HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR WONDERFUL MISSIONARY, ARIA

A great way to spend your 22nd birthday.

 Many happy returns of the day, Aria.

  

WOMAN CANNOT LIVE BY ONLY PACKING

Most my days (nowadays) are spent going through "things", tossing, keeping, packing. It's been a good time to weed out a lot of "stuff" and save my kids the trouble of doing it later! Therapeutic, freeing, melancholy, sad, happy, - well you get the idea. A whole gamut of feelings.

While living in Hawaii, I found a muu-muu factory where you could go and buy a shopping bag of scraps for 50 cents. I bought about 4 bags and some of the scraps were large enough to make little Julie several outfits.


Then I made January, who was heading off to college, a scrap quilt of 4" squares and "tied" it (no time to really quilt in those days) to remind her of her Hawaiian days while she attended BYU. 

The scraps were like Topsy. They just kept "growing". No matter what I made, there were still bags of scraps. I couldn't bear to throw them away knowing that someday I would do something else with them. So, 45 years later, I decided that I needed a diversion from the joys of packing.

The pile on the ironing board are ready to press,
the ones on the little table have been pressed
and the scraps on the floor (front) are
waiting in line.

I retrieved the bin with the scraps, (from the garage), pressed them and tossed out the ones too small to use 

The "didn't make its" are
piling up on the floor.

Too small

Then it was into the kitchen where I started cutting the 4" x 8" rectangles. 

Those scraps went on the kitchen floor.

The pile got bigger.

Finally I had my stack of blocks.

 ((Note: there is still a 1/2 bag - at least- of scraps remaining!)

 It was time to audition them on the design wall. I plan to have them set with a 1" strip in between the blocks, hence the spacing on the wall.

Then I got to thinking, hummmmm, maybe black would be a good contrast so I laid them out on the floor on a piece of black material.

What do you think?

THE BIG APPLE AND THE COUNTRY'S CAPITAL

Ken had work in NYC. He and Steven and Nathan took the red eye to NY and arrived about 4a. Since he had a couple of days before he started to work, he rented a car and they drove down to Washington D.C. to tour our Nation's capital.

 Halo shot!

Selfies

Then it was back to the Big Apple and to work...

 while Steven and Nathan explored the city.

Newsies. (I guess they got to see the play?)

A DOUBLE

Introducing a new Great-Granddaughter: Robert writes:

Announcing the birth of Faith Chloe Sanders. Born 

yesterday (my birthday). 6 lbs 3 oz, 19 inches long. A little 

bit of light hair. Melissa and Faith are both doing well. 

Thank you for all your support and prayers. 

Happy birthday, Robert. That's quite a special birthday gift.

CLIMBING THE "y"

I don't know how many of our family have climbed the "Y" in Provo, but I hear it is quite a hike. I also heard - and I'm not sure it's true, that the painted "Y" for Brigham Young University was the first school to do that. 

Ken and some of the kids, including Sophie and JP made that trek a few days ago and here are the pictures to prove it!

 Panorama view.

Enlarged.

I did it! 

 Beautiful sunset.

That's not snow, but the white paint on the "Y". They are mimicking the "Y" perfectly! 

Bumble Bee

THROWBACK THURSDAY

Grave Marker completed

In case you haven't read Rhiannon and Ashlee's blog, (which is just wonderful - - check it out to the right of this blog), I borrowed a couple of pictures taken on Father's Day. 

 Eddy with his five children on Father's Day, 2014

Quinton had finished the surround of the marker, and added two vases. Isn't it wonderful. The Germaines and the Carltons visited the grave on Father's Day. Thanks to them for all the good work in getting this memorial completed for our Dad.

The line, "You were all the sweet things rolled up in one" is from a song in Dad's favorite movie, "Singing in the Rain".