It's Papa's Day!

 Happy Birthday Papa!  He's the man here at our house.  The grandkids come to see him...serioulsy.....he's the favorite.  I've tried to steal them away...but they still prefer Papa.  He's so good with the kids.  Jayda and Jack love to go out back and gather the eggs with him.  That's the first thing they want to do when they come over.

 Katelynn tried to wear his shoes.  It was so funny to watch her trying to walk in them.  It's been hard having Papa gone in the afternoon and evenings.  He just got a new job where he works.  It's a different "family" and best of all it's DAYS.  We are so happy.  He'll be home by 3 in the afternoon (and can help cook dinner).  Yay!

 Gary has always loved doing things outdoors.  He grew up with horses and used to ride them bareback in the summers.  We've had a few horses over the years, but now he's traded those for 4-wheeling.  He's so handsome when he puts on his hat and revs up the wheeler.  We've been on some fun rides the last few years....to the top of the world!  Ha ha....at least it feels that way sometimes.

 This is his camo wheeler.  I think we need to come up with a name for it.

 I named my wheeler Ginger since she's a red head.  We traded my Explorer in for Gary's truck a few months ago.  We've really enjoyed it.  So nice to hook up the trailer and get out for a ride. 

Gary loves Levi 501 jeans and blue plaid shirts with button down collars.  We tease him about all the blue shirts in his closet.  Beef jerky, pepperoni, mashed potatoes, chicken, and Pepsi are some of his favorite foods.  He loves spending time with his family.

I'll probably think of more things to say about him after I post this.  The most important thing is that I love him tons and I'm so glad to have such a great guy.   

Dog Days of Summer

What are "Dog Days of Summer"??

The hot, humid, unbearable summer days. 

I think I'm experiencing it to the fullest this week.  Not only the heat, but also lack of energy, motivation, and drive.  I'm tired of work.  Tired of laundry, dishes, and cleaning house.  Tired of sewing/quilting.  Finding no joy in life.  I think I must need a vacation.  But since that won't be happening anytime soon.....I'm not sure what to do to get me out of this funk.  I feel like sleeping all day....just like my dogs do.  In fact I took a 3-hour nap this afternoon.

  In addition to the heat making me miserable, I have RLS (restless legs syndrome) really bad. The last few nights have been HORRIBLE.  I haven't slept good at all.  I've had to get up and walk in the kitchen and front room.  It usually gets better in the early morning hours....but today I've been awake since 4 a.m. with jumpy, crawly legs.  Can't hold them still and it feels like electric shocks.  I paced the kitchen floor.  I tried working, but just couldn't sit still in my chair.  I shook my legs.  Walked up and down the stairs.  Pounded on my legs with my fists.  I know...sounds crazy but I'll try anything to get my legs to settle down.  It's not fun....not at all.  They finally settled down around 9 a.m. so I could work.  I felt like I was in a fog all day.  The nap just made me feel more tired.  I'm hoping I can sleep tonight.  If not....you can bet I'll be growling like a dog tomorrow.  Barking and biting off heads.  True dog days of summer!  

Paper Doll Quilt Revisited

 Since I still get e-mails and questions about the Paper Doll Quilt, (and I never posted more info about the template...oops) thought I'd just post a few more hints/directions for making it.  The template was my mom's great idea.  By cutting the corners you can cut out more dolls from your fabric and use the extra dolls that aren't big enough for the template to make cut out paper dolls (more on that tomorrow).  I'll scan the paper pattern for making the template and put it in tomorrow's post.  

 I trace the template on all the dolls that I can get out of a yard or so of fabric.  Then I cut them out with scissors or carefully with a rotary cutter.  Save the dolls that are left for tomorrow.

 I think I get about 15-16 out of a yard of fabric.

 Then cut 4 x 4-1/2 squares from your corner fabric.  Cut diagonally through the squares.

