Ellee's t-shirt quilt

I got Ellee's quilt done! It was fun finding material and t-shirts with pigs on it! I found this really cool t-shirt place that does "advice from" t-shirts. Well, they didn't have a pig OR a lion, so I had to make up my own! That was fun to figure out!

Trying to get a close up of come of the material I used. Don't know if you can see it very well!

This is the front, before putting it together.

This is the back and sorry for the weird coloring, but I took this picture with my cell phone so I could send it to Ellee to see.

This is a close up of one of the long panels. Good thing I bought this when I did - they don't sell this anymore!

This is a close up of the finished quilt! I think it turned out pretty cute! Hope you like it Ellee!

Now on to my own! A tiger quilt! And then the I-spy quilts for Christmas! Boy! Have I got my work cut out for me! It's going to be fun!

Birthdays and baby

Maeley was in Idaho on her birthday, so she had to wait to get her birthday present from grandma. And of course I couldn't just get her one dress up outfit! I had to get two so Kensi could play too! (I remember the days of getting two so a brother or sister could play!)

Here they are all dressed up and ready to dance!

Maeley twirling in her princess gown! They had a lot of fun!

When I got home I had to go see the big boy! So peaceful sleeping!

No pictures! Please!

That's what it looks like! But he was stretching and moving and getting hungry! I love grandbabies!

Family get together

Sorry they're a little dark. We had a great time at JT's home. Had sloppy joes for dinner and Natalie told a story about being honest.

Chloe is growing so fast!

Great Grandma holding Bensen.

Lion t-shirt quilt

This is one of the projects I have finished! A t-shirt quilt for Dallon. Can you tell what he loves?
I had a lot of fun putting this together and I'm glad it's done!

This is the back (these next few pictures are before it's put together!)

A little closer view of it.

The top. You see that little red lion square in the right hand corner? It has a little button on it that when you press it, it makes the sound of a roaring lion! It's so funny! My grandkids found that real quick before I even put it together and would push it over and over! Its down in the corner so Dallon doesn't push it by accident one night - although I probably should have put it in the middle for some fun!

This is the quilt all done! I think it turned out pretty good. Now on to the next project - Ellee's pig t-shirt quilt!

Disclaimer: My kids didn't own these t-shirts. I got them off of e-bay, found them at good will or made them off the computer using avery t-shirt transfers! Lot's of fun finding them over a extended period of time!

Little girls and pregnant bellies!

One day I had 4 little girls come stay with me! They had such fun dressing up and jumping on the bed! (shhhhh! Don't tell their parents!) I don't remember what they were doing, but they were trying to do it together!

Cousins and friends!

While looking for pictures of Kadee and Dallon, I ran across these pictures and thought I'd compare them side by side! I'm pregnant with Kadee and had her a week later! This is Emmee 4 days before she had Bensen! What do you think? About the same size! First baby's don't stick out quite so much thanks to tight stomach muscles! I should get a picture of me before Dallon was born! What a difference!

Stanley wanted to get in on the fun to see how big our bellies were! They say husbands have phantom/empathy signs, going through the same things as their wife! I think he was still only about 180 lbs!

Family reunion

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

August birthday baby!

So this is my last baby! Number 7 - Dallon, just about 1 hour after he was born. He's the only baby I had who's water broke before the doctor did it! And Stanley missed the birth by 5 minutes! My last four babies were born a Phoenix Memorial with the midwives. I went into labor after Stanley went to work way over on Bell Rd. So our neighbor - Eric Solheim - drove me all the way over to the hospital and Stanley met us there! Well, he had his work truck with all his tools and material on it and things looked like they were going to take a while, so he took the truck home so he wouldn't get robbed! He stopped to answer the phone when he was home and missed the birth by that [] much! Makes a great story! Dallon was over 9 lbs and so cute!

