And here's the rest of Spring Break

We got to Texas later than we'd wanted to, thanks to stimulus-dollar-road construction and a 45-minute parking lot experience in the middle of nowhere in Oklahoma. Added to that was the change to daylight savings.  We were SO glad that church wasn't at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday anymore, but at the more friendly hour of 11 a.m.

Unfortunately, as we arrived on Saturday night, Connor had just thrown up in his bed. Sunday morning, he was still quesy, but his recovery began the moment he received some Lego toys (a really late-birthday gift).  

It didn't take Alastair long to find a hidey-hole, and Lily really didn't mind.  She doesn't like her kennel anyway.

Sunday afternoon brought the warm sunshine and balmy feeling that was in such contrast to the snow and cold at home.  After 4 straight months of snow, this was VACATION! 

What a blissful feeling to sit and read a book in the sunshine!

Even Alastair thought it was a good idea.

And by the way, that is Dutch, who is about 10 times bigger than Lily.  (She was intimidated in a major way!)

Catherine helped me plan and plot a cross-stitch pattern for our Young Women to do.  I'm so grateful for her skills!  She took my vague idea and turned it into a finished project.  When I introduced it to the YW this week, it was a success.

Spring Break, Cavern Exploring

We didn't do anything big, like SeaWorld, during our visit. Instead, we visited the Natural Bridge Cavern, which happens to be near Catherine's home (relatively speaking). Aaron took a day off work, and we had a great time!
The Natural Bridge wasn't as big as we'd expected--nothing like the Utah ones.

The caverns were a new experience for all the kids. Alice particularly was fascinated by all the formations.
The favorite spot for the young ones had to be the gift shop, and the polished rocks for sale. Their mom was kind and let them buy a bagful. The really interesting thing was that all three chose purple rocks!

Spring Break, 2010

As I do laundry this morning and put away some of the vacation clutter, I think back on what a great week we had, visiting Texas where Spring has already arrived! How nice it was to only pack summer clothing--no bulky sweaters or other winter clothing to take up so much space in the luggage. The car seemed so lightly packed!

One morning, we all went to the zoo. This was near the end of our week, but I think I'll post events in reverse order.

As we arrived we found that the ticket line snaked back and forth, with policemen controlling traffic. Apparently, half of San Antonio had decided to go to the zoo the same day we did! And the morning breeze was very chilly, but soon the bright sunshine warmed everything up.

What a joy to spend the week with A., B., and C.!
Alice enjoyed letting people know her state of origin. She seemed to have a good week, even though we all missed Elizabeth. She played "Star Wars" with her niece and nephew. She babysat while the adults when out to dinner and to the temple. She willingly helped out at mealtimes. She was a joy to be around!

And it wouldn't be vacation for Kevin if he couldn't find some project to help out with. Last year, he moved the slide to a different side of the playhouse (a big improvement!). This year, a swing was added, and the climbing rope moved, along with removing an unused monkey bar section. The grandkids have a great yard to play in! Their parents have made it beautiful and fun.

But all good things need to end sometime and Saturday morning we were up at 4:30 for the trek home. We'd heard it could be snowing in Iowa and weren't looking forward to that last segment of the journey. What we didn't know was there was going to a major winter storm that stretched nearly the length of I-35.

The thunderstorms began before Austin--heavy rain, wind, lightning.

Thank heavens for Rainex on the windshield!
Then in northern Texas the rain turned to snow.

This was the best the roads looked from then until we were almost to Iowa. Often there was only one lane passable. Stranded cars sat at the ends of skid lines in the median and off to the sides. Blowing snow. Strong wind. Heavy slush on the road. Lots of praying.

VERY stressful driving!

(That's why I let Kevin do all of it.)

Ironically, the storm had already passed Iowa. There was snow on the fields but the roads were dry, and we actually saw the sun set and clear skies before we arrived home.

We offered a very sincere prayer of gratitude to have arrived safely.

And to have had such a great week.

Going, Going,... Gone?

Tuesday: I dug out the "Noel" sign that we hadn't seen since mid-December.Wednesday, the snow began to melt in earnest.
Twenty-four hours later, only the piles remain. (And all the area rivers are at flood stage.)

