an art auction

After Ivar drew all the pictures of our farm in the summertime he drew a picture of Troy and Sara's family. And I told him he should draw a family portrait of every family in the Groves clan and have an Art Show where they could buy a work of art for $1. So we set it up in his room, with a post it note for a dollar on each portrait. 

But then Aunt Sara suggested we turn this art show into an art auction. Ivar didn't quite understand what that meant, but as he watched the bidding from his top bunk he started to catch on. The first piece to be auctioned off was the drawing of Mimi and Papa. Ivar's big cousins kept raising the price by twenty-five cents and Papa kept up. Finally at "five dollars!" Rory called the bidding and Papa got his drawing.

Uncle Kyle bought the picture of Ivar and Oma Zina for three dollars. Oma Zina was downstairs because our steps are so steep. Josie won the picture of her family and Toby bid all the way to five dollars for the picture of his family, which included his dad dressed as a bunny and their new puppy, Meg.

 Ivar was thrilled and quite encouraged as an artist.

We went and had cake and coffee, and finally sweet Harriet woke up from her after church nap, just in time for a snuggle from Toby.

Hattie's Dedication

We dedicated Harriet to the Lord today in the presence of our church family. Our pastor explained how baby dedication comes from Hannah, the woman in the Bible who could not conceive a child for years over years, and wept to the Lord that if He gave her a baby she would 'give him to the Lord.' God is faithful and Hannah does conceive and has a little baby boy. And when her baby Samuel is weaned, she fulfills her part of the promise as well, and dedicates him to the Lord...and actually gives him to be raised in the temple. 

Harriet's dedication was similar as we made promises to raise her with the same teachings: to know her Creator, to love her Savior, to come to love the scriptures, and to recognize her gifts in the Holy Spirit. Then the congregation promised to help train her in the ways she should go and to keep our family lifted up in prayer. 

We had the Groves family up with us and it was a sweet visual of all of the love and support this little baby has right in her own family. Just as she was surrounded by family at her baptism. I've said it before, but somewhere, generations before me there was a family that decided to repent of their sins and turn their hearts to Jesus. They started living by faith and not by fear, and listening to God's voice. I don't know who that family was. We only know of Christian ancestors all the way back to Sweden. But whoever they are, they are on my short list of "find first in heaven." Because the legacy they have left...the life they have left their descendants is the real thing and I can't wait to thank them for planting the seed of faith in our family. No joy can top the joy we felt this morning. My heart felt so full and my soul so satisfied. God is good. And that sounds like a cliche until you really know his goodness and then those words ring true right into your core and his love flows through your blood and his Holy Spirit pours out of your every breath. I would wish this hope that I have for every person on the planet. 

Pastor Brent prayed over Hattie, Papa prayed for her, and I read Psalm 91, the Psalm we have nicknamed "Hattie's Psalm," because it has become the promise we have clung to since she was only 5 months in my womb. Then Rory prayed, our friend Danny spoke a powerful prophecy over her life, Max prayed a mighty prayer and Jen spoke a word by calling Hattie's spirit to attention. And when she did, Harriet sat up straight and smiled a huge smile right at her. She listened to each word Jen spoke and confirmed every sentence with a smile so huge we were all captivated. She was receiving those words with joy. It was a joyful morning, full of promises and thanksgivings.

"Because she loves me," says the Lord, "I will rescue her;

I will protect her, for she acknowledges my name.

She will call on me, and I will answer her;

I will be with her in trouble,

I will deliver her and honor her.

With long life I will satisfy her;

and show her my salvation."

Psalm 91: 14-16

off to make-believe Mesa

Ivar and Elsie came down in their swim suits with their suitcases packed and announced that they are "going to Mesa!" They flew on the colorful couch to get there and when they arrived, Ivar pulled a swimming pool out of his suitcase, much like a Mary Poppins bag. He spread out blue towels and then brown towels for the sand. And my heart swelled with pride. This kid has a sweet imagination. And then Elsie declared that the blue blanket that was in the sun was the hot tub. She's a genius!

Hattie was the life guard and made sure everyone stayed safe in the water.

Ivar Art

Ivar spent the whole day working on drawings. All morning he was drawing pictures, "either from last summer or this next one" as he told me. He drew pictures of flying kites in the apple orchard, Rory mowing the "super long grass," a picture of our house and jeep and the garden. He told me of this garden picture that "Dad is picking carrots, those are the wood chips and those are your zinnias, and that's the garden (raised bed) that just had weeds in it." He's got an eye for detail.

This one was hard to photograph because he taped it to the ceiling above his bunk bed before I could get a good shot, but that's the barn with a goat in our goat pens, Rory driving the tractor and Ivar standing on "that part of the steps where the steps turn and go up higher. I'm watching Dad from up there." His artwork delights me to no end.

tea time

In 2005, my sister-in-law Lisa gave me a jar of Aveda Loose Tea. If you've ever had that tea, you know it is amazing and definitely adds to the whole haircut experience. That gift made for a lovely year of cozy drinks.

But it turns out, like a good haircut, that tea was expensive. So when my friend Annie posted on her blog that she had read the ingredients in the Aveda Tea and went to search for its knock-off, I was thrilled. Thank you Annie for being so diligent. She found it! And it's called Yogi Egyptian Licorice Mint Tea. However, it isn't at any of my local stores and apparently she has only been able to find it on Amazon (linked above). But I found something really close at Cub Foods, just without the mint and, as it turns out, I LOVE the stuff without the mint too. Don't be scared of the "licorice" part. It doesn't taste like licorice. It's sweet and an absolute personal favorite.

My other longtime favorite is Harney and Sons African Autumn. I had my first cup at a women's event while talking to my friend Heather. We both had a cup and couldn't carry on a conversation to save our lives because we kept saying, "wow! this tea is awesome. what is this? did you try this one? get the can. what is in it? what is a red bush? ah, cranberry and orange. no wonder we love it." This is my old faithful.  It never disappoints.

And then just last night, while out with friends, I got a cup of Harney and Sons Decaf Hot Cinnamon and loved it. Loved, loved, loved it. And I've been thinking about it so much that it resulted in this blog post on teas that I love. It's another great, sweet-tasting tea that sort of feels like a sugar treat, without actually being one.

These are my top three. I'm realizing now that I tend to not like the really earthy teas. Based on the three teas above, I think I'm basically looking for a sugar drink in a hot tea. If you have more of this sort of tea to add to the mix, I'd love to know!