Quilts for Babies

By the time January rolls around, I am soooo ready to have my sewing machine back out and start working on projects that have been building up!   There are several people we know that are having or have had babies recently, so here are 3 baby quilts that are all finished.  I have one more at the quilter now and another one with just about an hour left of work on it.   So, so fun!

 

This quilt is for my kid's piano teacher.   She had her first baby and named him Carter.  We have taken a "maternity break" from piano practicing too :)

This quilt is for Cali Strong.   The Strongs are our friends through Lindsey's soccer team. 

And this quilt is for Lincoln Bosley.   Lincoln is Autumn's new baby and Autumn is Jon's neice who just moved to South Carolina.   I love the cute monkey fabric!

2012 Calendars

During the months of October, November & December, one of my top priorities is:   CALENDARS!!!

I've made these for 9 or 10 years straight now and so once again, I did them!  They are soooo much work, but I love the finished product.     This year I made 6 big ones and 3 small ones!    

Enjoy!

Trip to Oregon (in one picture)

 

We had planned on leaving the morning of the 26th of December to drive to Oregon to visit Jon's mom.   It was really important to us to get there because it was her first Christmas without my father-in-law.  

 

We had quite a bit of snow on Christmas Eve and then a 2 day storm was expected on the 26th and 27th.   Jon had to work overnight the night of Christmas, so we had everything packed and we were planning on leaving as soon as he got home.

 

But, it was really, really snowy.  I was nervous about driving most of the way while he tried to sleep.  Then, our van wouldn't start (Jon had vacumned it out on Christmas night and left the lights on).   Then, his brother David called.  David was heading back to Utah from Oregon and said that chains were required on semis in Ontario.   Those were enough reasons for me to not go on the 26th. 

 

That gave Jon the chance to sleep, me the chance to take all the Christmas stuff down and the kids the chance to play with their new things.  We left the van all packed with the plan to leave on the 27th.

 

The weather wasn't great on the 27th either, but at least I had an awake husband.  We had to take most of Utah pretty slow, but we pushed through. (We had told the kids that the trip would take us longer than normal, but that we wanted to use as much daylight as we could).

 

Then, we got right past Burley, ID and it got really foggy!   We came upon stopped cars and thankfully we were able to stop and everyone behind us was able to stop.   Just a little farther down the highway, the other side was totally blocked off by a huge pileup, involving several semis & cars.   Everyone seemed to be okay - just unable to continue down that side of the highway - so we kept going.  (I later read that both sides of the highway ended up being closed, so we were so grateful we made it through).

 

After Jerome (where we stopped for lunch), the roads were much clearer.  We ran into some fog and slower roads again in Ontario, but we got to Union right as it was getting dark.  We were so grateful for our safe travels!!

 

 Anyway, we had a wonderful 2 days in Oregon.  The kids played the Wii, we played games, I sewed (2 quilts in 2 days!), Jon took the kids sledding and we ate at a yummy pizza place and then at the Cove Drive In - our favorite!

 

It is always fun to be with Diane & Rebecca (& Tom who was there)!

 

I was terrible about taking pictures and only got this one at the Cove Drive In!

 



Christmas Eve & Christmas Day

We had a wonderful Christmas!   It was wonderful to be home and wonderful to have ALL my siblings in town to spend it together!

We had some beautiful snow on the 24th and we were so grateful to have everyone safely arrive and return home!

 

The kids played out in the snow and loved it!   Jon made pies and I made 2 loaves of cardamom bread, which seemed to take all day!

 

For dinner on Christmas Eve, the kids talked me into ordering a platter of Chick-Fil-A nuggets and it ended up tasting spectacular!   We had the Cowden family, Richard Olsen and my friend Julie over for dinner, a white elephant gift exchange and games.  Misty's mom, Diana, also came!  It was a fun crowd!

 

Unfortunately, Jon had to leave before dinner to go to work, so we missed him, but as usual, there were some great white elephant gifts (an old blow dryer, an ugly purse, i-tunes gift card & book, pink tool set, a framed picture of Fred Savage that was autographed (by Mike),  a plunger & a beautiful unicorn cross stitch). 

 

After putting the little kids to bed, we played Psychiatrist & Mafia and we were all laughing so hard! 

 

Peter, Mike, Becky & I ended up staying up until about 1 (at which time Jon got home from work).  We laughed and laughed and had a great time!

 

The kids (and Pete) didn't sleep extremely well, but they managed to not bother us and came in at 7:00.  We all met in our bedroom and went down to see if Santa came.  We had my parents watching us via FaceTime and everyone had a wonderful day!

 

We had breakfast together and then Richard, Misty, Sophia and Aunt Camille came over for Christmas dinner around noon and then gift opening from each other.  Everyone was so kind and thoughtful!

 

We slept, played games and visited until about 5, and then I started folding laundry and trying to get ready to leave town the next morning for Oregon (we ended up delaying it a day because of the weather).   

 

I was exhausted and happy that Christmas was successful, but more happy that it was over!  It is a magical, wonderful time of the year and I'm so grateful for it and for those that I love so much!

 

Hannah & I won the plunger

 



Emily got the purse

 



Mike got the bald man's comb

 



Kate turns 7!!

This sweet little girl turns 7 years old today!   Wow!    We absolutely love and adore Kate!   She was born after 7 long weeks of pretty strict bedrest.  That, plus her little blonde hair, makes her our little angel.  

Kate is beautiful, kind, smart, a good friend, artistic, creative, loving and pure!   We are so grateful she is ours!  We love you Kate!

Pre-Christmas activities

Happy New Year!!   Wow!!   2013!!!

 

 

Whew!   I am a little embarrassed to admit, but I am a little happy that Christmas is over!   It is fun and exciting and wonderful, but as all mothers know, it is SO MUCH WORK!

 

 

We had a wonderful month of December and we did some fun things (although there's always a list just as long with things that just didn't quite get done - but there's always next year!).

 



 Hannah's preschool sang for the parents.   They are always so cute and Hannah (& Heidi) always sing loud!     (Hannah's the 5th kid in from the right)

 

 

Lindsey & Kate have joined the Longview Elementary Choir and they performed "Jingle Bell Jukebox."   Our school has about 425 students and over 100 of them sing in the choir - so it's a lot of fun!   Lindsey sang several lines of a song as a solo and Kate was thrilled because she got to dance with Kage, her cute friend.

 

 Becky & John and their kids came into town on the 22nd.  (It's such a blessing that they live within driving distance).    We all met at my parents house that Saturday night and were treated to PF Changs by Candy.   There was so much food and it was so delicious!   Thank you so much Candy!

 

Then, we went down to Temple Square to see the lights.  We were there about an hour and the lights were great.  It was really crowded, but it's still just amazing!

 

 Like an idiot, I forgot Hailey's coat, so we tried to keep her bundled up in the stroller.  

 

 On Sunday, December 23rd, we had the annual Olsen-Sorenson Christmas party.   It's always so fun to see all of our cousins and extended family.   Richard Olsen had set up a Christmas tree in the middle of the tables and it had a picture of everyone!   I should have counted them all, but it was impressive!

 

Families are encouraged to share a talent, so we had Pete & Mike sing "Jingle Bells" with Kate, Hannah & Brooklyn.