. . . slurry . . .

. . . what's going on 

in your neighborhood today? . . .

. . . gotta love that 

fresh blacktop smell . . . 

{nope}

. . . and all those tiny black rocks 

that end up in the house . . .

. . . they're great for wood floors . . .

{nope}

. . . but ~ on the bright side ~

 the street looks great . . . 

. . . pom line . . .

. . . i'm gearing up for the 

great eighth grandchild giveaway . . .

{which is totally different than 

if we were giving away an eighth great grandchild}

. . . anyway . . .

. . . all of today's oops! 

feature jumbo pom pom fringe . . .

. . . it's my favorite edge trim . . .

. . . this white on white is perfect 

for a blessing or christening day . . .

. . . how about 

a snow leopard version? . . . 

. . . elliott's crib bedding 

started out red . . . 

. . . but switched to aqua . . .

. . . and it only took me 

nearly four years 

to use up the red chenille . . .

. . . this pink is beautiful in person . . .

. . . sort of a deep carnation pink . . .

. . . anyone remember 

the crayon named 

"carnation pink"? . . .

. . . it was my favorite . . .

. . . this is the sweetest, palest, 

babiest pink . . . 

. . . so soft and cute . . .

. . . and this is the perfect green . . .

. . . not too lime-ish . . .

. . . for all the pink and purple lovers

 out there . . .

. . . another carnation pink . . .

. . . this time in polka dots . . . 

. . . that perfectly match 

my favorite rosy chenille . . .

. . . stay tuned for the

 great eighth grandchild giveaway . . .

. . . we're just waiting 

for baby hayden 

to make her grand entrance . . .

. . . hopefully soon . . . 

. . . her poor mama is getting 

a bad case of the itchies . . .

{PUPPPs and it's no fun at all}

. . . grillin' in the rain . . .

. . . it was so good

the last time . . .

. . . we decided 

to recreate this meal 

today . . .

. . . it was raining both times . . .

. . . never mind 

it was about 

thirty-five degrees warmer 

today . . . 

. . . and no pine trees . . .

. . . but, dinner 

still turned out great . . .

. . . thanks to shellene

 for highly recommending 

this marinade . . . 

. . . tasty . . .

. . . easy . . .

. . . juicy chicken . . .

. . . even better than dinner 

was having 

all the grandkids together again 

after a couple of months apart . . .

. . . noisy, sticky, damp, happy kids . . .

. . . a perfect end to this sunday . . .

. . . dear liz . . .

. . . seriously . . .

. . . you were with daniel craig . . .

. . . in a helicopter . . .

. . . with daniel craig . . .

. . . at the olympics . . .

. . . with daniel craig . . .

. . . in england . . .

. . . with daniel craig . . .

. . . really . . .

. . . it's okay to smile!! . . .

. . . just say no to crack . . .

. . . warning: this post is rated pg . . .

. . . tell the kids to look away . . . 

. . .

. . .

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. . .

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. . .

. . .

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. . .

. . .

. . . okay . . .

. . . first of all,

i'm not quite sure

why people send this stuff 

to me . . .

. . . second of all, 

there seems 

to be a theme today . . .

. . . exhibit *a . . .

. . . from brother-in-law, rob . . .

. . . apparently the shirt says 

"i'm more attractive 

than you think" . . .

 . . . he says it's going to be 

the new required uniform 

for all his carpet installers . . . 

. . . exhibit *b . . .

. . . from daughter, amelia . . .

. . . she says, "this is how 

we do swimming 

at the johnson house" . . .

. . . this better be included 

in colby's wedding video 

someday . . . 

. . . *i'll let you figure out 

what the *a and *b stand for . . .

. . . nesting . . .

. . . she's washed 

all the tiny clothes . . .

. . . he's assembled 

the stroller and swing . . .

. . . they've dressed the crib . . .

. . . after a trip to lowe's, 

they've hung the quilt . . . 

. . . what's left 

for jessalyn and drew 

to do? . . .

. . . wait patiently . . .

. . . baby hayden 

should arrive 

any day now . . .

. . . my favorite day of the month {and a winner} . . .

. . . yes, today was quilt group . . .

. . . good thing, too, 

because i was in withdrawal 

from missing it 

the last two months . . . 

. . . i love my children 

and i was so happy 

for the chance 

to visit drew and jessalyn 

in utah 

and amber, chris and children 

in california, 

but i will 

~ from here on out ~ 

be a little more careful 

with my trip planning . . . 

. . . there's only one third wednesday 

of each month . . . 

. . . no need to be out of town 

on that one day! . . .

. . . so 

~ after my prolonged absence ~ 

you'd think i'd be excited 

and take lots of photos . . .

. . . well ~ think again! . . .

. . . when we were nearly finished 

for the day, 

i snapped a couple of pics . . .

. . . and i'm so disappointed in myself

 for all the things 

i didn't document . . . 

. . . like the amazing quilts

nedra is working on . . . 

. . . she's a professional 

scrap user upper . . . 

. . . and she turns those scraps 

into works of art . . . 

. . . gina whipped up a baby quilt 

and a doll quilt 

in a couple of hours . . .

