Jan finally mastered a machine quilting project after a couple of trys

  

Bonnie visited Laura for two days last week.

  

  

  

After a sucessful garage sale last weekend Friday Sept. 9th was the final moving day for Milton and Theo. Teresa helped after school and Chris after work and Jan brought some dinner after getting off work. Linda helped all day. Gradually things are getting settled. We are gradually seeing more counter space, less boxes, more knick knacks. Strangely our house is beginning to look a lot like grandma and grandad's house as you can tell by the pictures above.

Dear Milton and Theo,
Since your anniversary we have enjoyed keeping you company out at your farm. However, recently we have wittnessed how busy you have become since deciding to move, and we felt that it was time for us to move on. Truthfully we were beginning to become concerned that we would be accidently taken to the dump or sold at a garage sale. Therefore, we found it necessary to vacate your lovely facilities. We hope you do not feel too bad, for we have truely loved your company.
Recently your family came out to haul wood and we felt it was the perfect opportunity for us to hitch a ride. Therefore we stowed away in their wood loaded trucks.
Since that time we have been enjoying the home of your son. While there we discovered their plans to visit Yellowstone National Park. Since the Mrs. and I have never really been outside of Washington we felt that this was just what we needed. After discussing it with the rest of the your family they have agreed to let us tag along. We are truly grateful and expect the trip to be very enjoyable.
The Mrs. and I have been busy getting ready for the trip. We went to the supermarket to stock up on whatever we might need for the trip and then we set to the task of packing.
Which was quite difficult since we have never really had to think about such things before. However, we feel we have finally successfully accomplished these tasks. We do hope that we can once again visit you once your life has become more settled. You will have to give us a tour of your new place! We will continue to keep in touch. Thank you very much for your care and hospitality. Give Mike our best.

Your Friends,
Mr. and Mrs. Flamingo

I have been doing some sewing the beginning of this week. However on Monday I had a flare up of arm pain so went to the doctor on Wednesday and she says it is bursitis and to try to rest the arm. So the rest of the week I have been trying to not do much which is driving me crazy. We have watched some movies and such and I have been reading.

Thursday Laura and I went shopping to pick out fabric for a quilt Laura wants to make. It was fun and we actually found 22 fabrics we agreed on that look great together. We just have to come up with a backing which we have kind of picked out but they didn’t have enough. So we are looking a little further. Then Andrea has decided to make a quilt also so she has picked out her pattern. I spent some time trying to figure out yardage and we plan to go shopping tomorrow for the material. Today while out garage saling we came across a sewing machine so I picked it up so we would have enough for everyone to have a sewing machine to use.

Also today we went out to Cathlamet to load up some wood that Milton is giving us. Andrea joined us with her Dad’s BIG truck so we had our little one and hers. We only got about half the wood or even less than half but have a pretty big stack now. We were thankful for Andrea’s help especially since I was only using one arm.

Chris and I went to dinner at Marcia and Barry’s yesterday and played Rummy tiles. Chris one the first game and I won one and Barry won two so it was fun. We hadn’t gotten together for over a year although I have seen Marcia around town.

Thats it for now.

Wow! What a busy week. A lot can happen in a week. Let me count the blessings…

1. Laura had a fun weekend in Idaho with Andrea at a horse show. God protected them through a blow out and brought them home safely.
2. Chris passed his coding test and is now Milton Chris Ferguson CPC-A
3. Laura turned 21 celebrating with friends, at Grandma Ruth and Grandpa Larry’s and this past Saturday at Henri’s. Thanks to the loving family that made it special with toasts, advice, blessings and pictures and gifts.
4. Andrea had a lovely wedding which we were able to participate in with sewing, parties, rehearsal and reception. Laura got some good pictures.
5. Milton and Theo bought and sold houses within just a few days of each other. Now comes the hard part of sorting and packing. We will be glad to have them closer and will cherish memories of them at their old home.
6. Jonathan and Tonia were able to come home for the weekend.
7. We enjoyed seeing Jacob and Diane. They gave us some raspberries and I made some jam this evening.
8. We finished the weekend with naps, reading and quiet peaceful moments. What a blessing.