 Place on opposite corners and sew with a 1/4 inch seam.  The short side of triangle should be on top and bottom of doll and the long side on the side (see photo).  Then do the other two corners.  

 Press block with seams away from doll and towards corner piece.  Trim block to 10 x 6 inches.  

 Here's a tip for making your template.  You can buy template plastic at the fabric store or use a plastic binder from the office supply store.  

A Couple Family Pictures

Here are the pictures we took last week at BrookLynn's party.  I think they turned out pretty good...especially since we didn't plan on having our pictures taken that night.  The above picture from left to right:  Jaycee, Jon, Me, Jared, Gary, Darren, Jodi, and Jamie.  

 

We were missing 2 people.  Hopefully next time we can get everyone.  I think we are a great looking bunch!  I still have to pinch myself every time I look at these and see ALL of my kids and grandkids!!  Just have to say...NEVER give up hope.

Brookie's Birthday

 This little girl turned 2 last Sunday.  It made me think back to when she was born.  Thankfully she was a little fighter back then.  She has the sweetest personality.  She loves to dance with her daddy and play with her brother and sister.  She's her mommy's little princess!

 Blowing out the candle.  It wouldn't stay lit because there was a little breeze.  Oh well.

 Opening presents.  

Jaycee and Jayda!

I've got some other family pictures to post, but I'm waiting for Jared to send me his.  I'm hoping they turned out better than mine.  

Can't believe that this month is almost over.  Seems like we waited and waited for warm weather and now it's almost time for school to start again.  We still haven't been camping.  Trying to come up with a time to go has been hard for some reason.  And then there's all the animals.  Who would feed and water them??  Ugg!!

Shaved Ice Queen

 We had a little family yard sale today.  Eden set up her shaved ice table.  She was so cute!  She made about $8 and was so excited.  They tasted good and helped us get through the hot day.

 Here she is...taste testing the flavors.

 Jack lost his pants. Again.  He's so tall and thin that most of his pants won't stay up.  Oh...to have that problem myself.  Well not the losing your pants part.  I'd take the tall and thin anyday :)

 Katelynn and Jack found some drinks.  Thank goodness they were almost empty so they didn't get too much sugar or caffeine.  

 Jack had a blast diving through the piles of clothes.  He didn't care if people were looking at them.  He just dove in and plowed through the clothes.  Maybe he did get too much caffeine.

This little lady found Aunt Bekkah's hot pink high heels.  She wanted to buy them.  Just had to try them on first.  She was determined to make them work.  It was funny to watch her waking in them.  She's definitely all girl.  She loves purses too.  She tries to put every purse she sees on her arm and then walk....even if the purse is bigger than she is.

  Katelynn took Jack's hand and tried to figure out how to hold hands with him.  Being the the gentleman that he is, he held hands with her and walked her around for awhile.  These 2 cousins get along like brother and sister.  They even fight like brother and sister.  I hope they go to the same school someday like my kids did with their cousins.   

Our yard sale went really good.  It was well worth our time and we got some closets and the storage room looking less cluttered.  I'm always amazed at what people will buy.  Junk that we almost throw out instead of taking it to the yard sale.  Crazy!  I'm worn out tonight.  Makes me thankful my job isn't out in the sun every day.

Phase of the moon.....

I remember one of our first trips to Arkansas to visit Gary's family.  We were at the little wooden church next to his Grandma's house.  There were a few ladies from town there talking about a friend who left her husband.  One lady said (in her cute Southern accent) "She packed up her sheep and left.  Must be the phase of the moon."  I thought it was the funniest thing I'd ever heard.  It's been a joke at our house ever since.  When you're having a bad day it's because of  the darn phase of the moon

Well, I had a bad day this week.  I had a disagreement with my teenager.  We exchanged words, I was hot and tired....and just turned into a crabby, cupboard door slamming mom.  I got the dishes done in record time and only broke 1 dish.  Then I bathed Max.  I left the wet towels in the middle of the bathroom floor.  I didn't scrub the tub when I was done either.  Not my bathroom.  It belongs to the teenager who made me mad.  I took Max outside and gave him a doggie haircut.  I was so worked up I just kept clipping and shaving.  Ooops, kind of a short haircut.

