Latest Project

This little beauty is what has kept me so busy the last few weeks. This is the quilt top for Caleb's quilt. I loved the challenge of doing it, but it was SOOO time intensive. There are 28 pieces in each block and 20 blocks. I plan to take it with me to TX when I travel to help after Caleb's birth and really want to get it finished. Next up is the quilting which will take several days. I am going to machine quilt it on my home machine. My next big project after this one is a quilt for J&B's new baby boy who will come in about 3 months. He is nameless at the present time. My love to all of you. (I also joined facebook which has been a little time consuming on it's own!)

This is a test!

I am trying an experiment. I need to see how a small resolution picture from the web looks on a blog, so I am going to post one here and check it out. Forgive me if I don't explain any further right now. I'll explain more later.

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Hello everyone. I have been away from blogging for awhile. I am still working on the something new. Be patient. I finally got my Christmas pictures uploaded. I will post some of them very soon. I took about (believe it or not) 800 pictures over the holidays. And a lot of videos, too. Then just a the end of the holidays, my camera started acting up and is getting worse, so that is really making me sad. I love this camera. For now, I am using my waterproof camera and it will work fine for me for awhile. I also joined Facebook, which is almost overwhelming me, but I just have to pace myself, I guess. Last, but not least...I'm working on a quilt for our soon to be grandson who will be born in late Feb. So that is keeping me busy! Love you all. I'll post again very soon.

Look for Something New

This is a little teaser post. Very soon, I will doing something new and telling all of you about it. It's an idea that my sister, Ria and I have been cooking up. I hope all of you will be as excited about it as we are. Please continue to read my blog to find out just what this new venture will be. See you all soon.

Favorite Photos (honorable mention)

This photo represents the love we have for each other. It's been a whole new year with retirement and time spent together. We love it! I love to take photos of flowers. This was one of my best. It was at D-land.

Also at D-land. Sleeping Beauty's castle at Christmastime.

Mari after our trip to Build-a-Bear.

Timo and 'Lijah making Christmas treats together.

My second favorite pool pix. Timo and Papa.

Clara NOT wanting to ride the Merry go Round at D-land.

Nikki and Liesl. Girl cousins wanting to do everything alike.

Mom's visit to Wisconsin in Sept. We are standing in front of Lake Michigan.

Owie and Liesl dodging the waves at the beach.

Becca and kidlings looking at little critters at the tide pools.

Lyle catching a much needed nap after a wrestling match with Owie.

Nikki, JC and JC's friend watching the Angel game in May. They won!

Matching dresses for two cute sisters.

Watching Grandma curl her hair before church.

Smile! Sheer happiness!

Nikki and JC in front of the makeshift memorial to the Angel player who died.

JC, Nikki, and Timo where??? This is on Tom Sawyer's island at D-land!

Well....I could have put dozens more photos up. But I am done. These have been some of my favorites. So far this year...I have taken 432 photos already. So be prepared for another list of favorites next year. Hope you enjoyed these. I'll blog and post about the holidays as soon as all the kids leave. That will be in another few days. Love you all. Mom

12 (of my) Favorite Photos of 2009

In reading Stacy Julian's Sprinkles blog post http://stacyjulian.com/sprinkles/ about picking your 12 favorite photos in 12 minutes, I thought I'd give it a try. Of course it took me way longer than 12 minutes (lots of distractions here with kids visiting) and I had the hardest time picking 12 photos out of hundreds. But these 12 finally made the cut. Tomorrow, I will post all the honorable mentions that I chose. Here they are with a small explanation of each.

This is Elijah at the Newport Beach temple grounds. (A special child in a special place). Clara, reacting to a sound outside the window.

Juliette hamming for the camera.

Mari on her 9th birthday. Sweet.

JC doing what he loves...enjoying Angels baseball on his birthday.

Liesl climbing the walnut tree in their front yard.

Timo underwater in the pool. (My favorite pool pix, by far)

Elijah riding on the Autopia ride at D-land. Never have I seen a child enjoy a ride more.

Owie enjoying the tide pools at the beach.

Nikki looking amazingly like her American girl doll, Megan.

Andrew thoroughly enjoying his spaghetti. (The only photo officially taken by someone else. But still a favorite.)

Robynn with her best friend on her birthday.

I hope all of you have fun looking at these. Stay tuned for my honorable mentions in a post tomorrow. Love you all. Mom

Special Day

Today is the anniversary of this wonderful family. A&T were married 13 years ago today. They formed such a wonderful family that day, that they decided to add three wonderful girls to it. We are so grateful for having all of them in our larger extended family. Thank you for getting married and becoming a part of us. We love you. We have had a lot of company since Christmas. We are enjoying each other, taking lots of pictures and spending wonderful time together. When things quiet down a little, I will post photos and updates on our Christmas. We are still enjoying the glow of our Christmas experience. Love you all!