Congratulations are in order for Chris for passing his coding test and becoming Milton Chris Ferguson CPC-A. We are proud of you!

Also a happy birthday wish is due to Laura today. Happy 21st birthday! We look forward to celebrating more on Saturday. We love you and are very proud of how you turned out.

Happy Father's Day

I will not repeat pictures from the graduation as others have done a good job with that. We are enjoying having Laura home and enjoyed the graduation.

I would like to make a tribute to the fathers in my family. You have been wonderful fathers, a true blessing to each of your children that has more impact than we even realize that will extend down to future generations because of your love and example. We see your love, and provision in so many ways. Thank you.

We were blessed to be able to celebrate Father’s day with Grandpa Larry and Milton and Chris this year. Friday we had mom and dad over for dinner and had a good visit. Today we went to Cathlamet to see the Fergusons and enjoyed the day. Last night we celebrated with Chris after a busy day of garage saling, meetings and worship practice.

Thankfully Teresa and Wilson are much better and Laura is gradually getting over her cold. Teresa has a follow up doctor visit to evaluate her progress with her medicine in Portland on Tuesday. I have a routine mammogram on Monday.

We are giving a baby shower at work to our coworker, Kaylene who had a baby girl on May 18th. I am in charge of decorations. I am going to use dolls and stuffed animals and possibly some books from the kids collection and a quote from the Velveteen Rabbit beside the most loved and worn ones.
"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

We look forward to celebrating with Milton and Theo on Saturday for their 60th wedding anniversary. Jonathan and Tonia will be here for the celebration too.

I am also doing sewing on dresses for Andrea’s wedding. One dress done and three more to go.

I'm sorry this blog has been so boring. There is so little time... Agh.
Yesterday was my day off and I had a list a whole page long to accomplish. At 5:00 I found out I had a 4-5 hour dictation tape to do and I worked today so it had to get done last night. Today I realized I totally forgot the manditory staff meeting that was last night. Not good. Tonight we were to have a bar-b-que for life group at 6:00. Chris got home about 5:50 so we could have been close to on time but then we got a call that others needed a ride but the neighbor she had invited wasn't home yet so could we wait for her to come home. So we waited which as you all know is not my strong point especially when we are already late. But in the long run relationships are more important than being on time.

Wilson is sick. This is the second day. We probably should take him to the vet but again there is no time since I work tomorrow. He is looking better than yesterday so hopefully he will be better tomorrow. We also haven't figured out what to do with him this weekend. Agh........

Teresa is babysitting triplets (and another brother) by herself tonight. She called and they are running late so she is still there.

This isn't much but is something new to read. Love Jan

Today we picked up Teresa’s new medicine from Kaiser. There were four large bottles. On the price it said $5760.30. Our price was $3.00. Our insurance saved us $5757.30. This is very impressive! We eagerly tear open the bottle to see what they look like. We are surprised to see they are about twice the size of a extra strength tums. Then we read that she is not to chew them or swallow them whole. We must dissolve 4 tablets in apple juice or water, or orange juice (which she doesn’t like). It must be taken at least ½ hour before eating. It takes quite a few minutes to dissolve and turns a murky tan color when dissolved in apple juice. Teresa is already convinced it will taste horrible…. and the doc said she would be doing this for the rest of her life……. Oh no! Mom suggested a straw because grandma Ruth says it makes things not taste so bad so Teresa is off to find a straw. She takes a sip and laughs. It is not so bad after all. Where have I tasted this flavor before? ……..Probably some medicine from my childhood she thinks. At least we aren’t paying $5760.30 for this tasty experience. lol

Well things went well with the meeting at work and we were okayed some extra hours to catch us up and other suggestions were received well. There is hope for improvement. Communication is a good thing. I really have found people at work very willing to listen and work toward solutions to problems.

