A gift from the heart!

I have the best guests! FOR REAL!! I enjoy what I do every day because of the people I do it for! My family and I are so blessed to rub shoulders with really good people, every day of our lives, in our own home. They come in as strangers and leave as family. We really enjoy our guests.

This gift from one of our guests, Rae from Colorado Springs, arrived in the mail the other day. This beautiful artwork was custom created for our family after her stay with us. The back says "Made with love for the Redford Family. Love Rae. Sego Lilly-Utah State Flower & White Hawthorn-Missouri State Flower" 

Rae and her husband Nate stayed with us for her birthday. He spoiled her while she was here with cute flowers from Tracy at Twig's Rust & Dust and Chocolate covered strawberries from Nellie's Sweet Shoppe. Then, she spoils me with this beautiful artwork!

I will be completely Honest with you...I cried, a lot. What a thoughtful gift! I am searching for the perfect frame because I will TREASURE IT ALWAYS!

Blue Diamond Jewelers

Blue Diamond Jewelers

For 30 years, the expert artisans at Blue Diamond Jewelers have been creating and preserving stunning jewelry. All repairs are done in-store with a quick turn around time so you don’t have to be away from your precious jewelry for weeks. 
They specialize in creating unique new jewelry and in preserving your jewelry to last for generations. Their jeweler believes that what he does is an art form, and takes pride in his work. Everything they create is a masterpiece. 

Blue Diamond Jewelers, the experienced jewelers specialize in the following:

Custom Jewelry
Jewelry Repair
Engagement Rings
Watch Batteries

Recently our family went to Blue Diamond Jeweler for a family activity night..opening an oyster to find a pearl inside! These oysters have lab created pearls that are all beautiful, bright colors.

Charlie lucked out and got twins! So did Cameron. So cool!

Look at these beautiful pearls!

Then, Blue Diamond can take those pearls and insert them into the jewelry of your choice! 

We chose to put them in pendants of the Missouri Star and a Sewing Machine.

Blue Diamond Jewelers is located at 103 South Davis in Hamilton, Missouri. That's just one block south of the Missouri Star Quilt Shops and next to Nellie's Sweet Shoppe.

If you need jewelry customization, re-sizing, or just want to find a variety of the highest quality jewelry available in Hamilton, MO, visit Blue Diamond Jewelers.

Don't worry we washed down the countertop at Home Inn Hamilton really good when we were all done!

World's Largest Spool of Thread

The World's Largest Spool of Thread  

22 feet tall, 8 feet wide and contains more than 1,000,000 (ONE MILLION) YARDS OF THREAD!!

The spool is located at 300 East Bird Street in Hamilton, Missouri. The block (and building behind it) are the future home of the Missouri Quilt Museum.

Ryan and Dakota Redford         along with their 4 children         (and a few community friends) hand spooled all one million yards, donated by Aurifil Thread.       Karen Miller from Redbird Quilt Co, is an Aurifilosopher       (pictured here with the Redford Family on the day of reveal). She coordinated the donation of thread by Aurifil.

Since the unveiling of the spool on September 19, 2018 many visitors to the city of Hamilton have also contributed to the monument by adding their own thread, which is highly encouraged! We are currently awaiting the official notification from Guinness on its official designation as the World's Largest Spool of Thread. For now, we know its HUGE!!

Add this to your list of "to do's" while visiting Hamilton. Stop by for a photo op, add some thread and then brag to your friends that you know what 1,000,000 yards of thread look like!

To locate the spool in town, turn East at HyKlas grocery store and travel 2 blocks.

Lego Sewing Machine Fundraiser

Missouri Quilt Museum is the official museum for quilts in the State of Missouri. It is located at 300 East Bird Street in Hamilton, Missouri.

The building was erected in the early 1900's then taken down by fire in 1917. It was reconstructed and opened again in 1921 and was used as a school house until 2009.

Ryan and Dakota Redford purchased the building in 2018 with the intention of opening the quilt museum. In addition to 3 Quilt Galleries it will also house a SAD iron exhibit, Toy Sewing Machine exhibit, Antique Machine exhibit including treadles, a thimble exhibit-donated by RV Quilters, and other notions as well as Spinning Wheels, Looms and other textile novelties.

Also planned is a sewing themed miniature golf course, Hummingbird Garden, and already on site The World's Largest Spool of Thread sponsored by Aurifil Thread. The museum is scheduled to open in the fall of 2019.

As with any other non-profit organization the museum will rely on public donations and corporate sponsorships to cover its construction and operating costs. Look for fundraising opportunities on Hamilton's Community Calendar.

