Still missing the letter "F"

If anyone ever needs help putting the keys back on your laptop keyboard, I'm your gal. I'm now a pro after replacing seven keys (including the spacebar--which is held into place in three different ways). We are still missing the letter "F" however, which is really annoying.

Dillon, in case you were wondering, is still alive (luckily). And now I have to go because he just brought me seven (cold) hot dogs. I guess he's hungry. It's a good thing that naptime is drawing near...

Still working on my Cotton Pickin' Chicken Kitchen...

My friends from Hanbury Manor will remember that I've been collecting "chicken stuff" for several years now with the goal of having a Cotton Pickin' Chicken Kitchen. I don't really like chickens all that much, I just like the sound of the title :o) Since my countertops are hideous orange (but in great shape, unfortunately) the chicken theme has proved to be a good choice.

Last week I had major quilting trauma (I lost the timing in my quilting machine three times). I was frustrated because I desperately needed to quilt to keep up with my schedule, but I couldn't, so I vented my frustrations by pulling the wood paneling off my diningroom wall.

Unfortunately, three of the panels were glued, and so when I got the paneling off, I had a "mell-of-a-hess". So I went to work with my trusty-dusty putty and sander, then I textured and painted. Since it wasn't really a planned project, I just used a can of paint that I had on hand. (I found it a couple months ago on clearance for $8 and I snatched it up, thinking that I'd be able to use it somewhere, since I love green so much)



I thought I liked the color but as it dried, I realized the green isn't right. It's too blue. This picture makes it look more blue than it really is, but it's still not right. My decor (and my countertops) needed something more avacado-ish. For now it'll just have to "be" until I get up the gumption to paint the rest of my kitchen/dining/livingroom (which desperately needs to be done anyway). At that time, I'll re-paint the diningroom wall.
I'm taking color suggestions 'cause I'm not totally sold on a green wall.


Here is a cute towel I found at the Quilted Bear, that has the red, yellow, and "shitbrindle green" that I wanted for my chicken kitchen, but it also has an orange stripe to tie in my lovely countertops. This is similar to the fabric in my valance (which I also found at the Quilted Bear, but have to re-model in all my spare time).

This is a picture of a quilt pattern that I bought four years ago (still haven't made the quilt). I'm hoping I can pull my myriad of colors together in this quilt and hang it from the shelf.

Our new "neighhhhh"bor

Dillon wanted his picture taken with "the neigh".

Our next-door neighbors use their house as a vacation home, so they are only around on selected weekends. This past weekend, they came and brought a horse to their back lot (which is right next to our back lot). I'm assuming that their Dad, who also takes care of their yard, will care for the horse. The kids love having him there. Rico (our dog) is still making up his mind.

Charity quilt for Cancer research

In the midst of probably my busiest month ever since starting my
quilting business in 2003, I quilted my first charity quilt.

My visiting teaching partner, who is a former Las Vegas Quilt Shop owner, holds a quilting retreat (right here in Loa) every September. She had all the ladies bring their pink scraps to put together blocks to make this quilt to donate to "Relay for Life".
It will hang in Christensen's (the department store in Richfield) until June
when they will raffle it off to raise money for cancer research.

Since it was pink, I went with the whole "breast cancer theme"
and quilted it with pink ribbons running through it.

It might be easier to see the quilting from the back.

Ever feel like something's missing?

Which Part Is Mine?

Does anyone else feel like this???

As I was struggling to balance my time last night, I was reminded of a song by Michael McLean called "Which Part Is Mine?"
I'm NOT a big Michael McLean fan--most of his stuff is a bit too cheesy for me, but I do love this song because it bears such a striking resemblance to my life.
The first time I heard it, I had just turned 14. My dad was a dairy farmer, and I was learning to sing alto for one of my Young Women goals. The first verse caught my attention immediately because the girl in the song could have been me.
Now I'm living the second verse of the song almost to the letter. Here are the words:

She was only a dairyman's daughter; She was only a child of 13.
But the stars on the radio brightened her nights with a dream.
So she called up her best girl friend Jenny,
'cause she thought they would make quite a pair.
She said, "Let's you and me, try to sing harmony at the ameteur night at the fair."
But she only had the range of an alto, so the part she knew best went to her friend.
And when Jenny's soprano drowned out the piano, they'd have to start over again.
And the dairyman's daughter would then say, "Which part is mine, and Jen, which part is yours? Could you tell me one more time, I'm never quite sure. And I won't cross the line, like I have before, so please help me learn which part is mine, and which part is yours."

She grew up and got married to Toddy
(okay, the song really says Bobby, but Toddy works too);
Kept him working on his MBA.
They had two little red-headed children and one on the way.
Everybody said she could work wonders
And she wondered what everyone meant.
She played so many roles it was taking it's toll,
And she feared that her time was misspent.
So she opened her heart to her husband;
They discussed everything on her list
From the kids, to the job, to her feelings for Todd
But what it really boiled down to, was this:
She said, "Which part is mine, and Todd, which part is yours?
Let's review it one more time. I guess I'm not sure."
And I won't cross the line, like I have before,
If you'll just define which part is mine, and which part is yours.

Every sleepless night knows many mothers,
Who are wondering if they've done alright.
And the dairyman's daughter knew more than a few of those nights.
Had she given her son too much freedom?
Had she smothered her two teenage girls?
Did she spoil them too much, or not trust them enough
To prepare them for life in this world?
So she opened her heart to the heavens, and she spoke of her children by name.
And the prayer that she prayed that her kids would be saved,
Had a very familiar refrain:
Which part is mine? And God, which part is yours?
Could you tell me one more time, I'm never quite sure.
And I won't cross the line, like I have before,
But it gets so confusing sometimes.
Should I do more? Or trust the divine?
Please just help me define which part's mine, and which part is yours.