I'm a little ashamed of myself when I think about it now.  I blame it on the phase of the moon.

By the way, I did pick up the wet towels....but I couldn't bring myself to scrub the tub.  I have to have a little revenge, right?

Dragonflies and Butterflies

 We went up SF Canyon/Thistle for a ride early Saturday morning.  There were so many butterflies...beautiful colors.  Every time I would stop to try and get a picture they would fly off or end up not in the picture.  It was fun to see them fluttering around.  We also saw these bright blue dragonflies.  Got lucky and captured a picture of this one when it landed.  There were lots of bugs flying around and hitting our faces.  I forgot the #1 rule of riding and left my mouth open.  I caught a BIG, FUZZY bug in my mouth.  Gross!  I spit that out in a hurry.

 the colors were pretty...as usual.  It had rained pretty hard either that morning or the night before and there were lots of muddy puddles.  Gary said I'm just like a kid playing in them.  I just love riding through them and getting splashed on. 

 This the drop off at the reservoir.  I walked down and looked off the edge once.  That was enough.  I'm scared of heights...so not something I want to do again.  

 Gary went down and took this picture for me.  This is the pipe that sticks out and then the valley below.  He kept getting close to the edge when he was taking the picture.  Made me so nervous.  I think the end of the pipe looks like a little man sitting there.  

 We went with Gary's parents.  Here's his dad.  They got a side by side this year and have been going on lots of rides.  They have some friends who ride with them.  I'm glad we finally got a chance to go out with them.  The ride up to Smith Reservoir was really rough, rocky, and muddy.  Their machine did awesome.  Thank goodness for 4-wheel drive.  We all had to use it to get up and back. 

 Here they are coming back across the river.  Gary and I took their machine for a quick ride up the road and back.  It's a nice ride.  I think its great the they have a new hobby to enjoy...especially since it's one we can do with them.  

 Gary and I had plans to go to Las Vegas this weekend for my aunt and uncles 50th wedding anniversary.  We ended up not being able to go at the last minute so I was feeling bad.  I really wanted to go and visit with all my relatives.  Getting out for a ride made it a little better.  I'm sure it was a lot cooler than the Vegas heat would have been.  

Americana Quilt

 My sister, Tracy, made a quilt like this a couple of years ago.  I have a picture of it on my sidebar.  I loved it so much that she surprised me with one just like it.  She got it made before the 4th, but I'm a little slow in getting it quilted.  I'm working on the binding tonight so I can get it hung up to enjoy the rest of the month.

We really do celebrate the whole month of July here in Utah with the 24th being our state holiday.  And I love Americana anyway.  This line of fabric was a favorite of mine from the moment I saw it.  

Thanks so much, Tracy!  I'm so excited with it.

Dear Max

 Why do you have to leave a puddle of pee in the basement for me to step in?  At least it was in the storage room on the concrete floor....but sadly you leave these puddles upstairs sometimes too.  If we don't lock the kitchen cupboard you get the garbage can out.  What a mess you and Molly make all over the kitchen and front room.  It's a good thing that I love you right down to your doggie breath or I would put you in the want ads in the "Naughty but lovable dog" section.  You really should have been a girl.  You are too pretty for a boy dog, especially right after you get groomed.  You are soooo needy.  You have to be held and cuddled.  Your seizures scare us.  That's one time we don't mind holding you until you feel better.  You lick your paws clean every night.  If you get interrupted during your licking ritual you have to start all over.  I don't know how you have any fur left.  You are annoying when someone comes to the door.  Do you really have to do your yappy bark over and over.  Some days I just want to tape your mouth shut. I realize you are just being a good guard dog.  Until you hide behind my legs.