There is no question that the Redford boys are entrepreneurs. They love to come up with business ideas and ways to earn extra money for their activities. When they decided to build Lego Sewing Machines to raise funds for the Missouri Quilt Museum, I have to say I was pretty proud! What a great idea!

After many prototypes and a lot of fun in the Lego bins, they designed a beautiful machine!

Each machine is roughly 2.5 x 2.5 inches in size. They are made up of  22 Lego Bricks. They can be purchased loose to build it yourself or already constructed for a DONATION of $25 or more to the Missouri Quilt Museum

To purchase a Lego Sewing Machine or for other donations to the Missouri Quilt Museum please visit www.missouriquiltmuseum.com

Thoughtful gift

Today in the mail I received this beauty!

This piece of art was designed with my family in mind. The inscription on the back says 

" Made with love for the Redford Family. 

Sego Lilly- Utah State Flower

White Hawthorn- Missouri State Flower"

I have said and always will say "I have the best guests". But, it's not just something I say. I wholeheartedly believe that I do. They prove it every day! They are kind, thoughtful, generous, funny, good people. 

Rae and her husband Nate stayed with us two weeks ago. They are absolutely delightful! 

I am so grateful Rae decided to create this for us. And I am grateful that God knew it would be a good day for me to receive it. He is good. 

Thank you Rae, this I will treasure always, along with your friendship!

True LOVE

Les & Joyce Schroeppel

THIS!! These two people right here. THIS is what life is ALL about! 

Do you know that my grandparents have 11 children, 51 grandchildren and pushing 100 great grands? WHAT!? How? I will tell you how, LOVE. 

My grandparents share LOVE with each other and everyone else too. They serve. They give. Why? Their love for their Savior, Jesus Christ. That's it!

If I learn anything in this life is to love the Lord they way they showed thru word and action. 

Grandpa has been gone almost 8 years now, but grandma just keeps plugging along. She knows that Christ will bring her back with her husband again someday. So she keeps loving, she keeps serving and we are blessed to have her example, laugh and embrace each day of this journey. Love you Grandpa and Grandma and Thank You!

Melt my momma heart!

Missouri Star Quilt Company prints a wonderful publication multiple times a year called Block Magazine. Block is AMAZING!!! Not only is it printed on quality paper, it is full color, it has 10 quilt patterns and stories about quilting, life and happiness! 

Every so often, I get a call from the Photography team asking if they can shoot at the B&B, hotel, etc. for Block. I always say "yes!" how fun! There have been two such occasions that they didn't want the location, but my kids!! And of course, that is a resounding YES!

Charlie and Jack had the opportunity to be in the most recent BLOCK. 

I absolutely LOVE how Mike captured their expressions in this picture. 

ABSOLUTELY PRICELESS!!!

Last time they did a shoot they got to eat donuts during the shoot. This time, play video games. They were much obliged! Hard work!!

What a fun opportunity for these boys. Jenny signed their copies of Block and they love them. Thank you MSQC and their photography team! 

Oh and Natalie edits the Block and I absolutely adore her. So there's that!!

Snow, snow and more snow!

My first few experiences with winter in Hamilton were relatively mild. We did have some freezing rain each January and January 2018 was bitter cold, but other than that, compared to Utah winters it was a breeze! Maybe a few inches of snow fall total and a few snow days (freezing rain days if we are being honest). This year however, yowza!

The winter season started out a little crazy and should have been the indicator for how this winter would go. A snow storm in October? Yes. It has just continued to "snowball" from there! 

Although we are homeschooled, we do participate in seminary. This is an early morning bible study class that takes place in our "Man Cave" every school day. When there is no school, no seminary. Unfortunately this year there have been so many school cancellations/seminary cancellations. As a matter of fact there were 10 snow days just in the month of January! Here we are most of the way thru February and it is echoing January. Snow, snow and more snow. Ice, ice and more ice. AND LOTS OF NO SCHOOL SNOW DAYS! Half of all school days have been cancelled due to weather. Unfortunately for my children, a snow day is still a school day. Although we have managed to make snow forts part of our engineering classes and sledding part of our science and math classes!

We are told that this years snow fall is more than the last 3 years combined. And, it looks as if by the end of the season we will have been able to combine the last 5 years of snowfall. We may complain a little bit, however, with the drought we have experienced the last few years, and especially the dire conditions our area experienced summer 2018, we welcome all the snow pack possible. This is a blessing and the farmers in our area are rejoicing and hoping for great conditions for the coming growing season.

