Christmas is over and everyone has left. the house is picked up and extremly quiet. what we have left sre lots of pictures and many memories. Here is a start and when we get rested I will post more about our great week. For now here is our traditional picture of the grandkids taken on the stairs. And of course we took a Christmas eve picture of the kids in front of the tree.

A Christmas Start

Becca arrived on Saturday night and the fun began. Matt & kids came on Sunday followed by Sarah & Family on Sunday night. So the fun has begun. For dessert we had Ice Cream Pops, can you tell they liked them?

We trained the boys to go get Grandpa's morning paper, they didn't seem to notice the cold.
And of course for church we had our pictures taken with Ruthie Two. More photos will follow as I have a few minutes to blog.

Entertaining Kids in the Car

Last week we took a trip to visit Matt's family and to watch the Trans Siberian Music Lights at the Northfield Mall. On the way home Rocket & Roxanne were getting very bored. I kept them occupied by taking their pictures . This is something we couldn't have done with a regular camera, but with a digital camera we can take as many pictures as we want and if they don't turn out, just delete them.
It really kept them occupied for quite a while, as they would come up with a pose, I would snap the picture and then they would look at the picture and laugh. So if you are stuck in a car with active children, play with your camera.

Waiting For Cousins

We are all very busy getting ready for Christmas this year. Grandma made skirts for the girls. She even made one for Ruthie too. Grandpa made a swing. Elise tried the swing out and said cousins hurry and come play with me.

Quiet Time

I can't take credit for this as it was in my quiet time this morning, but I thought it was worth sharing.
God's presence comes to dwell in our midst when we praise Him, and in His presence we find healing, transformation, and direction for our lives. In fact, the more time we spend praising the LORD, the more we will see ourselves and our circumstances grow in wholeness and completeness. That's because praise softens our hearts and makes them pliable.
Stormie Omartin "Praying God's Will For Your Life"
Because your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You. Psalm 63:3

Trick or Treat

This is the year that we all got into the Halloween Spirit. We went to Naomi's parents house where Trick-Or-Treating is a big time event. There was a steady stream of kids all night. Here we are with Roxanne, Rocket & Elise, or better know as Bat Woman, Bat Man, and shadow the cat.
On the way home we went by a house that had 16 carved pumpkins. Our favorite was ET. This is something the owner has done for the past 22 years, and he does not usually repeat designs from previous years. What a talent.

Pumpkin Farm

OK by far Naomi has the best pictures, but I do have a few good ones. It is really hard to get 3 kids to sit still for a few seconds to get a good picture, but we constantly try. We couldn't have planned a more perfect day, neither cold nor hot, but just right. And I think everyone found their perfect pumpkin.

New Toys

No these toys are not for the grandkids, but for Grandma and Grandpa. We are calling them His, Hers, and Ours. Gary has wanted a storage shed for a long time and finally this was designated as his summer project. We labored most of the day on Labor Day putting the shed up. Now we just have to clean out the garage and fill the shed.
I have also been dreaming of a large ironing board. I know ironing can't really be considered a play time activity, but when ironing large pieces of fabrics, or quilts these ironing boards are great item. Gary made the board and I made a covering. I'm almost in heaven!
Now I am really in heaven. This is the "Our" toy. Our old TV was almost 20 years old and would turn off on a whim. Usually it came back on in a few minutes, but lately it has been staying off for a couple of hours. Luckily they were on sale this week, so we made the big splurge and bought a big screen TV. We'll see if this one lasts 20 years.

Oklahoma finish

Now I am ready for fall with The Great Pumpkin. I had started this before my travels and finished it while in Oklahoma. It is machine buttonhole applique.
This is what I made in Oklahoma when we wern't lounging at the pool. The first was a panel that is called Wee Play and I merged in with large half square triangles. It was so easy and fast to make as the squares are very large.

Grandpa's Been Busy

Ok, it was really Grandma's idea, but Grandpa did all of the work. Elise and Sarah helped to fill it with sand, and then Elise gave it a test play. Now she just has to choose whether to play in the fountain or the sandbox.

TheGood Life Part 2

OK OK OK, we are getting spoiled. But just so that you don't think it's all so great, there are a few drawbacks. It is very hot. We left 96 degree weather in Colorado and came to a 106 record setting day. The sidewalk is so hot we cannot walk to the pool from our lounge chairs. We have to wear our flip flops to the pool edge and quickly jump in so not to burn the bottom of our feet. Well it's about time for dinner, and it's steak night so I had better get going. Life is so hard!!

