Merry Christmas!

I just wanted to wish you all--near or far--a Merry Christmas! Don't forget we celebrate this holiday for the Savior who has lived and died for us all. I want to always be together with my family. I love you all.

My favorite quilt

This is my favorite quilt. I love the colors, I love the softness of the Moda fabric, and I love the quilting. I keep this in my bedroom for lovely afternoon naps on cool days. It feels GOOD! I found the quilt pattern in a cute quilt store in Atascadero, CA on a business trip with my husband. The quilt reminds me of the California coast, one of my very favorite places to be.

Join the quilt festival

Thought I'd post this in case anyone has a quilt they'd like to post. Go to her blog, and it tells you what to do. I plan on posting something. It will be fun to see what other people put on. This is supposed to be an info button. We'll see if it works....

tender mercies from the Lord

So, I was cleaning my room today and I came to a tote bag I sometimes use when on trips. When I picked it up, a vivid picture came into my mind of me finding the diamond from my wedding ring. I had lost it two years ago. At the time I hunted everywhere for it but couldn't find it. So I got a flashlight and hunted through several pockets and the cell phone case and the zippered pouch. Then I took everything out of the purse's main section and shined my flashlight into it. There was this little beauty shining at me! Now, seriously, that is a tender mercy from the Lord. I said a prayer of thanks right then.

I could totally have dumped the crumbs and whatnot from the purse straight into the trash, but instead I looked carefully and found a gem.

Isn't that a heartwarming story? It is to me.

Ammonite

Thought I'd share the cool thing I got on our tip to Oklahoma. It's called an ammonite and it's the fossil of an ancient cephalopod. Look that up and see what it is! I found a website with a picture of an entire one. Joyce's husband found a bunch while digging.
http://www.1stdibs.com/furniture_item_detail.php?id=57899

Here's the picture of mine--it's in my new rock decoration! I have NV pretty rocks, AZ pretty rocks and Eastern AZ pretty rocks.
Aren't they pretty?

purse making mania

So AJP came and brought the fixins for purse making. She had made an awesomely cute one for herself and wanted to share. Now they seem to be popping up all over. I finally got mine made. It has a credit card holder, a pen pocket and two other pockets. I really like it.

Here are NAR's and AJU's purses. I'm waiting for JLC to get hers done and posted!

Grandma camp

Grandma camp is over for another year(or so) We had a fun time on Pirate Day and Summer Fun Day. If only it hadn't been so HOT! Next year we may have to move to spring or autumn for GC. We made a movie on Pirate Day. Thanks to A3 for editing it into something good!

Summer Fun

Today Grandpa and D were working on a new play structure for all the kids. Check out the progress! Ok, so you have to start on the bottom picture and go up. (Grandma can't figure out how to change the picture order--DUH!!)

A milestone for Caleb

Cute little Caleb has reached a milestone--turning over. Enjoy the video!

surprise blogger #3

Today I have a charming guest blogger. Lil' B is here to sing with his mom. I'd sure like to have a clip from R, McK or D to post. (HINT HINT!!) What if R told us about his dog, or M gave us some fashion advice? Can D tell us about his new house?



Oh, wait! I do have a clip from two other guests:

another guest blogger

So here's my next guest blogger.  Unfortunately, there was a lot of traffic on the street, so lots of noise.  But he is singing a lovely song.  Anyone know what kind of bird this is?  I think I know, but want to see if anyone can figure it out.  Too bad the photographer couldn't seem to hold the camera still.  I wanted to have DKR be my guest blogger, but he declined. That would have been fun. I'll be looking for more guests, so don't be shy about sending on your 'audition' video!! ttfn 

Nat'l Geographic pic of the day

Just added a new gadget--the National Geographic picture of the day.  I hope they don't do anything racy.  Have to keep a watch on that...anyway, take a look if you want, scroll to the bottom of the page.

I have a guest blogger today.  Enjoy!

The Hiding Place

I finally went out to trim down the scary rosemary bush out front by the garage today.  After I made my way around the thing and cleared all the cut branches away, I found a clutch of eggs back under the edge of the house.  There are like 15 eggs in it.  Don't know what kind they are.  Anyone have any ideas?  And where were the bird brained parents? Unfortunately, one egg took a hit from the trimmer.  Po' little birdie!

Freudian slip?

Ok, while looking at a catalog today I came across this page.  A book called Idiotica and directly across the page, a picture of Obama.  Coincidence?  I don't think so!!