This is a funny story! We were on our way to Canada for a family reunion. This is on the section of road by Saguaro Lake - you know the one with those little hills and valleys in the road that make your stomach jump? Well, Dallon didn't like them! Everytime we went over one, he'd scream! They terrified him! I know I shouldn't be laughing in this picture - but it was funny! Poor kid!

This is at one of our neighborhood Halloween parties - that's the spider pinata I made and Dallon's trying to demolish it with a bat! But I guess that's what you're suppose to do to get at the candy! He's a dragon! Maybe that's why he still loves dragon's!?!?

Not a very good picture, but can you tell this is the happiest day of his life!?!? It was mine too! He made it! He graduated from High School! On time! What a graduation too! It was raining and storming and they moved everyone inside and divided them up! He got to be on the front row in the auditorium! Wish the ceremony was half as long too! But it was a good night! A very good night!

This is really his birthday day! Only ones who weren't there were Kadee and family (in Idaho) and Ellee and family (in Louisiana). Dallon is a unique gift in our family. He's got lots of talents - plays piano (and several instruments), can compose music, can remember stuff, would make a great lawyer (can argue his case very well!) obedient (only after said argument!) has amazing ideas (I hope someday some of them work!), has an amazing imagination, and has been a roller-coaster ride to raise! We hope someday he'll serve a mission, but for now he's off to college - away from home! That's even harder than sending them on a mission! He's turned out to be a pretty amazing guy and he's promised to take care of me in my old age! I'm holding him to it! He's sure made life interesting! Thanks for coming to our home Dallon! We love you!

July birthday baby!

Here's my little bundle of joy - weighing in at an even 8 lbs! Your first baby is special - you learn so much about being a mother - you can't just think of yourself anymore - She really spoiled us she was so good! We thought we could handle more children if they were all like her! But you know Heavenly Father has a good sense of humor! And all your children aren't the same! We're glad he sent her first, if she'd been any different, she'd probably be an only child!

Yes you're seeing right! As you know, most returned missionaries have to try the beard or mustache after getting home! I'm glad it was only a mustache! It didn't last very long though and I'm glad for that too! Boy were we young!!!! Kadee is about 6 months in this picture

Sunday morning! I don't know if you can tell or not, but this is before Pampers or Luvs! I got to do half my kids with good ole' cloth diapers and plastic pants! So fun! Kadee decided at 2 that she was done with diapers and basically potty trained herself! And I think JT weighed more than she did at this point! He weighed more than she did when he was 2 months old! Kadee's just turned 2 in this picture and Jt is about 9 or 10 months

I had to put this one in here! This is my baby sister, Lexi having fun in the mud with my kids! I don't know if Lexi has more mud on her or JT! (Kadee 3, JT 1 1/2, Lexi 10? Aug 82)

This is my first born in her wedding dress! Final try on to make sure everything was good! And I must say it was! She was a beautiful bride with a handsome/dashing husband! And now she has four children of her own! A mommy! My how time flys! Thanks Kadee for helping me out all those years! You were and are a blessing to your family (your siblings and your own!) and we are so proud of you! Love ya lots!

Baby and trip

Sorry for the long post, but this is what has happened these last 5 days!
So, Emmee was about a week late! We needed to get Dallon to Illinois. He thought he wanted to go by himself, but I convinced him I needed to go with him and like a good son he agreed. The whole long story is in the next post. Stanley was literally my prince charming on a white horse/truck when he came to rescue us! I waited until Emmee was in a room before going to see this big bundle of joy about 8:00! That was the longest wait! But worth it!

I know this isn't a very flattering picture, but I wanted you to see his hands! He's the spitting image of his father! But he's got Glasgow hands! He's so soft and cuddly and you melt when you hold him in your arms! I'm sorry, but that's how a baby should feel - all 9+ pounds of him!

The happy family! He was getting hungry at this point. Emmee did great and is so glad to have her little Bensen to hold!

