My latest creation

I finished up my latest quilt, "Borderland in Butternut and Blue". Each block is based on a woman from the Civil War Era. These women were all on either the Missouri or Kansas side of the border, one (Missouri) a slave state, and one, Kansas a Free State. It was a project that took a year to complete, and learning about each of the women, and their trials and perspective of the times they lived in, was a great experience. The quilt was designed by Barbara Brackman, who is from Lawrence, Kansas, our home town. I know I say this each time I finish a quilt, but this is my favorite! My friend, Jody, did an amazing job on the quilting, doing a seperate design for each block.

Peyton turned Two

Peyton is officially two years old now. Sara and Scott hosted his party at our house this weekend and all his Uncle John and Aunt Jen, Uncle Brian, Aunt Melissa, Cousins Rylee and Maddie, all came for swimming, food, cake and presents. It was a fun time for all of us.


Maddie was a big help with the presents!!

Rylee dove in to her cupcake,

Peyton wasn't real sure why we were all singing about the candle on his cupcake.....

and "Grandma and Papa" had the best time ever! Can you tell we love this boy?

Happy Independence Day!!

On this 4th of July, I'm blessed to be an American! May God Bless our land. We had a great family centered 4th. Sara, Scott and Peyton came over. After almost 2 hours of fun in the pool (Scott was our blender master for cold drinks!), we had the perfect dinner of Bar-B-Que ribs, potato salad, corn on the cob, and strawberry shortcake. Peyton tuckered out about 7:30, and since I work tomorrow, I'm afraid staying up late to go to fireworks isn't in our plans this year. Hope all our family and friends were with people they loved, take some time to remember what a great country we live in and to honor those who serve to keep us safe!

Red and White Star Quilt

All my quilting friends know how much I love star quilts. I just finished this red and white star quilt top (just in time for the 4th of July). I really like the use of just two colors and am thinking I will do some more on down the line. Of course, I still need to do all those projects waiting in the baskets of fabric! I'm off now to sew binding on my Borderland Quilt. Pictures of that one when I get the binding all done.

Summer Fun

Sara and Scott had yesterday off as the last day of their vacation. Since it was 106 outside, it seemed like a perfect day to all get together and swim. After an hour and a half in the pool, none of us wanted to cook, so we went to Uncle Bear's where Wednesday nights are kids eat free. A fun summer family day!

Peyton had fun amusing himself with the carrot sticks at dinner! (No, we did not let him stick it up his nose!!!)

An Arizona summer evening look. Don't you just love how your hair looks after swimming?

Sara doesn't even look like she had been swimming 30 minutes earlier!!!

Peyton loves to wear the bucket on his head, and he discovered just how fun a noodle can be. We think he's gifted, after all don't all the smart kids wear buckets on their heads?!?

Papa and Daddy had fun squirting him with the pool toys!

Back from Las Vegas

Julie, a friend from work, got comped FREE hotel room in Vegas!! What started out as a trip for lots of OB nurses, turned out to be two of us who were able to free up our schedules and go for a few days. We had a blast. Our room at the Rio was great, and that was the host hotel for the World Series of Poker, which was going on while we were there. The hotel was full of poker playing men. I kept my eyes open to see if I could find a cute one for Julie (she's single!!), but no luck. However, lady luck was shining on Julie and no matter what game she played, or where, she won money! Lots of fun to watch, I wasn't that lucky..... We had great meals, saw some VERY interesting people, Vegas is the best people watching venue in the world. I left my camera in my car at the airport (best laid plans....), but have a few that Julie got with hers. The fountains at Cesar's were beautiful. This is my Vanna White impression.


Here's Julie, looking stunning!!

And of course, what trip to Vegas would be complete with a picture of our friend Janet's favorite singer in the whole wide world. Janet, this picture, from the side of the Flamingo, is for you!

This one's for Sara

OK, after telling you, I'd try to do something worth writing about, Sara left a comment that she hasn't seen me do anything exciting in the 28 years she's known me. Wow, I'm stunned. So, to shake things up, I decided to go to Ghana!!! Actually, I've known for quite a while that I wanted to do a medical mission, and have been looking around for the right one. I got an email on Thursday that Project CURE needs OB nurses for a mission to Ghana the end of August. I knew immediately that this was the trip for me (being geographically challenged, though, I had no idea where Ghana was). Needless to say, Bruce was a little more cautious in his approach and searched the FBI, CDC and numerous other websites to check out all the details. I prayed that if this was the right trip, God would smooth the way and open all the doors. So far, it has all been like God not only made the way straight, He made it a super highway. At work, my director and manager gave their approval easily and it all seems like a go at this point. So, put your prayer caps on, and we'll see how this all comes about. I'll keep you posted as we go through the process. Today, we will be filling out all our applications papers and getting them sent in. Check step one off the list!!