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!

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!! 

See, the pond!

The view from the deck is really just stunning. There is a great tranquility and peace in overlooking such beauty. These waters aren't always quiet and serene, more often than not there are kids splashing and playing and laughing as the enjoy the cool water on a summer day.

 We know that our guests will enjoy the pond as much as we do. We use it often, so should you! We have fishing gear and bait. GREAT FISHING at the pond (if there are not kids swimming at the same time, lol.) We have crappie, catfish, bluegill and large mouth bass. They are beauties and plentiful!

We also have paddle boat, kayak, canoes, paddle boarding and life jackets of course!

 

FIREPIT!

What cute house in the country is complete without a firepit? 

None, I tell you, not one!!

Just behind the main house the previous family had cemented around a trampoline. I saw this as the perfect opportunity to create a round fire pit and surrounding area. There is a picnic table that sits along side and large stack of firewood for all guests to enjoy. In the summer months our family enjoys a nice Sunday fireside each week at 7 pm. All are invited to join us! We hold a prayer, small devotional and then roast marshmallows, of course! There is something incredible about God's spirit around a fire. BEAUTIFUL! 

Right now it is winter and I am aching to get out to the fire again. I could do it, but the -1* on my thermostat this morning tells me to hang out inside by the fire instead. I did find an indoor Smores recipe too. Not the same, but it will suffice, for now! Thank you to A Kitchen Addiction for helping me survive the winter!

Oh the romance of a GAZEBO

Spending a spring day here... YES!

I absolutely adore this gazebo. What a great way to spend the day relaxing, reading a book or shooting the breeze with family and friends. Guests at the Bed and Breakfast love to sit here and enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning. Me, I will sit here any time of day!

The gazebo is attached to the expansive deck. Both overlook the beautiful acreage and ponds that we call "our backyard". God loves me, I tell you! There is no greater peace than relaxing with His creations all around you. I love living in the country, and I love living in Missouri.

Here is a back view of the main house with the fire pit at the left, the deck and gazebo. Oh, how beautiful!

Let's talk about food for a minute.

You may have already learned this about me, but I love food!

One of my favorite things about food is that it brings people together around the table to talk. More specifically, my table. I absolutely love feeding the tummies of those that then sit and build relationships that feed their hearts and souls. THIS is WHY I HAMILTON! This is why I love owning a Bed & Breakfast. This is why I like to make good food.

This picture is taken on a typical weekday around our table. This menu is requested often by guests, albeit quite simple. Breakfast Casserole, Muffins and Fruit and Yogurt Parfait. I make a mean yogurt in the Instant Pot but as a tip, I LOVE (and often use) the Great Value Vanilla Yogurt. IT is delicious!!

Lady of the Lake

What Bed & Breakfast would be complete without an Anniversary Suite? This one will knock your socks off!

This guest suite is undoubtedly my favorite and the one I sneak time in every so often. It is absolutely beautiful. I love that when you get to the top of the slightly turning staircase (wider at the top than at the bottom and curved to the right, just a little) double doors open into this suite. Romantic much?

The canopy bed is exactly what this room was beckoning for. With hints of burgundy and gold, this room sweeps you off your feet.

Large windows guide your eye to the large green backyard and a beautiful view of the water, hence its name, Lady of the Lake. This is our largest suite and boasts a queen size bed and a queen size sofa sleeper in its own sitting room!

The sitting room is large enough for a full size couch, love seat and over sized armchair. The TV is nestled in nicely along one of the walls. My favorite feature of the sitting room, though, is the gas fireplace. What a way to spend a weekend. 

This giant suite would not be complete without this HUGE powder room. Double sinks and large mirror assist in dolling yourself up for the day. The walk in shower has a rain shower head and the stool is behind its own door. The best feature though, is the large JETTED TUB with huge picture window overlooking that beautiful view of the property. (There are shades that pull down, of course!) This suite always make me feel a little full of myself, but everyone deserves to feel like a queen occasionally! This suite will do just that!

Fun & Fancy

I really enjoyed designing and decorating the Fun & Fancy suite. It is sooo different from the rest. This suite has a lilac purple wall color. The young lady who lived in this room before we bought the house had recently painted it to be exactly what she wanted. I vowed to keep it, for a time. I love it! I decided instead of the natural wood work we would go with silver. The headboard and side tables were spray painted to get the look I was hoping for.

This suite is very spacious. It has a Queen Size bed, and a double futon style sofa bed.  A large TV can be viewed from the bed or couch.

After a few months I realized that a suite with a couple twin size beds would be very helpful for many of our guests. The walk-in closet was turned into sleeping quarters. One of these days I will take out the closet shelving, but for now, it easily holds these extra beds, making it our only suite that will hold 5. More than one group of guests has commented that in the twin space it feels like sleeping in a tree house. Maybe I should paint the inside to look like a tree? I am not sure that I am that ambitious!

