Farewell to J

Well, it's time to say goodbye to our Jeep, "J." Angela and I got it in 2001 when we were at BYU together. We took it lots of places, including lots of SLC Olympic events. Jason and I have had it since we got married, and now we must part ways.

Jason was driving home from the airport a week ago around midnight and a kamikaze deer ran straight for the headlights. Thankfully Jason wasn't hurt, and luckily we have AAA, who sent a tow truck all the way past Washington, PA. After an hour and a half, they picked Jason up, drove him home and dropped him off at our house around 4am. Since the repairs are more than the car is worth, it's "totaled." We figure that something happened to the engine. So it looks like we're in the market for a new car!

Uncle Paul and Pirate Swords

My brother in law Paul came to visit us for a couple days last week. We had a picnic downstairs because of the rain, and the next day we took him to Coopers Rock. We had family home evening as we walked around. We wish he could have stayed longer!

Savannah loves getting into Clara's dress-up clothes, and she gets some crazy combinations. Here she is wearing candy pajamas, a ballerina headband, a tutu, flower lei and is wielding a pirate sword. She's demonstrating how to correctly say "aargh" and poke someone in the stomach with the sword. I love this picture.

Baby Quilt for Alisia

I found this tutorial a few months ago and wanted to make it, but didn't have anyone to make it for. Then a good friend had her first little baby, so I had an excuse! It was fun, easy and fast. I had never made anything like it and I had a lot of fun. Congrats Maaike and Lukas!

Pirates, amusement parks and tree stumps

We were down south this summer for a while, and did lots of fun things with my family. I'd add lots of pictures, but my computer/internet doesn't like me to do that too much, so we'll go with four.


One afternoon we went with everyone to an amusement park, which the kids loved. Clara and Sarah went on this car ride that was nice and slow on the straight part, and then it whipped them around the corner. Clara just laughed her head off. It was so funny to watch.

 

 The cousins...let's play "Where's Savannah?" extra points if you can find her. And no, I don't think she felt left out.

One morning Mauri and I took the kids (minus Savannah) on a pirate boat ride on the inlet. Clara got a couple "tattoos" (an octopus and an anchor), and Tate got a scar on his cheek which was pretty cool. We went out looking for treasure, etc., and it was really fun. The music from "Pirates of the Caribbean" played the whole time, which made it feel authentic.

Jason got some slalom skiing in before he rode a tube into a tree stump. Pretty talented, isn't he? (At skiing and slamming himself into a stump..what are the odds?)

Pigtails and pictures

Today I put Savannah's hair in pigtails, after she got the rubber bands and said, "green. blue. both." Have you ever seen cuter pigtails? She obviously likes them and happily showed them to daddy and Clara when they got home.

Jason's grandpa (Papa) passed away a couple weeks ago. Papa used to do clowning, and at his funeral there was a bowl of clown noses, so we took some home. Savannah had a hard time keeping hers on her tiny nose, but they thought the noses were funny.

 

On Clara's first day of school she actually took some pictures with her sister! I managed to get a couple before my camera batteries died.

Clara has taken up photography and one day spent probably an hour arranging and re-arranging her stuffed animals. I see some potential, don't you?

Summer

A friend is letting us borrow a little slide until her kids are old enough, and the girls just go around and around on it. We're trying to teach Savannah that she's supposed to climb up the stairs and go down the slide, but Clara's example isn't helping very much...

Gotta love the Sonic Cherry Limeade!

This girl loves her blanket

Pricketts Fort

Jason is working nights this week, so this morning we ventured forth to Pricketts Fort, which was built in 1774. At the time there were about 30 forts in the area, and this reconstructed one is a composite of several of them. It was like a mini-Williamsburg, with the living history people. We saw an Indian wigwam (Clara didn't think the hanging bear furs with the heads still one were real...sorry, no picture of that gem), a garden, spinning, a loom, sheep, chickens, the works. It was really fun, and the State Park it was in was beautiful. There was also a cemetery with graves in it from the 1820s. That's the earliest I saw, anyway. It was awesome.

We tagged along with a school field trip, which Clara loved. I think she felt like such a big kid. Then we ate lunch by the fort and the girls raced around. The best part was Jason's homemade chocolate chip cookies. Who knew there was such a gem just down the highway? Wild and Wonderful, I tell you.

Clara doing jumping jacks in front of the fort. The alternative was her putting her hat in front of her face.

 

 

Savannah's 'deadpan' face. Clara kept saying, "I'm getting such a deadpan right now!"