Anyway, that's how I'm feeling today. I'm in the wrong season of life to have a hobby like quilting. All the ladies in my quilt guild are older and they're kids are grown, so when we got together for our meeting last night, and they were all two months ahead on our block-of-the-month project, I started to get frustrated (I'm two months behind, and found out that one of those months requires five blocks). I'm debating whether to keep trying or just give up on it now.
I learn so much from every quilt I make, and it helps me with my job (doing machine quilting for other people), so it's a hard decision for me. I wish I didn't have to work...but I do. I just fear that my kids get the raw end of the deal sometimes.

So, anyway, thanks for listening to me. I'm quite certain I'm not the only one who needs a few extra hours in her day. And now I better get moving so I can try to do some of the things on my list.

Don't you love this Mormanad, though? It's my favorite.
Oh, and just to clarify, I do NOT have "one on the way". I have three kids....two of them are red-headed. I guess the second verse is not exactly accurate.

He's not a puppy anymore...

Brayden just lost one of his two front teeth; the other one is pretty loose, so I'm sure it won't be long before he's missing both of them.
He's just growing up way too fast.

"First, it was just a real egg.
Then, I painted it into a BEAUTIFUL Easter egg!"
-Caleb

Hmmm. Who's been playing with my camera?

These pictures are what I found when I picked up my camera this afternoon. And I thought that having one arm would slow him down...

Dilly's cast

After we sat in the waiting room for 1/2 hour to see the orthopedist, the nurse came out and told us that the Dr. couldn't see the x-rays that we brought from the Wayne County clinic. They were too fuzzy.
They sent us to another part of the hospital to get new x-rays, and it was a much better view. The break is almost (but not quite) a complete circle on the tip of his elbow. He'll have a cast for about three weeks. I can only imagine what it will look like in three weeks. Dillon still eats with his hands. I put a sock over it while he ate cupcakes last night. I'll have to make sure we don't have spaghetti for awhile.

Caleb is 5!

Caleb had his 5th birthday yesterday. It was a CRAZY day. We had to open presents at 7 AM because it was the only time available. Todd and I were feeling bad because we were so busy, but even with all the chaos, Caleb told us that it was the best day of his life! :o)

He wanted a "Cars" birthday. The extent of the theme were some "Cars" cupcake papers, and a Lightning McQueen car atop one cupcake. Brayden drew a race car mural and hung it on the wall. I felt like it was a huge disappointment after the pirate party he got last year, but he was thrilled.

We gave Caleb some Toobers and Zots, a new outfit, and two foam swords. Other presents included a huge set of K'nex and a T-ball set from Grandma Graves, two new LeapPad books, new church clothes, and the game "Buckaroo" from Grandma and Grandpa Salisbury, and some new Book of Mormon action figures from Grandma Great.

View of our town

When we first moved here, I was always taken back when people in the ward talked about how beautiful this valley is. I was convinced that they had never been to Cache Valley, or the Puget Sound area where Todd is from. I have to say, though, that I've gained an appreciation for the desert, and I do love this view.

This picture is taken from the road that goes to the dump. I am facing North.

Easter Celebration on April Fool's Day

Since Michael and Becky were here, we decided to celebrate Easter with them. We cooked a ham, and had an easter egg hunt for the kids.

Dillon squealed all through the egg hunt. This is his kind of fun.
Hopefully since the "fluff" is over, we'll be able to focus on the real meaning of Easter next Sunday.

After the kids found all the eggs in the yard (we hope) we allowed them to "buy" easter prizes from us with some of their eggs full of candy. I really didn't want them eating that much sugar, and besides, the adults needed some candy too. :o)
While you're looking at these pictures, you'll notice that our house is in desperate need of a paint job. Now that it's starting to warm up, the kids and I are going to take wire brushes and scrape the peeling paint every afternoon. We're taking volunteers if anyone wants to help us paint...

Saturday was a beautiful day at Capitol Reef

Looking at Petroglyphs

The orchards in Fruita are in bloom!

The kids had a great time playing in this gnarled old tree
after our picnic in Fruita

Michael, Amber, Emily, and Becky

Short but Sweet

Michael and Becky and their girls came to spend conference weekend with us. It was so fun to have them here! They got here Friday in time for dinner, and left Sunday after the 2nd session of conference. The time went way too fast, but we're so glad they came.
They're the first of Todd's family to see where we live.

Emily and Dillon

Look at the RED hair on these two cuties!
We love that Amber has red hair like Brayden and Dillon.

Three little monkeys sliding off the bed, one fell off and broke his...

While I was fixing dinner on Thursday night, my "3 little monkeys" were sliding off the bed (using each other as the "slide") and Dillon hurt his elbow.

I called the doctor on call, because I thought he had dislocated something. Dilly couldn't use his arm at all. The x-rays turned out fine, but the Dr. could see that something was definitely wrong, so he tried to give us a sling, but even the smallest size was too big. He decided to send the x-rays on to a radiologist, and told me to use a towel for a sling.

On Friday night, we got a call from the clinic telling us that the radiologist had seen something that might be a break. He wanted to see an x-ray of the other arm for a comparison. We went back to the clinic on Saturday morning, but our Dr. could see that Dillon's elbow was bruised and swollen, and decided the extra x-ray was unnecessary. His arm is definitely broken; the break is at the very end of the bone right next to his elbow. The Dr. was unsure about how it should be set, and for how long, so he gave Dillon a temporary cast and recommended we see the orthopedist who comes to Richfield monthly. Luckily, he'll be in town on Tuesday, so we don't have to go to Cedar City to see him.