Depth,not... well, breadth too!

Well, it's been a bit since I last posted, I've thought about posting quite a few times, but it seems like a theme in my life, if I don't commit to just doing it, time has past and the lovely distractions of life keep me from things such as this.

So, I've been very aware of that lately, and I'm not waiting for my house to be sparkling, or fully renovated. I've started a Relief Society group at my house every Friday - Sew Crafty Fridays (is the name too cheesy?) And anyone is invited to do their mending, beading, scrapbooking, heck, I don't care what they do if they come! It's really just an opportunity to get together and develop friendships. Rebecca Weimar has come to do beading and Rosalind Winsor has crocheted, and helped Rebecca bead, Kristine my cousin has come twice with her sweet little Kailey to learn how to quilt, and Nancy Wentzell has come with the kiddies to quilt and such. It's been nice!

At the time of my last post, we decided to finish the basement, and so now, I have two large rooms down there, one with all my craft supplies-- my official sewing room The other has the two RS sewing machines on a table, big open space and an area with a VHS, TV, and toys for the kids. I serve some Herbal Tea, and we sit and chat as we work. I hope more will be interested to come - though, I'm thrilled with how things have gone thus far. I'm just so excited with how much I've learned about these wonderful women, and hope to get to know more!

Also, since my last post we've had a wonderful Christmas, with lots of family, and I was able to stick to my allergen-free diet through the holidays. Justin made a beautiful dresser for Jonah (I was so impressed!) and I made him a lamp, so Jonah now reads books at night once we put him to bed, I got much of the sewing done for the girls, and I think in total, family gifts included, we used about $230 on Christmas. I'm really pleased with that, but the one thing I found hard was that everyone is always so incredibly generous with us, and we gave them sweet little signs that said "Believe" or "Dream" and a homemade card, but I really want to be generous with them next year. I just want to give something really heartfelt, and think of what they would really like and use.

...So Justin's Mom was telling me that her Mother in Law who passed away this year would always tease her for having so much unused yarn, "Shame, Linda, Shame!" Lowell would say! So I told her I would help her use some of her yarn, and so I've been doing some crocheting, making these...



...and these...



...and these...



...and some cloth flowers that look a bit like these...



...out of some old wool pants I used to love.

So hopefully I'll be able to make lots of things to give to our family and friends!

Also, since I posted last, Jonah has lost his first tooth, Mariah is sitting up, and eating a little, and Christina is starting to learn phonics, Justin went to small claims court to try to get paid for some work back in September, our car no longer drives in reverse (but Linda has kindly lent us her car until we can get the car fixed - what a blessing!)Justin's gone a month of no work, and then a month of nothing but work, our computer has crashed, and we've lost all email (which makes me really grateful for a posting I did about Mariah, as our email was where I had kept it; and I hope to ask some friends to send me some of the emails that I had sent to them as I had counted them as journal entries.) Our foresty back yard has been logged and all that's left is hardwoods, which I'm actually quite excited about because that means we get morning sunlight, and a better view of the eight deer that live back there. I've cut all the kids hair - Christina's is cut to her shoulder blades - it looks so sweet, and well, Mariah, I'm cutting it mainly to stimulate some hair growth!(though I really love having a baldish baby!) I've stopped buying juice - water is free! I've started making bread, and it's pancakes, toast or oatmeal breakfast at a fraction of the cost.

You know, this has been one of the hardest times of our lives lately, and we've spent a lot of time pleading with the Lord, but still I have spent much more time thanking Him for all the beauty and plenty and health and love and truth in our lives. I feel sheepish asking for anything really, after all I've been given. If we end up needing to put our home on the market, or make it work with one car, or if I need to get a job, I still know that I've got all that really matters and oh so much more!