Dorsey's Knob Park

We discovered a gem this Sunday afternoon. we made our way to Dorsey's Knob Park and saw
1. Two longhorn cattle, which apparently are the oldest kind of cattle in America. Who knew?
2. A reconstructed log cabin...random.
3. A mosaic wall.
4. Beautiful trees, rolling hills, and a great view.

Three years

Angela passed away three years ago, today. It seems like yesterday and decades ago at the same time. She was such a wonderful big sister. She always let me follow her and her friends around the house, we'd count the glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling in her room, and go to aerobics class out at BYU. We were both out there for my freshman year, which was such a blast. We shared a car, and got to see a lot of each other as she showed me the ropes. Angela always treated me like I was her best friend.

As I'm sitting here remembering her, I can't articulate all the ways that I remember her and miss her. Clara knows that full moons and tulips remind me of Angela, and Clara always reminds me whenever there is a full moon, "Remember who that makes you think of?" I love that Clara knows about Angela in little ways. I miss Paul, too, and am grateful that he came to Savannah's blessing, Ashley's wedding, and comes to visit when he can. He took such tender care of her, which I'll always remember.

Angela loved Ewan McGregor, Rob Thomas, Fox Mulder, Frasier, pedicures, stars, the moon, sunsets, London, and traveling. I love being reminded of her in numerous little ways everyday. I read this quote from a book I didn't like, but this stuck with me, "Everything deserves to be remembered. If I dream about them, I'm thankful afterward. Even if it hurts. Because it hurts." It's wonderful to remember, and sometimes it hurts. But I want to remember. .

Family pictures

In December we had some pictures taken of all the families...here are a couple of my favorites.

April snippets

One evening we were playing outside when Savannah went into the garage and brought out these two 'soft' boards. Clara put one on top of her, and Savannah kept nodding emphatically when we asked if she was tired.



Savannah likes to run around the house with Clara's sword saying "Aarggg!" Then she added the eye patch...outfit complete.


Look at that face! I love this little girl.


On Easter they sat on the couch and compared their spoils. Savannah got little toddler snacks and devoured them on the spot. Clara was surprised how fast she gobbled them down.

February/March

My camera has been full of pictures and I finally have gotten them off..although there aren't many and it takes along time to upload the pictures to my blog. Savannah loves to dress up in Clara's clothes, bathing suits, and dress ups. She copies Clara all the time and follows her everywhere. They are starting to play better together, except when Clara is trying to wrestle Savannah, who is trying to get away. Still, sometimes Clara thinks her little sister is out to ruin everything she owns. They're such cuties.

Jason is almost done with third year, and has decided he wants to do dermatology. He had lots of areas he was interested in, but felt like he needed to decide and move on. We've started looking at residencies all over the country, which is kind of exciting! One one year left of school!

I've been working with the young women in our ward, which has been fun. I finally feel like I'm getting the hang of things. Clara is getting excited for kindergarten, which she'll start in August! I can't believe it...and I'm trying not to think about it yet. :)

Air

This is probably one of the coolest pictures I've ever taken. I love it. Good job, Lukas and Maaike! They put us, and Josien and Richard to shame. :)

Christmas present reveal!

I've been secretly working on Christmas presents since last June, and I'm excited to finally reveal the product of all my hard (and clandestine) work. I was bursting to tell my family, but I kept it secret! I'm so proud of myself. :)

This wall hanging was for my sister Allison. The wise men and star are paper-pieced. It's too complicated to try to explain adequately, but with paper-piecing, you sew the fabric onto the back of the pattern and then rip off the paper when you're done. (If you really would like to know more....you'll have to look elsewhere.) :) Look at the cute presents that they're bringing. I sewed them in last. Thanks to my mother-in-law for this idea.


This lap blanket was a wedding present for my sister Ashley and her husband Tom. I made the front and my mother-in-law quilted it on her quilting machine. I was so excited to give it to them!

Paper-pieced nativity for my sister Mauri.


Same nativity paper-pieced wall hanging for my mom.

I found this felt ornament tutorial here, and I made West Virginia ones for an ornament exchange in December. (The website is really cool. I've found lots of fun, easy crafts there.) I also made the other ones for the states that we've lived in together. I think they're so cute! And incredibly easy...trust me.


This spinning wheels project was the bane of my existence toward the end of 2008. I went to a class to learn to make this, and getting the spinning wheels to spin the right way was so hard. (Putting the right fabric in the right place.) So at the time, I made 9 of these squares, three of each color, and then couldn't bear to look at it until November of last year. Instead of putting all the squares together, I made a table runner instead. I gave one to a wonderful friend, and have 2 table runners left over to make! I think they turned out pretty fun. Whew....bring on 2012!