Simply Hil

My mom first taught me how to make french bread when I was in high school. She had made it one time when a bunch of my friends were over, and it quickly became the most requested after school snack item when they were at our house. It was delicious warm and fresh out of the oven with my mom's homemade strawberry jam. I love that time I was able to spend with my mom in the kitchen during that high school age. She has always been one of my best friends and high school was no exception. I'm so glad she taught me to make this recipe as it is now a family favorite in my own home. Ever since I graduated and moved away from home, I have had to call my mom and ask her for this recipe. It is no where to be found via the internets and it seriously is the best tasting french bread out there. The other day I was taking dinner to a family in our neighborhood and once again found myself calling my mom for the recipe. I told her that I just needed to get the cookbook. She told me it might ...

We had a wonderful Christmas and a very happy New Year. Christmas was spent here at home, which was magical and cozy. After Christmas we headed south to escape the winter wonderland that our little town had become in just a matter of days. Our sweet boys somehow contracted croup and spent most of the time lethargic with fevers and awful coughs. We are still fighting that bug but my boys sure are troopers and never complain. I could learn a lot from them! As a result, I haven't had much time to think about resolutions. I did, however, read Meg's blog today and love what she has to say. I agree that sometimes we just need a break. In this day of Pinterest, blogs and social media I think we have even more reason to compare ourselves to others. To want to be that perfect somebody that doesn't exist but we think they do because we think we see them on the internet.  Instead, what we see is a little piece of perfect from hundreds of different people. We rarely see the flaws...

I'll be the first to admit that blogging has not been on my mind at all lately. I receive the same email every December telling me that my domain name is due for renewal. Every December I contemplate what the best thing to do is. I love the friends I have made through this blog and the people who have touched my life (and maybe I've somehow done the same for them). But my heart just isn't in to writing posts lately. I will be paying the renewal once again in case that desire comes back sometime down the road. But for now, Instagram and Path are my main forms of documenting my life. I couldn't go without mentioning how completely shaken and heartbroken I was after hearing about those sweet children in Connecticut. The day it happened, I cried tears of heartache, tears of frustation, and tears of utter and complete sympathy to those parents who had lost their little ones so close to Christmas time. The greif consumed me and I couldn't understand how such evil co...

Flowers from your daddy. He NEVER sends flowers, so today must have been one special day. ;) Dear Michael, I am usually able to write these letters with ease. I have been thinking about this one all day and it seems as though the words don't want to come as freely this time. This is probably due to the fact that I am completely in awe this evening by the kindness that has been shown to our little family today. Today is the three year mark since you were born. Happy birthday! We celebrated your birthday as a family (I baked a chocolate pie - your dad's favorite - and your big brother was so excited to get to blow out your candles for you). I thought about how this birthday celebration is so completely different from the one we recently had for your little brother. For his, we celebrated his life and for yours we celebrated your memory. Both of which I believe to be equally important. Today was filled with so many acts of kindness. Word got out from my sweet friend and...

Little Guy loves making sugar cookies. I'm pretty sure it's on the list of his top 5 favorite things to do along with go to Disneyland and open presents on Christmas morning. Seriously, that's how much he loves it. I wish I could make the sugar cookie thing happen more often but I have developed a strong aversion to the activity. Mostly due to the fact that it is so tedious and takes FOREVER and makes a gargantuan mess in my kitchen. Think about it. First you have to make the dough, then roll the dough, then cut the dough, then cook the dough, then let the cookie cool, then make the frosting, then spread the frosting, then decorate on top of the frosting and the only part I really enjoy is eating the cookie . The biggest problem is when we are left with dozens of cookies on the countertop and I have zero self control to avoid popping them in my mouth one giant bite at a time. The other day Little Guy really wanted to make Halloween sugar cookies. It was cold and rainy ...

Photo credit: Alyce Clegg Photography This morning I received a message from a dear friend of mine, Sarah. Sarah and I used to be neighbors when I was little and living in Farmington. She comes from a family with five girls and my sister and I spent a lot of time with them. I always thought of them as the real life "Little Women" and they have always had a special place in my heart! This was her message to me on Facebook: Hi Hilary,  This is a little random but I came across this song and thought I would pass it along to you. I've enjoyed following your public blog and thought of your sweet Michael when I heard this song. I hope maybe it'll bring a little joy into your day. Have a wonderful day! Sarah Attached was a link to the song below. I listened to it and it immediately brought me to tears. It is such a beautiful song about a mother who misses her child and asks for just one more minute. This song touched me in such a deep way. It's funny how ...

Here is our cute little garden. It isn't anything miraculous or noteworthy, but we have fallen in love with it this summer. Each evening we walk out to take a look and see what it has to offer us that day. We have jalapeños and cherry tomatoes coming out of our ears! I think it's time for some salsa. I am super anxious to see what our artichoke plant ends up doing. For now, it's just being ginormous with no promise of anything but hugeness in site. I love knowing that we planted this garden from itty bitty seeds and after some water and sunshine those seeds have sprouted roots and completely taken to the soil we prepared for them. I feel much like those little seeds. We have lived here in our home for 9 months now and it feels like home . We love our neighbors, our friends, and our church callings. I just returned from girls camp (yes I was gone another 4 days from my boys! They loved being with daddy again though and even got to go visit grandma and grandpa while I w...