Jenny on the Road to Texas!

Jenny on the Road!! Waco, Texas

It was so fun having all the kids with us on this trip. These littles had a blast together and of course, were completly enamoured with Jaylynn. She is the best!

Smart enough to take a quick picture of Meg with the boys. I don't know how, though, that these are the only pictures I captured all day!?! We were hopping, it was awesome!

So, we drove down to Waco to volunteer with Missouri Star Quilt Company for Jenny's on the Road trunk show. Two packed houses of guests! Jackson and Charlie were greeters to hold the doors and say hello! Cameron, Brandon and Ryan were parking attendants. ( A TON OF CARS!) and I helped with Registration. I had a small panic attack mid-day when I counted the tshirts and we were short nearly 75 shirts!! Then, Meg calmed me down, said the Lord always makes it work out, and walked away! WHAT!? How could she be so calm. About 30 minutes later we found another case of shirts and the crisis was averted. How does she do that!? 

Between the two shows we helped clean the theater and restock the pop up shop for the next group of attendees. I really like helping stock the merchandise. After the second show, I helped shout out the daily deal and sell "on the road exclusive" quilt kits. SO FUN!

After all the guests had gone we began the task of take down. The boys were a ton of help with this and we were so glad to have their young energetic souls to push us to get it done and of course their muscles to haul it out. All the MSQ employees kept commenting on how much faster it went with the boys help!

I am so glad that I could go help. I am SOOO glad when we get to volunteer and see Meg in action, she is amazing! And of course, watching Jenny in her trunk shows is absolutely a blast! So, yes, we had a great time and were glad we could go and volunteer!

Texas Waffles

It may sound silly but finding a hotel with waffles shaped like TEXAS!?! One of the highlights of our trip!! LOL.

 As you can see we made quite a few of these beauties. We couldn't get enough! Is it possible that Texas shaped waffles taste better than regular waffles? Maybe!!

 We surely enjoyed continental breakfast at our hotels for the first few days. Then we were ready for a larger variety of cereal, haha!! Either way, having someone make breakfast for me for a change was WEIRD!! Ryan makes breakfast often, especially when we don't have guests at the house, but having someone else make it all together just felt nuts~ most days I just ate a yogurt and granola or a piece of fruit. I was ready to get home to Croissant French Toast and REAL biscuits and gravy..the stuff from the can is nasty, y'all!

Cathedral of Junk

Cameron's Heaven on Earth!

One the list of things to do in Austin Texas, was the Cathedral of Junk.

Right away, we knew this was right up our alley!

Quite literally, this man began stacking and welding junk together in his backyard. Not without a plan, though, as it has openings to come and go throughout. 

There is a section of all yellow items.

I loved that he found enough stuff for color coded sections!

You know me, searching for the sewing machine that has to be in this old stack somewhere!

How did I get a selfie of Nick? I dunno, but I am glad that I did!!

This section is where you can go upstairs to the second and third floors. Yes, this stands 3 stories tall!!

We were just astonished by his totally eclectic and cool tower of junk. He has been amassing the items for years. What started out a lot smaller grew over time. Eventually the city of Austin made him submit plans for the structure and he has to keep a current business license. It is by appointment only, cash donations accepted and appreciated. A fun and quirky touristy stop!

Amazed by You!!

Happy Valentine's Day to my sweetheart!!

There is no question that I am absolutely spoiled rotten! Every day he shows me how someone is supposed to be loved. He treats me the way God see's me, and he helps me to see my own potential. I am so grateful to Ryan for taking a chance on the immature, a little bratty, extremely emotional young lady. He has helped me become who I am today. 

A long way to go but look how far we have come!!

This is a picture of our wedding day, February 5, 2000 at the Mount Timpanogos Temple, American Fork, Utah.

So, now I have to brag on him a little more!! 

Fast forward to February 5, 2019

Here we are, 19 years to the day later! Same temple, same spot, same two hearts that have grown a lot larger and fonder for one another and for God.

For our anniversary Ryan asked me to dress in church clothes; he was taking me to the temple. A few days prior he said he was taking me "overnight to the city for our anniversary". So I packed a bag, put on a dress and out the door we went. About 45 minutes from the house I said "oh no, I don't think I brought my wallet and my temple recommend is in there" He responded with "uhhh, you are going to need your wallet...for more than one reason.