The good & the not so good

I honestly can't say that this was my most favorite camping trip. I came home very tired and had a negative attitude, but now 24 hours later I do have a better attitude. I'll list the things I did not enjoy and then get on to the good.
The not so good:
1. The drive up the mountain. I hate steep rough roads, and that is exactly what we had to drive on to get to our camping place.
2. We were really roughing it without even pit toilets.
3. Naomi & Matt took a tumble on the ATV.
4. There were bugs everywhere.
5. It rained partly on Saturday.
The good:
1. We kept the tradition of making up names for each of us and put them on our cups. Mine was "Nervous Nellie" Dad was "The Old Man"
2. Cousins had plenty of play time with each other.
3. Naomi & Matt weren't hurt in their ATV tumble.
4. We got some exercise taking lots of walk.
5. I took lots of pictures and here are a few of my favorites.

Matt & family and we got their first and had to let Sarah & family know where we were camping. Our resident artist, Naomi, made a sign and Rocket posed for the camera while we were waiting for them.


Roxanne & Elise road for a short trip sitting on the ice chest.
6. I learned two things on this trip. One is that Naomi fits in a 3 year old's car seat. The other is that LOL means laugh out loud. I had thought it meant lots of luck.

7. We built a really big fire with a tree stump that Naomi & Tim found.
8. Everyone helped with cooking chores.
9. There is always a funny face inside Rocket and sometimes we are lucky enough to catch it on film.

Summer fun

After viewing Naomi's Art show we had a picnic and spent the evening playing with the Grandkids. Grandma had brought kids tattoo stamps and everyone had their favorite.
Don't worry they are not permanent!


We also spent some time at the playground, Rocket tried a new trick, and the girls loved the swing that they shared.

The Fourth -Food , Faces, & Flags

We spent the 4th having a picnic with Sarah, Tim & Elise at Memorial Park. We also stayed for the symphony & fireworks. Grandpa & Elise enjoyed the ice cream that we brought.We didn't plan it, but we ended up wearing red t shirts, so we tried for a group photo. Grandpa started acting up and we all followed, but eventually we did get a good photo.
And of course what is the 4th without flags.

Family Visits

Gary's sister, Gayle and her husband John came for a visit. A first for them. Of course we did all the tourist things like going up Pike's Peak, visiting the Cliff Dwellings, and picnicking. Here we are with Matt & Naomi in Breckenridge. Rocket & Roxanne took advantage of the rocks in the creek. It was a special treat to have family visit.

Gees Bend Quilts

Last week we went to the Denver Art Museum to see the Gees Bend Quilts. I wasn't able to take pictures so I took some from the newspaper article about them. These are quilts that were made from 1940 to 2002 by four generations of African American women who lived in rural Alabama . The quilts were made by hand using whatever they had on hand, and many were made from used clothing. I loved the denim quilts that showed where they had removed the pockets. It was really amazing to see what they did. This quilt was my favorite! It was made in the 70's with left over corduroy. The women had entered a contract with Sears to make pillow shams. They then took the leftover pieces and made quilts from them. Of course the colors popular then were the olive green, gold, brown & red. They hand quilted through all that thick material. I feel so guilty I just send my quilts off to the long arm quilter and presto they are done. These women put me to shame. .

Little Girls & Dolls

Last week must have been Doll Week. Elise came over and she dressed all the Cabbage Patch dolls that we had here, and of course we had to take a picture. Then we went up to Matt's and Roxanne wanted to play dolls. So we dressed all her dolls and again took a picture. Roxanne said that she didn't have many clothes for her Cabbage Patch dolls. I asked her if I should make some for her and she agreed. She said she needed 100 clothes for her dolls. Guess I will be a little busy this summer!

Another Finished Quilt

Are you looking for your socks? This quilt that I made while in Oklahoma is called Lost Socks from the book Sunflower Patch by Black Mountain Quilts. It was fun to make, a real easy pattern, machine buttonhole applique.
I tried a new technique where I put a very thin batting behind the block when I did the stitching. Then I added another thin batting to it when it was quilted. It makes a very heavy quilt. I am not sure I will do this again, although I started my pumpkin quilt in the same way.
My friend Ann who just got a long arm did the quilting for me. She chose a snowflake design for it and I think it turned out great.
Now that I finished one I would like to start another, but I am busy working on 3 right now. I will try and restrain myself. Except I found a great background fabric , tan with barns on it for a fall quilt. Now to find a pattern!

Uncle Wilbur

Really there is no Uncle Wilbur in our family, but we do have a fountain in downtown Colorado Springs called Uncle Wilbur. Being a hot day and Rocket & Roxanne were in town, we met Sarah & Elise at the fountain. The water was very cold, but the kids still had fun. Rocket's goal was to get Grandpa wet and he was successful.