Sweet Kenna had a wonderful 1 month birthday last week.  She is growing so much everyday!  I put pajamas on her now that used to drown her a few weeks ago and she is filling them out!  She is so aware and loves to look around and see what is going on around her, when she is not sleeping of course!  She sure sleeps alot, but that is good.  She recognizes my voice and turns her head when she hears me and has even given me a few smiles.  Not sure if they are intended to be smiles, but I will take it!

 Kendal and Emmitt played school on the deck the other day while Kenna sat in the bouncer.  Kelsey was reading on the front porch.  Matt mowed the lawn and it was a glorious afternoon and evening at our house. 

Emmitt messed that up when I sent him downstairs to clean up his room.  He came upstairs to tell me that he ate a coin.  I asked him "Did you eat a coin, did you eat some of this money?"  He said "I swallowed it, not eat it" as he would point to his throat and tell me it was right there.  I sort of freaked out.  He kept telling me that he ate his money and would never deny it when I asked him.  Matt used his ultrasound he uses for vet work to ultrasound his tummy, but he found nothing.  I was still worried, so the next day, after a sleepless night, I took him to Matt's work and he x-rayed him.  No money in the tummy!  Thank goodness!  I know coins pass through, but my sister has told me nasty stories about retrieving things from kids bodies at work, and I just had bad images in my mind!  The piggy banks are now in my room, on the highest shelf in my closet!

24th of July

Our 24th of July was a good one this year.  My sister Tori and her family came to Heber, as well as Matt's brother Mark and his family.  We had a great little dinner outside of hamburgers, brats, hot dogs, corn on the cob, and all kinds of other good stuff.

The evening's weather was perfect for such a good time together.  The kids played and the adults chatted.

 We don't have a set tradition for the 24th of July.  In years past we have gone camping, just gone to the hills for a burger roast, headed to the mountains for a getaway from the heat, parades, or whatever it is that sounds good that year.  We do usually try to hit the fireworks in nearby Charleston, and that is the most of our tradition for Pioneer Day in Utah.

This year was a good year.  We got to see family, eat good food, enjoy the day and evening at home, and of course, hit the fireworks in Charleston.

(Tori is going to kill me, but I could not resist.)

Matt, Mark, and the kids roped for a bit before heading off to Charleston.  It is so fun to see them all have a good time together.

Thanks so much Elwells and Cranes for a fun evening together.  We should get together like this more often!

My sister Tori came up and took a few pictures of Kenna when she was 6 days old.  Here are a few of them.  They turned out darling.  She is so talented!  Thanks so much TORI! 

Not the best picture, but Kenna and I after a long day last week.  She is such a sweet, and lazy baby.  We all love and adore her - she makes our home feel so much more lovely, and helps us remember to be a bit sweeter to one another as well. 

Time Marches On Quilt

My friend Cat and I designed this quilt, and our friend Shantelle wrote the instructions for it.  It was done for our quilt guild last year.  I loved designing it, and I have enjoyed making it.  I FINALLY get to finish it because all my flying geese that make up the outside border have finally flown home to me!

When I designed it, I wanted to make a quilt that represented different struggles our country has faced, so I picked a few wars and picked blocks to represent them to make this quilt.

The center block is called Puritans Star - for the Puritans that came to this country and started an American legacy.
One block is called Continental - for Washington's Continental Army of patriots during the Revolutionary War.
One block is called Dutchman's Puzzle - for the good people of Germany that moved into this country as immigrants before the Revoultionary War, the Hessian soldiers that stayed after the war, and for the immigrants that settled in the 1800s. 
One block is called Stars and Stripes - for the War of 1812 when the Star Spangled Banner was written.
One block is called French Forest - for the boys that died in the forests and countrysides of France and Belgium during World War I, or the Great War.
One block is called Devil's Claw - for the American Civil War prison camp in modern day Colorado called Devils Claw Canyon.
One block is called Lincoln - for all the American Civil War soldiers and the good man that was president during such a turbulent time.
One block is called Battalion Drum - for the Saints of the Mormon Battalion during the Mexican War in 1846-48.
One block is called Pacific Railroad - for President Polk's 'Manifest Destiny' of joining the east and the west together by railway, Donner Pass, and all the pioneers that headed west.

