Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Amazingly....an update!!

I'm back. It's been a busy month. What can I say?
In May, I taught a class at Scrap Happy Sisters...it was a little travel journal that fit nicely in a tiny little suitcase. Very cute. I used Scooter's Vacation papers from Imaginese. I wish I had photos, but about the time we switched computers, my external hard drive died...totally. I've tried three different computer people to recover the data, but to no avail. There were over 11,000 pictures....lost forever. I can try Data Drs., but their estimate is $1,000-2,000 with no guarantees. And since I'm not independently wealthy, I will have to pass. So sad. Anyway, I don't have a picture at the moment of the project, but it turned out very cute. Every other page was a 7gypsies small tag to provide a journaling spot.
Ellen (one of my sisters) was in town for a few days, along with her two boys. One of them, Kyle, is married and he and his wife came with their twin girls, Jane and Eliza. It was really fun to catch up with them and spend a day visiting.
We've made several trips to watch Matthew play baseball. He's really getting to be quite a good ball player. His positions are pitcher and first base. And he's pretty good at hitting, too! It's always fun to watch him play and to visit with Dan, Chris and Emma.

Dallin graduated from kindergarten! Yea! Now he's a first grader. He's such a cute character. He's smart and has lots of ideas. His mom and dad don't always agree with his ideas, but he's a good thinker! And sometimes a little stinker!!!



Erin's girls have been busy taking swimming lessons. Ellie invited me to come because she wanted me to take pictures and make her a book!! Funny girl. She did really well. She's a good little swimmer. She even learned how to do to the breast stroke. Hattie, on the other hand....I'll just say that she cried the entire time she was in the water. The rest of the time she sat on either my lap or Erin's lap. The highlight (really, lowlight) of her lessons was the first day....she swallowed a ton of water and what went down, came right back up....in the pool! Poor Jenny! Had to quickly scoop out her pool!!! Poor Hattie. It was totally unexpected and not fun. All in all, she is able to get to the side of the pool and out should she fall in. I guess that's what it's all about!!
We were grateful to be able to watch the dedication of the Gila Valley Temple. That temple has special meaning to me because it's in the general vicinity where my mom grew up. She would have been thrilled to be able to see it! We went to the open house, too. What a beautiful temple!!!
I've also been busy creating a couple of projects for 7gypsies to use at CHA summer in Chicago. I'm not at liberty yet to share the new products nor pictures, but I will when the "cat's out of the bag"!! I'll just say....there is one paper line I LOVE LOVE LOVE...the other one is okay, but not my style particularly.
On Memorial Day, we met Brian and his family and Erin and her girls at the Veteran's Memorial Cemetery. We cleaned Mom's headstone and decorated her grave with flowers. It's pretty impressive to see a flag at the headstone of every grave in the cemetery. It makes you grateful to be an American and for the many freedoms and liberties that we enjoy, thanks to veterans.
Last week Erin and Brian (Trimble) were Ma and Pa on their stake trek. They had a good time, but it was dirty and hard! We met them when they came home, along with the girls. It was HOT, but fun!
Tonight is Relief Society. Roxann and I are "in charge". It's a Family History evening. We'll be learning about Family Search, personal histories and journals. There will also be a display table of various ways to preserve your family history....recipe books, scrapbooks, etc. And for refreshments, we're having cookies from Grandma's house (really, just their recipes!) and Boston Cooler punch. It's a mixture of vanilla ice cream and Vernors. Yummy!
Oh....and another thing. Mark has less that one year left before he retires! But who's counting? This picture is of his current squad....Community Relations.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Let's Give This a Try!

