weekend away

David talked me into a weekend away without the kids. We ended up going up to strawberry bay marina http://www.strawberrybay.com/ . David's friend Scott and his family and friends go up every year and go Snowmobiling. It sounds like they have been doing it for about 12 years.

We left Saturday and didn't get up there until afternoon. David and I checked into our room then went out and played in the snow for a few hours. When we got back to the lodge we had a few minutes and met the group of people that we were to be playing with. We all headed out to ride until dark then go to dinner at Daniels summit Lodge.

The 12 of us had a nice dinner. We even ran into our neighbor the Mendenhalls. This is the second vacation we have run into them. When we finished dinner we still had to ride back the 20 miles to the lodge that we were staying at.

Saturday morning I was a little scared. I was the slowest and the newest at snowmobiling. WE had 4 more people join us on Saturday. The whole group lined up at the lake and we all took off together in a cloud of black smoke. I guess I wasn't the only one scared 2 of the group turned around and went back afraid they were holding up the group. So now I was the only one holding up the group.

I played it safe trying not to get stuck or tip over. David and Scott kept a close eye on me making sure I was doing everything right. The whole group was very kind to me I think secretly they were all glad I was there so I could make their skills look good.

I noticed a pattern they would ride to a spot and the girls would play for a few minutes then the boys would play until they got tired. Then we would rest talk about where we were going next and then move to the next spot. I wasn't afraid anymore.

I did dump my sled over and get caught under i t once. I looked for David and Scott but before I could worry someone pulled it upright and I was off and ready to go.

Scott had some bad luck and broke 2 sleds. His own on Friday so he rented one on Saturday and it broke. We helped him tow back the sled on Saturday. David was towing him and the sled flipped on it's side. It knocked Scott off but David did not notice. I wish I had a picture of that. I stopped and picked up Scott and caught up with David. Then someone stopped and told us a better way to tow the sled so no one had to be on it. The bad part about it is my fun ended and I had to ride on the back of Davids sled.

It was a fun weekend. I want to go back and try out some new things. I want to get more comfortable with turning and knowing were I am. We were all over the place those two days. I think I would do it again. I came home very tired but not to sore.

Missing pet.

Friday Morning David and I were getting ready to leave for the weekend. I made the mistake of checking on the boys Hermit crab. I asked Dallen were he was. Dallen couldn't remember where he had played with it last. It was 9am and time for us to leave.

Normally I would not have worried but Dallen is suffering from anxiety and it is over the deaths in our ward. I was not sure how he would handle it if his pet died. We looked for over two hours. We might have been able to find it if we knew where he left it but we had the whole house to search.

Grandma told us to go and she would have the girls look for it while we were gone. We left and spent two full days playing in the snow. When we got back they still had not found it.(I don't think they even looked)

Sunday after Church we started looking again. We stared cleaning the toy room thinking it might be the place where Dallen played with it last. We cleaned out the couches and the train table, the Lego's. Then I started with our large Castle mega blocks and there he was.

He was happy to get back home and eat and drink. He seems to be just fine. Dallen has promised not to take him out and play with him again.

David says this is why we can't get a dog. I think a dog would be good atleast it comes when you call it.

David Lay

Today is a very sad day in our home. Ralcheal Lay (Nicole's best friend) called this morning to tell us her dad was killed in an accident last night. Racheals mom died when Racheal as a toddler and she was very close to her dad.

David Moved to Texas at the end of the summer to work. It was not uncommon for him to call Racheal several times a day to tease her or check in on her. Racheal was living with her older sister here in Highland at the time of her dad's Death. Racheal is the youngest of 4 girls the only one still a minor. The Day before Davids death he found out that his second Daughter was expecting Twins.

Nicole is having a very hard time with Davids death. She went to a church basketball game this morning and couldn't stop crying. After the game she told the young women what had happened to Racheals dad. Nicole has spent the rest of the day saying she feels sick and crying in her room. She was unable to eat her favorite sandwich from Kneaders for lunch because she was so upset. It is hard to see her so upset and I can only imagine the pain that Racheal is feeling.

