Rejoicing in the holiday season- past present and future!

Happy Holidays from all of us at Barnwood and Tulips!

Mom says she is a “Storykeeper” and that her favorite stories are the ones in which we are the “stars.”  She calls us her “Fab 5” but with daddy, her 6^th kiddo- we are the “Super Six.”  We are growing up in the shadows of the red rock hills in Southern Utah.  It is our home and the setting for our stories.

Dad’s story begins and ends in the mountains.  His business savy makes it possible for mom to stay at home. He hikes in the mountains (the taller the better) whenever he gets a chance,  fishes in the streams, coaches our teams, serves Heavenly Father diligently, supports us in all of our activities and athletics, and scouts bucks in the nearby mountains.  This year he traveled to Alaska and harvested an amazing moose.

The stories of football and Rugby, and the life of CVHS Student Body President belong to Seleck.  He put two 80 foot letters “CV” on the hill overlooking the football field, and had a 9,000 pound rock moved to campus… the spirit rock (great thanks to many people).His stories continue in the art room, choir room and as CVHS Science Sterling Scholar.  Stories yet to be written, a mission, college, more adventures.

Sophomore Stockton’s stories are dazzling – charm, wit and sparkling blue eyes, but he is not soft- Junior Varsity MVP Football player, basketball “baller”, and baseball player.  Stories of strength, growth and leadership are behind the next door… adversity- a broken ankle watching his bros play ball- the dreaded “Rigby Sophomore Curse.”  Academics, athletics, sprinkled with choir, yes the kid sings too!

On his way out the middle school door, Madsen plots his high school years.  his stories- worked hard  on the mound this year as 12 year old All Star pitcher and short stop, hoops its up on the court-hard worker, enjoys the guitar, helping dad with projects, hunting- 8 miles rugged terrain, over 5,000 feet in ascent- amazing buck!

Character is required in her story as the only female with four brothers.  Emma is 10 going on 15.  She is Daddy’s “darling”, mom’s bestie, Maleck’s playmate Madsen’s agitator, and sometimes Seleck and Stockton’s sweetheart.  She prefers to write her stories through the lens of a camera as she runs, plays basketball, reads, makes crafts, and plays the piano.

Ever confident seven year old Maleck, leads, directs, and writes all of our stories.  He is the CHIEF.  While not very fond of work, his excuses are creative.  They include fort building, football, basketball, baseball, four wheeling, hiking, hunting, legos, and bike riding. He is an early riser and a late night owl.  He loves everything about first grade and school… at least today!

There is never enough time for mom to keep the stories.  She wishes to freeze the magic of our childhoods.  For some of them, the days of childhood are more than gone.  The joy of watching them grow is intertwined with heartache and pride, dishes and dinner, laundry and car pools, lunches and homework.  She is a midnight blogger, freelance writer, and family history lover.  And then of course there is the story of Thanksgiving in the Mormon Mountains and her first buck- a 4x7 with two six inch eye guards- and she shot it left handed- not bragging at all. 

She and dad raise us on her stories, his adventures, and the irreplaceable story of baby Jesus born in a stable centuries ago. His story is the best story to Keep.  Keep it in your heart forever this Christmas and always.  Sending you our love this Christmas and many Happy stories in the New Year! Love, Travis, Amyanne, Seleck, Stockton, Madsen, Emma and Maleck

My Hallmark Holiday- 2014

Walking down Main Street of a neighboring town tonight, we were surrounded by friends and neighbors following the shepherds to greet the “New Born King.”  It was magical… a memory made that I thought only happened on Television.  But it was real and it was a gift- the first gift of Christmas and the only gift that matters- Jesus Christ. 

Music filled the air as the Count Down began and the small park was illuminated while  the crowd joined in singing Christmas Carols- Silent Night, Joy to the World, and Away in a Manger- A wondrous way to welcome Christmas.

That was the plan -usher in the holidays with the true meaning.  So we took the ride, we bundled up and we rejoiced- we remembered!

The Holiday Season warms us with memories—they come with hot chocolate, cut Christmas trees, warm homemade rolls, delicious, mashed potatoes, fresh baked pie, and don’t forget the fudge.

Rigby and I enjoyed our Thanksgiving Break with our “Fab Five.”  We played and worked.  They will say we worked more.  However, years from now when are gone- hopefully, prayerfully, we pray they will remember the procession to see the baby Jesus. We pray that they will live their lives so as to return to him- that they will take the journey- that they will remember.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Barnwood and Tulips!

