Completion of Headboard!!!!

I was sure it would be a 2-3 day project but boy, did I get fooled!  The sun went to bed Saturday night and the marathon headboard project was completed, resplendent with new sheets, dust skirt (not a ruffle!), plant, and a gorgeous reversible microfiber down-like in appearance, bedspread.  I loved how she picked the blanket/sheet...paint on her finger held up as a sample!  She had previously painted the wall and the cream color was painted out with a darker color.  She and her brother jointly picked the same paint swatch, unbeknownst to each other until they met up to compare colors, so that definitely was the pick with no doubts, at all!

Originally the wall was going to stay cream with some seafoam behind it.. You can see some of that peeking through.  After my picture was taken she went back in and carefully painted it the wall color.

Here is a part, actually most, of the process- after she'd already used the air compressor to blow off, who knows how many years of dust.

back from carwash scrub down!

Last of unloading

showing Kip arrangement of slabs

discussing design

just a break with her Dad

measuring to make marks for chain saw cuts

 bottom cut of each piece of wood

layout after chainsaw cut

seafoam green color.  later deep sixed!

checking for color idea with wood colors

hauling, in order of placement, each timber, to Kip's place

making sure they are just right (according to design artist)!

ever overseeing!

see  no evil!!

oh, Dad wears sunglasses/hat indoors and designer wears sunhat indoors!  family trait?

must be just so.

checking yet again!!

finished project (just as she sketched it out!).  picture does not do it justice!!

Little designer daughter and brother she gifted her art to.

Diversion...

True we went shopping yesterday but also true, I automatically took the roundabout and went out instead of about and ended up on the freeway headed home!  So we just cut the shopping short and arrived back at square one!

We'd been out in the heat and I was beat.

Jeanee is taking on another project.  She has decided to build her brother a headboard out of weathered cedar.  She told him he would have to use his imagination, as he checked out her finds but she could see it in her mind and it will be beautiful.  A large chunk of her time was spent finding a wood source and then foraging to the point of dehydration, coming home, getting the truck (& her Dad), picking the beams up, then blasting the wood with an air compressor.

checking out her treasures & discussing dimensions

sharing plans of how to incorporate hole as part of design

 (we have so many young creative women in our area.  Right here is where I wanted to put some pictures of Celise and also Abby and Shannon and get some from Emma and Crystal and on and on, of their projects/endeavors...I can't locate the pictures I had.  I'll look some more and maybe get some different ones. for a later post that will be fun!)

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Our evening was spent in the most delightful way of all...going to a play!  Fiddler on the Roof!!!  Our favorite small theatre in the round (Aiken Center Theatre in Yakima).  Fantastic event!  They just got new (gently used- actually) auditorium theatre seats from Eisenhower High School as they are getting an entirely new school.  Okay.  Maybe not the entire school but the seats went from there to where we were last night so I know they will get a new auditorium.

Play was great in all aspects!!  Greasepaint in my veins!  Always fun to see people you know hitting the boards...Sophie and Jon!  Way to go!

Waiting to go inside theatre!

Next week Sound of Music at Leavenworth!!!!

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Back to the task at hand of McCall prep!!

And the beat goes on!!!.....

We continue to shop and ready things for our trip.  I was thinking about the fact that we do all of this preparation when actually it's not expected nor in a way is it needed, to enjoy ourselves.  I think it's the Mother in me coming out.  Just like sheets/blankets/pillows hung on clothesline, which I can't do up there as if they came home, it's just a touch of care and love.  Gratitude that they are making the effort to get together.  They are excited and we are equally excited.

It's also fun having my JeaneeGirl here.  She is like a real genie, that Jeanee of mine!  She can walk your legs off in a grocery store (or any store!) and constantly monitors my going way over the top in purchases.  We do have friction on that sometimes when she tries to put things back on the shelf that I want in the basket but it all works out and we enjoy ourselves immensely.  Two headstrong women.  She was raised in a home filled with testosterone.  She and I were the only females!  I love her independent nature.  Most of all I just love her!

In the past I have baked cakes and cookies and etc. to take and pass out daily.  Along with other meal things.  I don't like to shop while there.  I like to take things.  This year, for all sorts of reasons, but mainly, limited transportation, and Jeanee and I each driving a separate vehicle, that won't be happening.

We have all sorts of family with different dietary needs so the only sweets I'm taking are the syrups (yes.  way to many.  last night I read you only need 2 T. of that syrup for 2 cups of ice.  I got small cups that won't hold 2 cups.  we will have enough syrup on hand to last a lifetime!!)

Jeanee decided to make/freeze cookie logs and people that can eat cookies, can bake them in their own condos.  She will be tying red bows on them with the recipe.  Darling girl!

We had a delicious salmon dinner last night and she made us each a lava cake to top off our meal.  So rich but so yummy!

details that make things fun....

Jeanee and I both love details like ribbons and small surprises that make things lovely.  She is a whirlwind and I'm a tiny dust-devil.  She goes like a house afire.  I snail along.  In spite of all that we are on the same page.  She was born a peace maker and is joyful.  I'm loving our time together.

