It's coming along!

I have been trying to find the time to work on my "Comforts of Home" quilt, even though I should be doing other things. I pressed and cut each block, and this is what I have done at the moment. I have been working on this block since September, and the class will go until March. Each month we get about three blocks to do. It is hard to keep up!
On this suitcase, I embroidered Texas and South Africa since that is where Jordan and Addison served on their missions. There is room for Sean's mission under Texas.

This block reminds me of all the times my children picked flowers for me, usually weeds when they were very young. They were so proud of their gift to me and I would put the flowers in a vase. The flowers in this block will be buttons, but I can't sew them on until the quilt is quilted.
I love this saying, it is so true.

This is my favorite. There is so much detail, from the embroidered quilt on the back of the chair, the fringe on the lamp and the rug, the little slippers, and we had one of these wing back chairs in our home, growing up.


This was a fun one. I put the card games that meant the most to me. I used to play solitaire for hours on end when I was a little girl. Our family always plays Fill or Bust when we get together with the Horsts.

This television turned out perfectly! Sean printed the picture onto cloth using the inkjet printer. The Andy Griffith show is Addison's favorite of all time. He loves Barney. It is only fitting that I have this picture of Barney and Andy on my TV. If it were my favorite show, I would have done Bewitched.

This telephone is fun. We had one just like it when I was a little girl. I put my old phone number on it, from St. Lambert. We used to have a party line and I would listen to two elderly ladies talking about their pet bird. That's what I remember about one of the conversations, anyway. I used to love eavesdropping!
I used to have a pair of roller skates just like these with the key to tighten and untighten them.

I love this old fridge. My mother said that when I was three, I would reach up high and spell Westinghouse. I put a birthday list on the fridge with each of the kid's birthdays.
Don't you love the picket fence and the tire swing? I put our current house address number on the house. Even though our house doesn't look like this, I feel as happy in our current home, as looking at this cute little house makes me feel.
I'm not a bath person, so to personalize this block, I monogramed my name on the towel.
This lunchbox reminds me of the ones Rebecca and Lindsay had when they were in grade school. I always made their lunches and when they came home from school, I usually had some fresh homemade cookies waiting for them.

Farewell for now

We had a wonderful evening at an Olde English restaurant, named Five Alls in Salt Lake City. This is a picture of Ricky's very best city friends and their spouses. My very good friends also. This was a farewell dinner, although I know we'll see everyone again. John and Cindy Geilmann, Laurie and Dean Johnson, Ricky and I, Gary and Pam Whatcott, Lindsay and Penny Shepherd, and Teri and Rob Wall. We have had so much fun over the years. We've had lots of dinners together, and many conferences where we got to know each other. Words just can't describe the bond that we have together. Just one of the many reasons it is going to be hard to leave.

My baby boy is just about all grown up!

Yesterday was the first day of school. For Sean, it was his first day of High School, 10th Grade. He goes to Bingham High School, where 3 of his 5 older brothers and sisters have gone. He is taking Physics, Drafting, World Civilization, Algebra 2, Language Arts, Health, Jazz Band and Seminary. He is headed towards his goal of becoming a Civil Engineer. Just like his brother in law Jeremy. Sean is also in the Marching Band. That is really time consuming, so he won't be home much until the middle of November.
He drove to school today, he's been driving with me in the car since he turned 15. He is a good driver, careful and cautious.

Last night Sean received his Patriarchal blessing. Sean has accomplished many things in his short life and will continue to accomplish many more things. We are so proud of Sean. He is having a different experience than his older brothers and sisters as the youngest child. He spends a lot of time with just Ricky and I, whereas the others always had each other around the house to spend time with as well. This evening was a wonderful experience and a huge payday as a parent. Thank you Sean, for being such a fine young man. Addison won't believe how much you have changed since he has been away in South Africa. When he left, you were a little boy with a high pitched voice. Now you're a young man with a high pitched voice. hahaha Just kidding. He only has a high pitched voice when one of his sibblings is wrestling with him, or has him in a choke hold or something like that.....Dave!!!

Going on a Picnic

We went on a picnic today in the neighborhood. Sean, Rebecca, Bridger, Kennedy and I. We were going to walk but it was really hot so we decided to drive. We had crab (imitation) salad sandwiches, cucumber sandwiches and peanut butter sandwiches. We also had yogurt, pretzels, cheese sticks, green grapes, animal crackers, and pudding. Rebecca stopped by the bakery and brought some beautiful cinnnamon rolls. We had a kid's feast and there was a playground where Bridger played and ran around with Sean. It was a lot of fun. Bridger saw four army helicopters fly by in a row. That was pretty exciting! Kennedy crawled around on the grass and cooed and smiled. She likes being outside as much as Bridger does.

