...happy easter..

Happy Easter!  I hope you have a wonderful day whatever your traditions are!

...thankful...

I had every intention of sitting down this morning and crafting this post, but here it is 10:00 pm and it's the first time I've sat down all day.

It's been the busiest of days lately.  Shopping, peeling, dicing, stirring, tasting, squeezing, dressing,  basting, baking...you get the picture.  You've all been doing the same thing for the past  48 hours.

My day started off with the 7th Annual Give and Gobble 5K run.

I ran it with my daughter, Kate.  She tried really hard to talk me into running the 10K.  I told her that there was no way.  Then we got to the starting line and I said, "Let's just see how we feel when we get to the split."  We crested the hill to where the race split off to the 10K and I said, "NO WAY."  She said, "Are you sure?".  "Yup, I'm sure."  As we crossed the finish line I turned to her and said, "You're not going to believe this but..."  She said, "I know, you wish we had done the 10K."  Yes, I really wish we had.  I felt great and should have done it.  Clearly, this is the goal for next year.

Home, after the run, to get the bird in the oven and start the rest of the dishes.  Family arrived, we had a great afternoon, ate a beautiful dinner and finally all of the dishes are done, leftovers are put away, and everyone but me is in bed, sleeping off the turkey coma they are all suffering from.  I can hear the snores from here.

How is it possible that it takes a week to prepare, 20 minutes to eat and 2 hours to clean up?  It just does, and you know what?  I wouldn't change it for anything.  I am so thankful that I was able to spend time with each member of my family today and so thankful that we had a great kick off to our holiday season.

Please excuse the lack of photos, I've been a bit busy...

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!  Hope that your 2012 was great and that your 2013 will be even better!

We ended the year at our Sunriver home celebrating with family and friends.  We started with a family Christmas and it was pretty great!  Here's some fun things we did:

               ~walks through the snow to the local coffee shop~



                                    ~sledding~

                        ~more walks in the snow~

                          ~Breakfast with Santa~

                  ~Christmas Eve family dinner ~

                                                ~ a lot of time with these two~

The holidays have always been my favorite time of the year and this year was no exception.  It was really the best to have all of us together.  Now it's back to life, back to reality.....

                                 I wish you a wonderful new year from my family to yours!

...months and months...

Hey!  Here I am.  Boy has this year been a blur.  Six months since my last post!  An awful lot going on here.  New grand baby, wonderful trip to Italy, youngest daughter's wedding, and BAM!  Now it is a week until Christmas.

I know that I owe you a whole whack of posts and believe me I have a lot to tell you.  But those stories are for another day.  (Probably after the 1st of the year).

I did want to share something though that happened this past weekend.  It really warmed my heart.

Every other year we have a Christmas party in our barn.  It's a really fun, relaxed afternoon with many friends and family members.  It's a casual thing, people dress in jeans and warm coats.  The barn has heat but it's a big barn and it takes a long time to heat it up!

Each year that we have this party we ask everyone to bring a toy to be donated to kids in our community that are in need.  This year we chose to work with Tuality Hospital.

They specifically asked for games and toys for kids ages 9-12.  This age range seems to get less donations than other ages.  So when we sent out our invites we asked for game and toys for them and boy did the gifts roll in!

Legos, Sorry, Monopoly, Scrabble!  I think we got 9 Apples to Apples games!  I am so thankful for our friends and family and am especially thankful that they are so generous.  I packed up all of the toys and games yesterday morning and headed to the hospital with them. (My car was jammed!)  The hospital was really happy to see me!  They were so appreciative and it felt so good to deliver this gift.  

In a matter of days we will be heading to our house at Sunriver for the holidays with the entire family.  I am really excited about this!   Can't wait to celebrate the season with the grandkids! I think there will be some sledding in my near future...

 I leave you with a little gift~

Elliet and her first Christmas tree.

Until next year, happy holidays!

...the last of Christmas...

We have been having a blast at Sunriver.  It has been so great being here, relaxing with family and friends.  And we've doing a lot...

a lot of present opening...

a lot of posing for pictures...

and a lot of walking......





...a lot!

We took a family sleigh ride on Christmas day that was really fun.  The only thing that could have made it better was snow.  But we laughed and had a wonderful time even without snow.

The kids have all gone home and we have had the past couple of days to see friends, do a bit more walking and even get some skiing in.  It's been busy, but the best kind of busy!!

...here comes Santa Claus...

Wow, I can not believe that it is already the 26th!  Were did the month go?  We have had the best time this holiday season.  We are spending two weeks at our home in Sunriver.  It's been almost perfect.  The only thing that would make it better is snow.  No snow here, which is unusual for this area at this time of year.  But even without the snow, just being here with our family and celebrating the season has been fantastic.  We've eaten some really great food, played some really fun games and enjoyed each other so much none of us want it to end.

One of the first things the girls did together was have brunch with Santa on Christmas Eve day.  The lodge is decorated so beautifully for the holidays.  Gorgeous Christmas trees and beautiful lights are everywhere.
   

Everything was great until it was time for Paytan to sit on the big guy in the red suits' lap....


Paytan was fine with Santa at a distance.  But anything closer than 15 feet and it was no dice.  It didn't matter that she never really "sat" on Santa's lap.  He still found our house and left her a big bunch of presents!  More on that tomorrow!

Hope your holidays are merry and bright!

...caroling...

For your Christmas caroling pleasure, I give you sheep.



You gotta love singing sheep, right?

...one at at time...