Christmas 2013

I awoke last week at 6 am to be greeted by cute Maleck who quickly asked, “Mommy, What is Santa’s phone number.” We love this kid!   Merry Christmas to you all and Happy Holidays!  Here  is a quick Rigby family update-

Seleck- Almost 16 (not sure I am ready for this) LOVES football, running, hunting, fishing, and teasing me.  Great student, great singer, class officer- HAPPY!

Stockton-   At almost 14 Stockton’s energy keeps us all on our toes. As our resident sports fanatic, he enjoys football, basketball and baseball.  He loves band (Ha, Ha).  In fact, he took up the tuba this year and loves to blow this BIG horn at home. 

Madsen-   At age 11 Madsen LOVES getting up to go to 6^th grade (LOL).  You can find Madsen most often on the basketball court or baseball diamond.  He is our resident guitarist and AVID reader.

Emma-   At almost 9 Emma loves 3^rd grade and Mrs. Bybee, bike riding, friends, changing her clothes, soccer, dancing and sometimes playing the piano… memorized the 13 articles of faith- Hurrah!

Maleck-  Our baby is five- He also is the resident commander of our home.  My favorite phrases- “mommy I want to hold you,”  “mommy will you play with me?” and “daddy let’s wrestle.”  Maleck loves slip and sliding, sledding, pre school, hot chocolate, and yummy drinks!

Travis- Scoutmaster, businessman, avid outdoorsman, yummy drink maker, kind, gentle, AMAZING father, husband, and leader of our home.  We simply adore him!

Me- Amyanne-  LOVES doing laundry, driving the family taxi, checking homework, encouraging practicing of musical instruments.  Okay, so really  loves cuddles, stories, giggles, Seleck’s teasing, Stockton’s noise, Madsen’s reading, Emma’s spunk, holding Maleck’s little hands, and being withTravis… doing anything

*OUR 2012 FAMILY UPDATE

                                    “All We  Want for Christmas  is….”

Travis:   More time in the mountains to wander

Amyanne

             More time for giggles , wrestling, and storybooks by the fire…. And more time!

Seleck  Almost 15  

            Campfires, hiking, and simply wants to make someone happy.   P.S. no more O’Bama      lunches…PLEASE!

Stockton  12

            For his heels to stop hurting so he can play football, basketball, and baseball pain free.   

Madsen 10

            A guitar, hot chocolate,  and donuts… more party time. 

Emma 7

            Literally her  two front teeth! (Maleck told her she had a hole in her smile).

Maleck 4

            A flying rocketship  that goes around and around!

Merry Christmas !

Christmas means family

Chris and Jennifer Weaver family

 Growing up I had 30 cousins on one side and 23 on the other... I was enamored by my cousins.  Of course, I was closer to some than others based on interest and age, but I was so proud and happy that they were all mine!  I remember one time having a competition with my uncle to see who could name all of the cousins-- well I won hands down.  

Cleve and Connie Weaver family

 Our Children likewise have a large number of cousins-- close to 25 on each side.  And of course they are closer to some than others also based on interest and age, but in the end all that they have is family!

Markay and Heather Englestead family

Kim and Sofia Weaver family

Mike and Ember Weaver Family

Rick and Wendy Roberts family

Everything begins and ends with family....

This picture was taken 100 years ago.  It is my Great Grandfather Albert Douglas Dickson's family

  I am a descendant of Sophia Dickson (mother of my grandfather Max).  I can only imagine how many descendants there are of Harriet and Albert's today... family was then and is now --EVERYTHING!

I love when Christmas rolls around and my cousins send me their Christmas card photos.... somehow the miles suddenly disappear and we are all little once again at "Grandma and Grandpa's house."

Merry Christmas Family!

Remembering Christmas 2008

12/17/08

We found him this year... perhaps because we really looked.  We found him in our teardrops, we found him in our laughter.  Our children were our teachers– Stockton encouraged, persuaded and demanded daily book Mormon study.  Seleck taught us to seek him as he prayed.  Madsen found him as he sought comfort, “ Mommy I’m sorry our baby died I wanted to teach him how to ride my trike.”  Emma found his joy-- it is the way she danced when no one was  looking.  Travis found him evident upon the hilltops when the sun rose in the morning and then exploded in color at the day’s end.  Amy found him in the daily miracles of life delivered through her angels- friend and neighbors like each of you.  And our precious baby Maleck marked his path as he entered our lives with those perfect 10 fingers and 10 toes- our heaven on earth.
So this year we sing a song shared with us by a dear friend....”If I were at the manger that first Christmas night I could have seen the shepherds kneeling by his side....”  So we feel him because we found him... and we hope to  continue to find him throughout the New Year because we know he lives and that he loves us. 