Well, he took me to "the city" (Kansas City, Missouri) where we promptly got on a plane...definitely needed my wallet (During the flight he showed me a 1 1/2 hour slide show; pictures of our lives together with our children. He is so the BEST!) and flew to "the city" (Salt Lake City, Utah) and then drove to our temple!! 

He took me back to the place where we were sealed for time and all eternity on our anniversary even though it is states away!! 

SPOILED!?!?! YES!!

Ryan had printed names from Family Search to take with us to the temple so that we could do family sealings. This allows other families to be eternal. And we did it in the same place that we started our eternal family 19 years previous, almost to the hour!!

After the temple we headed to my mom and dad's bridal shop, Veronica Michaels Bridal, to say hello to them! Good thing, if mom found out we were in Utah, albeit 36 hours, and didn't stop to say hello...TROUBLE!

After visiting with my parents for a bit we headed back to SLC to our hotel, Anniversary Inn. For years (as long as I can remember) I have dreamed about staying in this cute BnB. It is so romantic and each room is themed, LOVE!! We checked in and then headed to Cheesecake Factory for dinner. I got my mainstay.. Thai Lettuce Wraps--oh they make me so happy! YUM! We also enjoyed bread with vinegar and oil (my favorite) and then of course a piece of cheescake. Mango something or other. It was so good!

The night does not end there, no it does not! WICKED!! Yes, he took me to see WICKED. This is the second time on our anniversary that he has brought me to WICKED. He could repeat it every year and I would never, ever complain. I absolutely love this show!

As we were moving about downtown between dinner and show, etc. the snow was falling so gently. Beautiful, like out of a movie, or fairy tale. My own fairy tale! 

We awoke the next morning to over a foot of the white powdery stuff. It was incredibly beautiful but the roads were terrible! He then surprised me with a little time with my bestie, Cindy  Lou Who. We got pedicures and ate at Cafe Rio. I absolutely LOVE Cafe Rio and we do not have ONE in Missouri! Then he picked me back up and whisked me away to some shopping before heading back to the airport. It was an absolutely beautiful way to spend our anniversary. 

When we were dating Ryan sent me a CD of Lonestar with our song "Amazed". I was shocked and totally enamored. He did not listen to or like country music, but for me, he made it ours!

Every time our eyes meet
This feeling inside me
Is almost more than I can take
Baby, when you touch me
I can feel how much you love me
And it just blows me away
I've never been this close to anyone or anything
I can hear your thoughts, I can see your dreams

I don't know how you do what you do
I'm so in love with you
It just keeps getting better
I want to spend the rest of my life with you by my side
Forever and ever
Every little thing that you do
Baby, I'm amazed by you

The smell of your skin
The taste of your kiss
The way you whisper in the dark
Your hair all around me
Baby, you surround me
Touch every place in my heart
And it feels like the first time every time
I want to spend the whole night in your eyes

I don't know how you do what you do
I'm so in love with you
It just keeps getting better
I want to spend the rest of my life with you by my side
Forever and ever
Every little thing that you do
Baby, I'm amazed by you

Every little thing that you do
I'm so in love with you
It just keeps getting better
I want to spend the rest of my life with you by my side
Forever and ever
Every little thing that you do, oh
Every little thing that you do
Baby, I'm amazed by you

Want to hear the song? Follow this youTube link to their official music video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-skFgrV59A

Ryan I love you so very much! Thank you for choosing me to be the Queen in your kingdom and treating me as such. I love you, my King!! 

Juan in a Million

So, when you are in Texas you look for good Mexican Food. When we heard the name of this place we knew that we couldn't go wrong. I give you  "Juan in a Million"

We were in what most would call a sketchy neighborhood. (That is when you KNOW its gonna be good!) And, then when we arrived to a hole in the wall (another good sign) place, we are golden!

Next sign for a good mexican restaurant is that you are the only light skinned people there including the staff (not trying to be insensitive, but telling you how to find good food). AND BOY OH BOY it was good food! 

The chips were deep fried, perfectly salty and made from scratch. The tortillas, yummo. The salsa made your nose run...yep, that's what I like! Every dish was well made with good size portions. I don't know when we will be in Austin again, but I will definitely make Juan in a Million a stopping place! 

This is my brother Nick. He and his sweet wife live in Austin and we were so happy to spend some time with them there. Unfortunately Nicole was at work when we went to Juan in a Million. I hope Nick treats her to a date there sometime. She would enjoy it!

Diners Drive Ins and Dives

Cameron is obsessed with Food network and more specifically Guy Fieri. Cameron is our food guru and he and guy have the same taste buds! Cam is always looking up the best place to eat for when we travel. One of the stops that we enjoyed was featured on Diners Drive In's and Dives. We really enjoyed this old Diner. 

