Good-bye Grandma

Eugene's mom died on the 11th. She was 80 years old and had been ill for around 2 years. The last month was especially hard for Eugene. He would visit her in the hospital almost daily. It was hard to watch. She is at peace now and doesn't hurt any more. What a blessing for her!
Her service was held yesterday. What a family she has! 7 children, 25 grandchildren, 37 great-grandchildren. It was amazing how many came. 6 of her 7 children were there. One son lives in the Phillipines and couldn't come. 23 of the 25 grandchildren and 26 of the 37 great-grandchildren were there. All 5 of our children and all 6 of our grandchildren were able to come. We were only missing our daughter-in-law and one son-in-law. It was so great to see so many family members. Just wish it could have been under better circumstances.
Good-bye mom. Thank you for the example and all you taught me.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

I love Christmas!! I love the lights. I love the music. I love the gift giving. I love the serving that seems more prevalent. I love the decorating. I love everything about Christmas except taking the tree and decorations down and putting them away. For years I have put my tree up on December 1st and taken it down on January 1st. Eugene has always baulked at the December 1st thing. He thinks it's too early. I must have him conditioned. Last night he asked me when I was going to put the tree up. :) Woo Hoo!!! It's not even December 1st! I have a quilting project that I need the space on the livingroom floor for. When that project is on the frames, I'll put the tree up. Our large living room will be pretty cramped this year with my quilting frames. The old frames I could take down for the season. These I cannot. Hope there will be enough room to quilt with the tree up. Time will tell.

No More Procrastination!!!

Ok! Thanksgiving is this week. My house is a total disaster and I have 9 people coming for dinner. I guess I'm going to have to set the quilting/sewing aside and clean the house. I have to clean out the crib that is full of boxes so Marlee has someplace to sleep. For some reason I think I have to save boxes. Especially this time of year. You never know when you will need a box for a gift and we don't have a box store here. Besides, why would you want to buy a box when you can just save one? Right? So in between helping at the storehouse, picking up and delivering Thanksgiving Dinners, and the Chiropractor I HAVE to clean my house!!! If it was just my kids I wouldn't worry about it too much. They are used to my mess. However, my parents and Eugene's dad are coming so I really need to do more than just make a path. UGH!! Better enjoy today because tomorrow the work begins!

Balancing Act

I struggle to balance all the areas of my life. It's not an easy thing for me. I would rather just sit at the sewing machine or stand at the quilting machine and sew or quilt all day, every day. I let the housework go. I put off doing RS stuff as long as possible. I'm not really a last-minute-sort-of-person. I hate leaving things to the last minute. I guess the problem is I get such satisfaction out of creating with fabric and thread that it is hard to make myself do the other things I should be doing. So today, if only just for today, I will MAKE myself do some housework and catch-up. Even though there is a large quilt calling my name begging to be put on the quilting machine and quilted, I will get my house straightened up and some laundry done first. I will work on cards for card group on Thursday, start the quild newsletter, work on a cross-stitch sampler that needs to be finished so it can be framed, think about RS things that need attention. I will try my best to ignore the quilt's calling....at least for the morning.....And when I get that quilt quilted, I will post a picture.

Finished Projects

Here are the most recent projects I have finished. I have another wall quilt that is almost finished. Just need to do the handwork. Then I can get started on the first of two baby quilts for new grandbabies.

This is a quilt I quilted for Michelle Lyon.


Table runners I've been making.





A wall quilt I made. Love this one!!!

Moving Right Along

Got the wall quilt quilted and the binding and hanging sleeve on. Just need to take the time to stich the binding down. I will post a picture when it's finished. Pieced the table runner and got it quilted. The binding on it will have to wait until I can get to Urie, Wy to get fabric for binding. One of these days I'll remember to buy all I need for a project in one trip. Started cutting pieces for a new wall quilt last night. It feels so good to get projects finished!

For some reason last night I couldn't sleep. I went to bed around 10:45 fully expecting to fall right to sleep. An hour and 10 minutes later I gave up and got out of bed in search of a remedy for the insomnia. I mixed up an essential oils blend, rubbed it on my body where the book told me to and 10 minutes later I was sleeping like a baby. Oh how I love my essential oils. :)

Yay!! The Top is Done!!!

I finished the king size quilt top. It now awaits quilting. That will begin as soon as I get the quilting pattern that I ordered to use on it.

I have the table runner cut out, layed out on my big table and it awaits piecing. Today I hope to get that done. The wall hanging is on the quilting frames ready to be quilted.

I get an email everyday with a new quilting pattern. The other day one came in that I knew I had to make. I ordered and downloaded the pattern yesterday. I printed it and then went to my stash and found all the fabric necessary to make this wall hanging. Since I plan to use it for a gift exchange next month, the baby quilt got pushed aside for a little while longer. After all, I have until January to get said baby quilt finished.

Whittling Away!

Amazing how staying home can facilitate projects being finished. I've been able to stay home all week, except for a funeral and some brief errands. I finished a wall quilt top today. I'm working on putting a king size quilt top together. One that I have been working on for months! I will be so glad to get it done! When it is finished I will start on a baby quilt and table runner. For some reason I think I need to have more than one project going at a time. It takes longer for the boredom to set in that way. Here's to hoping I get the king size quilt top pieced tomorrow. :)

Our Family is Growing!!

YAY!!! More grandbabies. Laura is expecting her fourth girl in January. Michelle, Charlie's wife, is expecting their first child in May! I love grandbabies!!!

