Boys Will Be Boys...

Why is it that all of my boys love gummy candy? That includes Son-in-laws. We girls are mostly serious about chocolate. Is it a hormone thing? This boy ran off with the "candy bag" that his Aunt Amanda got for him, and then, joy of joys, found an unattended game boy thing-y. He immediately climbed on the couch and got his sticky little fingers all over it. We lost track of him for a few minutes and here he was.

Pumpkin Carving at the Sommers...

We carved pumpkins tonight for FHE, people got creative, as you can see. Stacy's was the singing pumpkin, Doug's was a pirate named "Ben", Shane and Becca's was normal until they got out the power tools and made a pig nose, Amanda's had her signature "star" on the back. Fun times are happening around here. Although Stacy and I really enjoyed living alone for 2 whole months this past summer, I must admit, it is pretty fun to have all of our "young people" around with their friends! (However, they are about to start a movie and I'm ready for bed instead, hey, maybe they plan it that way - N0!)

Date Night...

This is something we have tried to do for many years. When our kids were tiny, it was not too hard, as both sets of grandparents lived close by. As our kids got older and we moved an hour or so away from those fab grandparents, it got harder - more expensive, etc. We also ran into an unexpected problem - sometimes we'd come home and find out the poor babysitter had been in tears because of our little monsters! As our oldest kids got to be that 9-10-11 age, not quite old enough to babysit themselves, but a definite problem with their attitudes with the chosen "teenager in charge", etc., we found it wasn't necessarily the babysitter's actual age, but HER attitude and her ability to "not take crap" from our little darlings. As they got a little older, we started leaving them "alone" (with 5, it wasn't really ever 'alone') and paying them to "be nice" to each other, that worked pretty well for a long time, until they were all old enough to take care of themselves for a set time period.

Last year, we realized that even though we spent a lot of time together, running errands, hanging out, etc., we weren't "dating" anymore and we decided that we missed it. We started setting Friday night (usually) aside for "date night" and taking turns planning the outing. This has been so fun! In late fall last year, we had gotten a bit of snow down here, but not too much. Stacy knows I love the snow, so he took me up to "The Foundry Grill" at Sundance, where it was snowing in abundance! Many cars were having a really rough time getting up the canyon, but we were fine in the 4 wheel drive, gas-hog, monster. We ate a beautiful, delicious (expensive) meal, while watching the snow fall outside. Afterwards, we took a little walk and got even snowier! It was so fun. Last weekend, we drove the Alpine Loop to see the fall foliage, followed by dinner at Mimi's (2 for 1 coupon), and a dip in our friend's (Thanks Laura!) spa with a great view of the stars and city lights. The pic in this post was from last month when we borrowed a DVD (Major Payne - a classic around here!), and did take-out from California Pizza kitchen with fresh raspberries - from the yard - and cream for dessert.

We've done the 'regular' stuff too - like movies, dinner, etc., but it is so fun to look forward to a date with my sweetheart every week, I highly recommend it!

Halloween's a comin'...

I am babysitting the grandbabies this morning. Aunt Amanda is off today, so she took them to JoAnn's (40% off coupon) and bought this fancy Halloween Haunted House. They had a good time decorating it, Shaun mostly just drooled black candy drool all over, but Amanda and Austin stuck with the task at hand - it looks great and since Amanda lives here, it will be decorating MY house for this next month! Thanks, guys!

Mini Quilt

This is a pic of the "Mini Quilt" I made and donated to the Utah Valley Quilt Guild, where they auction off tickets to win the 50 or so mini quilts that are donated each year. I made it out of scraps, so it was "free", although I did spend a few hours on it - it measures about 12 x 18 inches. When I showed it to Stacy, he said, "Is it a placemat?". When I told him it was a mini quilt, he couldn't understand what it was for - really, I don't know either, except that some quilters collect them and it is for a good cause and it was REALLY fun to make!

Just Back...

Just got back from my fabulous Utah Quilt Guild's Quilt Festival! It was held up in Ogden this year, at the beautiful Eccles Center. I had a super great time with my quilting buddies! Learned fun stuff in my classes and got started on, what else?, but a couple more quilts! The "dot" one is something I've been wanting to make for a long time, I'm going to name it "M & Ms" on account of while I was working on it, I was eating M & Ms and they looked fab spilled over the fabric! The bright "Dresden Plate" is for a table topper I'm making for my kitchen table for summer. My super sister in law, Michele, came by for a fun visit and to check out all the quilts too, she is going to be one of my new quilting buddies! It is good to be home, though, I hadn't quite gotten enough of my Doug Bug to leave again so soon, I'm glad I won't be heading to another retreat until November!

Tagged...By Megan

Okay, here goes;

20 years ago...

1. Just had my 5th baby.

2. Didn't think I'd survive.

3. Turned 25.

10 years ago...

1. Lived "way out", about 20 minutes from church, the grocery store, the kids' schools, etc. Lots of driving in those years!

2. All of my kids were in school all day!!! (A true miracle)

3. Lived without airconditioning (Boo hoo hoo)

5 years ago...

1. Moved to Utah.

2. Fabulous Birthday Trip to Vegas to see Mamma Mia and stay at Mandalay Bay.

3. None of my kids were married yet.

1 year ago...

1. Almost died from some weird calcium thing.

2. Spent a week in the hospital.

3. 2 more of my kids got married.

This year so far...

1. Completed my 36th quilt in 3 years.

2. Found out my 3rd grandchild is coming!

3. Doug Bug I love came home!

Yesterday...

1. Big welcome home party for Doug Bug.

2. Enjoyed visiting with everyone, including my sisters and mom who came up from California.

3. Fell into bed exhausted!

Today...

1. Baked cookies for Stacy's work party tomorrow. (and some to take on my quilt retreat)

2. Saw Hancock at the $1.50 movie for family night (way too violent!!)

3. Actually walked, even though Megan didn't this morning!

Tomorrow...

1. Going to my fabulous Quilt Festival Retreat in Ogden for a few days!!!

2. Facilitating the noon 12 step meeting before I go out of town.

3. Going walking with Doug Bug.

I tag... Holly D., Danielle D., Kathy P., Judie O., Denise A., Brooke H., Nikki M, etc.