Seventeen Years

This weekend we celebrated Dallas' seventeenth birthday.

I think as a female there is something magical

about this year in a girls life.

(January 2012 seventeen magazine)

Seventeen magazine 1975, the year I turned seventeen

Dallas and girlfriends spent the evening up at

Sundance Resorts Foundry Grill Resturant

to celebrate.

Lately Dallas has been doing "photo shoots" with friends,

so I decieded to make her some

Photo Booth Props

Here is our party with our disguises.

just having FUN...

Thanks to all that participated and...

Happy Birthday Dallas!

V Ball

It's Cougar time!

It is going to be an a w e s o m e season

for the men's volleyball team this year.

They are in the

click here:This is the latest

(if you are not a fanatic follower)

Here is the 2012 roster

Here are some photo's from

last nights game against USC.

The "swede" was cheering both nights for the cougars...

(maybe I have converted him over...not chance of that...)

but, he does want this volleyball team

to become national champs!

Here is what the

reports are on the team:

May the battle stay strong

for these mighty athletes!!

Polish Chandelier

You ask; "What is a Polish Chandelier"?

I have never seen one nor heard of this until I saw it on

Oh Happy Day blog

Here is another version click here

I admittedly loved it and knew that I had

to make a version of this for Dallas' room.

With the creative talent of daughter Katlin, we took

our inspiration from this piece that she made several years ago,

(it ended up in Dallas bedroom over her headboard)

3 hours later we designed

this chandelier for her bedroom.

ours is a bit colorful....

Dallas was suprised and like it alot!

we used several different materials for this:

1. felt

2. tissue paper

3. straws

4. crape paper

5. silk flowers

piękny, kolorowy, zabawa

(translation from Polish to English)

Beautiful, Colorful, Fun!

The Egg Money Quilt

Whew...

after three years, I finished my first "quilt of the month" quilt.

I took this 8 month class down at the local Cotton Shop

here in Provo, Ut.

I had only made a Christmas wall sized

quilt before taking on this project.

(this was before I started working full time)

Quilting is not for the impatient person.

Quite frankly, I never thought I would have

patience to do this art form.

First, you have to love fabric

Second, you have to love sewing

Third, you have to be a good mathematician

Fourth, you have to have good design

~

I have learned and matured into all four.

~

Below is an "EGG MONEY" Quilt-

A 1930's Vintage Sampler

If you want the pattern and the

origin of egg money quilts click here.

Here are a few of my favorite blocks.

The quilting was done on a machine by my cousin

Joanna, she quilts for a living.

Here is her blog.

I was very interested in quilting in my twenties but,

I had to wait until my daughters were

raised before I could start this hobby.

On to the next one and the next one...

Leisure Adventure

Decemeber 30-31

Here is what the "swede" and I managed to

do before the New Year 2012.

We drove to Torrey, Utah, stayed the night

at the luxurious Days Inn and got up early at sun rise...

...to venture the back roads of Capitol Reef National Park.

(main entrance sign.)

back country (off road) entrance sign.

One of the hundreds of views within the park.

We crossed this river to get to the rode to

take us into "no man's land".

The only other living, breathing thing

we saw were cattle grazing everywhere.

Up out of the ground...(temple of the sun)

...Out of the ground came (temple of the moon).

That tiny spec is the "swede" standing on the

edge of gypsum sinkhole.

(ok, this was very large and deep and scary!)

Nothing like a good old fashion scenic road trip.

On our way home we took the exit to

Goblin Valley State Park.

( I was trying to be scary)

It was the oddest thing...seeing toad stools

pushing up from the earths floor.

The weather was clear and brisk,

a fantastic day for late December.

Below are a few quotations I really like:

President Franklin D. Roosevelt:

"There is nothing so American as our national parks.... The fundamental idea behind the parks...is that the country belongs to the people, that it is in process of making for the enrichment of the lives of all of us."

George M. Wright, Joseph S. Dixon, and Ben H. Thompson, Fauna of the National Parks of the United States, 1933.

"But our national heritage is richer than just scenic features; the realization is coming that perhaps our greatest national heritage is nature itself, with all its complexity and its abundance of life, which, when combined with great scenic beauty as it is in the national parks, becomes of unlimited value. This is what we would attain in the national parks."

-On to the next adventure....