Vacation

We just got back from vacationing for a whole week. Last Friday we went to Debbie and Glenn's in South Jordan. We had a great time visiting with them, seeing their new home, learning about relatives, eating yummy food. Wish we could spend more time with them.
We came home Monday from Utah, packed for camping and left Tuesday for Teton and Yellowstone. We stayed Tuesday night in Gros Ventre (Grovont) campground in Teton National Park. We have never camped there before. It was a quiet campground. We took a scenic boat tour around Jenny Lake. Very pleasant and interesting. It was VERY cold that night. I ended up sleeping fully dressed with a hoody and winter stocking cap on under flannel sheets and three heavy quilts just to stay warm. BRRRR!!!!!
Wednesday we went to Yellowstone and camped in the Canyon campground. We had not stayed there before either. Lots of firsts this trip. It was cool Wednesday night, but not as bad as Tues. Thursday night was quite warm. It was 55 degrees when we got up at 6 this morning. We saw deer, a few elk, lots of bison, a coyote. Ths morning we watched two bison fight for the opportunity to mate. The brand new visitor center at Old Faithful opened on Wednesday. We went through it. Very nice and much bigger than the old one. We had a good time, but are glad to be home.

Newest Quilt Project Finished

Laura and her husband, Kasey, asked me to make a quilt for Kasey's mom. Since she is from Canada, they asked that I try to incorporate the maple leaf in the quilt. Here is the finished project.

One Left!

What a beautiful day we had on Friday. My younger sister and her husband went through the temple for the first time and were sealed. My parents and one other sister from our family were there. What a wonderful thing. Only one sister left who has not been. As I stood in the celestial room and watched people coming and going, I thought about heaven and think that is what it will be like. Families being reunited after long separations. Joy and happiness on their faces and in their hearts. It made my heart rejoice for those who have experienced the temple and ache for those who have chosen different paths. Maybe someday......

Gardening, Sewing, Quilting

So I'm not the best at blogging. I wonder what I can blog about and nothing comes to mind so I don't blog. The only things I have been doing of late is going to Kindergarten graduations (2), piecing quilts and other items and quilting.

Eugene got our garden planted. Everything is up. Now we are looking at several nights of near freezing temps. Just in time to get the beans.:( At least our tomatoes, peppers, chilis and cucumbers are in buckets that we can haul into the shed or house if needed. Eugene took them in last night. I think I'll leave them there for the next few days. Hope my marigolds survive the cold nights!

Our crab apple tree is in full bloom. Oh I love that tree! Eugene has mentioned a couple of times that he would like to put a garage there. I told him to put a garage anywhere he wants as long as my tree stays.

I got the flower gardens weeded this week. First time I have done anything with them for three years. It shows! They are so full of grass! I'm thinking about doing the Roundup thing this fall and starting all over in the spring. Would be much easier!

MERRY CHRISTMAS---IN APRIL!

Holy Mackeroly!!! There has to be about 10 inches of WET, HEAVY snow out there. And to think it was nearly melted yesterday from the Saturday 3-4 inches. Now I know for sure Mother Nature has her holidays mixed up. HEY! MOTHER NATURE!!! It's Easter, not Christmas!!! Remember? Christmas is at the end of the calendar year and Easter is at the end of the first quarter of the new year!!! Just a little reminder! Can we please have spring soon?

Car Update

Today I went to lunch with a couple of friends. When I returned home, the tow truck was at the house loading our car. :( So sad!!! It reminded me of the time our little white Mystique was totaled in Twin Falls. Some friends towed it home for us. When I cleaned the car out it wasn't such a big deal. However, when the tow company came to get it and haul it off, I cried. I loved that car! I love this one too! I'm wondering if I should just turn my keys in and quit driving!

SERIOUSLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I cannot believe it!! I was coming home tonight from picking up our items that we entered in the local art council's show at the high school. I was minding my own business, driving down hwy. 30 between Boise and Webster streets when 3 deer came running across in front of me. I missed the first two, but not the 3rd. My poor little PT Cruiser! This is the second time in 5 weeks that I have hit a deer. We got the car back from the body shop last Thursday. The damage from the Feb 19th hitting of the deer was nothing compared to this. Car not drivable other than to get it home!!! I am so stinkin' frustrated!! What on earth were those deer doing in the middle of town? Don't they know they don't belong there? I guess not! The lady that saw what happened told me there had been 20 deer in her backyard and those 3 were the last of the 20 to cross the highway. Needless to say, we are back to one vehicle for awhile! I want to just sit down and CRY!!!

Oh My Word!!!

I've been toying with the idea of opening a home based quilting business. I can't believe all the technical rules and regulations there are! WHY? I just want to quilt! I have been given tons of reading to do and I don't want to do it. I told Eugene he should do the reading and then tell me what I should do. He didn't think that was a very good idea! :( All the reading and technicalities is enough to discourage the most ambitious person, not to mention discourage me!

Relay For Life Survivor Quilts

Last year at the Relay for Life, each cancer survivor that attended was asked to leave their handprint on a quilt block, sign their name and how long they have been a survivor. I took the blocks home and made three quilts. These quilts will be auctioned off at the Relay in July to raise money for the fight against cancer.
Here are the quilts.

Our Children

Here are our children with the "Wright Look". They all do it so well! :)



Here they are with smiles. :)

Charlie is the youngest at age 25. He is married to Michelle and lives in Texas.
Laura is the baby girl at age 27. She is married to Kasey, has 3 little girls and lives in Wyoming.
Lizzie is the 'middle child' at age 29. She is single and lives in SLC.
Sarah is the second at age 31. She is married to Eric, has 2 boys and a girl and lives in Ogden.
Katie is the oldest at age 32. She is married to Shawn and lives in Michigan.

This picture was taken at Katie and Shawn's wedding in Incline Village, NV on the shores of Lake Tahoe.

I am so very proud of each of them. They each bring joy to our lives and are successful in their own lives. I love you kids!!!

Live Like You Believe!

I saw this video on You Tube and loved it! I wanted to share!