After the picnic, Sean and Bridger went downstairs to play "Rock Band". The music was literally blaring. After a while I went downstairs to tell Sean to turn it down and this is what I found! Bridger conked out. Sean had already taken the picture, seeing that it was a priceless moment.

Well, I'm ready for bed now and sad that Bridger and Kennedy will be going home tomorrow. It has been so much fun and very hectic and now I will have to turn their kissable cheeks over to their mom and dad. Goodnight Bridger and Kennedy, I love you.

Hurry up Mommy and Daddy!

Kennedy always wants us to walk her around the house and in the backyard, holding on to both hands. She literally gets very angry if we aren't able to oblige her, she likes it so much. Here she is, standing free style with not hands. Hurry up Mommy and Daddy, I'm about to walk by myself.

Don't worry I'll wait for you. Grammy will make sure of that.

Where in the World is Bridger?

We had a busy day again today. But then again, what day wouldn't be busy with a 3 year old and a one year old. Bridger and Kennedy woke up early and we drove to Provo to take Sean for a checkup. Then we went to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point. We ran into some old and dear friends from Florida, the McArthurs.
We at lunch at Iceberg, and then went home for more playing and fun. I forgot to bring my camera with us, hence the lack of dinosaur pictures. Before bed it was bathtime, and Bridger took a bubble bath. More and more bubbles kept appearing, until we just about lost him. Alas, the bubbles disapated and Bridger appeared again. Thanks for all your help today Sean!

The Copper Mine

Wowee, wowee!!! Sean told Bridger about the giant dump trucks on Friday night, and Bridger hasn't stopped asking about them since. We finally went this morning. This is the size of tires that the dump trucks have. It was really fun, the visitor's center had tons of model trucks and excavators, and backhoes, and backhoe frontloaders, etc. You get the picture. We watched a little movie about the Bingham Canyon Mine. We looked down into the Copper pit and watched the trucks drive back and forth with their heavy loads and dump them and go back again.

On the way to Copperton, Kennedy fell asleep.
Bridger acquired an excavator out of the deal. Look how happy he is. Actually, I wouldn't leave him alone until he smiled and I told him to show his teeth. It looks like he was really happy, but he was just trying to appease me.

Vanessa paid us a visit

I went upstairs to put some things away this morning and get Bridger's clothes, when I happened to glance out the window. I saw a girl with the brightest orange shirt, getting a bike off of a truck. I realized it was Vanessa, on duty for the mosquito abatement. I yelled to Bridger that Vanessa had the "big" truck and I dressed him in 3 seconds, and woke up Sean. We ran outside and Vanessa gave us a tour of the truck and the equipment that she carries on her bike, and the mosquito birth control pellets that she rides around, dropping in all the sewer holes. It was an exciting way to start out the day!

Sean took Bridger with him a little early to set up chairs in all the classrooms.
Grammy painted Kennedy's little toenails.

This is us on our way to church, across the street! We were fresh and ready for the day.

When we came home we had lunch, and played and wrestled and went for a walk, and ate and ate, and ran around and played rock band and watched "Over the Hedge" and played and wrestled and read some stories and hugged and kissed, and fell sound asleep.......

Goodnight Mommy and Daddy

More fun, on the same day.

We went to Hollywood Connection because they have some little kiddie rides that we thought the kiddies would like. Kennedy absolutely loved the carousel ride. She was a bit startled when the horse started going up and down. She couldn't keep her eyes off all the bright lights. She caught sight of herself in the mirror and was hypnotized.
Bridger liked the Carousel too. Look at the gorgeous zebra he picked to ride on.

Aunt Vanessa and Kennedy

Fun Filled Day

It was Harmon's Days today, and some of the Bingham High Marching Band were playing. We all packed up in the car to watch Sean play his trumpet. As we walked in the front door, we were welcomed with a sample of birthday cake. They were very small pieces, Kennedy and Bridger were quiet for quite some time.

Here is some of the brass section playing away. Sean is the one in the center with the bandana.
Bridger was mesmerized. I'm sure he was having visions of his possible future career in music.
One thing about being so cute, is that you are very popular with the girls. No I don't mean Sean, I mean Bridger...

Okay, the matching bandanas weren't my idea.