Katie's bridal shower gift

Katie, Jeff's sister is getting married on August 6th this year. June 26th, Aunt Kris, Nancy and I threw her a bridal shower. I made Katie a special gift that I gave her that day.

I found a way cute picnic basket at DI and I cleaned and stained it, then I made the inner fabric lining for it. I think it turned out cute.




Inside the picnic basket, I put a picnic blanket I made for her.I hand sewed the ants on after appliqueing them. I sewed the rest of it. Although, I did not quilt the design to hold the fabric and stuffing together, I did everything else though. It was a lot of fun and I am very happy with the results. I worked on it for so many nights, while I laid in bed while watching television that now, I get so bored if I am not sewing while the television is on.

Youth Conference 2010

Jeff and I were given a calling at our church to be Youth Conference Coordinators. Neither one of us had ever attended youth conference before and didn't have a clue what we were doing. If anyone doesn't know what youth conference is, it is a group camp out with all the youth, boys and girls ages 12-18. It was only Friday through Saturday. It ended up going really well. We had a ton of fun and some great spiritual moments. We would love to attend one again, but we never want to be in charge ever ever again.....EVER!!!

We started our Youth Conference journey doing a service project at a boy scout camp, we had to lift these HEAVY picnic tables and take them about a quarter of a mile down a trail. It was not easy. Then we cleared wood and debris for new camp sites and trails.


We played a bunch of "minute to win it" games. It was a blast! If anyone has any questions about any of the games, or would like instructions, I am happy to provide them, and give you advise on which ones are fun and which are more difficult.













The final game, the boys had to wear a pair of nylons over their heads with an orange in the bottom of one of the legs and knock over water bottles. It was hilarious! Hyrum Gunther ended up winning the whole game. Jeff told him he had to wear his #1 ribbon for the rest of the weekend, and surprisingly, he did, even when he was swimming. He also wore it under his suit jacket at church that Sunday! We loved it!






We had a nice relaxing night of roasting marshmallows and telling stories around the fire. Although Jeff and I were the only ones who had any ghost stories.


We went on a short hike to a beautiful water area. Some of the group decided to go a little farther and climb to the other side of the spring.



This little guy was jealous of all our food, so he kept stopping by to see what he could sneak off with.


We were able to go on a tour of the Paris Tabernacle.



After the tour, the kids went on a scavenger "treasure" hunt. They were each given their own compass that they could keep. Each of the clues they found would tell them a direction they needed to go to find the next clue.



At the end of the scavenger hunt, the kids had to knock on the door of the Tabernacle and the Bishop answered and presented them each with a picture of Jesus that had the camp out theme scripture on the back.





The leaders that came and helped us out. We couldn't have done it without them.



The water was really cold, but that didn't stop the kids and some of the leaders from getting in. What I didn't understand is that they just stood there in the water saying how cold it was, they were not moving around or anything.



The boys and a couple of girls played football on the beach with Jeff. They had a great time.

Our kitchen chair's new look

I have been wanting to re-upholstery our kitchen chairs for a while now. The material was getting dirty and when I tried to clean them, the chairs seemed to just soak up all the cleaning chemical but wouldn't clean. So, I finally went and got some soft fabric and did the deed today! The color goes really good with our kitchen since I have decorated it with fall colors and decor. Let me know what you think.

Here is a chair before and a chair after.

This is my ending result. Finally, they are all done and it looks great in our kitchen with our autumn leave theme!

The Price family moves away

Brione, Dave and their family have lived near me for years. This last year, they moved right across the drive way from us, so we were closer than ever. Life was good. But then Dave accepted a Job in Iowa. I know what you're thinking, "what the heck is in Iowa". Well, the Price family are in Iowa that's who. They chose to make a life changing decision and move miles and miles away for Dave's job. We did our best to cherish our last moments together.



Brione and Dave left to pick up Ariana from a friend's house on their last night here. They left Aiden with Jeff and I. We played and said our good-byes. My goodness that kid is fun! Jeff is one of Aiden's favorite people. Every time Jeff is around, Aiden is so happy and copies everything Jeff does. It was so sad to see them say good-bye to eachother.





The time came to help the Price's move. That was a long day.... But Brione and I spent some time playing in the moving truck. I mean come on, how often do you get a chance to play in a moving truck?


Brione and I decided to make phones from cans and string. We had to make them 3 times since either they would break or didn't work. I sat in my bedroom window and her and Aiden sat in Brione's bedroom window. We discovered that these type of phones do work, but not very well. We could hear each other, but had a hard time telling what the other person said. But we had a great time and got some silly looks from the neighbor kids.








We are sure going to miss the Price family. Brione is and always will be my best friend (after Jeff of course). We are sad to see them go and have an emptiness in our hearts without their family here. We love you, enjoy Iowa!