Christmas for the Birds

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

Matthew 6:26

After hearing this verse used in a sermon at church, it got me thinking about those sweet little birds (and our pet squirrel Elizabeth). After all, it was almost Christmas, and they should get a special something for being our feathered and furry friends... Sure, the Lord takes care of them. But maybe we could do something extra special for them in this happy Christmas season?

So one evening before Christmas, Quinn and I set to work. We gathered bird seed, and using a recipe I found here, we started making ornaments.

The recipe used corn syrup, and it made the mixture super sticky! Thankfully, it wasn't too difficult to press into our cookie cutters.

Now it was time to make the holes for hanging them!

Some colorful bendy straws made the perfect thing to make the holes. 
Now all we had to do was wait...

But we're not the type to just sit around, so we spent the rest of our evening making popcorn, cranberry, and peanut garlands. 

We were going to make some birds very, very happy!

The next morning dawned beautifully, with a cold wind blowing snow about in the meadows. With no snow or rain coming down, it was the perfect time to take a walk.

We gathered the family together and we were off down one of the forest trails near our home to find the perfect tree!

Laura followed behind us, skipping all the way:

Soon we left the main path and wandered out in the meadows and muskegs for a bit, searching around carefully.

Abigail and I each carried a basket packed with the tree trimmings Quinn and I had made the night before.

Finally, we found what we were looking for!
And adorable little hemlock tree, the perfect Christmas tree for the birds and little creatures of the meadow.

The birdseed ornaments we had made turned out wonderfully, and oh-so pretty to look at!

A twist of candy-stripped baker's twine to hang them and they were ready for the tree!



Now all that was left to do was to decorate the tree!

Everyone had a wonderful time trimming the little hemlock tree with presents for the birds, and the tree looked magical when we finished:

A very happy sight to be seen just off the trail.

Oh! But don't worry, we remembered the friends at our home too! We made something very extra special for them...

With some leftover birdseed and cranberries, we made them a yummy wreath as a Christmas present.
Our squirrel friend Elizabeth has inspected it and we think she approves!
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Don't forget your feathered and furry friends this cold season, I'm sure they would all like to wake up to a birdseed wreath hanging up in your garden.

An Evening of Music

   Not too long ago, we heard the sad news that our dear friends the Truitts were going to be moving away from Juneau. This called for a going-away party filled with music and yummy desserts (I mean...dinner). 

   Lots of our friends came over for the evening to wish the Truitts off on their new adventure, and the evening ended wonderfully with home-made raspberry pie (made by Quinn and I from our very heavy raspberry bushes). 

Now, we need to clear something up with you. 

Very often in our travels (and sometimes even here in Juneau), people will come up to us after a show and they seem to think all we do in our free time is sit in front of our fireplace on cold winter evenings and play music happily together. 

And that's sort of true...

Yes, there are lots of cold winter evenings.

Yes, there is a lot music played in front of the fireplace.

But no. We are practicing. 

We very seldom just get together and play for fun.

(though yes, practice is a lot of fun sometimes)

Getting together with friends and just playing music seldom happens outside of Folk Fest week here in our house, so this evening spent with four guitars, two fiddles, a banjo, a bass and a piano was absolutely wonderful.

The night turned into a worship service/talent show, and we filmed parts of it to capture the moments we shared with everyone. 

We hope you like this little look into a very special evening:

"For where two or three gather in my name,

 there am I with them."

Matthew 18:20

A Mother's Day Well Spent

Hello everyone! 

We wish you a happy late Mother's Day!

We spent our Mother's Day out in the sunshine!

After a busy morning at church, we all met at home to sit out on the front porch and have lunch together.

Abigail had been very creative!

She had hung jars of flowers and candles to set the mood for our Mother's Day meal.

In just a week, the flowers in Melissa's garden have grown abundantly! Pretty daffodils and tulips graced the porch, and with the sunshine, it felt like summer indeed!

