Bittersweet...

Our food season is over for 2009. It was a very good season and very bittersweet to put the business to rest for the winter months. We began our season with new signage made by Kelly which added to our booth greatly this year. She does such a fantastic job at making the banners look great. Thanks, sweet girl for doing them for us.

June was one rough month of nothing but winds and rain. These three kiddos were wet more than they were dry. Poor Meghan was Gramps right hand woman when it came to putting up the sides during the rain storms because she was tall enough to hook them up while her Gramps used the stool on his part of installation. We did get smart toward the end and put sides up at the set up instead of during the storms. We also discovered that by taking the seams of the two tents and clipping them together the rain would stay out of the tent.
We went to lots of places this year and had some wonderful help. Ta'Mera worked every event and ran the whole show if Dick or I had to leave. She was so dependable and such a hard worker. If anyone needs great help, she is a taker.

Tiffeni and Meghan came from Colorado and spent most of the summer working for us (Tiff only two weeks, but Meg lasted her eight weeks). They are both great workers and were wonderful help. Meg even got to learn to fry which she has been wanting to do for a couple of years and this was her year.

Nolan spent five weeks here and had to go back to Arizona early as his school year began on July 20th. He was a hard worker and learned that hard work brings green back rewards. He could really keep the fryer going during a rush. Thanks big boy for helping Gramps on the fryer!!!

We did enjoy having the grandchildren with us for the summer and got to know them better. It was a blast having them here and we would have kept them longer is possible.

Kelly got back from Georgia the last of July and all of August and September was our right hand woman. She is awesome and I had forgotten how much fun she was to work with. She helped us in years 1 and 2 as we were trying to get this business going.

Wendy stopped on her way to Idaho during Davis County Fair and we were so busy that she stepped right in and helped get those orders for funnel cakes. She came again for Peach Days and we did enjoy having her with us very much. She could step into any station and take care of whatever order was needing filled.

Bethany came back this year (her second year) and we sure enjoyed her spunky personality that she has. She really can get the orders taken and filled fast.

I can't thank each of you enough for helping us this year. You were all God sent gifts to us this year and contributed to us having one of the best seasons ever.

THANKS!!!!

Now it is time to work on the crafts. I have six events to get ready for plus the Quilted Bear booth to keep stocked. All week I have been making the reversible superhero capes and will need close to 300 before Novemberfest to fill the booth in Logan and for Quilted Bear on Black Friday.

My body is tired and wanting to rest, but as the say goes, NO REST FOR THE WICKED!! I love making the capes and there are tons of little boys and girls running around wearing MY capes.
Drop by Quilted Bear in Ogden's Newgate Mall and check out all the cute doll furniture that Dick is so busy making. He will be getting new patterns this week of a stove, fridge and hutch for the little ones to play with. They should be in the booth before Black Friday.

and the winner is.....

America voted and the winner is...

Kevin Skinner

He was my choice right from his first audition. When he came on stage in his hillbilly clothing and his hat on backwards, I chuckled as did most of the audience that was watching. When he opened his mouth to sing and the words smoothly flowed out, all of a sudden it sounded like angels from heaven singing. I think all was stunned by what they were hearing. No one deserved winning tonight more than Kevin Skinner. What an awesome show this has been.

Little Miss Molly Mormon

Danielle doesn't brag on herself very much and so I am going to do the bragging. You know that she had a stroke last December and doing things is very hard and trying for her. She gets tired very easy but still she tries to do things for her family to help cut the costs of food.

She found a fruit stand that sells fruit and vegetables at a very reasonable price (if I lived there my shelves would be full by now. Can you believe peaches at $5.00 a box!!!). The past few days she has managed to can salsa verde, spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, tomato juice and peaches not to mention the tons of dried cherries and peaches she has already done and the corn she has frozen.

This is a girl that did not want to ever take on the tradition of preserving food for her family. It was always much easier to purchase the food from the stores when they had their case lot sales.

Here are a couple of pictures that she sent me of things she has done in the last two days. I must say they are beautiful jars of food and I would love to sit at her table and enjoy some of the great things that she makes.

Way to go Danielle!!

Louise E. Harvey

Today would have been Grandma's 99th birthday. What a blessing she was in our family and is missed so very much. I loved my Grandma more than anything and wanted to be just like her. I was her first grandchild and started the process of many more to follow.
Grandma taught me many, many things from cooking to raising my children. I could go to her with any problem and she would stop doing whatever and listen, then give me advise that would better my life decisions.
She was with me when Danielle and Brook were born and held my hand through the birth of both girls. I was so proud to have her with me at this special time in bringing a spirit forth from heaven.
Each of her grandchildren were so important to her and she always made each one feel like they were the one that she loved the most. I remember how excited she was when Derek, the day before he turned seven months, started walking when we were visiting her at her house and it was a story that she told over and over.
I know that she has been with me many times since she left, as her presence has been felt strongly. In times of despair I know that she is holding my hand and guiding me along life's path and in times of joy I know that she is also with me.
Grandma was a woman so righteous and goodness radiated from her soul and gave to all in need. You could hardly wait to go to Gramdma's house as you knew she would give you anything you wanted. She could make a meal to feed many from her food storage or just opening the fridge and warming up leftovers. She was a cook to be envied.
I love you Grandma and miss you more and more each day. Thanks for molding me into the woman that I am today. The examples you gave, I try to follow each day of my life. I miss you so much and am looking forward to being held in your arms once again. Thanks for being my Grandma.

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!!