Our New Neighbors

We have new neighbors! They come from Colorado (and before that, Wyoming. ** put your hand over your heart, DJ **). They have 5 kids. 2 girls, ages 10 and 8 and 3 boys, ages 1, 4, and 6. Needless to say, Kate and Jack are in pure heaven with so many fun playmates just next door. They're a great family and we're so happy they're our neighbors.

Saturday, after spending the morning doing a Stake Road Clean-up Project, we came home to do a cleaning project at the Wilson house! Kate's friends were kind enough to volunteer to help her, so with the help of some "Annie" music (think, "we love you Miss Hannigan!") and a bunch of rags and towels tied to their feet, Kate, Sadie, Sole, and Melissa helped clean and dust our house from top to bottom! As a reward we made and decorated Halloween cookies and then put up Halloween decorations. What a fun and exhausting day!

Sorry Ladies, He's Taken

It's official... I truly have the greatest husband EVER. Yesterday I was teaching voice and heard a knock at the door. These were on the other side! I'm incredibly blessed to have such a man in my life.

Addendum to the Sewing Post

My Aunt Christie's comment on my skirt post reminded me that I had intended to do an entire post on the fun, fun visit I had from Christie, Nancy (another aunt), and my amazing Grandma Rose the first day of school. I can't believe I forgot to post about it!

As I mentioned in that earlier post, The Gathering Place is an incredible little gem of a quilt shop situated on the historic Rupert Square just a few block from my house. It's one of the best quilt shops in the west. You can't believe how much incredible fabric and how many projects and patterns there are to choose from. Addictive .... very, very addictive -- and dangerous!

Christie has been to The Gathering Place before, but not for a while. So she and Nancy had been saying for a long time that they needed to make a trip to Rupert to check it out! Happily, they found a day that worked for them both, and they brought Grandma Rose along for the ride. These three women have so many thousands of hours behind a sewing machine, it's staggering. So it was such a pleasure and an inspiration to wander the store with them and listen to their comments on and experiences with different types of fabrics. They have made everything from clothes, to quilts, to dolls and everything in between. They know fabric!!!! Grandma and I had so much fun wandering the store looking at all the projects and ideas all over the store. She even helped me find the perfect fabric for Kate's brown and orange skirt.

Wisely, the store has a toy room, so Jack was thoroughly entertained and even disappointed to leave after a couple of hours!

After shopping, we had a delicious lunch at Henry's (also on the square). Thanks for lunch, Chris! Jack had the best time being showered with attention! He loved spending time with the aunts and Great-Grandma. It was really, truly a perfect day -- I hope it happens again very soon (hint-hint)!

Flower Obsession

Kate has become a bit obsessed with flower clippies this year. She and I have created quite a few and just Monday she was invited to an afternoon get-together with several girls where they created a bunch more. I'm not sure what we'll do with all these cute flowers once this particular fashion falls out of style, but in the meantime she has one for just about every occasion!

She created this collage to show off her fine collection...

Another collage by Smilebox

Sewing Projects

I'm not sure if it's the change in the seasons, the kids returning to school and routines, or just a long hiatus from all things crafty ... but I've really caught the sewing bug lately! Aside from putting together 3 quilt tops for our ward humanitarian project, I've also made 5 skirts (2 for Kate and 3 for her friends) and a hat for Jack in the last couple of weeks. The satisfaction of creating something usable with your hands is hard to put in to words! Sewing clothing is made infinitely more enjoyable by the incredibly cute fabric choices that abound. I'm especially lucky to have one of the greatest quilt shops in the west about 5 blocks from my front door. If you're a quilter or just love fabric you should really consider a trip to "The Gathering Place" here in Rupert.

Summer Slideshow

This photo album generated with Smilebox

I'm Baaaaaack!

Well, I have absolutely no excuse for completely neglecting my blog for the last 2 months. All I can say is that I'm all about the fun, and my blog just didn't seem very fun!! I've decided, though, that this is my only chance to record and remember my kids' childhoods. With that in mind, I'll definitely try to do better. Brad made the comment this morning during family scripture study that the Lord expects us to use the technology and advances in modern science to help move the gospel forward and better our own lives in the process. Computers, blogs, digital cameras, etc. certainly fall in to that category, so if I choose to use them in a constructive way I can better my life and help build the kingdom in the process!

All right .... that's pretty lofty and esoteric, so here's a more down to earth goal: I'm going to try to post something, anything, at least once a week! Seems doable, right? We'll see.

Because summer was jam packed with fun and I find it too overwhelming to go back and recap in any detail, you're going to get a Top 10 list instead. So (drum roll, please) here are the Wilson Family Top 10 summer happenings of 2010:

10. A whole month of baseball involving all 3 kids! Jack's first year of t-ball was hilarious! He's got a wind-up run like a cartoon character!
9. The attic space (Kate's new bedroom) and new bathroom are finished and have been used and enjoyed all summer long.
8. I went to girls' camp in Island Park and Yellowstone and Jack stayed with Aunt Cindy and Uncle DJ and the kids while I was gone. He LOVED it!
7. My parents and siblings and their families all came to Rupert for 3-4 days for the Rose Family Reunion. We had a fabulous time and enjoyed every second of it.
6. Brad's niece Julia and her husband, Cody and their sons came to stay for a couple of days. They were such low-key, fun, easy houseguests. We loved having them!
5. Cindy and the kids came back to Rupert for another week of fun! This time it was for the annual Rise Up and Sing Music Camp. We missed Juge and the kids, but understood their absence. It was a wild and crazy week, but we had a ball!
4. We planted and are now enjoying the harvest of a beautiful garden. Corn, beans, peas, squash, zucchini, peppers, tomatoes, carrots, onions, potatoes and cucumbers. It's definitely one of the best gardens we've ever had. Thanks to our great friends, the Tribe's, for all their help. It's much more fun to garden together with your friends!
3. Weddings, weddings, weddings!!!! I had 4 cousins get married this spring and summer. It was such a treat to have so many occasions to get together with family. They are each beautiful couples and we wish them much happiness. It's going to be an even more wild and crazy Rose Family Thanksgiving and Christmas this year.
2. Swim team!! The kids joined the city swim team this year and had a great time swimming with friends every morning. They improved in both strength and speed. They even rode their bikes to the pool each day. Getting up early and exercising for 2-3 hours really helped us make the most of our summer.
1. I took up running!!!!! I know you're all staring at this screen in incredulity because I HATE running, however, I also hate being FAT, so after gaining about 20 lbs. since January I decided I better get it together. I've been running with Brad 6 mornings a week. Usually we run a little over 3 miles, but this morning I ran my first 4! I haven't lost any weight after 2 months, but I also haven't gained any, so I guess I'll be thankful for that!

Well, there you have it sports fans! The top 10 things that occupied most of our summer this year. We had a great one!