Long Arm Sally

What a blast I am having here at my sisters house/quilt store (I have been eat/sleep/dream quilting)  I love it here.  Tonight as I type I am bundled under blankets-with the window wide open.  Cold fresh air.  I love it.

Christine and her husband Larry have a lovely home in Illinois.  It has a wonderful spirit and they make me feel so at home with them.

This was a crazy busy weekend for my sister.  She entertained my mother and I.  She fed a visiting GA and the whole Stake Board.  Twice.  Larry was involved in meetings all day Saturday and Sunday and still snuck in a 50.8 mile bike ride.  He's the man!

I was able to attend the luncheon on Sunday for GA (Spencer Condie) and the inner circle.  It was great.  I love the hearty, healthy food here.  Seven, yes 7, different kinds of soups. Several different home made breads.  Yummy Yummy.  

Speaking of healthy food.  I almost overdosed on Saturday.  I think I ate 8 or maybe 10 vine fresh tomatos right out of Chris's garden.  Holy smokes!  I forgot what real tomatos tasted like.  Like really good.   Ummm nummy.  The apples and peaches look amazing and I think if we can pull ourselves away from the quilt store long enough we might need to make some apple crisp or peach cobbler.

I've been working on a quilt that is made with some really adorable YW fabric.  I am serious.  If you have a Beehive, Mia Maid or Laurel in your family...YOU.MUST.HAVE.ONE.OF.THESE.  I have to bind it so I will unveil the final show when its done.  I am going to add a few photos in the middle of the creating.  If I can do it so can you.  It is adorable.  My sister will have these kits on her site really soon.  Like in a matter of days!

I got to use her long-arm.  It is like a giant sewing machine and you attach the quilt like you would to quilting frames.  It has an enormous sewing arm that you hold onto with two hands whole standing.  It is so fun.  I actually giggle while I am using it.  Yes it is that fun.

I am loving the time with my mom and my sister.  I love my husband so much for letting me leave for so long.  I miss him.  He is my man!  

I'm going to cuddle up a little deeper under these lovely, snuggly quilts.  

Is there a wrong way to vote?

I followed my Father's example today. I voted. He never missed an opportunity to vote his entire life. Never. He voted in every single election.   Even those strange ones that pop up out of no where. 

He was such a good man.

I got a little misty-eyed at the voting place. Twice while I was there a shout was made "1st time voter!" and the whole place would burst into applause and cheers.  Both times I expected to see a bright eyed 18 year old. The 1st was a 40+
black guy that looked so excited. The 2nd was a hispanic woman about 60 who looked so humble yet proud. Once again, I was reminded how many blessings I take for granted. I'm am publicly stating-

I love to be an American and having the freedoms I enjoy every day.

 I have been paying attention to the national candidates and have really pondered and studied each opponent. I feel confident in my choice. But there are a lot of local candidates I know nothing about. (Oh I wanted to lie here and say I spent hours interviewing each one, reading their voting records, pondering their values...but I know you know me better than that haha) So today I tried to go on several of their websites..but I found myself thinking blah, blah, blah, lie, lie, lie.  It's so hard to know who to believe.  I wanted to call my brother, who I believe knows all things political,  but, I'm afraid it would just he remind him what an idiot he has for a sister.

Here is my question?

Is it wrong to just vote for the ones you know something about and leave all the others blank? Or is it better to just vote all Democrat or all Republican if you don't know? Should you just guess on those? I'm really curious what others think?  

Just in case you forgot how cute he is :)

Portland Girls Trip '08

Make a Smilebox slideshow

October Fun!

Why shouldn't October be a fun month? The weather is awesome. The Holidays are around the corner. The real tax deadline passes (ok thats not fun but it is nice to put 2007 to bed). Jake hits his 9 month mark. General Conference. University of Utah has their hunter's break which means Alec & Tiffany got to come home and stay a while!

We enjoyed having the kids down for a few days. I was sad that Tiffany had to leave early to get back to work. I keep promising her that her day will come. She is so great to share Alec with us. She's the best!

