Albion Basin

Wild flowers and a cow moose with a calf.... doesn't get much better. This is the most incredible place to live.  We are 10 minutes from the most beautiful mountains.  You could smell the pines.  The flowers were blooming all over the basin.  Then we came up on these moose.  Jerry got to see his favorite and I got some great shots of the colorful flowers.  Great Date!

Poker Ride at the Lazy E

The most amazing, fun Grandpa on the planet.  Who has more fun than us?

First Annual Poker Ride at the Cabin.  We divided families into teams and the competition got stiff.  If you did the best on the Obstacle course- - done riding 4 wheelers, then you got to pick 2 cards from the deck.  If you lost you picked one card.  That's how each event went... at archery each person had to shoot an arrow into the deer/target, every team member had to shoot a can off the bench with a BB gun.  We did a race from the gate to jump on 4 wheelers and ride the lower loop.  And Caid's favorite was 10 x down the slide, 10 swings, 10 pumps on the glider, and 10 x on the teeter totter!  Yeah, for fun kids.  And we still did the Grand daddy of all competitions... who has the best candy mix! We roasted hot dogs, made s'mores and sang around the fire and laughed and told stories and Don surprised us all.  He's had that beard so long the birds are taking a liking to it.

Aloha, Work hard to Play hard!

I had a lot of stitching to do before I left for a really tough "gig" in Honolulu. I sketched and drew and then quilted all kinds of ideas for borders and blocks.   I had to work... well, teach and quilt for 2 days.  The ladies were awesome of course and the days went fast.  We drew, and quilted and laughed and ate from 9 in  the morning until 7 at night.  Everyone brought treats... brownies with macadamia nuts, honey roasted macadamia nuts, chocolate covered macadamia nuts!  My kind of party.

 

 

 

 It was not all work and no play. We spent a day the the Polynesian Cultural Center.  We had a great day at Pearl Harbor.  Loved the Submarine and the big ship Missouri...Great time at the Air museum. And of course lots of time at the beach, shopping and great restaurant.

Mesa Verde Cliff Dwellings

I over came my fears.  I didn't know it would be so HIGH up. AND straight up. My heart was pounding when I got to the top of a 32 foot ladder, a tiny path of steps UP the rock steps with chains for hand rails, a trail right on the ledge of the cliff, crawling through an 18 inch tunnel and sliding between slits in the sandstone.  We went to Balcony House first thing Saturday morning.  Before I had time to rethink what we were doing.  It is the only dwelling you are able to CLIMB down into and through and CLIMB back out.  It is amazing these people lived in these stone houses on cliffs. Amazing.

We had incredible weather, the perfect temperature, clear blue skies and we were there ahead of the crowds. We got a nice hotel in Cortez, Colorado.  We went into the National Park 2 full days and were able to see about everything.

Spruce House was the most well preserved and had a Kiva with a roof.  The circle rooms in the floor of every dwelling first had a roof that evened out the floor of the dwelling so it was like a huge patio that they all made baskets, pottery, did their cooking and lived there with the birds.  Way up there they raised their children.

Cliff Palace was the largest and still had THREE 10 foot ladders to climb out.

Balcony house was built for a smaller group on the morning sun side of the mesa and was more defensive with all the small slots  and tunnels to enter and exit and quite the drop off in front.

The Sun Temple was built in a "D" shape and had 3 Kivas or Rooms inside.  It was very high up and was never finished.  These people lived in the dwellings about 100 years and then left.

Sea And Green Modern Quilt

My Quilt is featured in the Spring Edition of Modern Quilts Unlimited!

I am still amazed!  It's crazy to see it in the magazine.

I made this quilt after a  3 day class in our studio.  I had all kinds of fun with color and  design elements. This turned out to be my favorite choice for a quilt.

Country Music Weekend in St. George

 This is the most beautiful venue for a concert. Tuachan in St. George is set in these amazing Red Rocks.  We went with Dick and KC to hear Diamond Rio.  We sang along to every song.

Jerry and his brothers sang at the Care Center Saturday morning and mom and dad came to listen, but it's getting harder and harder to get them out of security when it's all over.  AND, the Condo.  A place away from the snow.  Just not sure who is going to get to really enjoy it....

From Sketch to quilt

Lots of doodles  until I finally found what I wanted.

I entered this quilt in HMQS.  The Quilting Show for our area.  We'll see how it does. See if all the sketching was worth it...