 Molly is such a good dog.  She doesn't have Max's bad habits....except for the barking when someone comes to the door....and getting into the kitchen garbage......and passing gas.  She's the most lovable dog ever.  She's a more mellow dog than Max.  She waits at the top of the stairs every night until everyone is home.  She's the mommy dog watching over us.  During the summer she lays right under the cooler.  I think she has doggie hot flashes.  She is starting to have a hard time jumping and walking now.  Please don't get any older.  I don't know what the house would be like without you.  I know I complain about the dogs some days.  Then I watch Marley and Me and realize that Molly and Max are part of the family.  They are connected to us and the events of our lives this past 7-8 years.  They helped raise our kids and now the grandkids.  I don't know what my office would be like without Max on his pillow snoring (LOUD) while I work...or without Molly napping under my feet with her head on the legs of my rolling chair.

Oh....the love of animals.  It has been a hard day at our house.  Comet, our friendly little chicken, got over the fence to the neighbors yard today.  Their dogs got her and now she is in heaven.  The neighbor girl felt so bad and was crying when she came to tell us.  We don't blame their dogs.  It's just natural instincts and a curious chicken who wouldn't stay on her side of the fence.  It's hard to think of going in the backyard and not seeing Comet hop the fence and come up to us to be held.  Some days I hate having a soft spot in my heart for animals.  Got my box of Kleenex.

An AWESOME weekend!!

 We went on a ride...my absolute favorite ride to my favorite place.  We haven't been here for a couple of years so it really made my weekend!

 Up Hobble Creek Canyon in Springville, left hand fork, and the trail that goes to Squaw Peak in Provo Canyon.  We only go about 10 or so miles up the trail, stop for a break and lunch, then turn around and come back down.  One of these days we'll make a day of it and go all the way to Squaw Peak and back.

 I LOVE the views.  Breathtaking.  Just beautiful.

 Here's a picture showing part of the road we follow.  It's a rougher ride, but so worth the aches and pains for the next few days.

 There are some parts of the road that are really rocky and throw your machine around a bit.  Not so bad except that there's a drop off on the side of the road.  It scares me every time going up...really takes my breath away and gets my heart going.  Coming down it doesn't bother me as much for some reason.

 We found some snow!  

 This is a view from where we stop for lunch.  I put this in because those erosion control lines are a reminder of my grandpa.  He told me once how he was in the CCC in his younger years and they camped on the mountain and dug with their shovels to make the benches on the mountains to control run off.  I didn't know my Grandpa until after I graduated from high school.  He didn't raise my mom and we didn't know him growing up.  I still remember when he walked into our house that fall day.  It made my mom happy to get to know him and spend time together the rest of his life.  I tell this reunion story for a reason.  I had my own special reunion Saturday.

 It's one I had almost given up on happening.  I've hesitated putting this on my blog because I'm a quiet person...don't usually share something so personal.  But I'm done hiding it....there's just no more shame.  I had a baby when I was 17 who I put up for adoption.  I never, ever forgot about him.  I've always thought about him, where he was, what he was like, and did he ever wonder about me.  I've been searching for about 10 years for him.  I finally found him a few months ago.  I was shocked and happy and cried.  I couldn't believe it was real.  We've written back and forth and talked on the phone.  He came down Saturday afternoon with his 14-year-old son to meet my family.  I really thought I would fall apart and cry again....but I was just so happy to finally meet him.  It was surreal....I just can't put into words how good it felt.  It was fun watching him interact with my 5 kids....to see all 6 of my kids together.  I still have that picture in my head of him as a baby when I held him in my arms 35 years ago.  I have to say what a handsome man he is!!  He's quiet like me.  I think we have the same eyes.  I didn't take pictures....wish I would have.  Next time we get together I'll have to get some pictures.  

 The only bad thing was it was a HOT day and we have a swamp cooler.  Oh....for central air someday.  This is Papa swinging with his girls.

The girls have such red cheeks!  Hot summer for sure.

Well...that's my amazing, awesome weekend.