Christmas Quilt of 20-Something

Remember when I used to blog?  Yea, me too.  Today I shall blog about quilts.

I made this quilt for a Christmas present last year, but it was for Christmas the year BEFORE.  Follow that?  Haha....   It was for my brother-in-law and his family.  It was made from a kit I purchased at a quilt show.  

Well, here it is:

 

Up close, you can see the pattern used on the Long-Arm Machine 

The Kitties didn't want to give it up, but..... they did.  

Happy 2013! Yes, Happy!

I have had many thoughts over the past few days about this new year.  I am sure you have as well.  Sorry my last post was a downer - just call me Debbie - the Downer, that is.  I am working on that!

2012 was a year of growth and challenges, of joy and fun.  The best things about 2012 would be:

~We were blessed with a wonderful vacation with all five of us to Emerald Isle, North Carolina.  We stayed in a nice home right next to the beach.  We love love loved it.  I'd go back in a heartbeat.

Dang- a few of us are getting chubby.... gotta work on that!

~ I was able to serve the wonderful women of the Columbia Stake in many ways.  One of the most favorite would be planning our Women's Conference held in April.  WOW - what work that was!  Many sisters enjoyed it, and that is the point.

~ I went to "Time out For Women" with my good friends Carrie and Diane.  Tons of fun there, I tell ya!

~I visited Arizona and helped my niece recover from surgery by helping to take care of her little adorable baby girl. She recovered quickly and we had lots of play time!  I loved being with my nieces and nephews and their families.  They are such a joy.

~Hubby and I went on a 28th Wedding Anniversary trip to a lovely place in Virginia.  It was a pleasant get-away together.  L and I went to a family homestead in New York.  See that same blog post for information.

~I finished a couple of quilts.  I should have finished more - I will do that THIS year!

~We spent Thanksgiving with family in Tennessee.  YAY!

~I supported Hubby through two minor surgeries.  He is becoming quite a good patient!

~We worked on a lot of home improvements!  We are almost done with the necessaries.

~I have gotten to play in the Nursery at church on Sundays now for a couple of months.  THAT is pure fun with those little angels - well, except when a few are crying, but they are learning and getting over it and that is a blessing!  They are so dear!

~I discovered The Pioneer Woman.  I shall blog about her soon.  I love her.  I think I mentioned that.

~My teeny small business runs well and grows without me trying to grow it.  That is cool.

~I spent lots of wonderful time with my daughter sewing, laughing, and working on projects.  We gained a love for the TV shows Castle and Dr. Who.  In spite of her health problems, she is still a joy to me in so many ways.

~I discovered SongPop!  Oh my....do you  know that game?  It's too much fun.

~Christmas was fantastic.  B and B were home with us. I got spoiled. Hubby does that.  I love him.

So, there are some blessings!  Wow - I feel so  much better.  I should count the joy more often.  Yes, I think I shall.

But you'll have have to WAIT a little while for more of that!

Tait Times of 2011 - Part Two (yes, this one includes a link to all the wedding stuff!)

MORE fun just for you... hahaaaa.....but, in reality, it's probably only for me.

July:  Our dear friends, the Davies, moved to Texas several years ago.  They are a family who likes to do birthdays up BIG.  For her 50th birthday, he wanted to fly us out for her big party as a surprise.  He invited several of her "old best friends" from over the years.  It was so very wonderful!  We had a great time.  I even went on a helicopter ride!  Shocking, truly.

The next few months of details have blurred lines.  From July through September I was overwhelmed with wedding plans.  "But you were just the mother of the groom - what was the big deal?" you say?  Silly you.  It was decided that the wedding would be in the Salt Lake LDS temple.  We were hoping family would travel to it from all over the U.S.  We were blessed that they did.  So, I needed to plan what we called a "Groom's Dinner" for the families of the bride and groom.  We also decided to have an Open House here in Maryland, which would be pretty much like a reception.  I was also helping with many of the reception plans.  So, I think I didn't breathe again until September 18, the day after the Open House.

Engagement photos were taken by Britt's mom.  Here is her blog - she really does a great job!

The kids both flew back here after school was out (BYU Idaho has a summer semester ending mid-July, in case you didn't know).   We looked forward to some time with Britt before they got hitched -we needed to test her to be sure she'd fit in, right?  Well, she did of course.

She EVEN attended a Karaoke competition that Rich did with his work - singing ELVIS!  Now, that's love!

We were sad to see her go....

August - We celebrated Brian's birthday.  Fun!  Continued wedding frenzy consumed me.  I messed up the name of their blog for RSVPing on the little paper that went out with the wedding invitations.  D'oh!  Holy moly.  I think I had a birthday in there somewhere as well.  My friend Amanda was queen of the Open House here, and we met and talked on the phone probably a million times.

September - OH, September!  I will spare you all the minute details. I flew to Utah several days before the big event to prepare and to help out in any way possible.  There was much to do!

The wedding stuff is in a separate post here.

During all of the wedding festivities, I was also involved in planning another Stake Relief Society event.  Thankfully other members of the presidency and committee members took that one over since I was in wedding mode for so many weeks!

Leslie also started her first full semester.  She started out great until.....

October - the beginning of October changed our lives once again.  We thought it would be just for  a few weeks, but has turned into an on-going challenge.   Les began feeling dizzy and nauseated in class.  We gave it a few days, then started going to doctors.  Then we went to more doctors.  And more doctors.  Stay tuned for November and December....

Halloween, oh Halloween.  This is Les's favorite time of the year (next to Christmas, of course).  She planned for months to turn our front yard into one of the video games from  the Legend of Zelda series.  She worked for weeks to paint and create her scene.  She sewed her own costume, which she has worn to many anime conventions.

