She will be a good big sister!!! I love baby dolls, aways have. I think I will give baby dolls every year for Christmas!
Audrey 8 Months
8 years ago
Quentin really is a ham and is very good at faking sleep...Grandpa plays along anytime too!
We took Christmas to Seattle early as it was our "Off" year. I did want to see the kids open their quilts though. Hillary says that he sleeps with it every night.
 |
| This is not a fake and just look how very sweet that is...so worth all the hours of cutting, sewing and unpicking and sewing some more! |
I fell in love with this fabric by 3 Sisters, Whitewashed Cottage...isn't it adorable!!! Shabby chic is how I would describe it. I am in the process of quilting and binding...I will post the completed quilt soon!!!
As soon as Hillary said she was pregnant I had a feeling it was a girl so I took a leap of faith and started sewing!!
This grandma loves dolls. I have loved dolls since I was a little girl and I am so excited we have little girls in this family!! One of my favorite shopping days for Christmas was when I was looking for the perfect baby doll!! I hope Donald and Emma don't mind that I went ahead and bought Ellie a baby doll for Christmas, I just couldn't resist and then a baby doll needs a blanket of course!!! Didn't it turn out so sweet!!!
Today on the Today Show they had a woman who travels the country with a huge chalkboard titled..."I wish I had the courage to..." and then you fill in the blank. I thought to myself "what would I write if I stood in front of that board?"...right off the bat, I had a hard time being honest with myself, so I guess the first thing I would say...
I wish I had the courage to be honest with myself
then, I wondered what else??
Here goes...
I wish I had the courage to go back to school
I wish I had the courage to be adventuresome
I wish I had the courage to do things by myself
I wish I had the courage to write a book
I wish I had the courage to be a little more independent
I wish I had the courage to try and fail, but at least try
Its been a wonderful week leading up to Mother's Day and then Mother's Day weekend...its been wonderful because I have spent it with a couple of my children!!
To start the week off right Hillary and Quentin came to visit on Thursday...we had such a fun fun time. Spent the weekend in Monterey at the aquarium, Q seemed very uncomfortable with most if not all of the sea creatures.
From the aquarium we went to the beach...windy, cool but sunny and the kids loved it!!
Saturday we went to San Francisco to a Giants game...AWESOME seats and perfect weather!
During the week we went to a park called Happy Hallow...Q wasn't too happy most of the time as again, there were animals that he wasn't really interested in getting to know better!!
Friday the doorbell rang and a HUGE surprise was smiling back at me....Haylie!! What a wonderful wonderful surprise!!! Don and Haylie planned this weeks ago and what a nice surprise for me!!!
We drove down to Santa Cruz on Saturday...sunny, cool and windy...but beautiful for sure!!!
Sunday was Mother's Day Which means my missionary gets to call home! Doesn't he look great and he sounded just as great! I miss him so much but I am so proud of him and he is loving being in Guatemala!! Tomorrow are transfers, his companion is going home, so changes are in his future!
Mom, mother, mommy, grandma....those are my favorite words in the whole english language!!
These things make me smile....
The smell of spring
A rainy day and a good book
A text that says, "I love you"
Monday morning emails from Andrew
Looking at my fabric
Turning on my sewing machine
Walking out of the gym
Yummy tacos
A bike ride along the ocean
Visits from my kids
Weekends with Don
Going to bed
Walking into a massage
Birds chirping outside my window
Shopping
Holding my grand babies
Reading my scriptures
Walking into the temple
A movie that makes me cry
A book that I can't put down
Taking pictures
Flying
A yummy salad
Lunch with friends
Facetiming
An afternoon at the hair salon
A clean house
The sound of laundry in the machine
Spending time on FamilySearch.org
Our family text group
Ice Cream
Cute shoes
Oranges hanging from our tree
INSTAGRAM
When all kids are happy...
PINK PEONIES
I could go on and on! My favorite saying is "Look for the good in everyday"...as we do this a smile should be on all our faces!