Chris is back at Sunnyside now so doesn't have the extra drive so that is good. Not much new here. Just work and more work.

We had another great weekend with Jonathan and Tonia visiting. Jonathan helped take some things to the dump and do errands around the house. The girls had a quilting time at Linda’s with two friends of Linda’s from Vancouver. Susie was gone this time spending time at the beach with her mom so we missed her. The festival of Tonia’s birthday was begun with Grandma Ruth and Grandpa Larry since next week will be spent more with the Fergusons. We got to play some games.

We have been keeping the road busy between here and Portland for the last two days. Monday I went to a doctor’s appointment with Chris (because I am the one who has all the questions). Today Teresa and I went to OHSU to initiate getting Teresa started on an oral chelation medication to reduce her iron levels. This is a brand new medicine and a big improvement on the old IV method. It will take a couple of days to get the medicine to the pharmacy and then she’ll start taking 4 pills once a day. The good news is Kaiser is paying for all but the copay. It sure was difficult driving in the pouring rain. Chris had to go to the Interstate branch of Kaiser today and for several days for computer training. The drive is much longer and more stressful with the very slow traffic at the bridge over the Columbia.

I must try to get to bed earlier as I have to work tomorrow. We have a department meeting which I am now in charge of leading since Kaylene is gone. Things are pretty behind at work so it could be a stressful meeting. Hopefully we can find solutions to make things better.

My new quilt project

  

Today is my day off and finished a new quilt I started last week. I decided I needed to make a yellow baby quilt for Kaylene since her nursery is going to be in greens. I had some pretty flannel I had originally planned to use but got sidetracked by the sailboat design. I will try to get a picture of it but I have to recharge the camera.

I had a great time at the ladies retreat this past weekend. I am glad Linda was able to come. Susie, Linda, Terri Brewer and I shared a room. It was lovely weather and we got in two nice walks. Unfortunately I took a nap during the crafts but I think my body needed that more than the fellowship and bustle of the craft projects. I get enough crafts at home lately :) The teachings were on discovering and embracing the role of Princess (child of the king, royalty), our authority in Christ and running the race. I also enjoyed playing telephone pictionary and sequence. We took a wrong turn on the way home so were a little late to church but it was not a problem.

After church I enjoyed going out to eat with the family including Laura. It was nice to see her even if for a short time.

We are rejoicing in the news of Jonathan’s new job at World Vision. He found out yesterday. He will start on 6/5/06. Thank you God.

Our Oldsmobile was in the shop over the weekend. It needed a new water pump, hoses and connectors. It still needs a new motor clamp but we are going to wait until another paycheck for that repair. Car repairs are never fun but we’re glad it can be fixed and we have alternate transportation in the meantime.

Chris’s final is tomorrow. He will be glad to have the classes over but will still have to stay studying until his certification test on 6/12/06.

It looks like everyone is too busy to blog so I will try to write something. I have finished painting the bathroom and have new towels and bathmat. With the new shower curtain it looks very nice. I still haven’t got to the caulking but will eventually. I also still have to finish the curtain I am embroidering to look like the shower curtain. My problem is that now that it is up (for when JonTon came home) I have lost motivation to finish it. I will have to take it down to get motivated again but it won’t be this week.

Last week I sewed 5 aprons for a lady at work. She liked the ones I had made for LSG. I also did some various quilting/ sewing projects. At one point I did have the table cleared off but have since covered it again.

Teresa’s birthday festival started with dinner at Izzy’s on Sunday. It was nice to get everyone together. Monday she was hit by the pink flamingo at school. It came in a lovely basket surrounded by flowers. It made a big stir at school. I made noodles for dinner and a cake to celebrate with. Friday she had a sleepover with her friends.

This weekend was very relaxing. We did go garage saling and Chris did lots of studying but we also got naps in and I finished my book. Since it was raining we didn’t get the lawn mowed but that meant less work :)

Next week we have Deak Week which is various churches volunteering to do projects around town. Teresa is spreading bark dust with school on Thursday. I am making slip covers on Tuesday and maybe Friday morning. And Chris is putting stickers on manhole covers on Saturday. Over 450 people have signed up to work during the week.