First fire

Here is a picture of the very first fire in our fireplace.  It only took us 7 years to do it!  Grandpa got some gas logs.  No heat so far since it has a bad smell at first when you burn it, so the flue must be opened at all times.  All the heat is going straight up.  Well, maybe not all of it...Every time he closes the flue, the smoke alarms begin screeching.  Now, what am I going to do with my PRETTY logs we took out?  We're old friends--since 1988!

gadgets

Hey, I got a gadget!  Yes, I added a gadget to my blog.  That is pretty advanced for me.  I tried to do it several times but thought I'd failed. But it is there--twice, actually.  So if you want to email me, just click on the beautiful flowers. Btw, I took that picture!

Desert living

The joys of desert living: Sunshine, mild weather, very little snow, and SCORPIONS!!  I looked up at the ceiling yesterday and saw this. Kind of creepy--I didn't know they crawled upside down like that. Grandpa got it down and now he has a new pet! The picture of the potshelf shows him as a little speck kind of between the first plant and the books--follow that on up to the ceiling.

Target practice

So grandpa and I went out shooting today.  Just wanted to let you see I got a bullseye.  Yes, I did. For some reason I always shoot low and left but I just kept aiming the same way.  Today I compensated by shooting higher and to the right a bit.  Voila!  Bullseye.  Nice. That made me pretty happy.

The new dog coat

Here's the new dog coat.  Kitty didn't do anything when I put it on her.  She just went to the garage door to go out.  Well, doesn't she look lovely in it? Aside from the creepy green shiny eyes I mean. Good thing she has a coat--as soon as the cat went in the garage, she kicked Kitty out of her bed. 

On having to edit everything I see

I have a problem.  I seem to see every grammar, spelling and punctuation error around me.(Is that sentence correct? I certainly hope so!) So while walking from my car into the house this afternoon after church, I saw something I had looked at many times and never really SEEN at all. So now I have some questions: Who is Lego?  Why does this tin belong to him/her? Did Lego write that on the tin? Again, who is Lego?  AND WHAT IN THE WORLD IS HE/SHE DOING IN MY HOUSE WRITING ON MY TINS? Well, it just struck me as funny today when I saw it. I've had many discussions with my children on how many people just don't know how to use commas, quotation marks and ESPECIALLY apostrophes.  Now, don't go and get offended if you are the one who wrote this--let's keep our sense of humor.  I think I will begin a series of blog posts on these kind of things I see all around me.  It amuses me.

Here's a bonus one I just saw in our local newspaper: "Hanging On back"--what is hanging, and on whose back?  Is this connected with the next part, "with new strips coming soon?" 

hanging on back--strips--new strips. I don't like the picture this is forming in my head.  Is it about sleazy strip joints?  Or is someone's shirt tattered and torn and barely hanging on and happy that new strips are coming soon to make it whole again?  You must see how confusing things are when good grammar rules are not followed. And funny...

dog jackets

So after hearing about and seeing the jacket Amy made for Kaos, I've decided I need to make one for Kitty.  After all, it's cold out there.  I am open to suggestions for embroidery on the pocket of the jacket.  Just think, if I choose yours, it will be immortalized on a doggy jacket.  Check out this website with lots of dog and cat clothes:  http://www.sewing.circleofcrafters.com/dogcoatgallery.html

Thread, beautiful thread

This morning I spent some time organizing all my beautiful embroidery thread in color families. Aren't they lovely?  After that, I felt like I could embroider anything much easier.  In fact, I sat down and stitched the first block for a sunbonnet sue quilt.  Isn't she lovely in pink?

I'm sure having a lot of fun with all that thread!

C's blessing day

Yeah, Surprise!!  You didn't think I'd ever post again, did you!! haha!

So I've been sitting here thinking today how great it is to be a part of a family.  C was blessed today by his daddy, and I LOVED being there.  A, B and Lil B, B and J and C came, too, to share the experience.  Our family is very precious to me, and the knowledge that we are sealed through Priesthood power all together is so awesome.  Then I think of us being sealed to generations of our ancestors as well, and I am struck by the love Heavenly Father has for us all.  He wants all of His children to go home to Him just as I want all my children to be with me forever.

At Christmas, we managed to get everyone here at the same time to take a picture.  I was kind of obsessed with getting everyone together.  It's kind of like the hen trying to get all her chicks under her wings.  I want them all--forever--and pray every day that our family will be forever.