I Love Quilting!!

This is a quilt that I just finished for my sister-in-law Jamie. She has three beautiful girls and now just had her first BOY!! We are so excited for her. She asked for a different kind of quilt. She wanted one that had more muted colors, but I couldn't help myself. I loved all these fabrics!! If you look close they have bugs, and dinosaurs and BOY stuff all over it!! I love it. When I was making it, I kept thinking how much Marshall would have loved this quilt. So, Jamie I hope that you are okay with it. I had a blast making it. I am attaching a few more photos for all your sisters that didn't get to see it before I sent it off to you. I love you and can't wait to see your beautiful baby Cole!!

This shows the back with all the cute BUGS!!




This is just a closer picture to show the cute fabric!!

A Boy and His Dog!!

I know I don't blog that often, and for that I am sorry. I took this picture this afternoon because I couldn't believe my eyes. My son was playing the piano and his dog was sitting right next to him faithfully supporting his practice! My son's dog is the most lovable idiot you will ever meet. I recently finished the book, Marley and Me and thought to myself that my dog is much worse than Marley, for heaven's sake Marley was potty trained. I can handle anything, if the dog doesn't poop in my house!! Then I walk up stairs from folding the laundry and see this...

How am I supposed to be angry with a dog that loves my son so much that she can't leave his side when he practices the piano!! I mean really, look at that face!! I am also a little sentimental these days with Marshall growing up so fast. He is taller than I am and almost smarter than I, almost being the operative word. He recently got into a gifted program for junior high that will mean that next year he will attend West High School!! He will still only be in 7th grade, but he attends his classes at West! I really am struggling with this concept, my little boy at a HIGH SCHOOL!! He seems fine, but mom is not handling the transition well.

I am loving the teenage boy, the soon to be teenage girl is another story however!! For Valentine's Day, Marshall may have given an anonymous girl some delicious homemade truffles, homemade by ME. The drop off was a little dicey, but really fun. Here are the said truffles that I made for the adorable girl...

These were so fun to make and so delicious!!

Sorry this post is a little random, but I never posted a picture of the quilt that I made my mom for Christmas and I know that there is at least one person that has been waiting for me to post it so here you go...

IT IS GREAT TO BE ALIVE!!

Okay, I know that I don't blog that often and I don't really have that great of a reason most often, but this time I do! AND I have a great reason to be blogging again. It is a well known fact that I am a democrat through and through even to the chagrin of my parents and many loved ones. I am blogging for two reasons today and President Obama, oh how I love the sound of that, is only one of the reasons. Despite the actual horrible air that is permeating outside all over Salt Lake City, I am breathing much better than I have in many years for two very good reasons.

Reason #1- Barack Obama is President of the United States.
Reason #2- I received a pacemaker three weeks ago.

I will spare you all the diatribe I had planned on going on about FORMER President Bush and why I am so excited about the new administration because if you know me you have heard it; however, I would love to share with you about how great my new life has become. I received my pacemaker three weeks ago and I truly feel like a new person. I have more energy and life and think that if I had known I could live like this I would have had it put in years ago. Ryan of course continues to tell me that I am now a robot with my new device. There are several quirks to having a pacemaker that I am still getting used to.
*I can't use headphones with my ipod
*I can't answer my cordless handheld home phone
*I can't snow blow or mow my lawn (like I was doing that before!)
*I can only use my cell phone in my right ear
*I have to be patted down at the airport I can't go through security

Things like that aren't really that big a deal, the one I hope will go away is that I can't lay down on my left side. All things being said and done I feel like a completely new person. I am never short of breath or dizzy any more. This is a new lease on life for me. So talk about HOPE and CHANGE, I think I have it all covered!!

What's scarier a Witch or McCain?

So, my kids were obviously a witch and McCain for Halloween! Kate had decided a year ago that she wanted to be a witch so her costume as been one in the making ever since. My mother being the best NaNa ever made her that beautiful cape you see that MAKES the witch so witchy and the rest of the costume was put together from different stores when I would find it throughout the year. Marshall had thought that he was too old to go trick-or-treating so he wasn't going to go until one of his good friends asked him to go with him. He was going to go as Obama so Marshall said "great I'll go as McCain!" They were adorable actually and got a lot of attention. Well, the sad part of it all was that they both decided to go trick-or-treating with their friends and not with us this year. So, Ryan and I got the boot!! We were unceremoniously discharged from our duties as parents and asked to go to dinner and drop them at their friends houses! Well, how do you like that. I immediately thought that I needed to go buy Geritol and some Viagra for Ryan because APPARENTLY we are OLD!!! I was really sad about this. My kids didn't want to trick-or -treat with me...those dots are tears......when did I get to that age? When did I become that parent? Some of my friends still have young kids and the ones that don't are, well, older than me. I had my kids young and then only had two, two beautiful kids, but only two. So, I am realizing that I am going to be an empty-nester in only EIGHT YEARS!!! Do you know what that means? I have to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. That suck!

Well, enough of my rant. Here are a few pictures of my cute kids who don't love me anymore and are growing up way too fast. Oh, and some pictures of a few of the quilts that I have been making. Apparently a good past time since I am OLD!!

Marshall as McCain saying, "My friends!"

I know that she is a witch, but I think she is way too cute to be a real witch!!

This is a quilt that I made for Kristen's new baby that she is expecting in December!

This is a quilt that I made for Katy's new baby that she is expecting in December!

I don't remember if I already showed you all this quilt, but this is a quilt that I made my kids life long babysitter and nanny, Amy for graduation!

DC "not down computer" but as in Washington!!

