O Christmas Tree

Jami saw a tree like this somewhere and decided Tyler could make one rather than spending big bucks for one. He made 2 and I was the fortunate recipient of one of them. I love it and wonder why it couldn't stay up all year.

December Birthdays

Katie's birthday is on the 19th and Matt's is the 21st so we celebrated them together. I have now made quilts for all my girls. Perhaps I'll make man quilts next.

Happy Birthday to John!

For John's 62nd birthday we had a get-away at the new Holiday Inn Express in Winona and dinner at the Green Mill. The best part was that the hotel was free. Back in August I had booked a hotel in Mpls. for Tanner when he was going to the state fair. Expedia messed up and when he got to the hotel, he wasn't registered and there were no rooms so I had to get on the phone(with someone in India) and try to get it straightened out. After the whole process, I was so frustrated so they finally hooked me up with someone in the USA and he found a room and only charged $25 AND gave me a $100 credit. Just the right price for this hotel!!

Free Counter

Ticker Tape quilt

This is Tessa's birthday quilt from June. For some reason I had a hard time just finishing it, but it is now done and ready for winter cuddling. The back is flannel, so perfect for winter. The pieces on the front are antique fabrics I've been collecting--mostly from old aprons. There will probably be more in the future, but now I have to get on a birthday quilt to be made by Dec. 19th. That might be an insane goal!

2 down.2 to go

I finished binding 2 quilts that will go overseas. This last year I've been going to White Cross at church once a month. Some very dedicated ladies have been sewing quilts, cutting bandages, and making numerous things to send to the missionfield for many years. I love hanging out with them! They are so wise, love the Lord, and they have great senses of humor. And since I love to sew, it's perfect!

And now I have Tessa's birthday(June20) quilt to finish quilting. Maybe I can do that for her 27 and a half birthday. I also have another one to put together and need to make one for a birthday coming up. If only I could sew 12 hours a day. The house sort of falls apart when I do that. When I was in high school I often sat up all night sewing so I could finish something I wanted to wear the next day. I remember one particular red dress I stayed up to sew. It was made of wool. Don't know what I was thinking! All day long I was sweating in that thing and couldn't wait to get home and rip the itchy, hot thing off. My last wool dress.

Around here

Tyler is moving into Grandma Jane's house so he's been fixing things up and throwing things away. John hates to see things thrown away and usually can't resist looking over what someone threw out and invariably rescuing things. He went off to the dump(shhhh! we're not sposed to have one) and came back with a birdhouse his dad had built. I'm glad he rescued this. He didn't tell me what else he rescued since I am in de-junking mode.

I think the dogs miss the carpet. I laid down on the couch and instantly all 4 dogs tried to fit on the rug in the sun. They love to be near me. The one in the middle is Tessa's dog Oliver who comes to visit when they milk twice a day so he can get exercise.

Giggle Giggle! It's hunting season and John got irritated with a few shirttail relatives of other hunters who slipped in. Those hunters throw sticks for Grafton. He has an obsession with sticks and tree limbs and always greets everyone carrying one in hopes they will throw them. His mind will not shut off and he's crazed so we do not throw things for him anymore. If a stick gets caught up in a tree, he will sit for hours looking up and panting. Other than that, he's a perfect dog ;)

And as I'm taking a picture, there he was hoping against hope that I would throw that stick. Poor guy!

Door County

Door County

On Monday we drove up to Door County for the day. I love it there in the fall when most tourists have left. The shops were still open but most were closing up this week for the season. Saw this beautiful Catholic church all made of stone with St. Francis standing out front--reminded me of Tami and her St. Francis in the backyard.

Drove thru Peninsula State Park since we bought a year sticker when camping this summer--maybe got our money's worth now. This was an island that a wealthy man bought for almost nothing in the 20's. He had a huge yacht and it was a social place to be. Then the depression hit and he sold it for $5000

This sign says a lot about John. He's a curious sort. If a sign says "Do Not Enter" or "This Road Closed" or "Stay Behind the Rail"---we have to see WHY the sign says that and what wonders are being kept from us :)

We were going to take the ferry to Washington Island--a beautiful island to drive around on--but the ferries don't run very late in the day this time of year so we didn't get to go. We stayed in Oshkosh for the night. On the way up and back we came upon 2 accidents that had happened minutes before. The one was very bad and heard later that a young girl was killed. Made us pay extra attention to our driving.

Green Bay

Last weekend John and I went to Green Bay to visit my niece, Tara and her husband, Lee and their 2 boys--Isaac is almost 3 and Andrew was just born last month. When I woke up on Sunday I heard the laughter and chatter of of a little boy and was flooded with the remembrance of hearing little children in the house and what a wonderful sound that is. Then the dog came and put his head on the bed and I thot I was home because our dogs do that every morning to get me to get up.

We went to church and Happy Joe's Pizza. Watched the Viking/Packer game(must confess I watched my computer more since I'm not too into football), and took Isaac and the dog for a walk. Packerland was happy that night!

Deal of the day

We just happened to be browsing around Menards and I saw rugs hanging so I thot I'd look. I've been looking for a new rug for a long time. I spotted this which is about as close to perfect as I could get. And then I saw the red tag that said the display model was on sale for $59. I'm happy!

My Favorite Auntie

This is my mom's sister Margaret who has always been my very favorite auntie. I see her alot when I look in the mirror. I think I look more like her than my mom. I have similar taste in clothes and perfume. When I'm with my sisters they often call me Margaret. Margaret and her husband ran a Piggly Wiggly grocery store in Bagley, MN. I would sometimes go and stay with them and one summer I stayed most of the summer stocking shelves and taking care of their youngest daughter. The kids were real cut-ups and fun to be around. Many fond memories! :)

25

My eldest son, Tyler, turned 25 this month. It was our first family get-together at Grandma's house since she died. I brought her smiling picture with so she was present with us. Tyler and Jami are buying her house so we can keep celebrating there.

I was sitting on the floor in the living room and I looked up at the chair and this is what I saw(altho more clearly)--a straight pin. For years I have kept pins in the sides of chairs and sofas because I like to dig around in my ears with them and some of my kids followed suit. I am happy that I'll be able to find a pin when I visit Tyler! I even put them at other people's houses so when I'm there I have a pin. Mary, Becky, and my mom have a few. I don't know how people can follow the rule about nothing smaller than your elbow in your ear. Have you ever heard of anything so ridiculous?!!

Washington

My friend Jody and I took a trip to Washington to visit her sister. It was such a fun 8 days. Tami lives in DuPont with her husband and 3 kids. Her husband is in the Air Force and is overseas right now. The siteseeing was great, but the most fun was getting to know Tami and her kids. I enjoyed being around young kids again since mine grew up. And Jody is the Brown family history/story teller and I loved hearing all the tales.

Tami's neighborhood--that's a kind of pine they called the Gumbi tree.

Air Force base. And there's Mt. Rainier. We'd be driving around and all of a sudden we'd see it and exclaim, "There it is again!"

The back yard.

Ferry

We took the ferry from Bremerton to Seattle.

Seattle skyline

Jody has an injured back so this is her version of the girl on the front of the Titanic--with a purse, of course.