Another thing that is almost gone is all the debris from our big bang. I spent a couple of hours between rain storms on Tuesday getting all the pieces picked up out of our driveway and the street in front.

Most pieces were the PVC from the post--hard and sharp. As the snow banks started melting, more pieces became visible. I found a metal piece, such as the one by my fingers. The edges were so sharp I really had to be careful to even pick it up.

The detective was here yesterday, and took all my work.

I'm more than happy to say GOOD-BYE to the whole affair.

Next up, getting the repairs done.

Apparently, I'm not Kevin...

Well, the temp mailbox is now ready for use.

It only took me an hour at two different stores to find a white plastic box

--no more steel boxes for us!

Then it took me an hour to figure out how to make it stand up. It's pretty obvious this is NOT a job done by Kevin!

I tried a few different methods but this is how it ended.

It's not pretty, but at least my lashing skills learned at Girls Camp came in handy.

We'll see how well it works.
The police have arrested four young people, three of them 18 years old. They are charged with several offenses. I feel so sorry for them. I want to believe they were thinking it was just a prank and then didn't think about the consequences.
Unfortunately, in this case, the consequences are really serious.

The 18-year-olds are being held on $100,000 bonds. Currently, they are charged with state statutes, but the U.S. Post Office is considering federal charges.

I found out today that two more homes had damage, including a broken window, and debris has been found a block away. We were SO lucky our damage wasn't worse.

The policeman said again today when I talked with him,

"It was a REALLY dangerous bomb!"

A Frightening Discovery

As I pulled up the shades this morning, I noticed that the mailbox was missing! Did a snow plow hit it during the night? Probably not--it rained. Did some teenager knock it off as a prank?

So I went out to see what was up--just as the neighbor across the street came over with a big piece of metal with "1029" on it. He had just found it by his front door. Realization dawned and my legs began to shake. It was the main piece of our mailbox and it had flown OVER his garage to land where it did. We began to note other damage, and had to call the police. The responding officer was expecting a "Macgyver bomb"--something easily done by fun-seeking youths that just splits open the mailbox. He was shocked by what he found instead--damage from a metal pipe bomb.
There were shards of metal like this on our sidewalk by the front door. The house just above the officer had a piece of metal on the roof. Shards were found in yards all around us, except for the Sierras--the snow bank behind the mailbox shielded them!

There was damage to the garage doors of our neighbors across the street, as well as our own. That includes a small hole I can stick my pinkie into that nearly goes through the door (on the inside, it is cracked and bulging). Another neighbor had a hole in his siding. There were holes in our siding...

...that we have since "bandaged" to prevent water damage (thanks to the help of a kind neighbor).

All of the neighbors, including me, heard the bomb go off last night about 10:45. It sounded like a direct-hit lightning bolt, without the rumble afterwards. I thought perhaps a transformer had blown, but no, we still had electricity. It sounded like it came from the main road, so then I thought perhaps it was a bad traffic accident. But then no sirens came. It was unsettling!

The police were here from 7 a.m until about 1 pm. A bomb squad was called in. All the neighbors were interviewed. We were late getting to church because we weren't allowed to drive the car out through the driveway--to keep from destroying any evidence. I was so shaken up that I sought a blessing. That helped a great deal.

Another thing that helped was the information from the police that we were not the targets, (I had wondered, was some crazy upset that Mormon missionaries were staying here?), and they now had a really good idea of who had done it (some neighbor youths had a lot of information for the police).

Now I just need to call our insurance for damage estimates, and figure out how to get mail delivered, and sweep up the remaining debris. E. wanted to keep the "1029" piece but the police took it.

Even the bush got "schrapneled". I actually think the hungry rabbits got to it first. At any rate, I'm not going to include it in the damages--it'll be just fine.

This was the view two days ago. Goodbye mailbox! And to end on a positive, notice how much the snow has melted in the past 2 days!

I'm just glad I wasn't walking the dog at 10:45 pm on a Saturday night (it's happened before!), and E. wasn't coming home from a hang-out at that time (which is exactly when her ride would be pulling into the driveway). I know we were blessed and watched over.

