Just Around the Corner . . .

I spotted this when I went outside yesterday!  That can only mean that spring is around the corner.  I will be glad to say good-bye to winter.  I am always grateful for the snow that falls in our mountains to provide us with our water for the upcoming year.  But I do not enjoy the cold nor the inversions that often blanket our valleys.  But spring -  it is my favorite season.  I love the smells of spring - hyacinths blooming, wet soil and the freshly mown grass.  I love the buds beginning to burst on the fruit trees.  I love being able to open the windows and hear the birds chirping and children playing outside.  Oh, the joys of springtime!

Whose We Are Part 2

This is the link that I first learned about the quilt.  The voice you hear at the beginning is Bernice Patterson Dreher, daughter of Nellie Bechtol Patterson.

http://pomerenearts.org/community/quilt_trail/edgarcoxfarm.html

Whose We Are

I began another quilt yesteray.  I love the whole process of choosing a pattern, buying fabric, cutting, piecing, quilting and binding.  Each time I work in my sewing room with my modern gadgets and computerized sewing machine, I look over on the dresser where I see a shadowbox containing mementos from my grandmother, Anna Mary Bechtol Porr.  One of the items is a quilt block from one of the myriad quilts she made.  It is hand quilted.  Perhaps some of the fabric was purchased, but the stars were made from scraps of the remnants of a dress or skirt.  Many of the quilts she made were hand pieced.  She didn't have a sewing room - her machine was set up in either the dining room or her bedroom.

I don't know how old Anna was when she began to quilt.  I assume it was when she was quite young.  Her sister Nellie Bechtol Patterson was an accomplished quilter, who in her lifetime made over 500 quilts!  Of course, they were all quilted by hand.  In a newspaper article featuring her prowess, Aunt Nellie recalls that she first learned to quilt when she was five years old - on a set of frames that she used to that very day!  In this same article it said that among her keepsakes was a quilt that her mother, Barbara Ellen Asire Bechtol made using her mother's dresses.  Last year as I was doing some genealogical research on the Asire family, I came across pictures of that very same quilt.  The power of Google!   

I try to picture a grieving Barbara, 33 years old with a young family of her own, washing her mother's dresses, cutting, piecing, and then handquilting the entire quilt.  I hope she found peace and comfort in creating this wonderful keepsake.

Truman Madsen, author and religious scholar, said, "You don't know who you are until you know whose you are."

I never knew my grandmother, Anna.  Likewise my mother never knew her grandmother, Barbara.  My grandmother Anna was born just three years before her grandmother died. As I have gathered their stories they have become real to me.  But as I carry on their wonderful tradition, I feel them close to my heart.  Thank you, Mom, for passing on the skills that began with your Great-grandmother, Elizabeth Conrad Asire teaching her daughter, Barbara, who taught your Mother.

Baby Blessings

Photos courtesy of Brian

We were blessed in the fall with the addition of two new babies to our family.  Abigail was born in October and Benson followed a month later.  In December we gathered in Smithfield for Abigail's blessing and yesterday it was Benson's turn.  I think about all of those from Michael's side of the family and our side of the family as we attended church with them and as Michael pronounced a beautiful blessing upon Benson.  How loved and welcomed this baby is.  He will grow up with the support of many extended family members and that will be a great blessing to him in the years to come.

We had lunch at Megan's home after church.  There was quite a large group.  I often take one of my favorite salads to family gatherings.  It is very easy and can be made with a variety of ingredients.

Basic Spinach Salad

1 bag of baby spinach
Fruit of choice
Nuts of choice
Other optional add-ins:  Craisins, diced cooked bacon, swiss cheese, onion
Dressing:  Brianna's Poppyseed Dressing

My usual mix is with apples and cashews or roasted walnuts.  Clementines are very good to use as the fruit.  I have tried this with other poppyseed dressings, but none of them taste as good as Brianna's.  It is very easy to make for a large group - just increase proportions.  Even the grandchildren will eat this!

Jedis in Training

Thursday night we got a telephone call from Megan inviting us to come down on Friday and play with the kids while she cleaned the house to prepare for Sunday's blessing of Benson.  Ross turned six earlier in the week, so we took his birthday presents down for him.  He is into anything Star Wars.  And since he is, so is his little brother, Lincoln.  I made the Jedi robe for Ross and we gave him the light saber sword.  He was very excited and more than happy to pose for a picture.  He kindly consented to letting Lincoln wear it long enough to get his picture taken as well.

A Nut on My Family Tree

I am a self-proclaimed genealogy geek.  I think there is some genetic disposition towards this.  I had great examples in my own extended family.  My great-aunt, Nellie Bechtol Patterson, kept records for the Bechtol family.  It was always called the Bechtol book.  It was more of a booklet.  It rests in one of my Bechtol file folders.  I used it more before there was such a thing as the Internet and Ancestry.com.  Considering the size of the family, it was a great undertaking - especially in the pre-computer days.  Over 100 years ago Leonard Asire penned the Conrad family tree, a copy of which hangs beside my desk in the den.  My mother kept baby books for each of us.  I have scrapbooks of pictures and documents that provide the framework for the story that each family has.  A few months ago my husband began a blog to share stories of his ancestors.  It inspired me and was one of the reasons I decided to jump on the blog bandwagon.  As I gather my thoughts and ideas look for upcoming pictures and stories of those who occupy the many twigs and branches of the family tree.

In Our Lovely Centerville

We have lived in our home for over 28 years.  I love Centerville.

This is the view out my front window.

 This is what I see from my kitchen window at night. 

But today we are experiencing the only thing I dislike about this beautiful place.  East winds!  It is 13 degrees outside with 30-50 mph winds.  I shudder to think of what that wind chill factor is right now.  We have experienced hurricane-force winds in the past.  It has ripped shingles off our roof, the front door off its hinges, and a shed off of a cement pad.  We saw one piece of that shed the next morning and wondered if the rest of it was resting at the bottom of the Great Salt Lake!  These winds are to continue through the night.  Guess I'll have to pop in the ear plugs tonight.