We just got a new computer....we switched from a Dell PC to an IMac. And it's taking some time to learn how to make everything work....correctly!! So I'm going to try to post an entry and see if I can make it work. Sorry, but I don't think I can make pictures work yet since they're still on my external hard drive. If I get adventurous, I'll try posting one of my nephew who is getting married on Friday.
Life's been busy, as usual. I keep a list by my side with everything I need to accomplish, and lately it's been VERY long. At the moment, there are only three pressing items to do....I don't put regular chores/tasks on my list....just those with a deadline and those that I HAVE to complete. So that's three items....until I add the new items I just learned about. So it's an ongoing list. UGH!
The past two days have been spent helping Erin get things finished up for their pioneer trek in a couple of weeks. This week we finished her apron, made the ditty bags...one for the girls and one for the boys, and we've been making her pioneer baby. I realized today why they've assigned this task to the Mas of each family. They want there to be some sort of emotional attachment to the babies. Every baby will "die" during the trek sometime and each family will bury their own baby. The baby is made from muslin and stuffed (mostly) with sand so it weighs about the same as a real baby. Their baby will be named Belle. That was my grandma's middle name. Erin ordered a white cotton baby gown from ebay and I made a cute bonnet from a vintage hanky. The baby is really cute for a muslin/sand baby. Then I was able to score a silk baby dress at Savers on one of our scouting trips. It's off-white and beautiful. Erin is going to have the girls in the family dress the baby for its burial in the silk dress. The boys and Brian will dig the hole...so they each will have a task to perform. At the funeral for the "baby" she and Brian will give each of their "kids" a token from the trek. She's made "necklaces" for the kids...the boys is a metal ring tied on with leather and the girls' is a bead chain necklace with silver rectangular pieces. Each of the necklaces is stamped with the words blessed and honored and the date. She's added a tiny bell to each of them so they can remember the baby they buried. I don't know how they'll all get through it (emotionally). But the trek is an experience never to be forgotten!
Now I'm going to try to post a picture of my nephew, Logan, and his fiance, Alli Ginos. They're being married on Friday. Are they the sweetest couple you've ever seen? They both seem so happy!!!

Monday, April 19, 2010

Bread Snob

I realized today that I'm a total bread snob. When Erin and I make homemade whole wheat bread, I LOVE it the day we bake it....especially right out of the oven....but anytime that day is best. I will eat it after it's been frozen, but my all-time favorite is the same day it's baked. I decided I'm a bread snob. Just sayin'...

Thursday, April 15, 2010

How Long Till She Notices?

Erin has been wishing I'd update my blog with pictures from Eliza's last track meet so she can nab them to put on her blog. Well, today I downloaded 385 pictures from two cameras onto my computer. So now I'll post Eliza's track meet pictures. She did very well. While she didn't come in first in either race (100m and 200m) she had a new personal best in both events. She bettered her time in the 200 m by about 3 seconds! Way to go, Eliza!! Now on to the next meet on Saturday!! Go, girl! We'll be cheering for you.


Hey! Mr. Man in the green shirt...I can't see. Could you please move aside??!!



Now let's see how long until someone notices I posted pictures...

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

7gypsies Blog

If you want a small peek at my little corner workspace, go here: It's were I spent many hours of my time, both for 7gypsies and for my own "entertainment"!
The March 31st and March 27th entries are "me". There are others, but you'll have to check out the older posts to find them. You can see part of what keeps me busy and out of trouble!

Saturday, March 27, 2010

So Blessed!

Today was a wonderful day. The weather was nice, though a bit breezy. We had our annual family Easter party. We went to a local park and had a GREAT time! We started off with lunch....everybody brought their own. Then we had our fun games/activities. First we started off with the traditional, Tootie-Tah! That's always a hit! Then we had some three-legged races. So funny! The grandkids hadn't ever done it before, and it was fun to watch them figure out a system whereby they didn't fall on the ground! Next we played with bubbles. The kids couldn't get enough of that one. Hattie especially enjoyed chasing the bubbles!! And Luke had to figure out that you blow out of the opposite end that you stick into the bubble suds. A couple of weeks ago Mark and I found some small marshmallow shooters at a boutique and figured that that would be fun for the party. And boy, was it fun! We got one for each of the grandkids and their dads. The kids figured out quickly how to make them work. And they figured out some tricks to get them to shoot further and how to shoot several marshmallows at one time!! The birds at the park will have a feast this week! Then we had the fish pond. It was a little "make-shift" this year, but fun nonetheless. After that the kids (and their dads) played some baseball, rode around the park on their bikes and scooters, played on the playground equipment and had a great time together. I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful family that will put aside time to spend together. It was a memorable day. And also so grateful for my children. They are the best! I'm grateful that they love and support one another (and us!) and that they choose to follow the Prophet and live the gospel to the best of their abilities. I'm also grateful that they will go out of their way to help one another. One of the kids needed a little help today, and another of them stopped what he was doing to lend that much-needed help. You know who you are. I love and appreciate all of you. Erin had a big event today that she was "in charge" of. She was in charge of the program and refreshments for the YW Broadcast in their stake. They recognized each of the YW who earned their YW Medallions this year. She and a friend made some darling bracelets from vintage spoons. I'll try to get a picture to post. And she also did very creative refreshments. They had a sundae soiree....vanilla ice cream with various toppings. The creative part was that she found yummy toppings for the sundaes that were in the eight value colors. So fun! I'm so proud of my kids and the choices they make that keep them on the right track. And I'm grateful that they're passing on that tradition to their own children. I'm feeling very blessed today.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Latest Family Photo


I just had to share our latest family photo. It was taken after Abby's baptism. Can you tell the sun was bright?