Here is a report about what happended to David Lay.
The body of a crane operator who was crushed to death after six stories of an old paper mill collapsed on top of him in east Harris County was removed from the debris early Saturday, authorities said.
The investigation into what caused the fatal collapse at the old Champion Paper Mill on Friday night is ongoing, authorities said.
Several emergency crews responded to the collapse in the 18500 block of Beaumont Highway after a call was reported about 7:45 p.m.
The identity of the 58-year-old man is pending notification of family members by the Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Nine other men were at the site at the time of the accident, and the crew was about to finish working for the evening, said Southlake EMS Medical Director Joe Fress.
They were not injured.
Authorities believe the victim died instantly in the cab of the crane.
“It’s by far one of the worst I’ve seen,” Fress said of the incident.
The crew has been working to demolish the building for several months. The former mill is being demolished to make way for a residential area, Fress said
David Thompson with Caltex Holdings, the company that owns the facility, declined to reveal the name of the demolition company hired to knock down the mill or comment further on the incident.
“We’re not releasing anything today. We’re talking to OHSA to see what avenues we should we should take,” Thompson said Saturday afternoon.

dollhouse purse

I have been making these for christmas, warning they are addictive. I loved the directions but feel that I have made a few changes that really are easier than the original. You can find the orginal here. http://uklassinus.blogspot.com/2008/08/fabric-dollhouse-tutorial.html


Fabric dollhouse tutorial
you will need
Fabric for the interior: 9 inches by 21 inches and two pieces 6 inches by 9 inches
Fabric for the exterior: (same as interior) 9" x 21" and two pieces 6" x 9" ..........::
two 10.5"x 13.5" sheets of plastic canvas (I used #10 mesh) ..........::
fleese two 9x21 inch pieces and 4 6x9 inch pieces
Buttons and elastic cord
2 Sewn fabric strips for handles (optional)

1. From the plastic canvas cut out..........three 4" by 6" rectangles..........two 2¾" by 6" rectangles..........and 2 house-shaped pieces with 4" base, 4" sides and 2¾" roof (see diagram A)

The pieces should fit together like this:

2. Using the 6" x 9" pieces, place an interior fabric piece right sides facing an exterior fabric piece, place 2 fleese pieces on top. Mark 1/2inch seam allowence around end piece. Sew around 3 sides of the sandwiched pieces leaving the bottom open. turn the fabric and fleese inside out. the two fabric pieces should be on the inside the fleese on the inside. Slide the plastic canvas Repeat for the other end panel.
4. Using the 9" x 21" pieces, place the fabric right sides facing 2 pieces fleese on top. The following should then be sandwiched between the fabrics, so that their edges / ends will be caught when you sew along the side edge of the fabrics:..........one of the end panels..........elastic loops (or flap for velcro or zip or ribbons for ties at both ends - whichever you chose).Again, I like to first sandwich the batting covered panels between the fabrics - in the order shown in the 2nd diagram above - and pin the fabrics around them, including a pin between each panel, to ensure that I will have a good fit and also to mark the correct placement of the end panel and the loops for the buttons. I place the button loops at the corners of the roof panel (the 2 3/4" x 6" panel). After I have marked the edges and the correct placement, I then remove the panels, leaving just the end panel and the button loops sandwiched, ready to be sewn on. .I used contrasting fabric for the roof panels and the garden panel, but you can use just a solid piece of material. I sew them like patchwork strips onto the main interior or exterior panels, using the pinning method to ensure correct positioning. Sew along line A to B, catching the bottom of the end panel and the edge of the button loops. .

5. Pin the handle between the fabrics, with ends facing outwards (optional). Sew along line C to D, catching the ends of the handle..
6. Repeat step 4 for the other long side of the rectangle. Turn it right side out and slide in the canvas panels in the order shown in the second diagram (roof panel - 2 3/4" x 6", then wall panel - 4" x 6", then floor panel - 4" x 6", then wall panel - 4" x 6", then roof panel - 2 3/4" x 6") . Pin between each panel to keep the panels in place. Turn the edges of the opening over and pin closed - pinning the ends of the other handle and an additional button loop (optional). It should now look like this:
7. Sew the opening closed, catching the ends of the handle and button loop, if used..