On Friday I leave for a ladies retreat and will return on Sunday morning. I will get to see a little of Laura but not as much as I would like since she will be here and I will be gone. But that will give her more time with her friends I guess. I am happy that we convinced Linda to go on the retreat. Susie is also going and leading us in a craft I think.

I have been enjoying the beautiful sunny days this weekend. Yesterday Teresa and I and Grandma and Grandpa Larry went to see Lucille in Kaizer Oregon. It was a beautiful drive with good conversation along the way. We arrived around 11 a.m. and enjoyed showing each other our various projects. We took our finished quilts and she showed us a quilt she had made, as well as several unfinished projects which she gave us to finish, along with some material and quilt books and quilting frame and thread etc. I am always so inspired at Lucille’s. My favorite thing to look at in her house is her beautiful paintings she has painted. I could look at them every day and not grow tired of them. There were a few I hadn’t seen before. It is a long term goal to someday try to learn how to paint. I really think I could learn flowers and maybe other things if I had a good teacher and was patient enough to keep trying when I wasn’t good in the beginning. (That will be the real challenge.) I doubt I could ever do beach scenes or landscapes or buildings. In the meantime I will quilt!

When we got home I realized I was going to have to clear out some cupboards to make room for all I had brought home so today I moved the CDs out of the cupboard and put in two more shelves and put all my stuff away. I still have two empty shelves.

We also bought some flowers so I spent some time last night planting them. I still have four more to plant and the roses to take out which sounds very hard. I like the flowers but not the actual gardening part! Lol

Chris is reading and reading his material for his new job. He has to have six chapters read by Tuesday. He also enjoyed packing up all his transcription supplies from working from home to deliver tomorrow. Well, he probably didn’t actually enjoy the packing but the fact it represented that HE DOESN’T HAVE TO DO TRANSCRIPTION ANY MORE! A good side of that is that it will free up some space in Jonathan’s old room so we can move the computer from Laura’s room into there when she moves home.

We also had Chris’s worship team doing worship today so we started the day at 7:00ish at the church for practice. I had a hard time today with the words but I guess they will have to forgive me. This church is pretty laid back about that issue. It was an inspiring message today about working together and loving each other and expecting God to work in and through us especially this coming summer. The message I believe I heard from God is to anticipate what God is going to do, expect it, receive it and embrace it. So often we forget to really expect God to do something. Perhaps we don’t want to be disappointed.

I have the next week off and am going to be painting the bathroom and sewing some aprons for a lady at work. She saw the ones I did for Longview Surgical and decided she wanted some for her granddaughters. But for now I am going to go finish my book…. Have a good week.

  

I'm glad this day is almost over.

Forces were against us at work today although the staff had a remarkably good attitude toward each other in spite of it all. I started out behind with two buckets of charts not pulled, then there were copier problems, hard to find charts, a new trainee to orientate for 20 minutes which isn't bad in and of itself but put us more behind. Then there were missing xrays, more hiding charts, a disgruntled patient that was very vocal in the waiting room, the wrong chart pulled (it was actually his father's chart oops) but is wasn't my fault and then I had to go into the post office to mail a package that was too heavy for our scale. However we survived and were still laughing through it all. Tonight was better at home as I was able to finish my sailboat quilt. I did my first border quilting with a continuous line design of hearts and used my Pounce marking chalk. Hope tomorrow is better, anyway it is Friday! Saturday Mom and Dad and Teresa and I are going to Kaiser OR to visit Aunt Lucille and talk more quilting stuff. Have a happy Friday.

Good News!

Chris had his interview today for the coding consultant position at work and received news when he got home that he got the position. We are very excited. He will be salaried and it will include a pay raise from his current position. He starts training next week. He will be traveling and talking to doctors when he actually starts his position.