Boards she hauled from Homer.  Previously cut on Terry's sawmill by he, Kip and Greg.  Part of our old abandoned house.  Maybe chicken coop?  She is going to attach our Alaskan flag to nail-filled 2x4.  Terry has been teased to death for his use of to many nails!  It's a family inside joke!  Using other boards to make a family reunion sign.  This will be hung in our condo.  on the balcony rail in the loft bedroom.  Will be seen when you walk in. We will use it each year.  We always have the flag and in the past have used a sheet with a lot of data on it.  This will be a memory maker for our children.

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We have a Christmas celebration and even haul our tree that we put on our porch each year.  I'm thinking it's getting a little worse for wear but we will use it again.  Jeanee decided to make an ornament for each family member.  she sprayed glue on her project in that little box and then made a great ornament.  These will either be hung on the tree as decorations or on a string.  In our long ago family Christmases we decorated ornaments and then made one for each family member.  It was so much fun.  this will be similar.  Each family member will draw a name and they will write on their ornament to that person.  It will be a fun souvenir!

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Here is my darling Worker Bee.  Beeing filmed by the Queen Bee.  (Note the line of care package items being collected and all in a row!  that project is just beginning!)  She is rolling each family's T-shirts, tying with a yellow gingham bow, then tying a red bow attached to the family crest, names are written on back and she always puts hearts.  Love oozes from this girl!  Each family will be given this bundle the night before the family photo shoot.  Held in reserve until then or they will be lost or a mess so she will protect them!

The Gathering Begins...

                                Logo that Jeanee designed for our reunion!  (She is awesome!!)

 Jeanee designed and had our t-shirts printed!  We will have a family picture taken in them.  All of these shirts will be filled with fierce Norwegians!!  (frightening!)

                              Jeanee in the garage rafters finding the hot dog sticks (fancy, huh?)

                              
                                So the decision is to keep both of these and not return one...

Fun (I hope!!)

Strike up the Band!!!

Time to get this party rolling!! 

So much fun getting Jeanee's bed ready.  We have a Murphy bed, tucked in what used to be the closet, in the bedroom where she stays.  There are certain items that are always done and they are all in place!

Right down to books on the bed for her to read!  A lamp to read by.  A small fan for white noise.

We took all the sheets, pillowcases, quilt etc. and after they were laundered, hung them on the makeshift clothesline that Terry made for me.  In love with line dried clothes!

Tossed over...not hung!

They smell so fresh!!!

                           Arranged her flowers.  These are the sweetest smelling roses ever! 

Angel chocolates for my angel!

So the bed awaits the princess.  We will enjoy together our several days of  alone time and soon be with all the rest of our family.  The girls will be here soon!  

And then on to our family reunion!!  Children and grandchildren traveling from FL, KS, NV, UT & WA to spend some time enjoying each others company.  Bliss...2 little great-grands in the mix!!

2 plays on the docket.  Fiddler on the Roof in Yakima.  Sound of Music in Leavenworth.

By the time you read this, we will have already picked her up, driven home and visited for ages.  That will be quite the feat because she doesn't arrive until midnight!!  Yawn. 

I most likely will not be blogging daily as we will be traveling etc.  So you have a great month and so will I.  I will be back in BloggerLand on August 8th.   I look forward to visiting with you then!

...strength out of me to her

In life, so often, we hear of stories that mirror those we've read/studied/pondered in the Scriptures or General Conference.  Experiences of others also teach us.  The story of the woman that touched the hem of the Saviors garment has always touched me.  First of all that she felt if she could just get near Him, just touch His clothes, that her faith was sufficient to be healed of a 12 years old malady. 

 I was also impressed with Him being in a throng of people, pressing on him.  reaching.  seeking.  probably pushing and the likes. that he still sensed the tug, the touch on the hem on his robe and asked...who did it?  Perplexed, by the size of the crowd,  his followers acknowledged...how can we know?  He felt virtue (strength/power) go out of him.  so he felt that physical drain, when she with faith sought strength, by just touching his clothing.  

When Sister Julie Beck was General RS President she was interviewed and talked about the new Church Handbook.  She shares about visiting an area that had been devastated in Peru.  I was taken aback and thrilled when I read the words....And I felt strength going out of me into her.  (I made it bold in the article).

I hope you enjoy this short article and will give it some pondering time.  It's well worth a thought or two or a dozen or more!

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Participating in a revision of the Church Handbook, they came up with three simple concepts pertaining to the objectives of Relief Society: faith, family and providing relief.

Illustrating that, she told of an experience she had visiting an area in Pisco, Peru, that had been leveled by an earthquake.

"When that happened, the stake Relief Society president worked in harmony with the stake president. She went into action."

One of the few structures left standing in that area was an LDS meetinghouse. There, she organized efforts to feed victims. Subsequently, she and her counselors helped people mend their lives by teaching skills and by showing them how to cook using the supplies sent from Church headquarters.

Reaching out to the greater community, the stake Relief Society president and members of the Relief Society made blankets for the babies in the city. They also helped needy people start home industries and thus regain their livelihoods.

On her visit several months later, Sister Beck met the stake Relief Society president.