I am grateful.

Progress!

Something like two years ago, I borrowed this book from my mom, the keeper of all the genealogy books done by HER mom. I already had the narratives from the personal histories, but I didn't have all the pictures that had been included, that make the stories of my ancestors come alive. Naively, I thought it would be an easy task to scan the hundred or so photos, then incorporate them into the word documents. As it came time last summer to go to Idaho on vacation (and to return the book), I hurriedly scanned everything, only to realize that I would be lost without the context of the book. I had to keep it until I got the project done.

During the fall, I dabbled in the project, doing some photo editing, but other projects got in the way.

Right after coming back to Iowa after Christmas, I began in earnest, spending hours each day editing the photos, importing them to the text, finding out that the stories I had were slightly different from the ones here--and so I had to go through line by line to make sure I had every thing done accurately. The last thing you want in family history is the mythology that arises through inaccurate record-keeping!

I'd like to say the project is 100% done. I'd REALLY like to! But I think 80% is more like it. Aunt Terry just sent some old photos she has scanned, and there are some that really need to be included with these histories.

At least I can say that I am really getting to know Word 2007 well!

Things to keep me busy...

I've been meaning to show these for some time. I don't know about you, but keeping my earrings in a neat, accessible manner has been frustrating. Over the years I've tried different things. I've looked at earring-hanging items at the store, but they would only hold a few, and I've accumulated quite a collection. And then, some earrings are studs, some are hooks.

Then, Sharon W. gave me this crocheted earring holder for my birthday.

It's a bigger variation on the hanging ribbon I learned about from Deborah.

Still, it wasn't big enough for the hooks. So I came up with the following, using an old frame and plastic mesh.

It works GREAT! Now my earrings are hanging up, instead of tangled together in a bowl.

And, I can satisfy my OCD and have colors together. But it only works for the hooks.

I also wanted to post my progress on my quilt-top. Somehow, I've had less time to work on it and it takes longer than I thought, but I'm enjoying seeing this come together.

I have a lot more appreciation for those pieced quilts that you see!

And then, these two REALLY keep me busy! We had eye appts. this week and E. is now in soft contact lenses. The hard lenses were reshaping her eyes too much, and since she has stopped growing, her eye-sight has stabilized on its own. (The hard lenses helped stabilize during the growth period). A really interesting side effect of the soft lenses has been that her pupils now are not so large. A. has adjusted well to her braces, and goes again on Monday to get the bottom ones on.

They are also performing Sunday afternoon at the Hearst Arts Center, in the Young Artists series, doing a viola duet by Telemann.
This is one of those situations where hiring an accompanist was well worth the $25.

Okay, So it's another sunrise picture...

Maybe the weather pattern is changing because we haven't had snow since Monday, and we've had clear, sunny days.

Each morning as I see the sun rise (earlier AND further north)

I get SO excited!Grandma Bailey gave this amaryllis to Alice at Christmas, and it has been brightening the kitchen for the past two weeks.
As the head opened, I thought, "it's a lily!" And then I noticed the name "amaryllis" and realized the "lis" part of the name means lily, in French.
I guess I'm just glad all my French study hasn't been totally wasted.

Another Find in the Cleaning

During the Winter Olympics, I like to have a big project. Maybe it's so I won't feel guilty spending so much time in front of the TV.

When I was a teenager, my mom set up quilting frames in the living room, and we tied quilts while watching the down hill skiers or the figure skaters.

Somehow, that need for a sewing project has been embedded deep in my psyche!

But, for this year, what project should it be???

***

During the cleaning-out and reorganizing, I came across the quilt blocks I embroidered while I was expecting Elizabeth, 16 years ago. They hadn't been lost; I knew they were there, I just was hesitant to take the next step. My mom has a flower-block quilt, pieced together with blue and yellow, and it's beautiful.

Other than tying some quilts, I've never really done this sort of thing.

How much fabric would I need? How do I start?

Then, recently someone gave me a bunch of craft books. Most of them were then donated to the Book Nook, but I kept a few and I found this section on quilting.

