Family!

When the kids were little, it was so fun to see their excitement for Christmas! Hard to believe that was sooo many years ago.

Now here we are years later, and watching the next generation get excited about Christmas!
We were blessed to have 3 out of 4 of our kids and families with us this year. We missed Brad and Krystal and kid...s but tried to Face Time with them. I realize that each year, we should be grateful to have any of the family that we get to have at Christmas. Once they are married, we realize that we have to share time ... and so we are very grateful for the time we got!

It was great having the house full and crazy again. I forgot how loud and messy everything gets when they are all home. I forgot how one moment everyone is happy and laughing, and then a few minutes later... we they could all be upset about trying to choose where everyone wanted to have dinner! Yes that is what we call Family!
Then I had to laugh on how hard I worked to have the house look, feel and smell like home when they all walked in the door, then just a half hour later with everyone's stuff and everyone there...you couldn't even see the floor :). Wonder why we Mom's do that EVERY TIME? No, I know why we do, because we want our home to feel like Home, smell like home and look like home...if only for a moment! I do think that is a very important MOMENT though!

Today is Brad and Krystal's anniversary, can't belive it has been 7 years ago that these guys have been together... and now we have these three sweethearts in our family! LOVE THEM!!!! We feel soooo blessed!

Lauren and Nik left early this morning, so hard to see them go but grateful they were able to come this year for Christmas!
House is a bit quite, of course... I need to clean it again but oh ... it was soooo worth it!
Family, yes what a simple word but it has sooooooooooo much value and meaning!
Feeling very grateful tonight for this sweet Family of mine!
Good Night dear friends!

QuiltCon Day 1

Today I got up early to go to QuiltCon at the Convention Center here in Austin. I am working like I said in my girlfriend's booth and so for a few hours, I just did a demo for the Quilting Disks...sure wish that I would have practiced way more especially since everyone came by and was watching me. I did a lot of hearts, flowers and butterflies...still some of the ladies that didn't free motion much themselves, thought I was doing great. I told them to come back and see me on Saturday and I should be doing much better:)
Then Krystal came and picked me up and we had lunch at a French Bakery, it was neat and the crepes that we had were great. Fun to be with Krystal again! Love that girl! We stopped at the Michael Miller Booth and they had cards for you to write on and explain what you love about sewing, then they took a polaroid photo of you and pinned them up on a board. So this is a photo of a photo!

Krystal laughs at me because I am REALLY NOT INTO TATTOOS...but they had temporary sewing tattoos today, so ....I broke down and got this one...

Isn't that too funny?

They had a done of cute and fun Temporary Tattoo Booths but then then that had real Tattoo Booth and they were so crowded...the temporary one is all I could do, but we had fun photo opportunities at least!

I loved this booth by Windham. Loved how how they displayed quilt blocks. That is a great idea, especially if you liked to doodle!

I have to admit that being back in this Fair. I love all the Venders, I loved being one of the Venders and meeting all the new people there, especially people who love and enjoy some of the same things you do. I think I was born to sale, when I love something... I truly love to share it with others!

I am a lot like Superman....he gets his energy from the Sun and I get mine from PEOPLE!
So I got a lot of great energy today! Need to head to bed so I can get some more tomorrow!
Good Night dear friends!

Their Story

Our son Brad, daughter in law Krystal and grandson Kai were highlighted in a magazine called Woven, here is their focus...
Woven Magazine exists to celebrate artists, craftsmen, and makers alike to share their stories of fear and triumph, risk and return.

What a wonderful article about some of our favorite people. Reading this was a proud moment for us!
Here are a few sneak previews of the photos. You can read the article HERE:





Like Father Like Son!

A perfect evening!

Well, you can tell that I have been unbelievably busy, because I haven't even stopped to write in my blog for a couple of days. Our daughter in law Krystal and my grandson Kai, flew in on Weds and we have been running, decorating, and playing every since. When Kai saw me, he said "Hi Nana" and gave me a great big hug!!!!
Oh how I have missed my boy! We went shopping Friday for a bit and so this is a photo of he and I at Famous Footwear, as we wait for his Mommy to look for some shoes for the wedding! Yes, we are having a lot of fun!










The day before on Thursday was Lauren's Bridal Shower. That was the gift that Krystal wanted to give  her. She has been planning it for months and it did come out quite spectacular, but I will let you judge for yourself ( photos are below).

Fresh flowers, favors, pumpkin spice muffins and the door/shelve that Lauren and her Dad built together ( this was just an old door we bought and then they added and built everything else on it, then antiqued it to look like it all belonged together.It turned out to be quite the addition to the decorations! Since it was a Jane Austen theme, Amy did some quotes from the book and of course used her new Calligraphy talent...beautiful!

Of course Lauren made a beautiful Bride to Be!

Old books, vintage look with pearls and lace!

Mason jars, one of our family favorites...for drinking glasses!

We could not have ordered a more beautiful day, we set up out on our deck and it was simply beautiful, that evening the only problem that we had was...it got dark so quick. Which made it hard to see what Lauren got, plus the bugs were out in full force, other that ...it was a perfect evening!

Here we are, with all our effort, talents and sheer craziness, we made the shower a great success! I know Lauren felt loved and supported by so many friends ...that was what it was all about!

Thank you dear friends, and good night!

"My heart is, and always will be, yours"  ~ Jane Austen

Just a quick bite!

Today I went back to the Doctor. It was a month recheck and she wanted to see how I am doing. I had to be honest with her, I am still struggling. After doing almost anything, I am pretty wiped out. After going to church on Sundays, I can pretty much expect to have to stay down and low on Monday and Tuesday. I told her that when I am that tired that my throat still hurts and I am just fatigued to the point that I just have to lay down. Although I tried to remind her that I have been better these last 3 weeks than the last 5 months but...I am still quite far from FEELING GOOD.
I am trying to count my blessings at the same time, being aware of how my body is doing or not doing. She did a throat culture because of how red mine was, my nose was irritated from allergies, my ears are hurting  and I have a constant headache. I totally thought it was because of my glasses but after having them adjusted a couple of times, the headaches were still there. She said I hate to tell you " it's not your glasses, it's your sinuses and the allergies that are hurting your head so bad".
So I got a few more things to help with my sinuses and came home and sewed for the next few hours.

Today my daughter-in-law Krystal and our grandson Kai were flying in to go to her brother's Graduation. Her family lives in Yakama and they just usually pick them up from the airport and head back home, because they still have a 3 hour drive to her home. I called Krystal and asked if there might be any way that we could just come by the airport or meet for lunch somewhere close for just a quick bite...so we could see them for just a moment. We haven't seen them since Christmas, and this Nana and Poppa are having Kai withdrawals. I knew it was a lot to ask of her Dad and family, but we kept our fingers crossed. They called and said that would be fine. So I took off drove to Jeff's work and picked him up, and we headed to the Bahama Breeze( a great restaurant near the airport).
So for one hour, we got to see and eat with our Kai boy. Man do I miss this kid! He is just a such a happy boy and a great little eater. It did our grandparent's heart good to be with him ( if only for an hour ). Thanks Jeff and Tracy for sharing this little guy with us!

How grateful I am for family, and how much we love being Grandparents. We are very blessed.
Good night dear friends!


I love this quote...except mine needs to say " he calls me Nana."