Post Christmas Idaho Adventure

Here is my daughter and yes, she cut her hair.


It seems so strange to only have l.s. and r. home for Christmas, but we loved spending the day with them. t. and k. came the next day. We went to Sun Valley for an Idaho adventure. I wanted the kids to ice skate, but they weren't as interested in it as I was. But we had a great day and it was very pretty.

Cinnamon Rolls and Christmas morning

First, I just want to say how much fun it is to be off work and have some time to blog.

On Christmas Eve day I have a few traditions. Mostly they take place in the kitchen. I always make Cinnamon Rolls and I feel like sharing a few tips with you.

First of all, find yourself a recipe and get your dough going. I use my bread machine recipe and it works fine.

Then you roll them out. Here is a trick, wipe down your counter with a anti-bacterial wipe, let it dry and spray it and your roller with PAM. It works great. You clean it up the with a wipe. Make sure you are generous with the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Come on, you only do this once or twice a year.

Roll them up and cut them about and inch and a half and let them rise again. When you bake them, take them out about 5 minutes early. Frost them with what is left of the butter mixed with some powdered sugar and vanilla. Then in the morning, put them back in the oven for 5 or 10 minutes.

Here is my quilt project this week. I want to give it away as a wedding present. I can do that right?
Now, I'm back to the kitchen. We are doing fondue tomorrow and I think it will be fun.

MeRrY ChRiStMaS!

The Christmas Letter

I wanted to post my Christmas letter and picture, because I sent out every single one and realized that I should have ordered 15 more, or maybe more. I feel very blessed as I love all my nieces and nephews, and that includes the many I have because of Wes. I love reading your blogs and hope you all have a Merry Christmas.

Here is what Santa had to post on our facebook today, December 2010

Keith @Courtney, I know you have just finished school and will be looking for a teaching job, so don’t forget to drop me a line and send me your new address, because I wouldn’t want to miss a visit to Lucy next year. share

Congratulations Todd! I am sure you and Katelyn will have a very nice wedding in Logan this April. share

Relax Scott; everything is going to be fine. It is so nice to have you closer to me in the Canada Vancouver Mission. share

Callie, I’m so happy you just finished your first semester at BYU in Provo, Don’t forget to spend some time with your family while you are home for Christmas. share

Rich, you are 13 and a freshman in High School. Stop growing or you will be taller than me next year. share

Lisa, you might consider selling some quilts and bags this year, in the mean time, don’t quit your day job at Wendell Elementary. share

Wes, after 13 years you are still in a bishopric, HO, HO, HO. share

And to our dear friends and family we want to thank you for being part of our lives. We hope that you always find peace in joy. MERRY CHRISTMAS…. The Halls

I love a fake tree. If you like your real one, that is okay with me, but I love fake trees. This is a new fake tree (well, someone gave it to me). I would say that being a scrappy quilter, also makes me a scrappy Christmas tree person too. My kids all have their own ornaments and this year I realized that l.s. has all the Nutcracker ballerinas, and R, has all the Nutcrackers. I have already made a note to myself that I need to get my own. But the one thing I always have on the tree are the picture ornaments they made when they were is school. Love them

Here is K from the 4th grade, it is the only one that has made it through the years.
Here is T. in what I would guess is 3rd or 4th grade. It is the only one I have.

Here is S. I have a couple of these, but he looked just like this for several years.
This is l.s. She is in the 1st grade here. I have a couple to choose from with her too.
And here is R. I think this is 1st grade too. I have a couple of him too.

I'm so glad that none of you can see me sitting here crying. I miss them. The kids grow up too fast and I don't feel like I have grown up at all. Now, when will L.L. start to send me ornaments?

Hand-print ornaments

http://eighteen25.blogspot.com/2010/12/hand-print-snowman-ornaments.html

If you have little children in your home, check out this blog for a cute ornament that you will keep forever. I would have mine make it, but they are big and I would need a big canvas for their hands.

Blessing Dress

The blessing dress was just right for L.L. She was very quiet and peaceful in it.

We need a little fabric

I decided what this blog was missing was some quilting pictures. I am sorry to say, that I have been gone the last three weekends and my project list is suffering, but these two are done.Now, if we are going to have a snow picture, it might as well have something worth looking at, right? I love these hankie quilts. I have one more that needs quilted, but the Christmas tree is where the quilting frame belongs.
I hope to start some new projects soon. It should help me through my winter solstice- ites.

Snowy Days

Here is my lovely daughter who got a hair cut and it is cute.
It was warm in Utah and I was very grateful. Here we are after the blessing of LL
I will admit that sometimes snow can be pretty, but we have been dumped on the last two weeks. Uggg... it is too early. I am happy to say that we got rain today and you can see the pavement on the streets again.