Maybe it caught my eye because I love the colors, or because it would be a perfect way to use my flower quilt blocks,

but it has step-by-step instructions. Just the help that I needed!

We've been Tivo-ing the evening Olympics, so we can skip the commercials (it's amazing! A 5-hour program viewed in under 2 hours). On Monday evening I cut fabric. (A major step forward for me!)

Yesterday, I got a lot of the piecing done (who knew it would take so long?)

By last night, I had enough done to be able to lay out a portion of the quilt and see if the colors would all look good together, and I like it!

The mauve/peach print will be the major color pattern, but I didn't have enough, so I'm incorporating the green/blue print at the corners.

What would a flower garden be without green and blue?

Uncovered Treasures...

All the cleaning out, reorganizing, and decluttering has been accompanied by "So, that's where that was," or, "I had forgotten about that." One item was something Alice made in preschool (11/8/00)... ...her hand print. So, we took a picture, and it went into the garbage. I have a hard time throwing away things. Especially things that have an emotional tie.
Or things that are still functional.
So, you can guess that I have just way too much stuff.
*
We also found a sweatshirt that Grandma Mildred made.

I couldn't bring myself to throw it away--it went into Deborah's container and she'll have to decide what to do with it later.

Meet My Friends...

Meet my friends--Pusher and Lifter. We've hung out together a lot lately.
Since we became friends with Pusher, Kevin and I have found that it is best to do the driveway with just a couple of inches of snow, even if it means doing it multiple times during a snowstorm like today's (and yesterday's). With Pusher, it is quick work going from side to side across the driveway. Then Lifter is used to tidy up and throw the piles of snow left by Pusher.
It makes for a pretty good workout!

I found myself yesterday longing for one of those winters when no snow fell--like the winter after we moved into our house and there was no lawn, just bare dirt. That would have been a good time to have it covered with snow, but no--we had dirt tracked into the house all season long.

Now, the snow is piled as high as it can be so that if you throw another shovel-full, it just rolls back down onto the place you were trying to clear. So I have to carry each shovel-full several paces to a new spot on the lawn.
Is it really only Feb. 9? This winter has lasted a looong time already.

Youth at the Food Bank = A Ton of Fun!

This week's mutual activity was at the Food Bank. While we waited to sign in, someone discovered a large floor scale and the youth piled on--could they add up to 2000 lbs? Yes! A ton of youth. E. noticed I had my camera out, and decided she was going to be in evey shot.
I'm not sure how much work she actually got done...

but she achieved her goal!

We sorted donated items into categories and checked for expiration dates and seals.

I'm always amazed at how the youth can turn something like this into a fun time. The hot chocolate and cookies at the end also helps their great attitude.

But we have great youth!

The missionaries are coming...

We received the phone call a month ago, "would you be willing to house the missionaries again?"

Hmmm.

We want to help out, but how best to include them into our household?

We've decided to import bunkbeds and have them in the guest bedroom.

Which also happened to be my sewing room.

And the music practice room.

We've already moved the sewing desk into the TV room--that might be nice so I can have a movie on while doing sewing projects.

My challenge for today--take all the stuff I removed from the closet and under the bed and find "good" places for all this stuff.

I'm hoping I'll also be able to condense, organize, throw away, send things to Goodwill, and in short, make things even better.

Of course, in connection with this, I'm cleaning out and reorganizing nearly every closet and storage space in the entire house.
A great project for a snowy February day, don't you think?

Groundhog Day and Taxes

Happy Groundhog Day!

It snowed overnight and is still cloudy, so any groundhog here definitely did NOT see his shadow!

Would that mean only two more weeks of winter?

When has THAT ever happened? Spring, by February 16???

We'll be lucky if spring is here in 6 weeks, March 15.

And since it is now February, it is that wonderful, clean-out-all-the-financial-records-in-the-cubbyholes-in-the-desk time, in order to do...

TAXES!

Oh, one of my least favorite things to do!

But I purchased TurboTax yesterday, and within an hour, was almost done.

Almost done... because we haven't yet received the paperwork on investments.

Still, it was the quickest and most painless preparation yet of all the rest of it.

Good luck to the rest of you!