Here we come a visiting...

Okay, August has started out pretty busy for us! To get the birthdays out of the way, we have quite a few this month...Scott White and Kim Horn-Allen had their birthdays the same day, then we have Michael Fire and Clarita White with birthdays on the same day, then Gary Gatzke with Emily White following up at the end of the month. We also had an Anniversary in July for Chancy and Michelle Bainum, while this month of August sees Peter and Andrea White having theirs.
Those being over, Drew and I drove back to California the 2nd weekend to attend his 44th high school reunion. We drove out on Thursday and they had a few events scheduled. We bowled on Saturday afternoon with a very nice dinner and visiting that night. Then some of his friends and we met for breakfast Sunday morning. It was my second time meeting his ole high school friends. Sounds like they all enjoyed see who turns up each time they have one of these reunions. If my high school ever holds one since my 20th, I want to take Drew as he's never been to Alaska. But, we've already passed my 35th and no word. I think I'll have to do some checking.
We then drove to Flagstaff the following Saturday to meet Kim and her husband Mark, along with Jarred. Jarred is visiting again this summer for a couple weeks. We took Kellen Gatzke, his half brother with us so they could keep each other company on the drive back. So, last night Kellen stayed overnight here at out house, then this afternoon, both boys worked for a couple hours outdoors on the fence. They said they would love to earn money fixing the fence so that Molly can hopefully soon be able to run around the yarn off leash. Then, they came inside, and were ready to go to the Rec Center. And tonite Jarred is spending it at Kellen's where they plan to watch some sort of wrestling tournament on pay-per-view. I think? Oh well, they are boys, and apparently there are going to be a couple other of Kellen's friends there as well. Hey, I guess it's definitely a guy thing! lol
Well, I'm going to sign off for tonite, and let's hope I can keep this blog more up-to-date than I have so far. Wish me luck.

I know, it's been a while!!!

Okay, okay, we've been pretty busy these last few months. Back in May, we finished up all our floors, and man, does it look nice! Drew and I are so happy they are done! Well, until we finish up the connectors or whatever you call it. And next we have to do the floors in the kitchen, washroom and the two baths.
Then at the end of May, we traveled up to Lehi, Utah to visit with Wendy's oldest son, Sean and his family. It was both Allyssa's and Sean's birthday that last weekend, so we traveled there for that.
We also had two grandsons graduating high school this year, and they were Keedan Ainsworth right here in Cortez, Colorado and Arron Horn out of Palm Desert, California. Keedan has since left for Texas where he plans to work, find an apartment and work his way into Texas A&M. While Arron finally moved out of his mom's place to live with his dad, as it is closer to his work, and he plans to attend the Harley Davidson Vocational College in the Phoenix area as soon as he can get the paperwork started.
May 23rd was also our 20th Anniversary and it's hard to believe sometimes that we've been married that long! It seems like only yesterday, that is until we take into account how our bodies have failed us! Man, it's the pits getting old! lol Our present to ourselves was to go out to dinner down in Farmington, NM at the Red Lobster...something we've done almost every year since we moved here, and secondly, we treated ourselves to a brand new mattress. We can't remember the last time we bought one! We really needed it!
I'm covering a lot of months since it's been a while since I kept this blog up, so bear with me!
June brought me attending a 3-day quilt retreat here in Cortez, and had a blast! I was able to piece together a Memory Quilt for a favorite cousin of one of our dil's, Emily White, who was going thru some major health problems. Emily sent me about 5 pieces of fabric in her chosen colors to work with, and not being a quilter, she doesn't know that 5 is not enough for a quilter! (grin) I had to go out and buy more and then I added photos to the quilt that she sent. This quilt is meant for her cousin's wife and daughter, so it was made with a lot of love. The other quilters at the retreat helped me with the placement of the blocks and photos. I was so honored to piece and quilt it. Thank you Emily for that opportunity to give a gift of love.
Then the 2nd weekend in June, we traveled to California to attend Drew's oldest daughter's graduation from Loma Linda University with a degree in Nursing. Man, that was certainly a ceremony to be proud of. Congradulations Jamie! Way to go!
Also, during the month, we had some birthdays for two granddaughters. Happy Birthday Micaela Bainum and Kara White.
Grandkid birthdays for July were Arron Horn and Caitlin White, while there were also birthdays for Drew's daughter Desiree Fire, and Wendy's mom Gay McClellen and sister, Brenda Ylvisaker had birthdays.
July also brought the end for Wendy of months of harried quilting...as the Dolores Mountain Quilters had their quilt show. Phew! It turned out really nice, and we lucked out with Wendy's youngest son, Scott White and his wife, Clarita, and kids, Sebastian and Camila visiting for a week. Sebastian was also the one to pick the winning ticket for the Raffle Quilt at the show! He was also pictured in the paper when he did so. Man, what a ham!
Now, we come to August, but I think I'll start a new blog, so this one is complete, I think. Hmmm, I think, therefore, I am? Gads, I don't know...