In other news we enjoyed getting together for Easter yesterday and seeing Jonathan and Tonia earlier on Friday. Laura was home for the weekend which was nice. The festival of Jan's birthday came to an end. It was very enjoyable. I am looking forward to putting up my new shower curtain and decorating some in the bathroom. I have a week off next week so hope to get to painting. I may also buy some more flowers and work on quilts!

A big blessing this past week was the gift of a car from Uncle Dale. It is a toyota camry. It now has new tags and insurance and a couple of air deoderizors and is a pleasure to drive. Thank you!

The week in review from Jan’s point of view

Monday: Teresa starts LCC classes, Work, car problems, worship practice for Chris, Jan shops for apron fabric.
Tuesday: Jan makes five aprons for LSG for an event coming up this next week. We get the car fixed. Home group at our house.
Wednesday: Work, Teresa went to youth group.
Thursday: Work, lawn gets mowed yea.
Friday: Jan hits a few garage sales. Jan fails to qualify for giving blood. She is her usual 37% hmt. She goes shopping instead :) Jan alters a prom dress for Adrianne from down the block. Jan starts quilting her sailboat quilt (ugh, not nearly as fun as piecing it), Linda comes over Friday night for talking and games. We beat her this time at Rummykub :) We stay up till 1:15 am finishing a movie about Joseph which presented a different slant on the story.
Saturday: Sleep in, go garage saling, go to the tulip festival in Woodland, Teresa talks us into renting more movies, watch said movies.
Sunday: Church, Chris and Teresa shop for my birthday present, Jan goes grocery shopping, Teresa goes to a movie with Chauntel. Read, talk to Laura on the phone.

Jonathan and Tonia finally got a chance to come down for a visit. We had everyone over for lunch on Saturday and had a good visit. Sunday we thought we would try the home and garden show but were not impressed after having attended similar events in Portland. We should have known better. We tried to stay far away from everyone selling windows remembering vividly a salesman in Arkansas that would not leave our home even though it was past dinner time and Laura was crying and crying. Neven again will we let a window salesman near us! We enjoyed a few games and a movie or two. Tonight I have just finished a tape and am ready to relax for a few minutes before bed. Tomorrow at work we are starting a new operating program on the computer so it will probably be a stressful day.

We had a good message at church about Christ in the passover which was interesting. That's all for now. Love Jan

We enjoyed a rare night off together tonight since we only have make up work to do for our class. Teresa was off to youth group and Chris and I watched Cinderella Man. It was a good story if you can get past the boxing scenes. Lol. It makes one grateful for all the luxuries we have today.

We enjoyed phone calls from both Laura and Jonathan. It looks like Jonathan and Tonia will be able to come this weekend and will arrive late Friday night. We will try to have a lunch get together with the relatives so if I forget to call you because I am distracted at work call me instead.

Teresa and I got some shopping in today and found her a pair of jeans. We also stopped in at JoAnn’s to get some batting for a baby quilt I am working on for a coworker. It features sailboats and is really cute. I am trying to do the construction right for quilting and not rush the binding before I try the quilting so my inner monkey is frustrated I can’t get it done, but I must exercise patience. We saw Susie at JoAnn’s buying fat quarters of course. They were on sale. We also saw Grandma Ruth at Ross. She was enjoying an afternoon out with her friend Elaine. Next stop for them was Starbucks.

We are doing training at work for a new computer program. The “go live” date is scheduled for Monday. This will be a big change for the office and will eventually lead to getting rid of the paper charts. We also had our quarterly staff meeting at work on Monday. We are recovering from having several employees quit to start their own day spa and have some new employees hired and new ones as possibilities. I still really like my job and am very thankful to be a part of LSG. Speaking of LSG I must go to bed so I can get up early for work. I am training the file clerk to do some of my job duties so we will have more coverage when Kaylene goes on Maternity leave in May. Love to you. Jan

Yes we are still alive

Here is a summary of what we have been up to.