Random

I just thought you might want to see a picture of L.L.
Here is ls with her roommates. They were all wearing black and blue. They are very nice girls.
This picture is old, but they are engaged now. We are happy, she seems to be able to keep him out of trouble.

What a week!

Keith and his new daughter.
I just want to know how she looks like.
I left the great state of Idaho and hitched a ride to Utah with some friends last Friday. I have been spending my days hanging out with my kids, because 3 of them live here, and, w.a.i.t.i.n.g for the baby.
To start with, I got an e-mail from Scott's mission president saying that church medical said if he wasn't doing better this week he had to come home to get better. Judging from last weeks e-mail, I expected to have him here. I don't know exactly what happened, but I know that the St. President was contacted and he is not with me.
Then they got a crazy blizzard in Idaho and both highways were closed for a while, leaving me wondering if I would have the rest of my family with me for Thanksgiving. Wes and R are on their way as I post this. The roads in Idaho were bad, but they are making some time now.
Last of all was the week of waiting for L.L. She is here safe and sound and I can't wait to spend the rest of my week with her.
For now, I am baking sweet potatoes at T,'s and posting at l.s's who lives upstairs. It is like having a mansion and everyone lives on different levels.
I have been truly blessed and hope that you all have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Weekly Project

I started next weeks project yesterday. I am making a bag for someone. She picked out the pink and brown and threw in the blue/green. I love it. Here is a sneak peak at the blessing dress. It is rather simple, but should do the job well.
I am trying to finish up a few project this week so I can go and see my kids for an entire week. It should be fun.

Sunday Post

I wasn't going to post today, but I have just read the three chapters (19,20,21) in To the Rescue, that talk about President Monson's work in Germany, and wondered if I was the only one who cried through it. What a marvelous journey.

Thought number 2. We went to church today in our newly created ward. There were so many people there. This is not something that we are used to. I don't think we have ever lived in ward this big. Should be a new adventure.

And follow up on the table topper. Yes, I made it from cut out to binding in a week. And Connecting Threads is a quilt shop by mail or e-mail. www.connectingthreads.com/

Working

The hardest part of working full time is still finding the energy to sew when you get home. I have a weekly goal. This was last weeks goal made from a kit from Connecting Threads.Next weeks goal is the blessing dress.

There are other challenges with working:

1. I really don't have any desire to fix dinner and with R around, I can't help but ask myself 'Why?' (He is a terribly picky eater.)

2. I live in Jerome, I rarely go over 25mph. So now I get on the freeway everyday and go 75 mph. Granted, I only go to the next exit, but still it is a shock to my system.

3. I really want to walk after I get home, but as soon as I walk in the house, I feel bombarded with the many things that need to be done.

4. I loved subbing because I was able to read at work. I found that I could read at lunch and afternoon break, but people keep saying, "Are you reading?" So I have finally found a place to read.

Halloween

This is a plant that I planted last year. I have been watering it all summer long and finally, it has blossomed. It was worth the wait.
When I look out my window I see this tree. I hope every day that wind doesn't blow all the leaves off, because I love to see it.
This is a finished product!
We spend every FHE before Halloween carving pumpkins.
And here is Rich feeling very Canadian.

I have been thinking today about Halloween on Sunday. When the kids were little, we would have a family Halloween party on Sunday night. We would play games and I would give them candy. I think that some of those little parties were probably the best times ever.

So I hope you take some time today to enjoy your kids and have a Happy Halloween.

October

This is my favorite receiving blanket that I am making for Lucy. I love Raggedy Ann and Andy. The fabric came from one of fabric exchange meetings and the hearts came from my mother. Okay, I like it because I didn't spend any money on it... which means Wes likes it too.I don't like to go to Richard's cross country meets because it seems like if I do, he gets hurt. But this week he had his last one of the year, and it was a spectacular fall day, so I went. This is what I saw:
He hurt his leg and is still limping. Maybe I should have stayed home.

Wedding Weekend

Well, we were busy this weekend with the wedding of my brother,Ty to my cousin, Nancy. Okay, so she is not really my cousin, but our grandparents were married. The day was perfect and it was a lovely ceremony.
Here they are.
And here is their family. I wish them many happy years together.
The weirdest thing that happened is when I said to my new sister-in-laws, sister, "I can't believe how much you look like grandma." Which is a complement, as our grandma was beautiful. It just seemed weird.

The rest of the weekend was spent hanging out with my family. It is always fun when we can share time together.