I have been googling the best way to keep cookies fresh when sending through the mail and also, what cookies stay fresh the longest...well, there was no good answers. Mostly, the articles talked about how to keep them from breaking...well that wasn't even a concern yet, which just added to my frustration. Then it came to me, he can bake them there, I just need to send him the ingredients!!!! So that is what I have done. Step #1 cream the pre-measured brown sugar and white sugar with the butter and shortening (btw, I measured the vanilla and stuck it in the middle of the brown sugar). Once creamed, add 2 eggs (you must find your own eggs). #3 add dry ingredients, bag 3 mix well. Add bag #4 and then BAKE 350 degrees for 11-12 minutes. I hope they taste like home!!! I can't wait to hear how they turned out!!
$87 later and tada...you have cookies!!
Just so you know, I double packaged everything just for added safety!!
Yesterday, May 11th, I got these pictures from Andrew and the final result of his cookie package....
side note...the backpack (Northface) was stolen and only the contents of the backpack were sent to Andrew.
Recently I have seen posts on Instagram titled...20 things about me. I thought what a good blog prompt, so here goes...20 things about me. (not in any order of importance!)
1. I am a gym goer...I joined my first gym when I was 35. I had just had Andrew and wanted to get my figure back. 18 years later I have remained a faithful gym attender and now realize I go more for my mental health, than my physical health, though my physical health also is benefited.
2. I love to quilt...I didn't know I loved to quilt until a year ago, but I find it relaxing and rewarding. I also feel connected to my grandma Murray who was a quilter...I feel it is part of my heritage.
3. My greatest joy and fulfillment above all else has been being a mom. I have been blessed with the most amazing children!!
4. I have been married for 30 years this week to a man who has exceeded all my dreams as a young girl...again I have been blessed beyond measure!!
5. Pet peeve ...people who are late to things...do they think their time is more valuable than others??
6. wow, this is actually hard to come up with so many things! When I was a senior in high school I was nominated to run for Sadie Hawkins Queen. We had to participate in competitions...one of those was milking a goat. I actually won that event.
7. I am finishing up my 7th year of teaching early morning seminary...I am tired!
8. I feel like I am trying to find myself...like what should I be doing that is meaningful? Now that my children are grown...what do I do with myself??
9. This year has been a year of big changes...Don and I moved to San Jose and we are empty nesters. Andrew has left to serve a mission for our church and I could not be more proud of him!! I find myself missing my children deeply!!
10. I have the most perfect and beautiful kitchen in this new home...I wish I liked to cook!! I like the idea of it, but in reality...I just don't like it.
11. One of my "empty nesting" projects is to work on my family search!
12. My favorite show is Downton Abbey
13. I look at facebook just to stalk people and see what their life is all about
14. My favorite app is Instagram...another way to stalk people, but it makes me happy
15. dang 5 more...my next favorite show is called, "Fixer Upper"...its a show about remodeling and the husband and wife are not only talented and totally my style, but they are kind and loving to each other.
16. My favorite "get away" place is Hawaii, sitting in a cabana reading a book and soaking in the sun
17. I am a Mormon and always wonder what I did in the pre-earth life to be so blessed!!
18. I want to write a book...a children's book I think...I need a topic, that's my problem! Is it a dream or am I being prompted??
19. One of my quilt goals is to leave a legacy quilt for each of my children.
20. last one...a song that I put on repeat is "Be Still My Soul" by David Archetula
 |
| For my niece Kimball who is expecting a little girl...her first |
 |
| Farmers Quilt...a forever project right?? |
 |
| For my other niece, Bergen, she is also expecting her first and its all about pink for her! |
 |
| This is for Haylie...she saw it on Pinterest and loved it! It is called..."Read between the lines". Haylie loves to read and so this quilt spoke to her. I don't have the pattern, but I think I have the dimensions figured out pretty well...finished project will be posted in the future!! |
 |
| The other day I was watching a class I signed up for on Craftsy and Camille demonstrated this....I just had to make one. She has it as a quilt, but for now mine will be a wall hanging to add my my quilt wall. |
Posted in baby doll , Christmas 2015 , Ellie