Home again, Home again, Jiggedy Jig

After nearly three weeks of being away attending various activities with my family, I am home. Home! Yay! I have loved being with my siblings, attending weddings, helping them move, traveling to new and different places and meeting new people. It has been wonderful. It is also wonderful to be home. We are all safe and sound in the places we are supposed to be. We had a fun cookout at the Hillman/Stanford home in honor of our safe return and to commemorate Memorial day today. We visited a little, ate a little, planted some of the garden and  unloaded a few things off the moving truck. I do so love my family.

This week we will anticipate the arrival of my daughter Jessie and her husband Todd, and their baby Evie, as well as Tamara and Benjamin. We will celebrate the bridal shower for Tamara, celebrate their Idaho reception, and anticipate the arrival of my sweetheart, Tad, on his rotation home. We will have parties, cookouts, celebrations and much time together. It's going to be a party! I do love my family.

36 Hours and Counting...

I'm here in Las Cruces, helping my sister, Jennifer, pack her household to move back to Idaho. It's boxes, boxes everywhere, and tomorrow we will pick up the truck, load their stuff and then we'll leave Wednesday morning. We will make a pit stop in Mesa while her husband attends a professional conference, then we will hit the road to Idaho. Mesa will be phase 3 of my out of state adventure. It's been fun to be able to attend the wedding of our little sister, Tamara and her sweetheart, Benjamin. I've enjoyed being here in Las Cruces, getting to know my little niece, Mavis, and it will be fun to return to Mesa for a few days. I will admit, though, that I miss my own little family and my sweet husband, and I will be glad to see them again, and to get to hug and kiss my kids and grandbaby.

Let the fun begin!

I'm pretty sure I don't like the changes that Blogger has made to their dashboard format. I don't agree that change is always better.

This is it! This is the week that starts all the fun! I will spend the next 3 days preparing for my trip--haircut, color, laundry, packing, final instructions to my kids, cleaning--so that I can leave Thursday morning. I'm headed south, to warmer climes, to attend the wedding of my dear little sister and her sweetheart. Our whole family will be there--all my sibs, my parents and several members of our extended family. It is going to be wonderful! We will all be there for a family cookout, the sealing ceremony, the wedding luncheon, the reception and any other reason we can think of to gather. We will also celebrate mother's day and our parents' birthdays doing what we do best--laughing, eating and being together. I wish that I could take my sweetie and our kids with me, but jobs and school prevent their attendance, but they will be with us in spirit.

Once next Monday rolls around, I will go with another little sister and her family to help them pack their belongings and move back home. They are moving in with our parents to help with the house, yard and daily life. We will spend the second week of May getting them ready to go, and then will pick up the moving truck and load it up and they will finish all their final workshops, conferences and obligations so we can head north. I'll be riding with my sister and their little girl, to help with driving, distracting Little Cutie, navigating and anything else she needs me to do. It'll be a fun time to chat, share ideas, rant, encourage and be sisters.

We will roll back into town on Memorial Day and get their truck unloaded. I'll have 3 days to put my house back together while they attempt to combine their belongings with Mom and Dad's, and then the family will start to gather up here, in Idaho, for phase 2 of the wedding festivities. My daughter and her cute little family will arrive Thursday evening, the newlyweds will arrive Friday morning and we will be hosting a bridal shower for them with all the Idaho cousins and relatives. After the shower, we'll have another family gathering and cookout, with more laughing, eating and being together. The wedding open house will be Saturday evening. Sunday and Monday people will start to leave for home, and things will start to settle into our summer routines.

We have a busy summer ahead, filled with summer jobs, birthdays, YW camp, EFY, my sweetie's rotations home, and the birth of our little tiny granddaughter, when we will go out to visit and attend her blessing. That will be the perfect ending to a wonderful summer. I can't wait to get started!

Bright and cheerful

We are having a lovely Sunday afternoon, my sweetie is home this week, Scott is home from Texas, and so we are all where we should be, today. I know it's not the new month yet, but since I'm going to be gone so much of next month, I wanted a chance to see my May decor, so I spent part of this afternoon changing it out.
I've been gathering ideas and making wreaths. I'm having so much fun! I've made 2 new wreaths for the month of May. Both are ideas I found on Pinterest. I know I posted one of them last week, but I think this is a better picture of it. 1 skein of Lion Brand Fun Fur yarn in Lime, 1 foam wreath form, 1 reel of embroidered daisy trim and a box of pins is all it took to make this cute wreath.

