Honoring our Loved Ones

This has been a busy and rewarding weekend as my
children, grandchildren and I have visited the
cemeteries to place flowers on the graves of our
loved ones.  It has also been a tender time
remembering and sharing stories with my grand-
children about those they are named after.  I love
going to the cemetery and feel so close to my
family when I'm there.

Sunday afternoon we went into Salt Lake to
visit where my Mother and members of her
family are buried.  While at my Great
Grandparents graves, we noticed a grave
just a couple of markers away.  We commented
that the death and burial had been quite recent
because of the flowers.  As we looked closer
and talked to some people who had stopped we
recognized it as the place where Sister Monson,
wife of President Monson had been laid to rest.

It was a very touching moment to stand at her
gravesite and pay our respects to a truly great
woman whom we all loved and respected.

This morning we traveled to Midway where my
father and his family are buried.  It is always
fun going to Midway because invariably I run
into family I never see at any other time.

With my cousin, Zelda by our family graves.
Just after she left my cousin Jim, wife, Shirley,
and their daughter Jenny and her children came by.
We had a wonderful visit, but forgot to get
pictures.

Here I am with my three grandsons:  Ty,
Kohler and Ian Ray who are named after
my father.

On top of the crater at the Homestead.  Never in my
wildest dreams did I ever think I would be able to
walk across the top of the open crater.  It was
pretty awesome to look down into the "bottomless"
crater.

From the Memorial Hill looking over my hometown
with Mt. Timpanogos in the background.  This was
a wonderful place to grow up in.

We have had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend
and it was made even more special for me having
my children and grandchildren with me as we
visited the cemeteries.

It Makes Me Happy When......

It always makes me happy when I make something and
my daughter likes it well enough to have me make one
for her to give to a friend.  This weekend she asked if
I had any extra journal covers lying around that she
could have.  Sadly, I didn't, but I knew I could whip
one out in a short amount of time.

She is taking a class with a friend and thought it
would be nice for her to have a journal to write her
thoughts and feelings in as the class progresses.  I
love making these little journal covers and giving
them as gifts.  Today I was able to sew this little one
for her to give to her friend.

And, I'm so happy to have another Halloween House
block stitched.  Just wish they didn't take so much
time to do.  Would love to have them done for
Halloween this year, but that may be stretching
things.

It makes me happy that I finished two stories for my
history:  "Mumbly-Peg" and "A Frightening
Summer Storm."  They have both been sitting on my
computer for some time and decided I needed to
finalize them and get them into my book.  There is
so much that I want to do and write about.  I keep
promising myself that I will cut back on other things
and schedule more time for doing my histories, but
I let so many other things take precedence.

It also makes me happy when my daughter, her family
and I can do something for my son.  Last night for
Family Home Evening we went down to his house
and planted flowers.  We did this as a surprise for him
while he was at work.  Kerri made cinnamon rolls to
leave for him and the boys left notes for him to find
when he got home.

Today the sunshine made me happy.  We have had a
lot of rain the last few days and it has been very
overcast with cooler than normal temperatures.  I
don't mind the rain----in fact, we really need it.  But,
it is nice to see the bright blue sky and sunshine.

Pieced Spools

Having the fabric pieces all cut for projects makes the
assembly so much easier and faster.  My friend, Jo Ann,
and I spent some time cutting the strips for our
"Spools" quilt this past week.  I've been able to piece
the top in between gardening, work and other things
during the week

Today I was able to sew the sashing to the rows and
now I am debating whether to add a border or just
leave it white and bind it with something bright and
cheerful.

I think I would get so much more accomplished if I
just took a day once a week or even every other week
and cut all the pieces for my many projects stashed
away on shelves in my sewing room.  Then when I felt
like sewing, I could pull one of them out and stitch to
my hearts content.

But, then, it's not as much fun cutting everything out
by myself with no one to chat with.  It goes so much
faster when working with a friend.

Happy Mother's Day!

 I saw this little thought at the end of a video I was
watching the other day and thought I'd share it.
"When a baby is born so is a Mother."  So true!

I had a wonderful Mother and treasure the legacy
she left me and my family.  There is hardly a day
that passes that I don't think of her or do something
that reminds me of her.  So many beautiful paintings,
cross-stitch samplers and quilting pieces adorn my
home that she lovingly made through the years.  How
grateful I am for her. 

I wish each of you have a wonderful Mother's Day!

Yeah!  Lincoln is finally pieced and ready to be quilted.
I will drop it off Monday.  Seems like it has taken me
forever to get it put together.  I decided to add a small
border.  It just seemed like it needed something to set
it off.

It will be fun to add to my Patriotic Collection that
I set out during the summer months.

