Dogs and Kids

 We love having dogs in our home. Even our neighbor's dog. I grew up with big dogs, but they were never allowed inside the house.

Also I saw these body lotions at my local Ulta Beauty store. How lovely.

Christmas 2016

 We enjoyed a fun Christmas with the grandchildren playing. They love to unwrap presents and play inside boxes. And boy do I have lots of treats in the house.

Katie and I made this memory quilt from Tyler's band t-shirts. It is a monster!

How we love Martinelli's!

Scholarship and Concert

 Decembers are crazy months for musicians. On Dec 15, Marnie attended an awards ceremony at Stanwood Middle School to receive a scholarship for her musicianship. And as soon as that was over, we ran to the high school to perform the Christmas concert. 

The tradition with Chamber Choir's Christmas concert is that former members join in singing Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. Marnie was chosen to sing the solo at the beginning. What an amazing day for her! Then Katie was able to join in.

It's so fun to see past members and catch up with their schooling and families.

Jim approves!

Painted Forest

 This lovely pattern was created by Scott Hansen at Blue Nickel Studios. I made the first one similar to the cover quilt, nice a springtime colors. Perfect for my large stash.

I picked up a stash of Kaffe Fassett woven stripes and created another one. Unfortunately, it was out the door before I could take a picture.

Although wovens are a little tougher to work with, because they stretch, the colors are beautifully saturated. I honestly can't remember how I quilted this. I swear, if I don't take a picture, it never happened.

Bonnie Growing Up

 Pam is great about sending pictures of Bonnie from St. Anthony. It isn't fair that Jim gets so much grandparent time. Howard should be done with schooling pretty soon and they plan to move to Washington. She's such a happy little girl.

Shine On Me

 I had the opportunity to accompany the Chamber Choir at the St. Cecilia concert on Sunday. The song is tough to play, but I really enjoy hearing the choir sing it. Sadly, Marnie is hidden almost throughout this video behind a microphone. But I'm her mother and can pick out her voice.

Halloween at Disneyland

 With a trip to San Diego on the schedule, we decided to stop by Disneyland for Halloween. We are familiar enough with the park to do everything in one day. Well, the things we like.

Because we went on Halloween Day, Oct 31st, we needed to leave a bit early. Disneyland holds an evening party with a separate ticket called the Oogie Boogie Bash. They started arriving at 3pm so we started heading out about 4pm.

The park was nearly empty for the first few hours. What a delight! Haunted Mansion has a Jack Skellington overlay with Danny Elfman music.

There's nothing like walking down Main Street at 8am. We love rides, so we just go from line to line. Without children you don't feel the joy of their excitement at seeing what Disney does best. But neither do you have to stop and wait for the slowest member. Because that's now me.

Inside the art studio directly to the right upon entering, there was this little Pooh Bear painting that I absolutely loved. "Why is Honey Always Uphill?

We caught Mary Poppins and Bert wandering around Fantasyland.

This was the funniest experience of the day. We were standing in line and when the door opened, Chewie came and gave me a huge bear hug. It was completely disarming.

However, when we met Darth Vader it was totally different. I didn't dare go near him. Lots of heavy breathing. Very scary.

Marnie's Senior Picture

 Well, here is the last one to get a senior picture. Marnie modeled for a girlfriend who is a photographer in her class. I'm sad she will be done so soon and we will have an empty house. I don't know which one she chose for publication, but this one is my favorite.

Temple Quilts

 Our wonderful temple presidency is moving on after three years. We have gotten to know them so well and love them dearly. President and Sister Olson were able to actually move into the new president's residence behind the Seattle Temple.

I found a paper pieced pattern online which required a lot of taping together. Each of them is a tiny bit different. I dyed the blue background fabric.

From L-R: Robert and Marlies Sainsbury, Thomas and Kathleen Olson, William and Rise Gross

They all were very appreciative. It is the least little gift for the incredible number of hours they spent in service for others. The Sainsburys will continue their service as president and matron of the new Meridian Temple.

The temple president's residence is lovely. Can you imagine living at your job? It comes with a landscape crew!

And you can walk to work everyday. In the rain.

Jim's First Birthday

We celebrated Jim's birthday this week in Snohomish. I love first birthdays because children don't understand what's going on. This is your cake. These are your friends. This is how you blow out candles.

Make an ironing station

 If you have room to keep an ironing board up all the time, this might be an option for you. An ironing board has lots of wasted space underneath. So why not use a bookshelf? It's time to head to IKEA.

This item is a Kallax. When I purchased it, they didn't offer legs, so I bought 6 casters and installed them myself.

Then I went to Home Depot and bought some plywood, covered it in cotton batting and stapled canvas to the top. It's heavy enough that I don't even have to attach it permanently.

Now I can store all sorts of wonderful things in those cabinets. Or I can buy baskets that fit perfectly in the 12" cubes. I can roll it around wherever I need it, too.