There are 4 Puritan Star blocks in the four corners. 
I named this quilt TIME MARCHES ON.

These are called flying geese units.  They have been lost since November.  That is why I have not finished this quilt - I could not bring myself to cutting and making 88 more flying geese, plus, I used up most of my scraps to make them, and I REALLY wanted a scrappy border.  I didn't want to have to buy more fabric and have matching geese.  Silly, I know.  Anyway, my neighbor Debbie was looking through her sewing room and found them a few weeks ago!  YIPPEE!  So, I have been busy finishing my flying geese.

They are sewn into long strips that will go on the outside of the quilt.  (See how useful that treadmill is!  Just kidding, I really have been using it with its intended purpose!)

The Fox and Geese Border is for the boys of WWII.  Much of WWII was spent in foxholes and trenches the soldiers dug out of the ground to stay warm and safe.  During the winter of 1944-45 during the Battle of the Bulge, they are well remembered. 

I am making this quilt using all civil war era reproduction fabrics.  Well, I am going to go sew and get this quilt finished!

umbrellas

We have loved the rain that has fallen on our heads, lawn, and garden lately.  It has been such a nice relief to the mid July heat.  It was trying to rain a few evenings ago and I sent the kids outside to enjoy the cool evening.  They thought I was a horrible mother!  Kelsey got her jacket, umbrella, and book to enjoy the evening while the other two were not very happy about it all until I told them they could get an umbrella as well.

Then life was good for the other two.  They ran around all over the yard with their umbrellas in the sprinkling rain.  It made me smile.

 My garden and yard has struggled a bit this summer due to my pregnancy.  It just isn't fun to get heartburn all day after weeding the garden, let alone the sore back and legs, and a big fat tummy to bend over!  Anyway, what I am trying to say is that I have a TON of yard work to catch up on, so I enjoyed the wet soil and weeded the garden for a bit until it REALLY started to rain.  Kendal and Emmitt just ran around the yard with their umbrellas while Kelsey read her book.

Civil War Signature Quilt in progress

I started putting my civil war signature quilt together the other day.  I made all the 5 inch signature blocks in the winter, and have slowly been taking them to our civil war events and meetings to get the signatures I need.  Since my spring civil war adventures were limited with being pregnant, I don't have all the friends' signatures I want yet.  Anyway, I started the first round with just fellas.  I figure if they are going to surround Lee and Grant, they need to be soldiers, infantry to be specific!  So I am getting ready for the next round which will be ladies and civilians.  After that, I am hoping to meet up with my cavalry friends and get them going on the third round.  I am so excited!  I think it is going to be wonderfully fun to have a little memento from the folks that I have come to love with this amazing hobby.

The only thing that is holding me back right now is that I need more dark gray/black fabric for another border before the second round of signature blocks get added.

The signature blocks start out like these two.  

Then I trim them down to 5 1/2 inches, so they will be 5 inches when finished in the quilt.  I love the square in a square quilt block - perfectly period correct and perfectly useful for all the civil war reproduction fabric scraps I have from other projects!  I think this project is perfectly fun as well - it will be special to me like signature block quilts were to those amazing folks that lived 150 years ago.

 

When I share the second round, I promise to iron that wrinkle out of Grant's face.  It was ironed, but after I folded it up and took it to our meeting the other night, Grant seemed to suffer tremendously with that big wrinkle!  Oh, that print in the center is from a Judie Rothermel collection.  Love her!

Why God made little boys

 God made a world out of His dreams,

of magic mountains, oceans,and streams,

prairies and plains, and wooded land.

Then paused and thought, I need

someone to stand on top of

the mountains, to conquer the seas,

explore the plains and climb the trees. 

Someone to start out small and grow,

sturdy and strong like a tree and so

He created boys, full of spirit and fun

to explore and conquer, to romp and run.

With dirty faces, and banged up chins,

with courageous hearts and boyish grins.

 

 And when He had completed

the task He'd begun,

He surely said, "Now that's a job well done."

I love my Emmitt boy so very much.  He seems like he grew up over night with the new baby here, but he is still my little loving boy that wipes his tears on my shirt, asks for "good morning hugs," and wants way too many kisses good night!  He brings me and our family so much happiness being the boy he is, and making all of the princesses of this house love the boyishness of him even more!