2009 - I Think I Blinked . . .

Don't blink

So I've been tryin' ta slow it down
I've been tryin' ta take it in
In this here today, gone tomorrow world we're livin' in

Don't blink

It seems like I was just here - Jan 2009! Piles of snow every where, snowshoeing with friends and the dogs. Than what happened?

I think I "blinked".

It's all kind of a blur now . . .

In the Spring, we took a family picture - it was almost immediately outdated!

Dustin graduated with his degree in business finance, and he and Cami and their kitties (the new kitty - is Lexus) moved to Raleigh, North Carolina

In April Karianne ran the Salt Lake Half Marathon.
We all cheered valiantly from the sidelines!

She had a big surprise at the finish line!
Greg had a marriage proposal waiting.

These are the cutest guys ever in my Primary class.
We loved Primary, learning and growing together.

Top of a TALL rock at Emerald Pools - Zion National Park - May 2009
(remember how hard it was to get everybody up on top of the rock! Greg!)

On May 29th, ou youngest graduated from High School - I still really
think she looks like she's 12 . . .

"Wicked" came to Salt Lake - and we
were sooooo lucky to get tickets.

A most memorable moment - Kelsie and I took Karianne shopping
for wedding dresses.

We discovered a new family favorite - this wonderfully fun game is called "Ticket to Ride, Europe".

We highly recommend it!

Love our many trips to the family cabin in the Uintahs. So many
favorite memories each year.

Thank goodness for these great friends - they have saved
my life, my marriage and my children
many times over. We hike, talk, walk and visit almost every day throughout the year.

Thank you friends!
(don't be upset with me for sharing this photo! It comes
with wonderful memories!)

And this is my view almost everyday - how lucky am I?

The summer garden was a huge success and blessing with an
abundance of beans, tomatoes, peaches, raspberries, peppers and squash and more.

On August 1, 2009 - Karianne & Greg were married in the
Mount Timpanogos Temple - we love Greg so much and are
grateful to have him as part of our family.

After the wedding we had 17 days on a houseboat at Lake Powell to recuperate.
One of the most beautiful places on earth.
We love it there!
What a blessing to spend time with so many friends and family members
in this beautiful place. Lots of precious memories!

After Lake Powell, Karianne and Greg left with their
car packed full of all their belongings for their new home in Columbus, Ohio.
It was so difficult to say goodbye, but we're so happy for them to start their own life together.

We were in for another big surprise in September when
Cory proposed to his cute girlfriend Sara, at the Jon Schmidt
concert at Thanksgiving Point. It was the second proposal we were so
lucky to be present at - I'm thinking that it's a wonderful tradition
to share that experience with the whole family.

I have a wonderful husband! As much as I didn't want my birthday
to come this year, (I turned 50 darn it, but don't tell anyone :)

it came anyway. He took me to celebrate at my
favorite restaurant ever - The Roof, downtown in Salt Lake City.

October - I was missing my kids a ton! We always have so many family traditions,
get togethers, parties and activities. I was delighted to have the opportunity
to visit Karianne & Greg in Columbus, and then travel to Raleigh to visit Dustin & Cami.

Weddings in my family - means it's time to make another quilt!
This is for Cory & Sara. And it's still a work in progress.

And last of all, just this weekend, here we are in Utah with tons of snow again.

And here's the three of us at home wishing you all a very

Happy New Year!

Here's to 2010
Whatever you do . . .


Don't Blink!

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Merry Christmas

Joy to the world
the Lord is come

Let earth receive her King

Let every heart prepare him room

Let's Heaven and nature sing

He rules the world with truth and grace

and makes the nations prove

the glories of his righteous

and wonders of his love

and

wonders of his love

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So Stinkin' Cute!

It's another quilt.

I am in love with this project!

It's just like me to wait until two weeks before the wedding to start making a quilt!

Even if I didn't have Christmas shopping to do, presents to wrap, a tree to decorate, and a house to adorn, I'd still probably procrastinate the "wedding" quilt. It's just like me to keep putting it off.

I've said before, "I'm not a quilter!". But I'm starting to think that maybe I could be.

What I really need to do, is make a quilt when I'm not under duress. I've always got some looming time limit, and feeling all in a rush and in a panic that I'm not going to get it done on time.

But here it is - and isn't it stinkin' cute!

The fabrics turned out so darling together, I'm loving each and every block I get sewn together.

This is another 'Buggy Barn' quilt. They really are so much fun. This one is a little bit trickier to make, it has taxed my limited quilting and sewing skills to the max. The first block took me like two hours to figure out, but now that I'm on the 10th one, I've got it down to about 35 minutes a block.

So I guess you could say it's coming along - big smile!

I started out with fabrics in reds, blues, whites, blacks and greens.

