity, I came up with this:

A cute clear pocket divided in thirds which holds a mirror, brush, comb, rollers and clippies.















Same apron with water colors, notebook, pencil and box of crayons.







I am now going to do some aprons for boys.

Rubber Ducky Races

I was going through my pictures today and found some that were taken at the Cache County Fair. Just in back of our tent was a creek that was fun for the children to play in and get cooled off from the heat. Every half hour there were Rubber Ducky Races for prizes. We did not win in any of the races that our booth entered, but it was still tons of fun just to watch the ducks race to the finish line.

TAKE OFF!!

THE RACE IS ON!!

CROSSING THE FINISH LINE!!

David Nolan Bierhaus is 15

Nolan, you have brought great happiness to our family and we are so glad that you chose us to be your family. There is not a day that goes by that I do not think of you and wonder how you are doing.
I remember well the day you were born. Your Mom called me at work and said that you were going to be born that day and that she was on her way to the hospital. I lived in Denver and she lived in St. George so I was not able to be there when you made your grand entrance into the world. I finished my day at work and rushed home to call the hospital to see if you had been born yet. The nurse said that you were in the process of being born and that she would have your Mom call me when it was over. I was so happy when she called and said that we had a beautiful, healthy baby boy.
Here are a few pictures of you growing up and look how you have changed. You have gone from a curly top little boy into a curly top young man.

In LaSal with the cousins
This is in West Valley when they dug the basement for our new home

Blessing of Brea

At your Mom and Elton's Wedding

Grammy and her boys

My little munchkins when Payton was born

This summer working for us at Logan

At the park with Meghan, Kameron & Mason

We really did enjoy having you come for the summer to be with us and work in our concession business. You learned so much about making funnel cakes, fried twinkies, fried oreos etc. but your favorite were eating the nachos. Everytime I eat nachos now I think of you.

We love you so very much and are proud of the young man that you have grown into. Keep your heart and mind on the right path and make sure that the choices you make are worthy and wholesome. Unwise choices will only bring heartache to you and your family. Live a clean life devoid of unclean substances and you will go far in life.

Keep smiling and remember that you are loved very much. Hope your day was one that created good memories in your memory bank.

For the Love of NieNie!!

For almost a year I have been following the blog of Stephanie Nielson. She is a young mother of four adorable children from Mesa, AZ. Stephanie, along with her husband, Christian and their friend, Doug, who was the pilot, were in a horrible plane crash last August 16th. Doug died as a result of the crash and Stephanie and Christian were taken to Phoenix to the burn center where they were treated. Stephanie was burned over 80% of her body and was kept in a coma for several months. The time finally came when she was slowly allowed to gain consciousness and be reunited with her husband and children. Shortly after this reunion, the Clark family (Stephanie's parents) moved Stephanie and her family to Provo where they could continue to take care of them.

My heart totally went out to them and honestly it was hard for me not to read and follow Stephanie's blog. I developed a love for her and her family that was beyond my comprehension of loving someone that I did not know nor had ever met. I was captivated by her and needed to know several times a week of her progress and how the children were fairing without their mother to take care of them. I became obsessed by her blog and needing to know more and more about this amazing woman. I prayed that one day I would be able to meet her and talk with her face to face. She was so totally awesome in my eyes and I knew that she would be the closest person to Christ I would ever meet next to President Monson.

Over the 4th of July, I had an event at the American Freedom Festival in Provo. I pleaded with the Lord before we left that if I was to meet this extraordinary woman to please let her come to my booth during the celebration. I waited and waited for this prayer to be answered and nothing happened. I felt despair in my heart and an emptiness that I couldn't comprehend. I watched as the people milled about the celebration and wondered if the Lord had even heard my prayers.

I was frying a funnel cake and heard a soft, gentle male voice ask what a funnel cake was. I looked at the gentleman that was talking with Meghan and listened as she explained to him "a funnel cake is made of a sweet batter that is put into a funnel and dropped into hot oil to fry. After frying, it is then dusted with powdered sugar and topped with your choice of toppings". I was thinking to myself that she is so good with customers and her soft gentle voice is music to my ears. I watched the gentleman as he listened to her explanation and something about him caught my attention. On his face I noticed that he had burn scars that looked fairly recent. I remember thinking to myself of the pain he must have been in at the time of his burn and quickly thought about my mother who had been badly burned in a house fire.

This gentleman stepped back and my eyes caught a glimpse of a woman that was with him and standing a little behind him. I immediately asked Ta'Mera if that couple was Stephanie and Christian Nielson that were in the plane crash. She ran to the front of the booth and asked if they were them. The answer was yes and my heart almost leaped out of my chest. Yes, they were at my booth and I almost missed them. I ran to the front and told them my prayers had been answered and that the Lord had brought them to see me.

We talked for about 20 minutes in the quiet moments of time. I told them of my love for them and their family and also got to meet Claire, Jane, Ollie and Giggs. As I talked with Stephanie, we both shared things in our lives with each other that were extremely spiritual and I knew that I was as close to heaven as I could be at that moment.

This past weekend Stephanie posted pictures of herself on her blog, see here, and she is more beautiful than before the accident. She radiates pure love of Christ in everything that she does and says. She has taken an unfortunate accident and has found good in its outcome. The love that both Christian and Stephanie have for each other is beyond any I have ever witnessed among couples. I love the picture that she posted of them looking into each other's eyes. How they love each other and this love radiates to all that know them.

I am thankful that I have been privileged to have had the opportunity to meet Stephanie and Christian Nielson, that God does hear and answers prayers, and He opens the doors for answered prayers but you have to be aware of what is going on or you will miss His voice.

Thanks Stephanie for letting me be part of your life for 20 blessed minutes but in my heart for eternity.

Taking time off!!

Today is the first week since June 6th that I have not had to prepare for an event for the weekend. It will be strange but good to have almost three weeks off before I have to go to another event.
During this time I will get caught up on my postings. I missed Nolan's birthday and am sorry that I did not get the blog done for him. I did have the pictures ready, but never had the time to get it posted. Nolan, please forgive your busy grandmother. You were in my thoughts but the work just would not let up for me to do the things that were important. I love you and will get your blog on this week. We do miss you very much.
I do have to make many superhero capes for Quilted Bear this week as the booth sure does look bear with the empty pegs. Dick got a new planer today and will be making those cute doll beds this week to put in the booth. He is so excited to have a new toy.
We are planning on leaving for a few days to wind down. Don't know where we are going right now or what days. Maybe we will take the camper into the mountains for a few days.
I will let you know.
Thanks to everyone that has helped us at the events. We would not have been able to do it without you. You all have been a God sent to us. We love you very much.
Be posting later this week.

Oh Me, Oh My....

Oh me, oh my!!!

What happened to my girl?

I know it is Evie
because of the blue, blue eyes but

the teeth are a fright.

Maybe Uncle Dennis, the dentist,

can make them pretty.

Then our Evie will look like this again.