"Apple Pie"

I love Pinterest and find so many recipes I want to try.  Some
I like and others don't quite measure up.  Recently I pinned
"Super Healthy Snacks for Kids"
(http://www.superhealthykids.com) as I wanted some new
snack ideas to share with my grand kids when they came for
a visit.

Today I tried "Apple Pie in Only 3 Minutes" and I loved it!

Recipe:
Graham Crackers
Light cream cheese
2 apples
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon brown sugar

Chop apples into tiny pieces and place in a bowl.
Sprinkle the sugars and cinnamon over the apples.
Microwave the apples for 1 minute.  Remove and
stir.  Place back in microwave for 1 more minute.
(I did it for about 20 seconds more as I had cut
mine quite small and I like them a little more
crisp than soft).  Scoop out chopped cooked apples
onto a graham cracker with cream cheese spread
on top of cracker.  I softened my cream cheese
and only used about 1/2 teaspoon per cracker)
They added a little caramel and chocolate, but I
chose not to.

I had a quarter of an apple in the fridge which I cut
in to very small pieces and adjusted the other ingredients.
It made enough for two squares of graham crackers.

I was quite surprised at how simple it was, yet how
satisfying and filling it was.  This is definitely a keeper
for those days when I want something sweet.  I am
anxious to try it out on the kids.  Since they all love
apples and graham crackers, I'm thinking they're
going to love this also.

What Was I Thinking

I don't think "I Was Thinking" when I started this star
block.  For some reason I had it in my mind the pattern
was for a 12.5 inch block and that it would work
perfectly for the "Quilt for Boston" blocks.  It worked
up quickly and I was happy with how it turned out.  But,
alas when I went to measure it and started looking at the
gray triangles I had added, I remembered that they
were made larger for another project and would need
be trimmed.

Reluctantly, I trimmed them and realized the block
was now only 9.0 inches square.  I was so frustrated,
but decided I liked the star block and would just
make a bigger one which I did and posted about
earlier.

This little block sat around all weekend while I tried
to decide what to do with it.  As I was using fabrics
from my stash and barely had any left, I knew I
couldn't unpick the gray and add narrow yellow
borders around the star.  So, squeezing out 2.25
inch strips of the yellow fabric, I added
borders to the gray to meet the 12.5 requirements.

I'm not really happy with it, but it is going to have to
do.  Just hope it will be an acceptable block.

What Was I Thinking?

Quilts for Boston

Had a few minutes today so thought I'd make a
block for "Quilts for Boston".  This is a quick and
easy pattern and I hope to get a couple more made
and in the mail this week. 

Information for this project can be found on the
side of my blog if anyone is interested.

Getting There

It seems like it is taking me forever to get these blocks
sewn.  Had hoped to have them all done by this weekend,
but don't think it's going to happen with yard work, a
bridal shower I'm helping to give tomorrow (Saturday)
and work at the store in the morning.

I did sneak in a hour or so today, but only after working
in the yard for a couple of hours.  Need to go back out
and do some more weeding...after dinner.

Only have 13 more sets of these blocks to make and
they go quite quickly.  And.....

Two more star blocks left:

I am slowly getting there.  Won't be too much longer
before I can lay it out and start assembling the rows.

Special Visitors

Each spring our store plays hosts to elementary
and preschool classes..  The students are taken
on a tour of the various departments:  bakery (where they
get a cookie), deli, meat department, dairy and frozen
foods sections as well as general tour of the rest of the
store.

It is so fun to see them come and how excited they are.
We have one employee who only does tours and she
is absolutely wonderful with the kids.

Today my grandson's preschool class was one of the
 scheduled tour groups.  Kohler was so excited to come
and had told me about this earlier in the week hoping I
would still be at work when they came.  Yesterday when
I stopped by his house, he wrote me a note with the
time on it so I wouldn't forget.  How could I forget
something like that??  I wouldn't miss it for the
world.

His preschool class was divided into two groups.  He
ended up in the second group arriving later than I
thought he would.  When I finished work, I checked
out and waited for him.  Actually, it gave me a few
minutes to run home and grab my camera as I had
forgotten it this morning.  Could have used
my phone, but this was much better.

This morning when I arrived at work, I grabbed a piece
of poster board and quickly made a "welcome" sign to
hang in my office.  I am not an artist, but I didn't think
5-year old's would be too critical.

Normally, tours are not allowed upstairs where the
offices and break room are located, but when it
comes to our families, exceptions are often made
and I received permission for them to come up and
visit me in my office.

Kohler on my lap

The groups end the tour at the service counter where
they are each given a small bag of treats and sent
on their way back to their classes.

It was a very special time for both Kohler and myself.