This is a public service announcement.  People, could we please just celebrate one holiday at a time?  I am all for holiday spirit, but I'd like to have the holiday spirit during the actual holiday season.  It seems that society is running at light speed from one thing to the next.  I was at the mall last weekend and heard Christmas music in more than one store.  I guess I could get over that but the kicker for me was that as we approached the food court area there was a large crowd gathering.  I said to my daughter, "What do you suppose that is all about?"  As we got nearer we could see that there indeed was a line forming for something.  Now, hang onto your hats.  The line was to see SANTA.  Yup, Santa is in the mall, having his picture taken with little people, hearing their wishes and handing out candy canes.  It was unbelievable.
Don't get me wrong, I am the biggest Christmas fan ever, just ask my family.  I love to decorate, bake and entertain.  I have a tendency to go overboard, kind of like this guy (again, just ask my family).

But even I draw the line on Christmas stuff before Thanksgiving.  Am I the only one out there that feels this way?  I guess not....

...well, that's 2 months of my life that I'll never get back...

Happy New Year!

I can't believe it's been so long since my last post. But best intentions......

Here is a quick recap of what's been going on, starting with Stitches East.

It was a blast; an exhausting blast but a blast none the less.

We were here:

...which was pretty amazing. Webs is fabulous! And it was incredible to see them set up their booth. Steve is pretty much a master at this and has it mapped out before hand.

He sketches out the basic floor plan and the Webs worker bees go to work. They are really a well oiled machine.

Here's a little of what our space looked like during set up.

The show was great and I got to see a lot of old friends and make some great new ones. Robinand Olivia came to see me. They were really fun to talk with. Olivia has a beagle puppy named....Jake. She has pictures to show me. What a doll! Robin had read here about my Jake. Thanks, ladies for your warmth and humor!

I also got to see Marcy a.k.a. knittinggolfer! I haven't seen her since camp. She's a member of thesmackdown group , a knitter, spinner and a down right great person!

She brought me a great care package which included:

We got to have dinner together one evening and it was so great! Can't wait till the next time, Marcy! (you were right about the wine! YUM!)

We did have a bit of excitement while I was there......

Yep, those are firemen. Fire alarm went off at 11:30 pm. So from the 18th floor to the lobby, me and 300 of my closest new friends made our way via the stairwell. We got down to the street level, stood around in various stages of dress and waited for the all clear. When it finally came, me and those same 300 friends waited in line for the elevators to take us back up to our rooms. Let's just say it was an interesting evening and leave it at that....

I didn't get to do much shopping at the market, but I was able to snag this: (the yarn, not the wine...)

Yep, some qiviut and some cashmere. The wine is from Marcy! Also, Kathy from Webs gave me these.

If you don't know about these, where have you been? This is the new inter-changeable needle set that Webs has. They are really great. If you are in the market for a set of inter-changeable needles, head over to their website (http://www.yarn.com/) and check them out.

Once home from Stitches, I ran my clothes through the washer and dryer, repacked them and headed to Sunriver for SOAR. BMFA had a booth there, but I did get to take a couple of classes too. The first class I took was Beginning Weaving with Sara Lamb. It was great and Sara had me bring my loom to class and helped me warp it for the first time. I left the class with a beautiful scarf started. Loom? Yes, loom. I bought a loom. I need another hobby like a hole in the head but really......Anyway, this is what I bought. Since coming home I have finished the scarf and actually just put it in to soak. Pictures later.

The second class I took was Blending on the Drumcarder with Abby Franquemont. Yes, blending on the drumcarder. Drumcarder? Yes, drumcarder that I have owned for about a year now and have not know really how to use it. Anyway, it was a wonderful class and I left with a whole plan for using it!

Until Saturday evening. That's when the h1n1 showed up. So by the time I was well enough to go home from SOAR there were other things to think about. A trip to California to visit friends, Thanksgiving, Porter and that other thing......oh yeah....Christmas. After Christmas we spent a week at Sunriver and then came home to shovel away the holiday decorations and try to get back in the groove of everyday life.

And here we are, January 11, 2010. 2010 is proving to be as busy as 2009 was. I have a bunch of stuff on the horizon. Hope to be writing about all of it here. But then again, best intentions.... Wish me luck!

...season's greetings...

Happy Holidays to one and all. Hope that this finds you all safe and warm with family and friends near. We have been celebrating all week long in the snow...

...bloody marys!

..my friends, that is a 40 inch icicle!

Here is the view of our house from our lower pasture...

...Jake is NOT amused with the snow...he wants in constantly... and he refuses to wear a sweater.

...but the snow is slowly melting and will be gone soon. Wishing you and yours happy holidays and a warm and wonderful new year!

...let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

Living in the Pacific Northwest, we don't get much snow. So when the weatherman said there would be snow on Sunday I thought "yeah, right". They don't seem to be very accurate when it comes to the white stuff. Anyway, tonight was to be the 13th Annual Christmas Mug Exchange and Ugly Christmas Sweater Party. I have had the mug exchange every year we've lived in this house and it's always a blast. See last year for more information on that!

When I got up this morning the ground was wet and it was not looking like anything but the most typical of December days in Oregon. But within 45 minutes everything changed.

Well, with 2 inches on the ground and the prediction of several more, along with temperatures in the 20s, I sent out the word that the mug exchange and sweater party would have to be cancelled for 2008. :(

As the snow piled up, I grabbed my camera and headed outside to take these:

Even the dogs wanted in on the snow fun ~

I did venture out to the mall ( in my husband's F250 Ford pickup) with my daughter to get a few things and ran into this guy...

He assured me that the reindeer were warm and fed and that the snow was going to continue. So, schools are closed tomorrow, chains are required in the Portland Metro area and I won't be going anywhere for a few days.....I drive a Mini Cooper.