"Word" of 2010

This year is soooo DONE! I'll be glad to kiss it good bye! Pat Sloan has challenged us to choose one word for 2010. The word I choose for 2010 is "Done". When I start a quilt I will finish it in a timely manner and call it "Done"! I did better in 2009 at doing this with 14 grandchildren I did complete 11 of the 14 quilts before the end of the year. I have 3 that a very close to being DONE! They will all get done before the first birthday of 2010 comes around! Done means: topped, sandwiched, quilted, bound, labeled and of course photographed. Then it will be given to the intended child who will be "hugged by grandma" when they wrap up in it. "I can do it..." will be my MANTRA. I will ring in the New Year playing games with some friends, my DH, two of my children and their families and celebrate the New Year with 60+ of our extended family playing more games, doing puzzles, writing letters to our family not there and eating yummy BBQ Pulled Pork sandwiches. I'm making some bread rolls for them. Check back tomorrow for more pictures...

Christmas 2009 - Part 2

Part two was the best part. 25 of the 27 of our family all in one house at one time and smiling for a family Picture. Thanks for setting that up for us girls. I hope other cameras got a better picture than mine, I think they wore out their smiles by the time she picked up my camera. Is this one better??? I'm not too sure, but at least they look happy! We had a yummy Potato bar dinner and yummy cookies and Blueberry rolls. I hope the Grandkids all enjoy the toys grandpa picked out for them in the toy aisle. He had way too much fun that Day shopping. He who NEVER likes to shop before Christmas Eve... This is what the snow looked like all the way home on Hwy 12...driving 35 MPH...no fun! Blinding whiteness. One car was overturned by Lowden. Hope to see you all next year, drive safe out there... When we got home the Elders used Dad's new shovel to clear the sidewalks and driveway for us.

Christmas, Christmas time is here...2009

Christmas, Christmas time is here. Time for Joy and Time for Cheer... (the Chipmunk song) We had all of that and more to come! Jes, Janessa and Jackson joined us and the Elders who live at our house to share the traditional Christmas morning breakfast since 1990. Candy Cane Bread slathered in lots of icing, hot from the oven. It's so fun to wake up to the smell of cinnamon. Jackson waiting patiently for the Candy cane bread... Grandpa got a new Santa for his collection. This one is even more annoying than any of the others he has. No pictures were taken of his other gifts; 3 White shirts, 2 kinds of socks, Chocolate cherries and new snow shovel... Here is the package that arrived from Ohio...Thanks! Mandy and Ben. Somebody must have told them that the way to make Mom cry tears of joy is to give her a framed picture of one or more of her grandchildren... Gifties from my Christmas Stocking Exchange buddy in Tuscon, Arizona. Jackson opens gifts from Grandpa and Grandma Crowther. Janessa peeks through the legs of the pj pants that she and Jes received. The Elders who live at our house opening their gifts. After a nap, Paul decided to install the gift I got from Santa... New -under the counter Radio/CD player... It was tagged as mine, but we will all enjoy having it in our home to set the mood. I had to play the Donny Osmond CD that Wendy loaned me first. It has a timer and clock and we got all of our favorite radio stations set. The Ransom family joined us in the late afternoon for some fun and games. It was nice to play Scrabble and Rummikub with them again. We needed a 8 player game of Scrabble... Opening their gifts from Grandma and Grandpa Crowther... Olivia playing with her Mini Princess doll set, and Elizabeth busy weaving with her new Loom. See how hard she is concentrating??? Grandma showing Elizabeth how to finish off the edges of her 1st Pot holder. Jackson and Vincent reading a book together. Elder Keeler takes his Christmas phone call from home... He is such a tease, I swear he's my child from another Mother...He took pictures of all of his gifts in front of the tree. Just like we used to do when our children were growing up in Umatilla and Burbank. Elder Keeler taught me how to use the timer on my camera. I've had it for over 3 years now and am still learning how to use it. To be continued...on Tuesday when we gather in Richland. Milton, Joe's and Janessa's families will come. Brant, Tina and their boys will soon be on their way... We'll miss Jeffery once again.

