Let the Christmas Season Begin!!!!!

The best way to start the Christmas season in Utah is to go to Temple Square in Salt Lake City. Hundreds of workers spent many hours checking bulbs and wrapping strands of lights around trees and bushes on Temple Square and the effect is breathtaking! We went there last night after having gone to a movie, "Australia", which I highly recommend. Then we went to the La Cai restaurant for Vietnamese Pho soup, which is a rich broth with loads of noodles, chopped green onion and strips of beef. You add fresh bean sprouts, Thai basil, a squeeze of lime, fresh jalapeno slices and for my family lots of Sriracha sauce and feast on the heavenly fare. The bowls are huge so I never can finish mine, which is fine as this makes a great breakfast too! So then we went downtown and joined the hundreds of other people wending their way slowly to the square where the lights were so clear and twinkly. They have several Creches on display, as well as hand cut luminaries with greetings in many different languages, that lined the stone flower beds. Believe it or not, there were still some hardy pansies blooming in the beds. It was relatively warm for this time of year so many folks had light jackets on and the atmosphere was festive yet peaceful. A must see if you ever come this way during the holiday season.

The most important reason to be thankful.....

is my faith in God. Without our Heavenly Father, and his son Jesus Christ, none of what we have would be possible. I have been so blessed, even though there have been some very serious tragedies and circumstances in my life, to know that they are up there watching over me. The most precious gift of the gospel has been a lamp to light my way and my wish is that everyone could know and understand this for themselves. May the Lord bless and keep you during your Thanksgiving holiday.

The 6th reason I have to be thankful is friends....

Friends are what keep us from being too weird! If we only focus on family we lose sight of the outside world around us. We forget that service to others keeps us from being too selfish, and that receiving service from others, keeps us humble. Here are three examples, the kids helping paint our house in Oregon. Without them we would have another summer of painting to look forward to. They had fun, and got so much done that I will have little to worry about next year. The next photo shows friends supporting Annie in our celebrating her completion in her Young Women Personal Progress. We have a program at church that encourages our young ladies to develop their talents in many areas of their lives. Annie completed her goals and that day was awarded with a beautiful gold medallion she can wear as a reminder that she can do what she sets out to do, as she stays faithful to her beliefs.
The next photo is of a friend and her grand daughters. I had a class this summer to teach friends how to create the little Santa ornaments I make from gourds. This was so much fun, and gave me such satisfaction that I could share what I know with friends. They went on to create Christmas gifts for family and that is wonderful! I don't have photos of my online friends, but in my ebay group AHA I have met some wonderful creative folks that have shared their talents with all of us so we can learn and grow in our own creativity. I've made new friends, and am enjoying the time I get to spend with them. Friends are so important!

Reason #5 to be thankful......

Knowledge, the knowledge I have now and what I have yet to
gain. I'm grateful for the knowledge I've acquired to be able to create paintings like the one you see here. I'm grateful to know how to gain more knowledge. The freedom to learn, to strengthen the talents we are blessed with, and share with others are all intertwined. And with that freedom to learn, I'm grateful to be able to discern what is right and wrong, and get rid of untruths. Our intelligence, personality, and willingness to choose good over evil are the only things we can take with us into the next life.

Reasons #3 and #4 of

Okay, I'm combining 2 reasons, one because we were gone yesterday

and secondly because they go together.
I'm so grateful for this great country we live in, for the freedoms we enjoy because of men like my father in law, who went to war and fought to keep this nation and other nations free from tyranny. I'm grateful for our flag and the symbol it stands for, the founding fathers who were inspired by God to do what they did so we could have all that we do.

7 Reasons to be thankful..... #2

Second on my list of what I'm grateful for is great food! I love to cook from scratch and as I was taught by mom, cooking is a form of creativity. We had a fund raiser 2 weeks ago for a woman who lost her husband and a leg in a motorcycle accident. I found a killer German chocolate cake recipe, and happen to have two Tiara cake pans that Duncan put out years ago. The only place you can find them now is in a thrift store. But I like the fact that you can get two luscious cakes out of one recipe. Each cake comes out looking like a ruffled version of the strawberry short cakes you can buy at grocery stores, plus they're larger. So I created a chocolate creme cheese filling for the center and here is the result. It disappeared literally over night as my husband is a midnight snacker...lol.
We are so blessed in this country that we have so many choices of foods to eat. Even treats like pomegranite, which I buy every year so I can share with my girls, just as mom did. Or the fact that if we want, we can raise our own turkeys, or just run to the store. There are many around the world with no such choice, so I am very grateful.

7 Reasons to be thankful.....

The first reason to be thankful is family. Where would we be without
them? I'm grateful for any
time I have with my
family, and wish I could
put all their photos here. My creative ventures allow me to afford travel to see family, and help where needed so I'm especially grateful for that!

Santa's and Snowman

It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood, how about yours? We have Santas and snowmen all over the place, just waiting patiently for Thanksgiving to pass so they can be about their business. What? You already have a snowman in your backyard? Well here's one that will never melt, and can bring smiles to all that see him!
The little Santa is created from a re-purposed Vanilla bottle, so he's only 8 inches tall, but he's loaded with personality. The larger Santa is my 2nd in a limited series of driftwood Santas I do each year. Stop by my ebay store today and see what else is happening there.

Autumn Folk Art Scene

The sheep are grazing quietly while the day is colored by the beauty of Autumn. It's cool out so the fire has been lit in the fireplace to ward off the chill. pumpkins are ready for harvesting, and apples await their journey to the root cellar where they will patiently sit until someone has a craving for a crisp, juicy slice with their lunch. The chickens are gleaning a bit of grain kernels that have been harvested already, and the air is still as mother nature holds her breath in anticipation of the upcoming holidays......


A peaceful scene up for your consideration on ebay

North to Alaska......

I just checked the temperature in North Pole, Alaska and it's "1" degree right now. Brrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!! As I sit here in balmy Utah I'm thinking I don't miss those cold temps! I do miss friends, but not the weather.
But, speaking of Alaska, my latest gourd Santa
was created with all my North woods friends in mind. He sports a nice cap with pine cone and needles, and has a pine cone and needle spray on his coat. Brings back many great memories.
The next Santa was created using clay on a piece of driftwood I picked up at Wallowa Lake, Oregon. My first driftwood piece of the season, he is very tall, at 20" and will add a stately spark to your Santa collection. They are both on ebay right now.

A Santa and Keep

I hope you are enjoying this season so far. Halloween is past and it's time to look forward to the next holidays coming up. Since Santa is my specialty you will be seeing him a lot here. This time I've created a Santa over a gourd, but decided to add a special "Keep" to store him and another ornament or two. Perhaps you could give the two as a gift, already "packaged". I hand painted this paper mache box and each piece comes signed and dated. As always, click on the title above to view this listing on ebay. Thanks for stopping by!