Merry Christmas

I love my collection of ornaments. I wanted to share this collection of nativity ornaments.

This is one Grandma and Grandpa Hall brought us from Israel.
I like this one too. I picked it up at a craft fair here in Idaho.

I love Jim Shore. He has such a way of sharing the real meaning of the season.And here is another Jim Shore creation.
Our Christmas card is getting harder and harder to put together.

God bless you all this holiday season and may your days be merry and bright.

Early Christmas

The best way to start a weekend is at the In and Out.The goose really enjoyed standing on this box. She is getting very proficient at communicating with her pointer finger.
Nothing says Christmas like a dinosaur museum. The kids loved it...let's see...how old are they?
She is petting a kitty...What can I say? She has limited vocabulary.
And finally we open the gifts.

Love

I work in a small farming community. On Monday, there was a house fire and a family of 5 lost everything. Part of the charm of living in a small community is a volunteer fire department; by the time they get enough people together, it is too late.

Within 24 hours:

they had been taken in by a family in town...just someone who wanted to help
found a house to live in with the deposit waved
the local Born Again church paid the 1st months rent

The next day:

the Mormon church sent an order to the D.I. for beds and furniture, as well as a food order.
bags upon bags of clothing, bedding, household supplies, shoes and coats started being delievered.
Another months rent was paid.

The next day:

more supplies, more cash.
A Christmas tree was given.

Today:

A team of people are moving this family into the house, setting up beds and unpacking bags of supplies.

A few days ago the mother of this family had a broken heart. This week she has wept because she can't understand why people she doesn't know and churches she doesn't go to would show her so much love and compassion.
If not her, who?
If not now, when?
Jesus Christ lives and he loves us. Through Him, there is peace on earth, good will to men.

Somethings take time

I have had these cross stitched pieces looking at me for a few years. I thought I had a good idea for how to use them, but I never could execute it. So the other day I started thinking about how popular a square in a square is and thought of this. I think I like it and I do have a boarder cut out or it. It broke my heart to take down this quilt. I just feel like I never get anything finished. But I am working on it with a hoop and it is coming along. The goal is to finish it before Christmas. You know, it is nice to put away Halloween before Santa comes.

Quiet Book--part 2

I finished the quiet book. I wanted a plain cover. And since they will only get one per family, something that would work for a family.Here is the cat...
And a little train...
Then the flowers...
And a snowman...
And always a winner, tic-tac-toe..
When ls was here she asked if I could make her a hat. I do not proclaim to know much about crocheting, but, I can follow directions. We shall see if she likes it.

I am now cutting out a quilt for fun. It has no applique and I sure could use a break from it.

Just for T

Well, T @ K did not have Thanksgiving with us, but we thought about them. First I want to thank Ty for having us for Thanksgiving dinner for the last few years, we have really enjoyed it. Here we are to start the day.
What is Thanksgiving without a little football?
These two are eating dinner before we put it on the table.
He may be 14, but he still doesn't eat most of the dinner.

I threw this in because it is a quilt blog, we should have something pretty.See above reason for this picture
I think I killed them. They crashed before they could leave the table.

The birthday girl liked her cupcake,
-however, Tio Ricardo liked the presents.
Missed you T....

Working on those Christmas Surprises

I have been working on Christmas presents. I saw on facebook the other day: I had all the fabric and batting so I made it. It was a 12 inch square. Well, I had all the fabric, batting, backing and a pattern, so I made it. This is what I am working on for the goose. I have two patterns and I am enjoying it. I like the idea of a plastic pocket to keep the pieces in.
I love these things. I only post it so that maybe you will want to make one too.
Hey K, you better not show these pictures to the goose. I want her to be surprised!
I had better get going, I have lots of work to do. Happy Thanksgiving!

Weekend Fun

First let me say that these pictures are not in order. Sorry, I have tried to post them 4 times and they finally posted, but out of order.

We went to Boise this weekend for the blessing of this sweet baby. We had a great time visiting with our family there.
I spent some time on Saturday and finished this... I was so tired of pink and green, not to mention applique. That does not explain why I have started a new project that is applique, does it?
And here is the baby again. I love that her mother made the dress and that the blanket was used when her mother was blessed.

Weeds

Here are some pictures from a walk Wes and I took today.


I find it interesting....
that so much of what we see....
are weeds...

All in all, a lovely day.

More fun with the Goose

Here they are learning a new skill....how to stick out your tongue. IT was fun to watch the boys play football. I have some other pictures from years ago of the boys playing football.
The goose played too.
Here is the pink and green quilt. I still have the boarders to work on. Here is what I have learned. Just because I like something Dixie makes, it does not mean I should make it. There are 100's of mistakes on this, which means I will have no choice but to keep it.
And last, here is Wes learning a new skill. He is cleaning sewing machines. It is so hard to find someone to clean a machine around here. We have a business license and hope to be able to do this as a supplement to our ever smaller teacher paycheck.