Christmas EVE 2009

It's been a very good day. Janessa, Jackson, Paul and I went to visit in Mesa with Paul's parents. We came home to more Christmas letters and a package from OHIO. I was hoping Tina and Brant would get their package before traveling to see us, but the mailman from Washington to Idaho isn't as fast as from Ohio...I have had to go to plan D...which means wrapping into the night and being ok with what got done whether or not it was perfect. Janessa, Jes and Jackson came to play Rummykub tonight and to help dip the truffles. They'll be back in the morning for Candy Cane Bread. It will be a busier Christmas day than I thought. NaDell, Andy, Elizabeth, Olivia and Vincent will come in the afternoon to see the old folks. The Elders will talk to their families. Their stockings are hung, and their gifts under the tree. Time for Mrs Santa to go to bed... Having the Elders here brings the Spirit of Christmas and memories of the Missionary calls we received from our sons when they were serving far away from home on Christmas. Happy Birthday the the babe who came to save us all...

Merry Christmas to me!

Early Monday morning I checked on flights and hotels to VEGAS. I left the screen open and when Paul came home early in the day I said, do we do it? So Wednesday we were enroute to fly to Las Vegas, in spite of snow and ice. Thanks for all the encouraging and Warnings! We got to Vegas and this is the sign to prove I was really there. When we got to the Flamingo hotel and checked in, we asked where the box office was and found this sign... Needless to say, I was soooo disappointed. Donny was sick and they had canceled Tuesday and Wednesdays shows. I thought that is the story of my life right now. They traded my tickets for Thursday and I hoped beyond hope that it would really happen. Thursday came and I kept checking to make sure the dreaded sign wasn't there again. Thankfully it wasn't and the show was great! Cameras and videos aren't allowed in the Showroom, but there was a nice photographer who took 3 pictures of Paul and I. We sat at a table fairly close to the stage. Right behind the VIP tables. With us were couples from Georgia and California. Donny and Marie put on a great show and Donny even had the Mirror ball "Dancing with the Stars" trophy there. Donny danced and sang and climbed across tables to slap hands with as many as he could reach. I was one table away from getting that privilege. He sang a beautiful Christmas song I had never heard before. It was 90 minutes+ with lots of great songs and trivia from their career of 5 decades. The Photos were so spendy, I didn't get any CD's or a T-shirt... Here's the picture of my Early Christmas/Birthday Gift... There was a lot of grief getting there but so worth the trip and time to have the Bishop all to myself, sort of! The Casinos are beautifully decorated especially at Christmas time and the Bellagio Fountains went off every half hour while fun music played (Santa Baby, Faith Hill "This Kiss" and Elvis' "Viva Las Vegas"). We rode the Duece (double decker) bus up and down the Strip. Stopping to see some of the casinos and take pictures, we even went to "Fremont Street". Didn't buy anything there, but we went. We also saw Madamme Tussauds wax museum and I will have to turn all those pictures sideways and make a slide show. That will have to wait for another day...6 am flights means - not much sleep after a show in Vegas.

A Little Nostalgia

I was thinking about Christmas Past and remembered that I needed to scan a picture of myself with my two childhood neighbors in front of our Christmas tree. See the 'tinsel' on the tree? That's the way my mother and father decorated our tree. One strand at a time and they saved it year after year re-wrapping it on a piece of cardboard. We had glass bulbs and the old type of lights too. I wish we could see the tree topper. This one was taken at a Department store in my hometown or maybe at the Santa house by the Bank. I remember going but don't know what year it was. I see a little resemblance of myself to my children and grandchildren in this one. This is what our Tree looks like this year. I bought a 6' pre-lit tree and put only my Homemade ornaments on it. the Purple tree skirt is my early Christmas Present from my quilt buddy. This is the Guild Tree for the Jr Club mini Tree auction. Picture as promised... This is the Stocking that came from Kathy H in Arizona. I will wait until Christmas to open it. I sewed the stocking I mailed off shut so she can't even peek a little.

