Visitors....We LOVE them!

Last week, Aug 11th, Greg & Allison, Jeff's cousins, went out of town for their 15th wedding anniversary. We had the pleasure of watching their children for the week. We were honored that they would entrust their prize possessions with us! We had a fun week of little outtings and swimming - everyday! They were so well behaved! Their 2 oldest - Elizabeth (12) and Phoebe (9) - were awesome at helping out and taking care of their little brothers - Will (5) and Henry (3)! It was an eye opening experience for both Jeff & I to see what our lives would be like with kids! Luckily they were so well behaved that they didn't scare us out of wanting kids! :)

When the weekend came, we were able to have Cami, Amy, Dave, Summer, Jenna, and Thomas come for a visit. We had a very fun and relaxing weekend. We had no plans and no schedule. It was nice. We stayed at home, grilled, and went swimming in the pool until we had exhausted the kids! The second cousins played very well together. In fact, Henry was very insistant on Sunday morning when I changed his pull-up that I was not going to change his Superman PJs - he wanted to match Thomas, who was also wearing his Superman PJs. It was fun to see Cami, Amy, Dave, and their kids! I had a lot of fun swimming and playing with them - throwing Summer & Jenna around in the pool - watching Thomas gain some independance in the pool by wearing water wings and a ring float. Boy did he catch on fast! He was pumpin' those little legs and swimming all around the pool so fast, it was hard for me to swim fast enough backwards to stay out of his way! And I know, I know....I still can't remember which one has the blue eyes and which one doesn't - which one looks more like Amy & which one is more like Dave... Just when I think I remember which one is which, I flip it to correct myself and I am wrong again! I mean, they are only 6 yrs old now..... Although when they are wearing the exact same swim suit, hair in a ponytail, and have goggles on....hopefully I have some leeway there!

This weekend we had visitors again! We love it! Mike & Jen - THE NEWLYWEDS - came to visit. They came up Friday night - got here at about 11pm. At 12:30am, Jeff went to bed, and Mike, Jen, & I stayed up til 4:30am! Well, Mike was in the room, on the couch, asleep for the most part. So Jen & I talked & talked & talked til 4:30am! She shared some of their funny stories and adventures as newlyweds...It was fun to hear about it. Made me laugh and think...gosh 13 years....some things have changed and some things haven't!

8:30 am on Saturday came awefully quickly! We had lunch at Spring Creek BBQ. Did a little celebrating - Saturday was Mike & Jen's "one month" anniversary. The girls were dropped off at the fabric store and the guys went to the "manly" store - Home Depot. Jen found some cute Bronco fleece fabric and made a little throw blanket for Mike. I looked for some material for curtains for our bedroom, but nothing really caught my eye. Mike & Jen got to go with her sister, Janet, on a dinner date. When they got back we played a few rounds "Settlers of Catan" - I don't remember who won all of them - and watched the Denver Bronco preseason game.....until 1:30 am - Boy did Sunday come awefully quickly too! We went to Church, came home, cooked, and ate chicken tacos out by the pool. All I have to say is...I thought Jeff could put away food, child's play compared to Mike! :) Glad you enjoyed my cooking!

We have a quiet house again....who will be joining us next weekend?????

Latest Project

Years ago, Susan and I made me a chenille blanket shaped like the Texas Flag. Since then, we made her one and then Rebecca joined in and made one as well. They are very fun! I decided to modify the pattern just a little bit. I made the Texas Flag as my base layer, then chenilled the other side. This change hides the seams of the flag better than the original design.

I had started this project a few years ago with the intent of giving it to Jeff's younger brother Mike for a Christmas present. I started it and never finished it because I started thinking that a young single guy isn't really going to appreciate all the time and work that went into it. I would take it out every so often and stitch a few more lines, but eventualy put it away again knowing that I wouldn't be giving it to Mike any time soon.

This past week I took it out again, but this time I finished it! I can now give it to a married Mike! This was our wedding gift to Mike & Jen. Jen is forever cold (even in hot, humid Texas!) and has made a great move from Utah to Texas. It couldn't be a more perfect gift for them!

The reactions were classic. Mike said, "Oh cool a blanket that has the Texas flag." Jen said, "Oh wow!!! How did you do it? That was a lot of work! I love it!" and gave me a hug. Just another example of how boys and girls see the same thing in different ways!