I used a straw wreath form, a skein of Bernat baby yarn, yarn flowers, a stem of pussy willows and some ribbon I had in my ribbon drawer to make this second wreath. I got the idea from this cute blog, here.http://craftysix.blogspot.com/2011/02/spring-wreath.html

I also put up my shelf decor and trimmed my mini tree.

 The flower fairies I bought at JoAnn, the subway art is from here http://thepinkinkdoodle.blogspot.com/2011/04/what-i-whipped-up-wednesday-mothers-day.html

 And my little I*heart*Mom I bought at Deseret Book, last year.







Bright flowers, cute things...I love them.

Finally, I finished this "more of a monogram, sorta like a wreath" this afternoon to hang in my scrapbook room. The large letter A I bought at Roberts, before it closed here several years ago. I spray painted it and made some felt flowers which I've seen many places on Pinterest. I love it.

This is probably all the crafting I'm going to be able to do for the next month or so, since I'll be out of town for most of the month of May. I'll try to post as I get a chance, though, to share all the fun stuff which I'll be doing with my family.

Yada, Yada, Yada...

Spring is here, but it's the Idaho version of spring--windy, rainy, partially sunny, intermittent everything. We have occasional days of glorious sunshine, but usually it's followed by enough wind to make being outside a little miserable. I've been trying to compensate, by decorating for spring inside the house. Here are my little Easter and spring decors.

This will have to hold me until it actually warms up. The wreath will be hanging on my door in May, so I'm jumping the gun a little, but that's ok. It makes my hallway look festive. I have ideas for more wreaths, thanks to Pinterest. (Deadly place, that, with all it's ideas, I get lost for hours) This wreath was also a Pinterest idea. It turned out pretty well, considering the Pin had no written instructions. I can't wait for payday to buy more crafting supplies.

I'm also looking forward to heading south next month to attend my little sister's wedding to her sweetie, and to help another little sister and her family move back home where they belong. It'll be busy and fun, and a blast to be with my family.

Families are Forever!

At Last

I finished Evie's birthday gift last Thursday (march 15), took it to the  post office Friday and sent it out to her. Jessie called Monday afternoon saying that the package had arrived and that Evie had opened it and was at that very moment Oohing and Aahing over it. ( I could hear her in the background, Ooohooo!) So the limitations have been met and removed. The gift was a quiet book, and here are pix of all the pages and covers, inside and out. She loves it, her parents love it, and it's done! Yay! It was fun to do, but I'm glad it's in her hands now.

Happy Birthday, little tiny girl! Nonna loves you!

This last is the birthday card I made for Evie. Cuteness abounds!

Fun News

We got a call from Jessie on Tuesday. She had the fun news that she's expecting another little baby girl! Yay for all of us! We are very excited to be grands again in July, and to have another sweet little girl to love. More ribbons and ruffles and dimples.

Tad has had a change at work, so he'll be working a different assignment from now on, and possibly a different schedule. It'll bring changes and adjustments, but we are so grateful for his job, no matter what he does.

I'm still working on Evie's little  birthday gift. It's coming together so well, I've really enjoyed doing it. I hope she has as much fun playing with it as I've had planning and making it. I'll post pictures of it when I've finished, after she's had a chance to open it and see what it is.

PS, Happy Anniversary to my parents! 49 years together! Yay for you both, I love you so much!

Still on Planet

I'm not going to apologize. I run the blog, the blog doesn't run me. We've had a busy 2 months, my sweetie is well and back to work. I've been busy on something for Little Tiny's birthday in 2 weeks. I have made another wreath, and it hangs on my front door. I've sewn another bow tie for Scott, cleaned my scrapbook room (i even vacuumed it!), been to the doctor with Tad for his followup appointments, and now I'm starting to feel like I can reclaim my life.