8. Add a couple of stitches between panels to keep the panels in place and remove the pins..

9. Hand sew the edge of the end panel to the wall and roof panel on each side, so that it forms this shape:

10. If using the button loop closure, sew buttons onto end panels and roof panel to match the loops. I appliqué the exterior decor on at this point (the window and door, in this example) as it is easier to position them correctly at this point.You're done. I know I'm not very good at explaining things clearly, so let me know if I've confused you. Really, they are very simple to make.

funny

Sorry I saw this on Lolly's BLOG and couldn't stop laughing so we made our own.
http://www.makemesuper.com/r.php?i=6_4e677-172301-f-Jill

December already

One of thoses Weeks turned into one of those months. Now we are in December and I am working hard on figuring out what to get everyone for Christmas. David is getting what he wants for Christmas he just has to figure out how to pay for it then he will have his new toy. I bought the last of the presents for the kids last night. So it is just the extended family.

I have been working on making some things. PJ's for the 3 little ones.
a crayon holder for Derek based on the instructions found here. http://www.skiptomylou.org/2007/04/25/on-a-roll/
it turned out real cute.

I have also been making journals. We have a new quilt store in Highland and every month they have a free project if you buy the fabric at the store. This month they covered composition notebooks. Like the ones here.
http://craftapple.wordpress.com/2006/09/17/patchwork-notebook-cover-tutorial/

I did my first one like the instructions but I have done 3 others with a different style of piecing. I think the decorative stitches really add to the product. I can't do that on my machine so I have been going to Mom's and using hers while she is at work.

Have you ever had one of those weeks?

It all started last Saturday. Nicole was planning her 16th birthday party. I had a fun and memorable 16th and wanted the same for my daughter. Well Nicole's will be one she will never forget but not because it was so fun. Saturday morning we got a call that the night before Lindsay Sandstrom a 16 year old girl from our ward had been killed in a car accident and her Older sister was still in the hospital but expected to recover. Nicole and I immediately knew that we could not celebrate her birthday with this sad news in our ward so we changed the party plans invited all the young women over and started a scrapbook for the Sandstrom family. At 830 that night the High school had a memorial service so we took all our girls over to it. It was amazing and beautiful. I was surprised that they could put it together less than 24 hours after her death. I was able to see the family and Hug Connor Lindsay's brother that is one of my scouts.

Sunday the bishop presented Nicole as the newest member of the Laurel class and told the ward that Nicole was putting together a scrapbook for the family. All the Young women wore pink Lindsay's favorite color. Church was full of tears and they had a combined YM/YW third hour that ended with a huge hugging line.

Monday all the Young Women wore their Incredi Girl sweatshirts for Lindsey. It was the theme for camp this year. They told the girls the were incredible and needed to find the power within. This has become a symbol of Lindsay. The girls are all singing at the funeral and thought that they wanted to wear their sweatshirts. Courtney and I didn't think this was appropriate so we made pins for all the girls with the symbol. We made 65 pins with shrinky dink plastic. It was fun but by the end we were ready to finish.

Wednesday we were told to cancel all church activities but for some reason we decided to still have scouts we couldn't have it in the church so we decided the weather was so nice we had it at the pavilion. I was the first leader there and only 3 boys (17boys 3 leaders in all). Dallen before it started decided to jump some tables and missed and hit his mouth on a table and started bleeding very heavy. Another mother showed up and I left her in charge of the boys and took Dallen to instacare. he chipped 2 teeth has one permanent loose and scraped all the gums off the front top and has a gash in the inside of his lip. He was in shock and had blood all over. He can not bite anything for over a week and doesn't want to move his mouth. It didn't stop him from going to school today but his smile is gone because it hurts.

Wednesday night was Lindsay viewing. it started at 7pm so we showed up at 7:15. It was beautiful videos playing the hall lined up with scrapbooks to sign and pictures. I have never been in a line so long. It took over 2 hours to get the the family. The line went in the front doors across the overflow back through the gym and up the hall to the reliefsociety room.

The funeral is right now. I dropped the girls of early and the parking lot was full, cars were parked down the street. This was 45 minutes early. I decided not to go. I was going to be with my girls but they are singing and sitting on the stand so i would be taking the seat of someone who knew Lindsay. I am going to pick them up after and take them to lunch.