"She came up to me, put her head on my shoulder and cried and cried and cried," Sister Beck recounted. "Then she cried some more. She couldn't speak. And I felt strength going out of me into her.

"After about five minutes, she raised her head and squared her shoulders. I said, 'Sister, are you OK? Can I help you?' She said, 'I'm just fine! I just needed someplace to cry.'

"I recognized that she had this tremendous strength for months and months. My job was just to go and provide the shoulder. But she had known through revelation and through a few simple principles how to serve."

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Here are the 3 scriptural accounts. I love this scripture story so much.  

Take a minute and soak up the goodness and the marvelous things we can learn about faith and it's power.  I also would have wanted to do what she did.  Wouldn't you?  I think we all would.

Matt. 9

20 ¶And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an ^aissue of^bblood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment:

 21 For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be ^awhole.

 22 But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee ^awhole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.

Mark 5 

25 And a certain woman, which had an ^aissue of blood twelve years,

 26 And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,

 27 When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his ^agarment.

 28 For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.

 29 And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.

 30 And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that ^avirtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?

 31 And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?

 32 And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing.

 33 But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.

 34 And he said unto her, Daughter, thy ^afaith hath made thee whole; go in ^bpeace, and be whole of thy plague.

Luke 8

 43 ¶And a woman having an issue of ^ablood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any,

 44 Came behind him, and touched the ^aborder of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood ^bstanched.

 45 And Jesus said, Who touched me? When all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, Master, the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?

 46 And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that ^avirtue is gone out of me.

 47 And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was ^ahealed immediately.

 48 And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good ^acomfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.

I have lots of markings on this set of scriptures as they are so profound.  I love it was a woman and I also am comfortable that she was having problems that I, as a woman, can understand and identify with.  The entire story is a power house to me.   

 I remember looking up virtue in the dictionary, beyond the footnotes, and writing in the margin...virtue=the ability to heal or strengthen.  healing power.

Better saddle up ol' paint and get to movin' & stop moseying around!

Oh, dear!  Has Nana/Grams/Grandmama/Grandma gone over the edge?  Will all the little ones be on a total sugar high and have their clothes all stained?  Will the Mommas be irritated?  I'm buying small, real small cups.  Maybe not as many spills?  I don't know what the McCall outcome will be but this is tucked away in the trunk of my car.

Perhaps I need an intervention?  I seem to always be tucking things in my trunk or the back of the pickup.  Remember the gate?  Well, as Miss Scarlett said....Fiddle dee dee, Ah'll think about that tuhmorra!

I think I need to return one of these that is tucked in the garage!!

We already have this....

Don't I see 4 boats of some sort above the Weber?  The kids all favor that old blue air mattress which I find so funny and endearing.  They sit afloat and visit and paddle and laze around unfazed and enjoy occasionally shoving each off in the lake.  We don't have a real boat but the kids love this sort of thing but I really do need to take one of those relaxation stations back. I admit it's overkill. 



Usually we end renting a boat and jet skis for our beach day but I don't know what we are doing this year.  At least at this point, I don't know.


Things are so different now.  Terry's stroke has impacted our life in subtle ways and it really comes to light in planning for McCall.  No van.  Me the car driver.  5 people with stuff for a week. We have always taken the truck, over-stacked and looking like hicks from the sticks, that maybe use their blue tarp covering for housing!  (couldn't he at least have bought brown?!)  We haul stuff as if we are going into the wilderness and no stores around.  You would not believe what I pack!!!  Maybe you would!

Terry keeps reminding me...you can buy stuff there.  Usually by now I have menu's planned, agenda's and theme days planned, food purchased and ready.  I even bring laundry soap for my DIL's who will have traveled several days to reach us.  I've even been known to have quarters on hand for laundry.
In the past I've cooked and made and baked and bought all sorts of food.  I have nothing done!!


As I said.  This year is different.

I have children and grandchildren that are eager to be together and relive this memory that has become so precious to us.  I have such fond memories of such great times and this year will surpass all because this year we will have even more people than before with a little gr-grandson coming for his first time.



Wonder if we can pull off another Christmas in July?  Last time we hauled our porch Christmas tree and all sorts of stocking and decorations.  It was so fun!!!


Perhaps they will have an outdoor play and everyone will indulge me and attend.  the last one we saw was absolutely dreadful and the entire audience was chortling.  I got teased to death for planning the  family cultural event!!! 


My daughter is coming in a few days-- she and I will get the details going and figure out this transportation issue and what to take.  2 massive food-filled cooler chests?  Christmas stuff?

In the meantime I look forward to getting her bedroom ready.  airing the blankets and freshly laundered sheets.  buying some fresh flowers.  tuck some chocolates that are wrapped in angel paper under her pillow.  get some books out for her to read.  seeing if I can find her some new pajamas.
making sure we have fresh blueberries in the fridge.  I might get ambitious and bake WW bread for her.  translation: might means-- it won't happen!!!

This I know...whatever gets done or doesn't get done, it will all be enough and things will turn out fine!  We will all enjoy ourselves and make one more memory for our family.  Love it!!!!