Merry Christmas

Love, the Rigby Family

"Oh Christmas Tree".... photos by Emma Rigby

With this crazy crew sticking to a schedule is difficult with so many of their activities, athletics and and academics, we try to decorate the tree together.  I love it when Rigby becomes my "Christmas Elff" and starts making his list and hanging the lights.  He is really something of a wizard.  While listening to The Christmas Devotional this year, Rigby and Seleck put the tree up and we all came together to hang our traditional Christmas ornaments.  Maleck's angel is our tree topper this year!

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 This tree has a great story  and is adorned with the ornaments the kids have made and collected over the years.  I love it.  Each ornament possesses a powerful memory- one which will warm my heart in the years to come.

 Every year our picks are more and more beautiful. We love this tree from "Deer Mountain."  Decorating was fun with our Santa hats on our heads!

 Rigby and Seleck secure the tree.... the Best Christmas Tree ever!

 Inspired by cousin Brenna, Emma loves seeing the world through a lens.

 I am so grateful to have this kid.  As our caboose, he keeps the magic alive in our lives.

Maleck- Our "Elf on a shelf."  My poor kids don't have an elf on a shelf.  I told them I would rather they find "baby Jesus in the manger."  So while other kids are enjoying the antics of the "Elf on a Shelf, " we are filling a manger with hay with kind acts of service  (plus this takes one more thing off of my "to do" list- but I do enjoy hearing the stories of others' elves- they are hilarious and fun).

 Our finished product.... I love the smell of Christmas trees and cuddling under them while reading Christmas stories and drinking hot chocolate- Christmas is for the senses and the heart!

The Stockings are hung by the chimney with care...
 

Welcome and Merry Christmas!

Monday Memory- Christmas at the Homestead

Merry Christmas!

• It is a blizzard outside and I am in my cozy home tucked away at my computer letting my fingers tell stories... Christmas music plays in the background and our high schoolers  just dropped in for  lunch- left overs.  I am happy and grateful and loving Christmas.  I love the festivities and the gatherings and the fact that I can Christmas shop on line and avoid long lines- it's perfect for me.  I would prefer to spend the fleeting moments with those I love most!Rigby gave in and took us to the "Christmas at the Homestead."  I love a taste of Christmas when it was simpler... like a century and a half simpler.  Wandering through the museum and the pioneer structures warmed my heart and my belly as refreshments were being served, hot chocolate, ebelskiver(danish pancakes- a Rigby family favorite),roasting of s'mores.  I truly was having myself a "Merry Little Christmas!"
• There was even a little family photo booth- funny!

 The museum was decked out in Holiday fare- old school!  I would love to ride in an old fashioned sleigh!

At the school house

The Hunter Home

 The Highlight of the evening was the Hunter House because...

This is the closest he would get to Santa's stand in

                            We found Santa!

 It's not Christmas until you see him..... Thanks Emma  for the photo.  Maleck was put out that this was not the real Santa as he is at the North Pole hard at work!

I love this car!

 I love it that we have these two who still will do mom's Christmas "Bucket List!"

After all simplicity truly keeps us in touch with that which really matters!  Merry Christmas!

I'll be Home for Christmas

Our oldest son graduates from high school this spring(his target date for mission departure is August 2016).  When we asked him how he wanted to spend Christmas this year,  he simply said, "I want to be home."

My home on 2nd East

What a powerful place our homes can be.  They provide a safe haven for all of us.  Particularly at Christmas, we gather in our homes with friends and loved ones.  I have many fond memories of my home on 2nd East.  That little brick house where on Christmas morning we gathered around our Christmas tree lit in blue lights with our stockings hung close by from the chimney.  It was a little bit of heaven on earth.  There were 9 of us then.  Today, mom and dad have the 7 of us, plus 7 spouses, 33 grand kids and 4 great grand kids.

My parents home in the Salt Lake Avenues, 1963

That little red brick house on 2nd east "grew us" well.  Character, hard work, loyalty, love of God and Country, service, friendship and funny moments took root within the walls of that home.