-today Laura and I went to Portland for a final checkup at the oral surgeon. He said she is healing well, actually ahead of where he thought she would be. Then we went shopping at Clackamus Prominade and got a pair of pants, two tee shirts and two dress shirts for Laura. Shopping sucess!

-Yesterday Laura, Teresa and I went to the beach and met Grandma Ruth and Grandpa Larry and Ken and Shirley at the cabin they rent. We enjoyed visiting, playing cards and eating of course. It was good to get away.

-Monday and Tuesday we visited with Clark Barnard from Peru and shared vision at church for a missions trip to Peru in 2007.

-Sunday we went to Cathlamet and visited Milton and Theo. It was a beautiful day and a good visit.

-Saturday we went garage saling Yea!

-Thursday Laura had her wisdom teeth out. It was a hard day as she couldn't keep anything down but Friday she was much better and not in much pain.

We'll try harder to blog more. Jan

Sewing Expo 2006

Teresa, Linda, Susie, Terri Brewer, Tonia and I attended the sewing expo this weekend and it was great fun. We each attended various workshops or seminars and learned a little in each one. I gained a lot of information as to how to actually go about the process of machine quilting and bought a tool for marking the designs and learned how to set up the machine. I will have to do some experimenting. I also got some ideas for baby gifts for showers coming up for ladies at work (there are three pregnant and one newborn at work). I learned two techniques for quilting the quilts in smaller strips or pieces and then putting them together which makes the quilting process easier on the home machines.

Saturday evening we had a birthday gathering with Linda, Susie, Terri and Jonathan and Tonia, Chris and myself. We had a rousing time playing telephone pictionary. Meanwhile Laura and Teresa were at Laura's dorm at the Experience Moyer project which sounds like it was a sucess with over 400 people attending. Check out Laura's blog for pictures of the poodle skirt Tonia made Laura.

Chris hung out with Laura and then Tonia and Laura while we were at the expo. He did a lot of shopping which is unusual for him but he enjoyed it. We did get to see Jonathan for a little bit (they released him from work for a few hours). We hope he will regain his freedom soon for his sake.

All in all it was a great trip. When can we do it again?

  

Teresa started a puzzle

  

Grandma's birthday.

Saturday we celebrated Theo's 78th birthday. It was a fun time. We took lunch out for her so she didn't have to cook. Teresa baked a beautiful cake. Teresa and I started a puzzle for them. It will be up to them to finish it. Grandad is progressing well after his surgery. Enjoy the pictures.

Today Chris's team led worship so we had an early start with a 7:15a.m. practice. Now we are hoping for naps. Teresa and Chauntel are working on the LSG project.

Grandad is looking good after his surgery. Isn't he handsome in his mustache?

  

It has been a complicated past week with surgeries on Milton and Grandma Ruth, a conference at church, our car getting broken into and work and a slowly leaking tire yesterday. But things are looking up today. I found out the tire that was going flat yesterday was able to be fixed for no charge buying us a little time to replace it. The replacement window will only be $65 from the junk yard installed but I have to wait till Friday. Grandma is hanging in there. Even tho they did find some cancer cells in the pathology of the polyp they had already taken out a portion of the colon so she won't have to have chemo or radiation. I have two days off so can spend more time with mom and get a few things done with the cars and house.

Chris started doing transcription at Sunnyside tomorrow. I haven't heard how it is going. Don't forget to see my quilt on the previous blog picture. Love Jan

my new quilt

  

I'd rather be quilting!

Well I have officially been bit by the quilting bug. I have been thinking about my next project since I finished my log cabin quilt. I’ve looked through books for designs and gone to the fabric stores. I really don’t want to spend the money that is necessary for the type of quilt I really want so will try to use up some of the fabric I have bought at garage sales last year. I have enough for a yellow baby quilt and a blue quilt that could be for a baby boy or as a blanket to take to meetings at the church since I am always cold in this rainy weather. This will help my skill level but doesn’t get me a finished product that I really want. But I must have self control and not let this new temptation take over.