This is BEFORE he got hungry! Again - the hands! I didn't get a picture of his feet but he's going to have big thick feet too! He's SOOOOOOOO cute!

So, we left Friday morning. This is the last picture of Dallon in our home for a while!

And this is why I needed to go with him and help drive! The kid doesn't stay awake long enough to drive! He DID take his turn and drive a couple of hours and did better than I thought (in his defense), but I knew he wouldn't last long on his own and I didn't want him pulling into a truck stop to sleep!

The St. Louis arch!

This is along the road somewhere in Illinois - I think it's part of the Mark Twain National Forest! So beautiful and green!

My hotel "suite"! Do you love the "two rooms" divided by a wet bar? It was very nice - on the third floor - a scary place to be during a thunder storm!

In some of the older sections of town they have those old tudor and colonial style homes we love! I tried taking some pictures, but sometimes we were moving too fast. We did stop at this house - I love the rounded front! So cool. Reminds me alot of where Ellee lives too! Beautiful!

Another house - look at all the trees and shrubs!

This is the coolest cupboard I've ever seen! Dallon is living in a really old duplex (I didn't get a picture of the outside!) It has the coolest old latches too! So cool!

This is the staircase up to the bedrooms. I love the wood floors and trim and stairs and banister!

At the top of the stairs is Dallon's room. I love the casing around the door! The door handles are old too and falling apart! We went to church Sunday morning (we were a little late) and sat in the fower until the congregational hymn. Everyone who came out would wave and say "Hi". Very friendly ward. After church several people came up to us and introduced themselves and asked who we were. When we told them we came to go to school from Arizona they wanted to know "Why here?" There was an immediate feeling of the spirit in the building and we felt at home! And after a while, the people started looking so familiar! Like we'd met before! They invited us to stay for the "Linger Longer" potluck. They have it every two months - lucky us! It was really good food and we got to meet more members. That was the icing on the cake for me. I know he's in good hands with this ward. They've already accepted him and taken him in. They do have a singles branch he's going to check out next week, but we both agreed that we love this ward and he wants to keep going there. He might go to two meetings - the family ward and singles branch!

This is a view of the awesome sunset from my plane window. You can't really see it - Phone camera - but the sun was red peeking under the clouds as it slipped down! So pretty!

Several lady's in the ward told me about a bus that would take me to O'Hare in Chicago so we wouldn't have to try and navigate our way in the car. So I hopped on a bus in Rockford and made it to the airport. Got checked in and through security and to my gate, called Stanley to let him know my flight info so he could pick me up about 10:30 pm in Phoenix. I had a lay-over in Atlanta. And 5 minutes after hanging up, the sign changed and the flight was delayed for 2 hours (weather in Cincinnati) which means I'd miss my connecting flight in Atlanta! I didn't know what I was suppose to do - I'm not a frequent flyer! Then my phone rings and it's the airline calling to tell me that my flight was delayed and they booked me on an American flight and gave me the flight number. I went up to the desk to check it out, got a new ticket for a non-stop flight to Phoenix! What a tender mercy! Instead of getting home at 10:30 I'd be home by 8:30! And when I got to my seat I was in the middle, the mother of two children was next to me, her little girls in the row in front, and a mother/daughter were on the two isle seats. So we did some shuffling, the mother got to sit by her two little girls, the mother/daughter got to sit by each other and I got the window! Miracles do happen when people pay attention and are kind and thoughtful! What a trip! Two 15 hour days of driving, Sunday to relax and rest, Monday to get Dallon situated at the college, find a flight home (I didn't have one before I left, cuz I didn't know when - I know! Taking a big chance there would be a seat on a plane!) and get to the airport in a big city like Chicago! I'm glad to be home! Miss my Dallon! It's weird being in a house with no children! Last night was our first night without one of the kids waking us up at midnight to say they were home! Dallon's going to be alright! I'm going to be alright and will do alot of praying that Dallon makes good choices on his own!