Meanwhile, Paul was busy on the back porch with the grill, and soon the smells coming from the backyard had us all longing for lunch time!

Days like these are best spent with the people you love, and that's just what we did.

I feel so blessed to have two mothers now in my life, as a married woman. And I know our whole family would not be the same if Melissa wasn't here. 

For one thing, we would be a person short in our badminton playoffs!

Oh yes, we are all soooooo stylish!

 

After our lovely lunch out on the front porch, we all gathered in the backyard for what will go down in our family as the stuff of legend: the epic badminton tournament! 

Melissa and Abigail were up first, one verses the other. 

Though Mom tried hard (and it came down to two points difference), Abby won!

Next up was Quinn and I! 

We were tied up until the very end...but Quinn took the win.

(Shhhh! I actually let him win. But don't tell him!)

Quinn and Dad played next, with the winner of the match slated to play against Abigail in the final playoffs.

It was a close match, and us girls screamed and cheered them on!

Quinn won it at the last possible moment, and so he and Abby got ready to go head to head!

Quinn had an interesting way of getting ready...

Well let me tell you, it was a hard battle. 

Quinn started off in the lead, hitting the shuttlecock back and forth fearfully over the net. But Abigail took over and scored several points as well! It came down to 4 - 4, with 5 points needed to win the game.

Who would triumph!?

Quinn! He was the victor!

Because he won, he took on all three girls! 

We started out very good (I got two points right off the bat!), but even though there were three against one, Quinn still took the gold.

Congratulations Quinn, 

you are the supreme badminton master.

Though we must warn you that Mom has said she is going to start practicing so she can beat you, LOOK OUT!

After all the excitement of the day, Melissa wandered off to her happy place: her garden.

We hope all you mothers our there felt loved and cherished yesterday!

We wish you a very happy Mother's Day!

May Day Sneakiness

If you asked my younger sister Bethany (whom I shared a room with for 20 years) she would probably tell you there was really only one thing (besides all the other things) that made it hard to live with me: my silly desire to craft - on the floor - with all of my craft supplies in full view. 

Quinn has learned since being married to me that there is simply no getting around this part of me. 

Yes. 

We may have a perfectly good table. 

We may have a very nice counter top.

Nothing is as nice for me to craft on as the floor.

(sorry Quinn)

All that being said, I made a delightful mess on the floor this week to make May Day baskets for our families! 

Quinn can remember doing this with Melissa and his sisters when they were very young, but I have never had the opportunity (and the idea of leaving flowers on someone's door was just so romantic, I just had to do it!).

So I cut out butterflies, made paper cones, and a few staples and some hot glue later...they were ready!

But the best part was still yet to come!

Some of you may not know this, so I'll share it again: Before I ever met Quinn, I worked in a florist shop for two years during college. I simply love flowers, and there's nothing that brings me more pleasure (other than crafting on the floor) then arranging flowers.

The hardest part is always deciding which flowers to take home...

But then the fun part comes! 

Putting the May Day bouquets together!

Ours whipped up in quite a hurry and soon we were off to deliver them!

(Because that's the sneaky part!)

With May Day basket in hand, Quinn ran up to our Aunt and Uncle's house (their little dog barking loudly at the door - we were sure they would catch us in the act!).

But they didn't! And we were able to make a clean get-away!

Run, Quinn! Run!

I think Quinn and I both agree that the best part was sneaking up to our families' homes, ringing the doorbell after hanging the baskets and running back to the car. We can proudly say we were not caught by anyone (unless you count Paul. It's hard to do it at your own parents house...especially when you live right next door)!

Melissa and Abigail both praise the grace that I have when dancing on stage...but there wasn't much grace to be seen as I ran as fast as I could from our grandparent's house (and bonked my head on the car door as we made a run for it).

Such grace! Such beauty!

Well...maybe not.

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We hope you had a Happy May Day!