 Very cool, I must say.

I quilted in October - yet again.  Pictures on that to come.


November - more doctors.  Leslie had to withdraw from all of her classes. She could do only a little bit more than "veg" on the couch, rest, listen to audio books, etc.  She was dizzy and light-headed nearly all the time.  Her appetite was horrible due to the nausea. It has been a very frustrating process.

 A very boring and uneventful Thanksgiving came and went.

December - well, in addition to CHRISTMAS, we finally got a diagnosis for Leslie.  We went to a doctor affiliated with Johns Hopkins and he says she has Vestibular Migraine.  He is unsure of the cause, but he and we are pretty sure it is from a medication change that happened the beginning of October when this all began.  It's like something in her brain snapped and won't snap back.  There is no quick solution, although he assures us she will see an end in sight.  At this point, we don't know if she will be able to go to school in January.  More tests will be run soon.  Say a a prayer or two for this dear young woman, if you would.  

We decided to fly to Arizona for Christmas this year.  We haven't been there to celebrate this holiday in many, many years.  Since B and B were there working and taking a semester off, it seemed like a great plan.  We had a lot of fun - except for Christmas Day when all 5 of us were sick in the hotel room with the stomach flu.  UGHHHH.....

Suns!  Not a great game, but we were THERE!

My brother with two of his grandbabies

Our dear friend, Sis. Gina Stephens, serves in Mesa.  We sneaked in a little visit!  

I also was able to attend a get-together with some high school friends.  I didn't get photos of all of us together, but here are a few:

These women blessed my life in high school and college, as well as today.

What an amazing year!  Lots of travel, lots of planning, lots of visiting with family and friends from past years, and lots of blessings.  I know Heavenly Father's hand has been with us every step.

It seems we have an every-other-year-that's-good.  2011 was fabulous.  I am nervous about 2012.  Still I have great hopes to learn new skills, to organize, to be healthier and  to be closer to God.

I don't know what to do with this blog.  I feel like my thoughts and words are pretty boring to most.  Maybe I'll find a new twist.

Guess you'll just have to WAIT a little while and see.....

Christmas Stockings - the mini kind.

Anyone still out there?  Yes, we're still alive.  I just haven't felt like saying much here.  Yes, there was a wedding - some of you have seen the photos on Facebook.  I will post about that at some point.  I've just kind of lost my blogging desire.

BUT, this post is about my Christmas project this year.  I decided to make something for my son and his new wife that would continue a Christmas tradition of ours.

I love Christmas advent - I love little gadgets and things that count down the days, and we did that a lot when my kids were little.  About 14 or 15 years ago, I made these:

 These little stockings, in a variety of fabrics, have hung down our banister every Christmas since then. They are filled with 1 little candy per person, with varying types so you never know what you'll get!  Some years they were ignored, so one Christmas in the recent past I didn't put them up to see if anyone cared.  They did - I put them back the next year.  That'll teach 'em!  It was nice to know that these treasured sewn-by-Mom stockings mattered.

Here are the ones I made for B and B:

 The differences?  My friend with a letter cutter cut the numbers for me instead of having to use a Sharpie.  The fabrics are a bit more "hip and happenin'", and I was lucky enough to find Charlie Brown Christmas fabric!  Love it - that is a Christmas MUST around here.  

Here is what they looked like together, old and new:

 B and B can choose how to hang them, and how to use them.  Hopefully they will continue a much-loved tradition.  I had great fun making them.  Another special memory begun.

OK, So There was ONE Christmas Project

So I thought I needed to do at least one new Christmasy, crafty thing this past Christmas season. The ONE project I did do this year was to make these cookies.  I love OUR BEST BITES.  I have used many of their recipes.  I was asked to make fancy cookies for a ward party.  While these may not be "fancy", they were time-consuming and turned out kinda pretty.   I used my own sugar cookie recipe. I used this recipe and tutorial.

I gotta say I didn't love the way the glaze tasted at all, but the affect was lovely. 

The Colors!

The practice ones.  I really wanted to make snowflakes, but I could not get it to work right.

The final looks - what I took to the party.  Eh - they're ok.... :-)

Christmas, Florida -Style

I suppose it is time to report on our Christmas Adventures, celebrating in a very non-traditional way-well, non-traditional for us.  As I explained in this post,  we went to Florida.  Things started out a little rocky, since our college son took a few days to readjust to family life, but he did just fine after a day or two of attitude.  All in all, everything went amazingly well. 

We focused on non-tangible gifts for one another, gifts which enhanced family relationships - gifts that reflect the Savior's love and purpose for family.  We gave very small purchased gifts that were well-thought out.   We did have our Christmas Devotionals.  Everyone tried hard to be cooperative as we planned our days out at the parks.  It wasn't perfect all the time, but efforts were made and patience was found.

I never sent out Christmas cards, I delivered a few goodies, I wrapped only a few presents.  I forgot our stockings in Maryland! Here is a mixture of photos from Disneyworld as well as Universal Studios.

First night - Downtown Disney

Attack of the BIRDS on the Ferry Ride to Magic Kingdom

 

Dreamers....

LOVE the parades - wish I could have seen more of them

 

Attacking a childhood nightmare - and winning this time

Hogsmeade!

 

Butter Beer- only BEER these children better ever drink.

 

Gift bags for "stocking items" since I forgot the stockings....

 

After many months in 2010 which were extremely difficult, I often teared up thinking about how thankful I was that we were all together again.  I wasn't sure that would happen.  The Lord blessed us.  We saw the holidays differently than before.  There are several things that I would repeat again the next holiday season.  I LOVED being stress-free - I can't say that enough.  I don't think I will have that luxury again, but I will certainly seek it out! 

Guess I'll have to WAIT and see......