New Items for Sale!

Hi family and friends!

We've been working hard to get more items on our website this year so go check it out:

seefishcreate.bigcartel.com

There are Christmas cards and great Christmas gifts.


I'm excited to announce that this year we are having a special on our website until December 31, 2012—

100% of the proceeds from the sale of The Gathering of Friends cookbooks,

100% of the profits from the sale of Christmas cards and word art by Candace,

and 25% of the profits from the sale of calligraphy by Julia

will be donated to benefit Natalie & Alice Fish

Read their story at fishesformarrowwishes.blogspot.com


Want to help but don't want to buy anything?

Feel free to send this email on to your friends or pin some of our items on your Pinterest boards so we can get the word out.


One more thing...we always love custom work so if you want something and don't see it on our website let us know!


THANKS and Merry Christmas!
candace & julia & maggie

See Fish Celebrate Lincoln

by Julia

Guess who made the paper? My very own Abe.

David is an attorney and a member of the Indiana Bar. The Indiana Bar Association asked for volunteers to present for their community outreach program "Why Lincoln Was a Lawyer." Since David is a Lincoln fan and has read big thick books about the 16th president, he readily volunteered. An added bonus was that he gets two paid days per year to do community service, so this certainly qualified.

David had to come up with his own hour long presentation to do for groups of elementary school kids. Being a trivia lover, he decided to do a Family Feud style game with questions about where Lincoln lived, when he was born, what his favorite hobby was, jobs he held, where he was shot, etc.

David drove two hours away to present to three different school groups and had a fun day (certainly different than reading documents at the office). He was featured in an e-newspaper and as the top story in the local paper, which a teacher sent us a copy of. "Lincoln comes to life" the headline blares. I think the beard and hair need a bit of work to be more lifelike, but the whole outfit did what it needed to do. This all went down on a Friday and David did not have to turn in the costume until Monday. I persuaded him to wear this outfit to the tri-stake youth valentine dance we were chaperoning on Saturday night. We got some serious looks! Once the youth got more comfortable with Abe dancing in their presence, some wore his hat, some wished him happy 206th birthday, and one guy even wanted his autograph.

Amish Time

by Julia

Ahhh . . . more cheese. Our family took a trip to Holmes County, Ohio over the Christmas break. I'm told that this area has the highest concentration of Amish in the country. My husband's parents have a little timeshare over that way that we have been to a handful of times. When we go, we like to see Heini's Cheese Factory and I thought you might want to drool too.

I took photos of all the beautiful hand painted signs but I will spare you the others. The amazing thing about this particular cheese factory is that all the milk processed here is hand milked. No machines. The Amish aren't into electricity.

Our wonderful tour guide, Atlee.

You walk down two long isles before getting to the checkout. It is slow going because there are samples of all these cheeses available to taste. Of course you and the scores of others who have made the pilgrimage want to try all the cheese. David always walks out with something really flavorful (this time it was bleu and some fire hot pepper). Those of you who know David could have called that.

I think the Amish farms are beautiful. They keep up their property, whether the homes are small or large, and it feels orderly and serene.


Even in December their clothes are out drying on the line. We have seen men out in their fields, behind one horse or a team, gathering in corn and other crops. This time we happened upon one farmer spreading manure, which our noses verified.

On this trip we also saw lots of these corn stalk piles. Remember all of this happens with a man and his scythe--no machinery.

This trip was our first time to drive all the way to Lehman's in Kidron, Ohio. (Note the British style phone booth out front because the Amish do not have phones in their homes.) This store is a destination and I thought it was worth the drive. It is huge. It carries all kinds of non-electric products that Amish people want to buy and that we want to buy too if we are getting really serious about self-sufficiency or disaster preparedness. Wood burning stoves, gas appliances, washboards, composting toilets, oil lamps, wringer washers, every kitchen item you can think of, yard and garden tools and supplies, food, candy, furniture, hardware, and tons of toys are a sampling of what you can find.

O and I thought the pig-loving Grandpa Merlin should have this grill.

While he is at it, Mer ought to get his ice cream production really going with this contraption.

Gratefully Merlin already has his own Swiss cowbell but if anyone else wants to get one to join in the chorus, Lehman's can hook you up.

All chicken owners alert! Check out the egg storage and hot water incubator.

Stef needs several of these German Sauerkraut crocks to do all her fermenting. David could help with some kimchi as long as it was super spicy. Some of these were big enough to hide three small children. Don't forget the wooden lid.

After three hours of looking around, it is time to sit--in a hand made rocker.

When we pulled into Kidron, there was some kind of outdoor market or auction going on. The obvious thing being sold was hay. Here is how the parking lot looked.

I doubt there is an automatic car wash close by to help with the mud.

I am pretty sure this man saw me and purposely turned his head. I was sorry to make him uncomfortable. This is why I could not be a photojournalist; I get nervous prying with the lens.

Who wants to go back with me? We might have to take some green drink to have between those Amish buffets.

Merry Christmas!

by Julia

I am finally posting on the blog for the first time. My timing has to do with the availability of one of my teenagers to walk me through the whole process. The digital natives at this house tolerate my lack of complete comfort at the computer, as does Candace, who I whine to about it on occasion.

A quick intro: I am the oldest of this clan, I am married to David (we hit 20 years this past summer), and I have four intense children.

Here are the rowdies on Christmas Eve in their new pajamas. Santa and the elves outfit them yearly, along with their cousins. We are the only Fish family members not gathering together this year because our oldest came home from his first semester at college to see us! (And all his friends.)

So here we are with one of T's friends and the LDS missionaries for our Christmas Eve dinner. This meal, a Fish family favorite, is called Raclette. It is the name of the cheese and traditionally is served melted with boiled potatoes, cornichons, and pearl onions. We add shrimp in garlic butter on top of the snazzy machine you see in the middle of the table (Merlin and Pat gifted one to each of our families years ago). This meal also included a green salad, grape tomatoes, artisan bread, various fruits, and brownies with sorbet. Mer would be proud of the artistic cheese tower I made.

Here are the place cards I created for our guests. Yes, I am a calligrapher. I am addicted and I can't stop (that is redundant). This blog may soon look like Julia's portfolio.

The biggest surprise of the day was when we were sitting in church today and it was announced that the Thompson family would be singing a musical number. I had a moment of anxiety as the man announcing looked right at me and smiled. I smiled back, turned to David, and said through my teeth, "what are we singing??" He assured me that I was not expected to do an impromptu performance. Instead, my four children sang "O Little Town of Bethlehem" in all four parts. They were amazing! G (the nine year old) can almost hold down that alto by himself. I wondered why they sent David and me out for a walk last night. . .

I hope you all have had a wonderful Christmas.