Rigby and I are "growing" our "Fab Five" in the home he built with his hard working hands.  After our Emma was born, he literally brought me home from the hospital with our 3 older sons and went to pour the cement for the driveway of our "home in progress."  What terrific memories we share of that "house" building experience.  The past 10 1/2 years have been spent building that house into a "home."

When many of my first ancestors reached the valley, many of them lived in dugouts before building homes of  their own.  In those early years, the structure, design, and decor was of little importance, but rather the need of shelter was the greatest priority-  shelter in the dessert which they created with their blood, sweat and tears.  And then this shelter, became their homes.  The place where they reared their family... watched their children grow, gathered to share laughter and tears.  

To be a HOME Maker is a powerful job and is quickly becoming a lost art.  Today, I spent the morning baking 4 dozen cookies and 4 dozen brownies for the after school Christmas party sponsored by Stud Gov  (Seleck serves as Student Body President at his high school).  While I baked, I texted back and forth with my cousin Taressa in No. Cal.  We discussed this post and she shared her inspiration- Thank you Taressa!  How grateful I am to be a Home Maker, a latter day Home Builder.  

The home of Albert Douglass Dickson and Harriet Rosella Flint, Richville, Utah ( My great great grandparents- Max's Grandparents)

The home of Max Dickson Weaver and Ruth Mabel Stoddard Kimball, Orem, Utah- my granparents, 

In April of 2009, I took my first Ancestral Adventure which inspired this blog.... Barnwood and Tulips.  It was with my Grandfather Max to the Dickson homestead in Richville, Utah.  The feelings I experienced  on this journey

Home of Charles Stoddard and Lucetta Jane Murdock,
Uintah, Utah

were sacred and have prompted me to not only do temple work for my kindred dead but to know their stories- I am a story keeper and these homes share the stories of the loved ones I never knew in this life, but t that I can't wait to meet in the next...

Home of Marie and Leo Kimball,
My father Kimball and his brother Kurt lived here with their mother and grandparents while my Grandfather served in WWII
Logan, Utah

The home of Travis and Amyanne (Weaver) Rigby

Over the years, I have visited the homes of my Aunts and uncles and they each hold special places in my heart and memories forever.  

Taressa,  It looks like we have more homes to visit... can't wait for the adventure.

Hallmark Hometown Holiday!

Heather and Markay

This past weekend I had the best time hanging out with these two... by baby sis and her hubby (my little bro) in their "Hallmark Holiday, home town."  I had the absolute best time as their home was featured in the town's Christmas home show.  The money raised went to help provide Christmas for local families in need- great idea.

 Heather and I slipped away for a bit and were able to see some of the other homes as well.  It all made me so excited for Christmas.  The feeling that this "home town" exudes is unbeatable.  I truly felt as if I were in a "Hallmark Movie"  I even ran into the resident Mr. and Mrs. Claus."  They totally fit the part.

The Creche

 Almost, my favorite part of my sis's entire Christmas decor... the mouse music box was in our home at Christmas as a kid and the Santa was my Grandmother Hofheins'.... so many memories!

 Each room in their home had at least one tree... this one was in the kitchen along with my personal fave... an M&M tree.

 The Kitchen table was set complete with festive Christmas ware and this adorable center piece... love, love, love it!

 The focal point of their home is the game room just off their kitchen.  The walls are made from rusted tin, and reclaimed barn and picket fence wood.  The walls are decorated Markay's "trophies" and the light fixtures are custom designed by Heather and built by Markay.

 Of course, it's not a home without John Wayne!

 This is a fun focal point of the home... snapshots of family outdoor adventures... this family, hunts, fishes, hikes, boats- everything!

 The fireplace is rustic and of course I love the barn hung above the mantle!

 Spending the evening with this cute family of mine was the absolute best holiday hug.... there is no place like home except my sister's!

 These reclaimed shutters and iron design hang above her staircase- perfect!

 So of all my trees in the house, this is my favorite.  They began this tradition early on in their marriage and have continued with it.... A sage Brush as a Christmas tree--- softly dusted with snow.  It is adorable.  I may still this idea for our shop!

 I had never seen this idea before--- I love it-- gonna still it!

The bar in the game room is amazing. notice the rusted tin hung behind the playful swings used as bar stools---- WOW!

 I took our two younger ones with me and Grandma and left Rigby home with the teenagers.  They so enjoyed being with each other and grandma.  I loved spending time with my sis!  Happy Holidays!