When it rains, it pours...

It's raining in Arizona - and finally it feels a little like fall.  And so I am going to shower you with pictures.  Let me preface by telling you that this was a joint birthday party.  Dallin shares a birthday with a little boy that lives a couple doors down - Alejandro.  He is just one year older.  He wanted a Star Wars party and Dallin didn't really care, so we went with it.  This was a HUGE party!  I think it's the biggest I've ever thrown (besides our wedding).  Usually about half of the invitees respond... nope.  ALL.  Everyone except one family that I invited showed up.  I think a little over 60 guests.  Which was great - Dallin had so much fun.  We got a jumping castle, pinata, and paper plate space ships for the kids to decorate.  We grilled hot dogs and I made a Stormtrooper cupcake-cake.  We put a '4' candle on one cupcake for Dallin and a '5' candle for Alejandro.  Dallin got a billion birthday presents - including an Indiana Jones whip and hat.  So cute.

So the previous weekend we blessed Mia.  No, we aren't Catholic.  The dress just makes it look that way.  She did look gorgeous, though.

AND before that was Halloween.  I went to Colorado for my paternal grandmother's funeral, but Dallin stayed home and went Trick or Treating.  He was a fireman.  Coincidentally, he wants to be a fireman when he grows up... he went around the block with Daddy and Aunt Sara (Beth).  John said every house he stopped at he wanted to go in and play, so finally John gave up and he let him stay and play at one of the neighbor's house.  Dallin is just too familiar with our neighbors - possibly the only drawback! ;-)

Thankful Thanksgiving Flowers

Our children remember that we do love to have flowers around the house; we are always pleasantly surprised when they send us floral gifts. This one came to us in time for Thanksgiving from Julia and Mike and their family! The remembrance is sweet and we are thankful for all of our children at this time of year. Be sure to double click the pictures to see these in all their glory.

Autum Colors

This picture shows the beautiful world as it was just a couple of weeks ago. Things change quickly at this time of year, as we settle in for a long, cold winter. Alas, that beauty of a couple of weeks ago is now gone, with all of the red leaves on the ground underneath the burning bush. The days have been glorious, cold, very frosty in the morning, with temperatures 20 or a little below. We are gearing up for Thanksgiving, with Christmas to follow right on the heels of that thankful celebration. We have neighbors whose yard is so full of flashing Christmas lights, bouncing from here to there, that it lights up our whole cul-de-sac. Scary! We'll be more sedate, with our usual subdued program - nevertheless, we will celebrate the season appropriately.

A Tumbler Quilt for Astrea Nyx

The traditional pattern for this quilt is called "Tumblers", and usually it is a charm quilt, with every tumbler-shaped piece being of a different color/pattern. Tradition says that you may have two blocks of the same fabric, and the puzzle is to find the twins.

Jennifer chose this pattern for her new grandchild-to-be when she was here in September, and we had fun raiding my stash of batiks to find a combination we both liked. I've done a bit of tweaking, but, essentially, the colors stayed as we originally chose them. My photography technique isn't great, because it looks like the thin light inner border is crooked - doesn't look like it on the quilt, but we'll let it go. The moral to the story is: If you really want a baby quilt, come to my house, and you can choose your pattern, fabrics, etc. :-) (Suzanne gets the next one, and she did choose her pattern.)

Dallin's Birthday

Attention, dear family! Yesterday was Mandy and John's Dallin's birthday (fourth, to be exact), and I find that I cannot post any of the pictures that have been sent to me because they are deeply pixilated. This little boy is such a charmer (we are judging this from his pictures), that we would like to show the whole family what he looks like on this very important birthday. So, Mandy, John, Dorothy, Ken - somebody please come to the rescue. When you do, I'll edit this blog entry out, and yours will be the official birthday posting! Please?

A quilt for Mia Lilly

The quilt has been sent, so I can post this one on the blog. Every new baby needs a quilt - and since Mandy likes kitties, I thought that Kitty Cucumber would be a good subject for a little quilt for Mia Lilly. This quilt became a tool for learning to use my new Pfaff Grand Quilter, which is a commercial machine. I really didn't get the knack of the whole thing until it came to the border, but ththe next one I quilt will be better. I hope that Mia will use this quilt up - more complicated quilts can come later, but babies just need to use up those first quilts.

Happy Birthday, Lauren - only one week late!

These pictures are not in any order, but they do tell a bit of the story! This was taken a couple of years ago at our house, when Lauren and Hayden decorated pumpkins for the front porch. When Hayden was born, Lauren felt that we were sure making a big fuss over him, but she proved to be a wonderful big sister and protector. Lauren developed a love for the cello - this was the "braces" era, a bane to every teenager who has to undergo such treatment.

When Lauren was smaller (when they lived in Tucson, AZ), Lauren collected Beanie Babies and Pound Puppies. This leopard was a favorite - This was Christmas time at Sara and Frank's house.

The backpack was crammed full of Pound Puppies. Once, when Sara, Frank, and Lauren were at our tiny place in Mesa, and were staying overnight, I found Lauren placing little Pound Puppies all over under the beds. When I asked her why she was doing that, she very wisely said that they were there to take care of the alligators!

This was Thanksgiving in Tucson. Lauren created turkey decorations for the table. Creativity should have been her middle name, because her artistic talents were obvious at a very early age! Her abilities have just kept increasing.

Lauren, when you were born, I got to come and stay with you and your mom and dad for a week. I slept in the same room with you, and you were absolutely the perfect baby. The first night I was there, I got up several times to make sure you were breathing! You slept through every night from about 10:30 until 9:00 the next morning. (You made up for that angelic behavior by fussing (crying? howling?) for a couple of hours before bedtime, with Mom and Dad taking turns holding and comforting you.) Later, as you were growing up, we began staying in Arizona through the winters, and so got to see you more often. There was always something new and different - when you were three, your favorite word was "actually" - every sentence seemed to be preceded with that word. As you grew, the words got bigger! Before you moved away to Indiana, we did get to spend one Grandparents' Day with you at school for your first grade year. There are other good memories - including the time in Indiana when we dyed Easter eggs, and then you and I ate hard boiled eggs for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Now, you are growing up, have become even more accomplished in your art and schooling, and are in your upper years in high school. The years whiz by, and it won't be long before you'll be graduated and in college! It will be exciting to see the direction you decide on for your future. There is always another chapter.

The Newest Member of the Family!

Camillia and David are the proud parents of Astraea Nyx, born on October 28th, in Irvington, New York. Her name has significance, since Astrea was the goddess of justice in Greek mythology - Jennifer, proud grandmother, can fill us in on the rest of the details. Our congratulations to the fourth great-grandchild in our growing family! The baby is beautiful, and Mother and Dad look very proud and happy.