I have also been forcing myself to do some things around the house instead of starting a new quilting project. I want to paint the back bathroom but before I can allow myself to do that I had to finish painting the front bathroom which I did yesterday. Then I had to go to Wal-Mart to get paint and primer and a spray bottle to spray the icky mildew with bleach or “30 seconds” which the lady at Wal-Mart says is actually 99.9% bleach. Meanwhile I am having trouble keeping the stupid flexible tubing on the dryer since I moved it to paint. I have duct taped it twice but we’ll have to see if it will stay.

Other things we’ve done over the past week include:

-Went to see the movie The end of the Sword in Battleground with Linda and Susie
-Teresa and I had to take a class on preventing child abuse and procedures for childcare workers so we could volunteer at church
-Chris’s worship team had their first time of leading worship. We had a lot of compliments and they were asked to do worship at a special conference in Feb.
-Had home group last night here (it hasn’t been here for over a month)
-Had lunch with mom and dad (aka Ruth and Larry)
-Hit a few pitiful garage sales.

Still to do:

-Class tonight for Chris and Jan. We have to present a teaching on the Joy of the Lord to be recorded and evaluated.
-Watch survivor tomorrow.
-Sewing at Linda’s on Saturday, (I get to start a new quilt!)
-Actually start painting the bathroom. Ugh!

Teresa and Chauntel

 
 

Teresa, Chauntel, Joanna, Glenna, Danny

 
 

Joanna

 
 

 
 

I have had a few days off so have been able to finish my quilt. I really like how it turned out. We are also getting everything together for Teresa's formal tomorrow. She is having a sleep over afterwards so I still need to clean a little. We will have pictures by Sunday maybe.

Chris has been busy with work, physical therapy and doctors appointments, life group, band practice and our leadership class. We gave our lessons in front of a camera on Wednesday and were evaluated. We still have one more to do next week. I enjoyed it.

Teresa is also preparing speeches and getting totally freaked out about it. Fortunately she didn't have time to do it Thursday and so has the weekend to practice. She got 100% on her math homework and test. Yea!

The city cut down five large trees on our block yesterday.

 
 

Another view of the quilt

 
 

Jan finished her quilt today

 
 

Life after Christmas

The good:

-Teresa and I worked on quilts last week. Teresa finished her quilt top and I have most of my blocks done. I hope to work on it more this Sunday.

-We are starting plans for a trip to Yellowstone this August. It’s fun to be making itineraries and have something to look forward to.

-We enjoyed celebrating birthdays with both Grandma Ruth and Granddad

-Chris got a good report from his doctor yesterday. He is healing well and starts physical therapy Monday.

-We can watch the second season of 24 instead of old Christmas specials.

-Teresa got a new dress for the formal next week. It is turquoise blue and gorgeous.

-Grandma Ruth and Grandpa Larry came over for lunch yesterday and we had a good visit.

The Bad:

-Jan has been sick for the last ten days. (I am getting better, no coughing last night.)

-All the Christmas decorations have been taken down and it looks a little plain.

-It’s kind of lonely without all the kids home…but there is potentially more to read on the blogs that way.

And the ugly:

-I did move Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus to the back yard and noticed how ugly the yard is….moss growing everywhere, dead roses still on the rosebushes, rain, rain, and more rain and lots of weeds. (But the daffodils and crocus are poking up and eventually the rain will stop and I will be healthy enough to go outside and clean up a bit.)

Hope your life after Christmas has more good than bad and ugly.

Teresa's new hair cut

 
 

Chris playing Jimmi Hendricks was the murderer which nobody guessed.

 
 

Teresa as Judy Garland

 
 

Julie as Bob Marley

 
 

Susie as Lucille Ball

 
 

Bug as Bruce Lee

 
 

Chris and Tonia won prizes

 
 

On New year's eve we went to a Murder Mystery party at Linda's home. It was a lot of fun. Tonia and Chris both won prizes. Enjoy the pictures.