We returned to Tad's doctors last week so that he could have his follow up appointments. We visited with 3 different doctors in 3 different clinics, and got good reports from all of them. According to his pathology reports, genetic tests, surgical notes and every other bit of information in his charts, he is doing well, feeling great and is considered NED (No Evidence of Disease). The doctors are going to take a "watch and see" stance, and he will return every 3-6 months (depends on the doctors) for further tests and scans, but we fully expect that he's well. It is such a relief to us to have all the doctors of the same mind--"Go have a lovely life, check in with us periodically and we're happy you are doing so well". We've been so blessed, truly we've witnessed miracles. We even took Hailey with us for her last annual exam from her doctor, and he told her the same thing--She looks great, he doesn't need to see her again unless she has a problem, which we don't anticipate. It was a great trip, we came home feeling very good about life and our experience. It was a perfect opportunity to thank our Heavenly Father for his loving, watchful blessings.

We were even able to make the trip in a vehicle of our very own, for a change. It's not fancy, but we got a car last weekend. We had gotten our tax refund, and planned to put some money aside for when we had a chance to look for cars. Tad was running an errand last Saturday and came home to tell me that he'd found me a car. We stopped to look at it on the way home from the grocery store, called the lady's number in the window, and asked for a chance to drive it. It's really an old beater, as old as Hailey is, but it runs, and at this point, that's exactly what I need. There is always the plan to buy something a little newer and nicer in the future, but this has 4 wheels and seats and a steering wheel. I appreciate having the truck the last 9 months, but driving it in winter weather scares me, and so I am glad to have a car of my own.

Our baby girl is growing up! Here's proof--







She attended her first date dance last month, and she had the time of her life. Where do the years go? I can remember when she was the same size and age as Little Tiny, and now she's all grown up, wearing fancy dance dresses and dating boys! I am so proud of her!

I just realized that while I've mentioned making things for my mini tree, I don't think I've ever posted any pictures of it. It's just a baby sized Christmas Tree, but I've been decorating it with seasonal decor every month. I forgot to take pix and post them in December, January and February, but here is at least the decor for March, as well as my wreath, mentioned above. It's got green lights, shamrock garland, shamrock ornaments and gold coins. Isn't everyone a little bit Irish in March?

I'm Back...

I'm sorry. It's been such a busy couple of weeks, I completely forgot I had a blog. It's a little embarassing, but it's the truth. Things are going well, we continue to see much improvement in Tad and his recovery, we have heard good news in regards to his genetic testing, and we are greatly cheered by this. He's feeling very well, and we are pleased. I had a setback with my cold and sinus infection, so I'm going through round two of antibiotics. Hopefully this will kick it. I've been sick for 4 solid weeks. That's plenty long enough.

I had a bout of craft-itis this afternoon, and this is what I've come up with. The design is not mine, but I'm pleased with my efforts.

Home Again

My sweetie and I are home from the hospital, where we spent all of last week. He got excellent care, and is feeling very well. He has lots of energy, and very little pain. It is SO good to be home, and sleep in our own bed. I just read my previous post. I was VERY tired when I wrote that. There really isn't much sleeping going on in hospitals. We've been making up for that at home. We both feel so much better, now, especially since I developed a very nasty sinus infection while I was there. I got some meds and am starting to respond to them, so we are both recovering nicely. We are so grateful for excellent doctors, nursing staff, friends and family who pray for us on a daily basis. We are feeling the love. Thank you all.

Here

 
We are here. We've been here all week. It's been a long, busy week. Tad had surgery on Tuesday, and he's been recovering ever since. He tries to rest, but as soon as he gets into some good sleep, someone comes into his room, wanting to check his vitals, draw his blood, give him meds, calls or texts, or tries to find some other way to disturb him. There is no resting in hospitals. The surgery went well. We still have to wait a couple weeks to get the lab & pathology reports, and also the genetic screening results, but we feel pretty good about how things have been going. We still have faith that he will have a full and complete recovery, since that is what we've been promised, but it's probably just going to be a longer road than we had first anticipated. Three words that keep swirling in my brain are Faith, Grace & Courage. Three more are Sleep, Sleep and Sleep. I guess I crave what I don't have, or have less than I need.