Jackson, of course, was tickled with the jukebox. 

And I was enamored by the bar. How cool! They had a window, a bell, the whole thing! Picture perfect. We really liked Bun -n- Barrel 

The food was good too. We all left stuffed and enjoyed stepping back in time for a bit.

Love 2 Quilt Deal!!

From now until the end of February we are running a special on our website. 25% off all rooms booked before the end of the month at

Home Inn Hamilton, Bed & Breakfast, 

with reservation dates before July 31, 2020. 

Take advantage of this great sale NOW!!

Use promo Code: LOVE2QUILT

Home Inn Hamilton

4011 NW State Hwy P

Hamilton, MO 64644

435-849-2564

The Alamo

Remember the Alamo!

We are going to need to dig deep for this one. Haha! I was so in love with the Alamo that I didn't take hardly any pictures! Some places within do not allow pictures, but how I missed the places that did? We spent a few hours at the Alamo and I was fascinated by all of the displays, the grounds, the trees, the video, the construction. Beautiful!

The Alamo is an important part of American & Mexican history. It is one the events that shape modern day America. I believe that many of the stories, like this one, are being lost in our history books, but we should know about them, study them and learn from them!

To be honest, when I was the age of my oldest boys, the only thing I knew about the Alamo was from PeeWee Herman's Big Adventure! Haha! I am glad that I have dug deeper into it's history and learned more about the events that took place there. 

Now, the construction. Who doesn't love the beauty of this building? Spanish construction is so striking to me. So "period" looking. I enjoy wandering thru old buildings and only wished I could have run my hands along the walls. I am sure plenty of people do, but I was obedient and didn't. Rats!

The pecan trees had dropped their nuts and we fed them to the Koi fish that were swimming around in the canals at the Alamo. These guys were huge! And boy oh boy did they love us feeding them pecans. A few visitors to the Alamo had paper bags that they were collecting pecans in to take home and snack on for themselves! The koi were all different colors and up to 2 feet long. 

TOILET SEAT MUSEUM?

Yes you read that right!! A toilet seat muesum! We were more than thrilled, DELIGHTED, to come across this unusual museum in San Antonio, Texas. Over a thousand toilet seats each telling a story.   What is a museum if it doesn't tell a story? This story is awesome!!

Barney Smith, the 90 something year old "curator" of this museum was a riot! He barely hobbled out from his home to the garage where he opened the door to reveal his collection of artwork, all on toilet seats. This collection is more than just art, it's a history museum as well! Barney had seats documenting most large events in the United States over the last 75 years. This one, has an actual piece of The Challenger space shuttle.            How cool is that? This is the "Million Dollar Toilet Seat".  It has a million shredded dollars glued to it's face. WHAT!? 

 As we walked around the garage, converted museum, we found story after story. Barney sat in his char and would say, "8 seats down on your right, 3rd row from the top is the..." and proceed to tell us the story behind that seat. He knew where all of them were. He had a story or three for each! It was awesome. Someone made a seat for Barney with a trophy that said "King of the Commode". He proudly displays it!

 Barney keeps meticulous records. Each person visiting the museum was asked to sign in. He also has everyone sign a seat! Then, next to your name on the guest list, he records which seats you signed while you were there? How do you qualify to sign a seat? Well, whatever fits into your story! For instance, we all signed the Missouri Seat. (the one Bdog is holding). A Missouri License plate is on the front and signatures cover the rest, with the date of when you visit.  Ryan signed the Eagle Scout seat. We found a seat that was signed by the Senior Center of Springville Utah. Another item to add to his collection. 

This was categorized as the World's Widest Toilet Seat. Haha. He had just cut a seat in half and added a board in between!!

As you can see here, one for every olympics, one with a piece of Sadam Hussein's toilet glued to a seat, one for every state, one for every president (I like that idea), one for every Anniversary he and his wife shared before her passing. He has journaled his life and his history in toilet seats.

We really enjoyed this crazy museum. More than what we saw, though, we enjoyed the man behind it. We stuck around for a while and did a little service for Barney. We were happy to discover that so many people had enjoyed his museum for so long that it would be moving from his home garage, in a regular neighborhood, to an ACTUAL MUSEUM. His hometown will be honoring him but displaying each seat in the Barney Smith Toilet Seat Museum near Dallas, Texas. 

Go, enjoy his sweet collection, but more than that, enjoy the man that built it!