DESIGN WALL MONDAY 11-7-09

I finally have the last Grandchilds quilt in the works. His birthday was last Saturday and I had the center part done. It just needs the borders. I tried a different layout of the Disappearing 9-patch- a Zig Zag. The yellow is the dominant color in this quilt. I finished the Tree Skirt for the Junior Club mini Tree auction too. I will get a picture of the whole tree later today when I go and see them at the Marcus Whitman Hotel here in Walla Walla. Guild is tommorrow night. I've got to show and share at least a picture. Judy L. has her design wall Monday here. From her Blog you can click the Links to see other design walls. It is fun to share...

Nativity Display

This is how I start the Season we celebrate the Birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. In Walla Walla a Display of collected Nativity is shown the first week-end of December. The Cultural Hall at the Church was totally transformed with a parachute suspended from the center and white tablecloths and twinkle lights. I have several and this year I took the ones mostly that were new or easily set up. The needed more so I found more and took them too. It was nice to have them all displayed in one area, not scattered through the tables. It is a very busy week of decorating but as always it is so worth all the work to see the looks on the childrens faces as they seek the baby Jesus in each Nativity. I love listening to the beautiful songs of the Christmas Season sung by the members of the Stake young and old. I cry when I sing them because I hear my mother singing in my ear. She loved Christmastime. I miss her...especially during this season of Joy. May we all have the Peace in our heart that Jesus Christ brings.

Today Seth is 8

This young man has been in the family 8 whole years now. He is our 2nd eldest Grandchild. I say he's Lucky because he gets to be baptized on his 8th Birthday. He's having a white Birthday...in more ways than one. The forecast is for SNOW. He'll never forget the date he became a full-fledged Member of the Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-Day Saints. I remember well the night he was born. After taking his big brother to meet him at the hospital, I got to go home and make a boy blanket for him. It was a Red, White and Blue rail fence quilt with a pre-made silky edging. Seems like a trend that started a while ago. Making quilts well into the wee hours of the night. He asked at Thanksgiving if he could see his quilt. Sad to say Grandma C. hadn't even started it. This darned wrist injury has made me get too far behind on my goal to complete all 14 quilts this year. I'm not giving up, but I am a bit discouraged. I now have the blocks cut and will have a top done before I go to take him out for Breakfast tomorrow. Disappearing Nine Patches go together quick. The hold-up has been getting the fabric out of where I hid it and getting it cut out. I want to do a different layout on this one so I'll play with the blocks before I take them for a ride to Tri-cities. We are so happy Seth is in our family.

FINALLY- road trip to Danettes

I've been busy trying to finish up a few things that had deadlines other than December 25th. This tree skirt is for our Guild tree donation for the Junior Club here in WW. The Decorated Mini trees will be on display at the Marcus Whitman all of next week. As if I didn't have enough to do before Saturday. The weeks in December need to be at least 10 days long. Janessa called and said she wanted to chop off her hair so a Road trip was in order. I've needed to go for a Long while. She noticed my hair was pretty gray when she came and helped make rolls for Thanksgiving. I keep it down and pulled over the gray most of the time. but it was BAD! Danette asked if I was mad at her when I called to see if she had time to help Aunt Mary's "Bad hair" day. Just to show that we really were there, I had her take a picture of us. Janessa got a cute new do for her Goodson Family pictures this week-end. Jackson was a busy boy! All the bottles and things to see in a Beauty shop were just too tempting. I have pictures of the Nativity setting up, but those will have to be in a later posting. Come and see them all in one room. The picture shown is one of my newest ones that I found at "REAL DEALS" here in WW. I like the ones depicting Mary holding the Christ Child and ones that don't have a lot of pieces. The Cultural Hall looks totally transformed. The program is different than last year too, so Friday 5-8pm and Saturday 2- 6:30pm is the time to see them all. A Christmas Concert will follow in the Chapel at 7 pm.