Time with our SanDiego family

Just last weekend, Jeff and I got to visit with Annamae and her family. It was so nice to get to see them all! Nathan was turning 25 the following Monday, so it was extra special to get to be with him for his birthday. Gabriel was so darling. The minute we walked in he said "Do you want to see my bunny Grandma?" (Gabriel's Bunny is his very best friend, well loved and floppy). I of course had a conversation with Bunny and then kissed him hello. Gabriel rode around on PaPa's back most of the evening and entertained us with his new vocabulary. (Gwen was sleeping already).
It was fun to see AnnaMae's fall decorations and her beautiful new bedroom furniture. We got to visit again the next night, and then on Sunday we arrived bright and early with pink boxed donuts for everyone! This time, Gwen was awake. Anna had warned us that Gwen would probably be pretty shy and may not want to let us hold her. Well, she was wrong! It took only a few moments and she was in my lap, snuggling and being her sweet little self. She reminds us so much of Anna when she was little. We played and visited until the afternoon when it was sadly, time to leave.
On our way home, we met up with Emily and Cody for a little IKEA shopping and dinner.
On the way home, we decided we have the best kids and grandkids ever!
But, you already knew that.

Gwennie loves books and her PaPa

AnnaMae has made a special reading spot for Gabriel and Gwendolyne under the livingroom stairs. Gwendolyne loves books and it didn't take her long to invite PaPa in for some reading time.

Little Family, minus one...

Sandy Feet

Gwendolyne seemed to enjoy covering our feet with sand...

Project Number Two...

My other old blouse project is complete! My friend Yvonne actually shared this top with me. Now, we pass it on to Avery.

Avery's Skirt

I like the way Avery Bay's skirt turned out. I wasn't able to use the tie from my blouse because I wanted to add a large pocket and it didn't work to have both. I added cream-colored cotton trim on the bottom and a wider cream-colored trim to the pocket. I hope she likes it!

Pocket Detail...

Cute as a button...

Here is little Gwennie in her skirt. She looks darling in it! The top was too big, so she'll have to wear it later on, I guess. AnnaMae thought she could just let the elastic out in the skirt as she grew and could even add a trim on the bottom so she could wear it again later with the matching top. We'll see if it lasts that long. I'll post more photos from this fun visit with Anna and her family later today :)

A Wedding in the family

In September, our third daughter, Emily got married to her life-long boyfriend, Cody Mooney. I havn't blogged about it here yet, because I still don't have pictures to do it all justice. (the one above will have to do for now)
The wedding was lovely, and represented the bride and groom perfectly. The entire family was in the wedding and everyone pitched in to help in some way.
I can't wait to tell you all abou it, but indeed I will have to wait, and so will you...

An Old Blouse = New Outfit For Gwen

My daughter AnnaMae showed me a blog where the girl had made some darling little girl skirts and was selling them. I thought it would be fun to make my sweet granddaughters a skirt, and so my mind began to think on it. I remembered that the last time I cleaned my closet I had set aside two blouses that I never wore, but couldn't part with because I loved their fabric. I pulled out these blouses and after calling the mommies for waist measurements, set to work.
My first project is for Gwendolyn because I get to go see her this weekend. She has the most beautiful blue eyes and I thought this fabric suited her.
I also found a little boys white T-shirt in my stash and decided to revamp it for little Gwennie.
I cut it down to fit her, added the blouse neck trim to the tiny neck-line, embroidered flowers on the sleeves and added a fabric pocket, tiny ties and a pink crocheted flower.
All-in-all, I like the way this project turned out. I hope it fits Gwendolyn. I can imagine this little outfit for winter with heavy weave stockings and brown leather shoes.
*Stay tuned for project number two: A little skirt for Avery Bay...

Plain boy T-shirt

A Tiny Skirt...

Revamped boy T-shirt

Finished Project :)

Celebrating Edward

Our youngest son, Edward's real birthday is December 23rd. We were worried that his birthday would get lost in the Christmas holiday, so we have always celebrated it on his adoption day, which is October 27th.
This year, we had two celebrations and one of them was at his brother Nole's house on the evening of Halloween. This picture shows Edward (in the middle) with two of his favorite "big guys". His brother Nole is the pirate and his causin Matt is in the red ball cap. Both these guys have been good influences on Edward and he admires them both.
Edward is turning 18 this year, which is very hard to believe. It seems like not very long ago, that he was a tiny little guy asking a million questions and making us laugh. He still makes us laugh, he has a great sense of humor.

You never know, what God has for your life. I never would have guessed that I would have the honor of raising my sister's son. I know she would have wanted more than anything to have raised him herself, and yet she was brave enough and loved him enough to let us do it.
I'm sure God has wonderful plans for Edward's life. We as a family will be watching to see what those are. We are thankful for all that He has already done and we praise Him for letting us be a part of Edward's life in such an intimate way. Every time he learned something new or had a mile-stone experience I always thanked God that we were there to see it, and I asked Him to be a comfort to my sister who was unable to be.
It is my prayer that some day Edward will recognize all that God has done for him. All the love He has for him and the great sacrifice his mother made for him.
We love you Edward.

Well, it's short now! I think I'd better leave it alone for awhile, or I'll be completely bald... It is EASY to fix for sure and gets me ready about 20 minutes faster than before. It has been about 10 years since I had hair this short. Jeff likes it, so that's nice :)