Sunday, March 16th

Phew! We did it! Drew and I finished the first of the 3 bedroom floors and it only took us 7 hours! Well, we did pull up the carpet and repair the floor last weekend, so that this weekend we were able to install the wood flooring and put in the baseboards which I'd already done last weekend.
Anyways, today, we finished the hallway, the linen closet, and put in the baseboards this afternoon. So, now we have the other spare bedroom and our master bedroom, which we hope to start next weekend. Tomorrow night Drew is going to help me put my ironing table (his mother's old dresser) on rolling castors, so I can get to my design wall and finish up our kingsize bed quilt. I need to get it to the longarm machine quilter NLT next month so that she'll have time to finish it in time for the quilt show in July.
I also need to finish a few other quilts, too, for the show and for presents. One of them is a quilt for graduation for Keedan and another one for Arron. Keedan's is a triptech one I'm doing a jazz drummer, and Arron's will be one that is of a motorcycle, since he wants to go to school to learn to repair big motorcycles.
Well, tonite's blog is short as I'm tired, and I would love to figure out how to upload pictures. That may be something to learn for another day/night. So, til later...

Tuesday, March 11, 2008 News

Well, here I am again letting ya'll know the news of the day. Today started out quite funny actually. We've been taking care of Gary's dog, Blackjack, for him until he can get it to his new owner (waiting for the fence to be built), and he's apparently an indoor dog. Nothing wrong with that, except he sleeps on the floor in our bedroom and he's no trouble . . . when Drew's there.
Drew leaves for work and Blackjack thinks he belongs on the bed with me, and even though it's a kingsize bed, he wants to either lay up by MY pillow, or lays over my legs. Well, this morning, Drew was going to close the door and pretend he left and wait to hear if Blackjack moved. Well, he did get up and walk over to my side of the bed and Drew came back in and told him to get back on his blanket. Humpt! He again closed the door, and pretended he went out the front door and quietly walked back to see if Blackjack had moved. He hadn't. So, he went ahead and went to work. Well, Blackjack waited about 25 minutes to make sure Drew wasn't coming back, and then jumped up on the bed. By that time, I had both Blackjack and Molly on my legs and could hardly move.
Gary had told us to use a rolled up newspaper and slap him with it, as he didn't like the sound of it, and it wouldn't hurt him. Well, Blackjack apparently isn't bothered with that danged newspaper, and it didn't work. I finally had to pull my legs out from under the two dogs and just go ahead and pull them off the bed and get dressed. I wasn't going to get anymore sleep, but this can't keep up, as I don't go to bed until around 3-4 in the morning and getting up at 8-9 just isn't cutting it. I usually get up around 9:30, but not now. It's usually right after Drew leaves which is around 8:30, and I'm getting tired. so, since today was such a nice day, the dogs have been left outside for most of it.
In the meantime, I'm working on my Shoebox quilt and it's all done except the final border to sew on, but I took a break to work on a small quilt for a silent auction in Chicago. I'm donating it to my granddaughter, Madysen's school for a fund raiser. I hope they get a bit of money for it, as I'm sure someone should like it. It's a couple of birds dancing cheek to cheek. I'll try and post a picture when it's done, and also the shoebox one.
Maybe this weekend, I'll get a picture posted of Drew and I laying the floors thruout our house. We have the living room, dining room and most of the hallway done. We are now in the first of 3 bedrooms, and the carpet's been pulled up and staples removed, and it's just waiting for the flooring. I have to admit, for beginner's, Drew and I are doing a bang-up job. Twice Gary came over to help (mostly to move some of the bigger furniture), and one of our grandsons, Kellen came over to help. That was when I was in Chicago.
Hummmm...well, enough for now...and I'll try to post pics soon.

Wendy's Busy Quilting Day

Whew! Today has been busy for me, as after doing errands downtown, I came home and have been quilting all afternoon. I'm playing catchup from when I was gone during most of the month of February when I was in Chicago at my son's Peter's house.
Anyways, today I pieced together most of the blocks for my Shoebox Quilt, and only have the final border to put on, after which I can add some insect appliques to it of a butterfly, dragonfly, snail, bee and a ladybug. This particular quilt will go to one of my littlest granddaughters, Camila.
This Shoebox Quilt was a project that my guilddid for the last year starting January 2007 and ending January 2008. We all had a box (shoebox, whatever), that we each had our own theme and it was passed down to 12 people to work on one block each month. I think I had one of the easiest blocks, as it was a flower that you layered and cut out the underneath, and just sewed about 1/4 inch from the edge with black thread. Then layer the next smaller flower on top, cut out the underneath and finally layer a small circle for the center. When I got these all back, I cut them apart into 4 equal sections and resewed them together. I added leaves, sashing and now I need to do a real thin black sashing around the whole quilt top with a final flower border. I will then applique the small insects to the top, and give it to a woman I know that does pantagraph quilting.
So, phew! Today has been tiring for me. In the meantime, Drew and I are dog-sitting his son, Gary's dog, Blackjack until they can find a new home for him. He's a sweet black lab, about 8 years old, but he's way too big for us anymore. We also can't travel with such a large dog, not the way we travel with our small beagle, Molly. We used to have a white german shephard ourselves named Gunnar, but he finally died last year the week after Thanksgiving. It was sad, but he had a good long life, and he was feeling his age. To Drew and I, we just don't feel another large dog can replace him, so Molly is it for us for now.
Well, Blackjack has been an interesting dog for the last couple days. He's very well behaved, but as soon as Drew leaves for work, he jumps into bed with me, and thinks he should be able to sleep on the bed like Molly does. It probably wouldn't be so bad, if he would just keep to the foot of the bed, but he wants to sleep up by the pillows. Go figure, I can't handle that! Talked to Gary tonite when he brought over some dogfood, and he said that Blackjack has never done that before. Humpt! Go figure that he'd start now.
So, enough blogging for tonite, my first time. I'll try to come back tomorrow and maybe update some photos to this site of my quilts and the various things I'm doing, and that Drew and I are doing together. Especially our progress on our floors. . . .