The young lady I spoke of earlier, spent painstaking hours taping off and painting this zig-zag pattern on the walls of the powder room in turquoise, grey and white and I LOVE IT! So, of course its here to stay. This room is a good size space with shower/tub combination and lots of counter space.

Fun & Fancy is at the end of the hall on the second floor. It's quiet, has lots of natural light and you can see the barn and animals out the windows!

Missouri Beauty

Another suite on the second floor is the Missouri Beauty suite. This suite has an absolutely beautiful view of the front yard thru its double windows. I love the natural light that shines into this room! The chair, bed and table were all purchased from different estate sales in Utah and hauled half way across the country to grace this room. The wood work on this bed, LOVE! 

The golden reddish tones in this bed calls to me. Soothing! The bedding set has a little bit of a golden stripe and stitching that pulls the whole look together. This suite is roughly the same size as the Evening Star suite, although the bathrooms are very different.

This bathroom is great! It has a tub/shower combination. The tub is a JETTED Garden tub.
( I obviously like that feature!)

The TV is perfectly positioned at the end of the bed to enjoy a Hallmark movie. (No guilt there. Hallmark is my favorite!)

Next time you visit Home Inn Hamilton you may want to request this suite!

Evening Star

When I chose for the Bed & Breakfast to be our Home Inn Hamilton, obviously Quilt Town USA had a lot to do with it. Quilters are genuine, good and charitable people. What better guests to invite into your home? With that, I knew that each room must be named after a quilt block!

First up, Evening Star.

Evening star looks out to the front yard (and that white cat-- still getting to that story one day). 

The chair in the corner is a sturdy solid wood chair. I love it! Simple lines. Beautiful. (yard sale find)

Do you see the quilt in the corner on the chair? That quilt is very special to me. Ryan's grandmother Millicent Redford made that quilt for me. Just for me. Why? I organized the family reunion. (A lot of work, but I love planning parties!) For a quilt, I would organize it every time it comes up!! I love quilts! She spent so many hours on this beauty! It has creams and pinks and browns in tiny squares! Oh, how grateful I am to have a piece of Grandma Millie in our home. 

I found the beautifully sculpted wood bed at an estate sale in Utah. (Most of the furniture was aquired this way) I wanted a certain feel for the BnB that couldn't be achieved with modern furniture. The size and weight of this piece is awesome! It was one of the first we purchased for the BnB. The bench and mirrors came from a sale here in Missouri about 20 miles away. Lamps too. As you can see the powder room is en-suite (for all our rooms).

Evening Star bathroom has a combined tub and shower, stool and sink. It is our smallest of the bathrooms but still large enough to get the job done!

When we first bought the house, this room was lime green with monkeys! An adorable little girls room transformed into this calming and enjoyable space to get some shut eye!

Deck the Halls!

Meg has been bringing the Christmas Spirit at the house. She spent most the weekend making it as cozy as possible for all of our December guests! 

Tree in Main Sitting room

I absolutely LOVE that the stairwell isn't just garland. Beautiful! 

This shows the sitting room fireplace, mantle and tree. Hooray for stockings!

 

Close up of the mantle.

 

Funny story behind this tree. I had a tree shipped to the house to use this Christmas. The pictures online of this 7.5' tree were beautiful! When it arrived, it was a cheap, yucky tree. I was so sad. Meg didn't take that as a negative. Instead she used just the top half and created this gorgeous tree for the dining room. MEG! AHHH I LOVE IT!!

Kitchen island runner. 

 

In the kitchen...

 

Breakfast area has these super cute milk jugs from Shatto. Meg made them so cute for Christmas. They will be fun and versatile for every holiday!

 

Dining Room.

 

Close up of counter and tree in dining room.

And a final look at the sitting room. Way to go MEG. Now I need to come enjoy it all!

 

You can visit us during the month of December and enjoy all these decorations too. Visit homeinnhamilton.com We look forward to hosting you!!

Our very first guests!

Our first guests Jeannie and Judy checked in this week. They enjoyed their time in the "Fun & Fancy" room and the "Missouri Beauty" room. Meg had a great time getting to know them and laughing the hours away.

We look forward to having you anytime back girls!!

County Commissioners Vote YES!

Caldwell County Commissioners met on Monday October 26th to discuss the opening of the Bed & Breakfast. Meg and I attended the meeting. There were quite a few people from the community there speaking in support of the BnB. We are so appreciative of the great citizens  that are involved in regards to what is happening and changing in Caldwell County.
These community members and the commissioners had a lot of good questions and input. There was a hearty discussion. Ultimately the vote was 3-0 to approve our permit. We are one step closer to opening, hooray!
There is something about this place that speaks to my soul. I am so delighted to own this property and rub shoulders with so many great people along the way. I can't wait to get to know many more people in the area. 
The preparations for guests is coming along swimmingly. We are so excited to share our home with you and look forward to seeing you soon.
 www.homeinnhamilton.com