With the Buggy Barn quilts you cut out all the pieces with the roller cutter and stack them on your pattern to keep all the pieces in order and together. You rotate some of the top fabrics to the bottom so you get a multi patterned block.

You sew each block together in sections - then join up the whole thing.


Each block is a little bit different! So far this one is my favorite. The colors are so darling. I'm just getting ready to trim the corners so it will be a 13" square.

When you put all the blocks together, the black fabrics form a diamond pattern in each corner. Soooo cute!

I'll have to share more pictures as it comes along.

(Now if I can just find some time to get some presents wrapped . . . )

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Real Meaning of Christmas

You're busy, I know you are . . .presents to wrap, cookies to bake, beds to make and bathrooms to clean. But you have a minute or two - I know you do.

Take just 3:58 out of you day and just enjoy this for a minute or two.

You'll be so glad you did!

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Home for the Holidays 2009

I love being home for the holidays.

I love being in my home and in the homes of others during the holidays. I remember growing up in the home my mother always decorated so beautifully for Christmas. So many precious things gathered lovingly from year to year and displayed with care throughout the season.

It's fun to visit the homes of others and see some of their precious treasures beautifully displayed. Each home has different Christmas collections.

Well - welcome to OUR home for the holidays 2009.

"For unto us a Child is born,
unto us a Son is given,
and the government shall be upon His shoulder'
and his name shall be called
Wonderful,
Counselor,
the Mighty God,
the Everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace.
(Isaiah 9:6)


From our home to yours - Happy Holidays!

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Fabulously Easy Holiday Dessert

Just in time for all your Holiday entertaining, I have discovered the easiest and yummiest dessert that looks beautiful to serve to company.

And the best part - it couldn't hardly be easier. That is my kind of recipe for a busy holiday season!

Tres Leches Cake

1 yellow cake mix
1 C. sweetened condensed milk
1 C. half & half
1 can evaporated milk
1 quart whip cream
2 T. sugar

Make the yellow cake in a 9 x 13 pan as directed. Mix the above milks together. When cake is cooled, poke with holes (wooden spoon works well).

Mix the three milks together with a whisk in a medium bowl. Pour the 3 milk mixture over the top and let chill in refrigerator for several hours.

Before serving, top with topping cream, whipped with the 2T. sugar.

We served this at our neighborhood Christmas party to 250 people and it was a huge hit. I volunteered to bring one to the party, and that's how I ended up with this fabulous recipe. I couldn't believe how easy it was to make - and how YUMMY it is!

Enjoy!

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Give me a Hand Today!

Hello there,

Just asking for everyones assistance today.

I seldom do this, but an organization that we love can benefit from your help.

It's called Guide Dogs for the Blind. One of their fundraising arms entitled "Tee Off For Dogs" needs your vote today in the CHASE COMMUNITY charitable donations event on Facebook. It is run by our good friend Frank Frand who has one of the puppies we raised as his guide dog companion. He works so hard trying to give back to guide dogs and has founded this wonderful opportunity.

Please take a minute and click on the badge to the right and vote for TEE OFF FOR DOGS.

Thank you so much!

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Christmas Makes me Bloggy

Even though it's a big job, I love decorating for the holidays.

Since all of my usual Christmas decorators have grown up and out of the home this year, I just about didn't drag out all the boxes from the basement, open them up and get them unpacked.

Actually, I thought about it for maybe a minute and decided "nah", "I really do this because I love the sights and sounds of Christmas almost more than anything".


So as the lone Christmas decorator for the first time I went about my Christmasy business getting all the decorations up where I so love to see them.

Each one is such a treasured memory. A memory of a gift from a talented family member or friend. Something we picked up on a special evening out together just my husband and I. Another reminds me of a particular person, perhaps it was their favorite Christmas ornament of their favorite to unpack and put together.




Christmas is such a sensory holiday. I love the lights, the sounds, the beautiful Christmas sounds, the scent of the candles, the baking, the sounds of reading Christmas stories and books, singing Christmas carols together or singly.

It's an aura really - the aura of Christmas that permeates the home - ahhhh!

I do love it!

I hope you are enjoying bringing the spirit of Christmas into your homes this year.

Best wishes and happy holiday hugs!

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From the Mailbox

Every once in a while I caome across something in the ol' email box that was 'forwarded' to me that I really do feel is worthy of taking up blog space.

Here's my most recent one:

This Teacher is a Genius

An economics teacher made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had once failed an entire class. That class had insisted that President Obama's socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.

The teacher then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on Obama's plan".

All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A.

After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy.

As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.

The second test average was a D! No one was happy.

When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.

The scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.

All failed, to their great surprise, and the teacher told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great,

but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.

Could not be any simpler than that.

Sadly - it sounds all too familiar . . .

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