I'm back

I am grateful to family and friends who follow my blog. I'm sorry it's been over a month since I've posted. This last month has been full of lots of "stuff" and plenty of it great and wonderful "stuff."

I will be posting some of the Christmas fun in future posts with pictures. I had a great holiday and mixed it up with packing up our belongings that were at the house. Luckily, 75 percent of our stuff was already packed and sitting in our storage unit. I had stress filled moments but survived.

We've made the move to Ohio! We drove in separate cars...and I was entertained by listening to a couple books on CD while SM listened to talk radio and some Pod Casts from a group of economists from George Mason. I found I like to drive in the daylight hours but as soon as it got dark, my driving confidence left. The roads were okay...and most of the time dry. I led the traveling wagons using the GPS and found that you can't always follow where the GPS leads. Needless to say, SM would have liked it better if I used my own logic a few times instead of making our trip go a little longer because we had to turn around few times.

Now I sit in a wonderful rented home. It is actually bigger than we were led to believe. We have four rooms and three and a half baths. That is so huge to me and I'm so excited to live here. I will later post pictures when everything is organized and unpacked.

The ward is great and really have welcomed us with open arms. We have had dinner at the Bishop's house and the Relief Society President and her secretary came by for a visit this morning. The future is looking hopeful and bright.

Tis the Season

The Christmas season is approaching and I just wanted to tell everyone how grateful I am for wonderful family and friends. I look at my life and believe I have been very blessed to know each of you. Life is so wonderful. There are trying moments and joyous moments and each moment gives us opportunities to serve and love or to be served and loved. Thanks for the love! Thanks for the wonderous moments!

Baby Shower for my Cousin

The above photo is of my cousin and her daughter. The last shower I went to was her's and now she helped throw this shower for her little sister. (I just have to add here that I love getting together with my aunts and cousins. There is something very awesome about family and being part of a large family).

My cousin in the red and black shirt is the reason for this celebration!

And this time I did get a photo of myself...and Mom!

There's Grandma and my cousin and her daughter...and the same baby as from above. I know that most you of you don't care about who is in the pictures...and that's okay. I do want to add that I have very talented cousins. The cousin in the gray shirt has an amazing house and one of her many talents is quilting. She makes the coolest quilts and quilts them herself.

This was a gift given by the sisters of the celebrated cousin. Luckily they let others help tie the quilt and be a part of that. I remember spending hours helping tie different quilts in the family. I loved the time listening to everyone talk and share. It's amazing the bonds and memories that are formed while tying quilts.

Thanksgiving 2009

This year for Thanksgiving we went to my parents house. It was a small gathering and lots of fun. It's been six years since I had Thanksgiving with my family. SM decided he wanted to cook the turkey. I just had to take this picture of SM and the turkey...this is before the oil was hot enough to deep fry the turkey. Somehow I missed the moment when the turkey was cooked and brought back into the house.

I just love this table decoration. I am not a very decorative person but love to see what others do for decorations. I guess that is why I felt compelled to take pictures of the decorations but you'll notice I didn't get a single photo of myself...or really any adults. Only the two youngsters!

There is something about fresh, hot rolls from the oven!

And more decorations!

We had a great meal. Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, dressing, rolls, froy-eye salad, green beans with mushroom sauce, fresh cranberry salsa, fresh veggie tray, apple crisp and pumpkin pie! Thanks for all the great food and time together! What a great Thanksgiving!

(I love how my SIL does my niece's hair. She always looks so cute!)

Girls Luncheon

Last Friday my sister set up a "girls family lunch." It was so fun to see my cousin (in the picture with me) and to have lunch with my sister and two of my sister-in-laws.

I have such an awesome sister...Thanks cute girl for getting us all together. I think we all enjoyed an opportunity to dress up, get out of the house and enjoy each other. I can't wait until next month when we do this again.

New Scarves

I have been knitting some scarves lately. SM has been encouraging me to sell them since I love knitting them but I don't wear them very often. Finally I decided I'd see if they could sell.

I asked my sister if she'd be willing to see if any of her co-workers would be interested in buying a decorative scarf or two. So, she took them to work and sold three...yipee!

And so I am very motivated (by money now) to continue knitting scarves and seeing if my sister can sell a few more scarves. (Thanks to my cousin for being my scarf model).

Austin Texas

SM and I spent the weekend in Austin Texas with our friends. We were able to be downtown at the State Capital of Texas. Wow! What a huge building!

Look at how tall that dome is...it made for lots of stairs but a place to put all the pictures of former govenors of the state of Texas.

Look at those cute girls sitting in the sun and enjoying the beautiful weather...and it was gorgeous weather. We were excited that the weather was so warm and inviting. Very different than the cold, snowy weather that we left.

I loved that the hinges of the doors in the capitol had this inscription and decoration.

This is where politicians tell the public about the decisions that have been made. I wanted to go up behind the microphone to make my own declarations but chickened out at the last moment.

This is a photo shot from three or floors above this atrium. I actually couldn't look over the edge and so SM had to take the picture. It just was too high for me to feel comfortable looking down.

And this last photo is looking up towards the dome. It was so ornate and beautiful and I'm so glad I was able to go see the Capitol of Texas and our wonderful friends.