So, it is official that I have not blogged forever and I am sorry about that. Really I don't have a good excuse other than at first I didn't have anything worth blogging about, then I just got out of the habit. So with my head down in shame, I return, to tell a tale of travel. We took our children to our Nations capitol for a week and what a week it was. We had so much fun and saw so many wonderful things. If any of you know my husband, which I am sure many of you do, allow me to describe what it is like to go to Washington D.C. with someone like him. You know that movie Vacation where Chevy Chase is kind of an idiot and does all that dumb stuff on their way to Wally World. He knows absolutely nothing about where they are going and then when they get there Wally World is closed and he goes ballistic! Ryan is NOTHING like that. Going to Washington D.C. with Ryan is much like going with Rand McNally, Rick Steves, and a Docent all in one. There really wasn't much he didn't know. It was amazing. Everywhere we went he was a wealth of knowledge. He gathered crowds at almost every museum that we went to because people either thought that he was the docent giving the tour or they just wanted to hear all the information that he was spewing forth for all to hear.



We walked everywhere and the weather was beautiful. We ate in the parks everyday and the children chased squirrels. It really was rather picturesque. We did all that we could squeeze into 6 days, so here it goes...Library of Congress..Supreme Court..Union Station..National Gallery of American Art..National Portrait Gallery..Holocaust Museum..Air and Space Museum..Archives Museum..Jefferson Memorial..White House Garden Tour..Mount Vernon..Old Towne Alexandria..Monticello..University of Virginia..The White House of the Confederacy..The Museum of the Conferedacy..U.S. Capitol..World War II Memorial..Vietnam Veterans Memorial..Lincoln Memorial..Arlington National Cemetery..Washington Monument..Forrest Service National Headquarters..Bureau of Printing & Engraving..Renwick Gallery!! WOW!!

What a great time. We loved spending time with the kids and spending time in our Nation's Capitol. It was just buzzing with the election only a week away.

Marshall was named after the Supreme Court Justice John Marshall, here he is standing next to a statue of John Marshall. There were many pictures and statues of John Marshall and I made Marshall stand in front of them all for a picture, he got so sick of it. I thought it was cute and funny!














Here the kids stand next to the President of the United States!! (We can only hope this is true by Nov. 5th!)












Me and the kids in front of the National Monument!

The kids and the Jefferson Memorial

The kids and the White House. We got a great tour right on the White House grounds, so the kids really are that close to the White House. We were able to walk almost up to the front door, only problem was there was a secret service guy telling us we couldn't go in. Oh, well.

The fam in front of George Washington's house. This was my favorite day. What an amazing estate! We got to see the very room in which he died and his property was so beautiful. This is a must see if you find yourself back east. We learned so much about our first President.

Cute rascals at the reflecting pool, I am sure not reflecting on what a great trip they are having; however, maybe when they are older they will remember how great it was.

Look how small the kids are with good ole Abe! I tell you these monuments are amazing.

The Soundtrack of Our Lives!!

We took our family to see James Taylor in concert two nights ago. People often and when I say people I mean Heather and Byron often make fun of us and say that we never really listen to a variety of music, which might be true. I say not, but why bicker and argue. However, Ryan and myself have been life long listeners of James Taylor. I remember growing up and listening to my parents listen to James and hearing Fire & Rain in the background of my childhood. As I got older James was always a part of my life and when I started dating Ryan I can remember the exact moment I was sitting in his Jetta listening to James on his tape player and he was singing along to Copperline and I thought to myself, I am going to spend the rest of my life with this man. So it was obvious when I sat at my first James Taylor concert in California 7 months pregnant with Marshall that I wanted James to be a part of my children's lives. Once my kids were born Sweet Baby James was the first song their father sang to them and the last song he sang every night before they went to bed, so it seemed apropos that they both fell asleep at the concert when James Taylor sang Sweet Baby James.

James Taylor has been the soundtrack of our lives and has been there for us through many ups and downs. It was quite an evening to finally share it with our children and know that his music has passed through so many generations. So, thank you James for giving of your music so selflessly for so many years. And for "Showering the people you love with love!"

Hotter than H E double hockey sticks!!!

Okay, so if someone would like to tell me exactly how I grew up in Las Vegas please feel free!! I am so sick and tired of the heat I think that I am going to SCREAM!!! When I say that I am sick of it I mean it. I am sick of going from one room to the next in my 1945 house and gasping for air because my HUGE air conditioner can't keep up. I am sick of my butt sticking to my leather couch. (wait, okay I am not naked on my couch, so it really is my legs that are sticking, but I am sick of in none-the-less!) I am sick of finally getting cool at about 4:30 in the morning and then it getting HOT again around 7! I am sick of having to go somewhere and getting into my car and thinking that I am going to die because there is no air and it is roughly 145 degrees in my car. I am sick of my grass looking dead and of course I am not going to water it to death, what a waste. Most of all, I am sick of food not sounding good because I am just to stinkin' hot to eat!!

So, this post is mostly me venting about how much I hate the heat. I don't know how I ever survived the heat in Vegas. If Ryan ever says that he has been offered a million dollar a year job in Vegas/Phoenix I will have to say have a great time, send me the checks! I am done with it and I mean D O N E with it. Just so you know, I am not an idiot, I know that it is going to still be hot like this for at least another 5 weeks or so and then I also know that I will post something very similar in the winter telling you all that I am sick of the cold. That is the reason that I tell Ryan he married me, I am passionate about everything.

So, in light of the heat wave, if that is what you want to call it. We took our kids up the mountains to get away from it all. We took them to Silver Lake for a picnic dinner and walk around the lake. It was just what the doctor ordered. Here are a few pic's from our nice evening.

One of the only times Marshall is not bothering his sister Kate!!

Isn't he so stinkin' cute!!

Speaking of Stinkin' Cute...