I'm excited about travelling back to the mid-west to visit my sister. Can you say "possible showers" every day I am there. WooHoo! I'm doing a rain dance as I write. Pumpkins patches, fresh fruit & veggies, quilt, quilt, quilt! I love October!

October-Hug your Dentist Month

Mischief in the backyard

Missionaries miss their momma's (oh and the rest of the family too)

This is a letter from a Mission Presidents wife-

It made me cry.  When you see those young Sister's & Elders, give them an extra love!

"My husband and I are serving a mission in London England South. Over the weekend (because of conference) we have had lots of opportunities to be with the full-time young men serving mission. It was marvelous. Mothers and Fathers you have done an incredible job raising outstanding young men. It was an honor to be in their presence. They have such a love of the gospel and a love for each other that I have never seen any where else. Our son is currently serving in the Houston Texas South Mission and so being around these boys brought back so many memories of having our son and all his friends over to our home.

We were all at the stake center to view conference and so in between, before and after sessions I had the chance to visit with so many of them. It was an experience that I will never forget. But there was one moment, that I might call a "kodak moment". In the morning session of conference President Monson gave an incredible talk. He spoke of the love we should have for our families and as I looked around those valiant young men I realized they were without family.

One young man whom I had gotten to know quite well was sitting on the row in front of me. As President Monson bore testimony of our loved ones and the value they are to us, tears began to trickle down this young elders face. I knew what he was thinking and my heart ached for him. He has been out for about 10 months and is an awesome missionary, having lots of success. But for a moment I could see in his eyes that he longed for home.
He tried really hard to be tough. He was really fighting it. Finally he bent over and put his hands over his face and wept. What an marvelous sight.

To all the parents with missionaries, know that they love you. Know that it is hard out here and they are really doing their very best. I thought of our own son somewhere in Texas and then I too lost it. But I realized that even though these young men , know that what they are doing is right, it is still hard and they still miss home.

I also thought of all us mission moms who, at the same time are missing our sons and daughters and perhaps we shed a tear or two during this remarkable talk by President Monson.

After the closing song I patted this young man on the back and asked him if he was alright. He told me "yeah", then the other missionaries around him, embraced and they all had "a moment together" it was fabulous.

Everyone who has a missionary son/daughter be proud of what they are doing, they are part of a vast army who face challenges, trials and even moments of home sickness. But they will stick it out, they will be successful and Heavenly Father will send angels to watch over them every step of the way, I have no doubt what so ever.

Aww my 1st Tag "8 on 8"

8 TV Shows I Like to watch:

Survivor

Big Brother

Amazing Race

Project Runway

Top Design

ANTM (America's Top Model)

Top Chef

So you think you can dance

8 Restaurants I like to eat at:

Joe's StoneCrab (No..not Joe's Crabshack yeck)

Flemings

Cafe Rio

Macayos

Weinerschnitzel (does that count as a restaurant?)

The Mexican Place in the Palazzo

Outback

Pizza Factory (UT)

8 Things that happened today:

Laundry done

Car detailed - check my twitter for zany updates on my car detailer

one counter in laundry room decluttered

found not 1 but 2 missing card readers

ups store and the bank

VP debate - Joe was good but Palin ROCKED it

Utah vs Oregon St nail biter

searched every ticket broker I could find for BYU vs Ute football game

found tickets everywhere but they are now $100's more than when I saw them a week ago

8 Things I am looking forward too

Hanging with my mom/sister/cousin in Houstin

Tennis on Wednesdays

My baby Jake coming home in 458 days

My other baby Alec & Tiffany having a baby

My next big adventure

being in the lead in our Pinochle marathon

Seeing my nieces and nephews

the elections & economy drama to be over

8 Things on my wish list:

Size 8

 (ok truth be told..a 10 would rock my world)

Lots of grandbabies

clarity and exactness

Skitzos would find peace

Alec would rock the MCAT's

Jake would rock Ecuador

Keith would score a 69 at TPC

A decluttered home

8 People to tag:

Suzanne R

Kelli H

Tiffany R

Susan B

Barb Z

Allison B

Jan H

Kathie D

It's fun-just do it!