Black and White

It is finished, and it took more than the 3 hours I thought it might. It is fun.I also wanted to update you on my friend Lisah, who is a reader of this blog. She did not have a good week. But about Thursday, her husband said he had finally reached a decision to leave this in the Lords hands. Soon there after, she stopped having seizures, and they are hoping to start the long process of bringing her out of the coma today. All I have to say, is sometimes, giving in to the will of the Father, makes it possible for miracles to happen. Can't wait until she is back here....keep praying.

1930"s

I love the 1930's reproductions. They make me smile. So while I was trying to figure out what to do with this, my round robin...I decided to make this. Now I know that not everyone likes the Hankie quilts, but I had a grandmother who crocheted around hankies, like I crochet around receiving blankets. I have enough fabric and hankies to make two more. They all have a home.

Pink!

Callie says that I like General Conference because I can quilt and go to church at the same time. There is some truth to that, but this year, I just made a couple of receiving blankets.

I put this together between the last session of Saturday Conference and the first session of Sunday Conference. It is cute, but I have no idea what I will do with it. It is a table topper.This is the quilt for Lucy. Courtney said to use pink and brown and Callie helped pick it out, so there are a few dots to go with it. It has taken me 3 weeks to get to this point, but I am not complaining about working.
I will quilt it as soon as I finish this one. I should have no more than 3 hours left here...I hope.
All three of these quilts came from the magazine, Quick Quilts.

Faith, Hope and Prayer

To all of my friends out there, my very dear friend Lisha Cline Bauer is critically ill in the ICU in Utah, she as a very severe case of encephilitis. She is in a medically induced coma and is still having brain seizures please please pray for her and her family, if you belong to a church that has a prayer chain please put her on it she is in God's hands.

I know I put this on my facebook, but I have people who read here, and not there. Lisha and her husband are friends of mine from High School. I don't think I was ever as happy to re-connect with anyone then with them. Please keep her in your thoughts.

Blessed

My last week of subbing was so much better than the first two. Why? Because I didn't have to plan for the next week. I was in the classroom the first three weeks of school. I am sure you have heard teachers say they have to re-teach the first three weeks of school. I would have to say that after three weeks, I saw reading levels rise by a grade level, as well as an obvious jump in the ability to do the rest of the work. But I don't think it was re-teaching; it was more like learning to focus again.

My new job doesn't start for a week, so I am hoping to get some sewing done. I have two projects that are just about done, so I am looking forward to SeWiNg this week.

As for this weekend, I am enjoying watching General Conference. I feel so blessed.

Enough said.

Surprise

I had a big surprise yesterday when I received a phone call asking me if I would come to work! Yes, I have a new job. I applied for 14 jobs this summer. I interviewed for 1. I was not qualified for this job, but the principal sent the application to the elementary principal and I interviewed there also. It is an ELL job, which means I will get to use some Spanish and hopeful improve my Spanish.

I will miss subbing. The reality is that I went to school in California to sub. I got the BA, I passed all the the test and then moved to Idaho. In Idaho there are no qualifications for a sub and they don't pay as well as they do in California. Here is to working every day!

2nd Grade

I have spent the last two weeks subbing for a 2nd grade teacher. The first week was wild, exhausting, and educational. I felt like I should give out advise such as:

If your child is too sick to go out to recess, they are too sick to come to school, or

Your child can't drive themselves to school, so get out of bed, feed them breakfast, and get them to school on time. Or how about:

Just because you think every thing your child does is cute, do not expect others to think the same way.

The second week was easier. I was able to plan ahead better and I was not so tired. I was thinking I had the hang of it, when on Wednesday, I confiscated a cell phone, had a boy dismantle his desk, and had a girl cry for an hour because she missed her sister. It just goes to show that you never know what will happen next.

I have one more week to go. Who knows what will happen.

Welcome Home

We spent yesterday in Smithfield Utah with our friend Atlee, who just returned from a mission. It was nice to go to church with my family. This picture is to show you that Rich is taller than Callie, that I am going to be a grandmother soon and that Todd still has a girlfriend. Hmm, so much more to come. We are happy that Atlee is home and are so grateful for the blessings he has brought to our family.

Sneak Peak

Our Hospice Quilt is going to be awesome this year. Here is a sneak peak.

It's only been a year

I pieced this last summer, then I changed the outer boarder and started quilting it a couple of months ago. I finished the binding this morning and I love it. Not sure what I will do with it, but considering I keep losing quilts when the kids leave the house, I will have to hang on to it.

I finished this one yesterday. I love this and Callie helped me pick out pinks and browns for Keith and Courtney. I can't wait to do this one again. I have finished my summer projects. I have some bags to make this week and then I have new fall projects. I think my winter projects will be some throws for the cancer center. I have been looking for patterns and I have some scraps that will make up nicely.