. . . then she and renee served 

an italian lunch feast . . .

. . . salad, pasta, sauce, bread 

and panna cotta . . . 

. . . oh, my . . .

. . . vicki is working on 

adorable birthday wall hangings . . . 

. . . i am most likely 

going to steal one of them 

when they're finished . . . 

. . . renee worked on one 

of her signature 

minkee and satin 

baby blankees . . .

. . . candice sewed 

strips of vintage modern 

for a grandbaby's chevron quilt . . . 

. . . holly stitched away 

on a project 

that might take a while . . .

. . . embroidered blocks 

depicting famous children's books . . .

. . . a labor of love . . .

. . . amanda popped in and out 

between her 

relief society president duties 

and back to school 

immunization appointments . . .

. . . so excited julie's 

going to join us from now on . . .

. . . can't wait to see 

what she'll work on first . . .

. . . whatever it is,

it will be spectacular . . .

. . . we missed jamie and janet . . .

. . . i think if this quilt 

and this quilt 

had a baby . . .

. . . it would look 

like this gorgeous quilt

 that karen is working on . . . 

. . . bliss and snowballs . . . 

. . . perfect combo . . . 

. . . i absolutely love 

the tiny cornerstone squares 

in this pattern . . . 

. . . they add so much . . . 

 {isn't it so pretty?}

. . . gina has an entire bolt 

of this mustache fabric . . . 

. . . pretty sure i laughed out loud 

when i saw it . . .

. . . so clever . . . 

. . . here's one of peggy's projects . . . 

. . . she's started 

a great granny quilt 

for a grandson on the way . . .

. . . lucky baby! . . .

{that tiny gingham background will be fabulous} 

. . . me? . . .

. . . i didn't get done 

nearly as much 

as i thought i would . . .

. . . could it be because 

i was yakking too much? . . .

. . . could it be because 

i was admiring 

everyone else's work too much? . . .

. . . could it be because 

i was 45 minutes late? . . .

. . . could it be because 

i spent too much time with megan

 designing my ipad cover . . .

. . . could it be because 

i was savoring 

every single mouthful 

of that lunch? . . .

. . . who cares? . . .

. . . bottom line? 

i finished a couple of blocks . . . 

. . . and today . . . 

. . . that was good enough for me! . . .

. . . i just love spending time 

with these ladies . . . 

. . . and . . . 

. . . yep! . . .

. . . today's the day . . .

. . . congratulations, rachel! . . .

. . . you get to pick out 

a couple of your favorite oops! . . .

. . . thanks to all of you 

who left such nice comments . . . 

. . . don't worry . . . 

. . . just as soon 

as jessalyn and drew 

have their baby girl, hayden . . .

{grandchild number eight}

. . . there'll be eight more winners . . .

. . . stay tuned . . .

. . . they walked and walked and walked . . .

. . . it was early this morning . . .

. . . about six o'clock . . .

. . . nearly time to go walking . . .

. . . tuesday is green trash 

and recycled trash day . . .

. . . as i emptied 

all our diet coke and lemonade cans

 {with loud clanking} 

and walked the green and blue bins 

out to the curb, 

i thought i heard 

someone sweeping . . .

. . . it was actually 

the sound of a lawn rake . . .

. . . my sweet neighbor 

was raking MY yard . . .

{thanks, susie!}

. . . crazy wind/dust storms 

over the weekend 

had left my yard 

looking sort of like this . . .

{well ~ maybe not quite so bad} 

. . . i planned 

to clean up the needles myself 

after walking . . .

{about three miles, or so}

. . . but she'd beat me to it . . .

. . . she assured she wouldn't 

do the whole yard . . .

{she did the worst part}

. . . so, i finished when i got home . . .

. . . i managed to get 

blisters on both thumbs . . .

. . . the one on my left hand 

tore open . . .

. . . wah wah wah . . .

. . . then i started thinking about today

 ~ the 24th of july ~ 

the day my church 

celebrates the arrival 

of the mormon pioneers 

to the great salt lake valley . . .

. . . they'd been walking, too . . .

{about thirteen hundred miles}

. . . they had blisters . . .

{and mostly no shoes}

. . . they'd been sleeping 

on pine needles . . .

{those things are pokey!}

. . . their faith was incredible . . .

. . . their determination unmatched . . .

. . . i doubt i'd have made 

a very cheerful pioneer . . .

. . . i'm pretty sure 

i'd never have been 

anyone's choice 

for a first wife . . .

. . . not in those days 

before makeup 

and blow dryers . . .

. . . but i am thankful every day 

for their sacrifice . . .  

. . . their dedication 

to what they knew 

to be true . . . 

. . . leaving their homes, 

their friends, 

their comfortable circumstances . . .

. . . many of them 

burying family members 

along the trail . . .

. . . traveling across this great land 

to build a new home . . .

. . . a home where 

they could worship 

as they pleased . . . 

. . . blessed, honored pioneers . . . 

{tomorrow's the day i'll pick a winner}

. . . card tricks . . .

. . . for about twelve years now . . . 

. . . i've signed up for and taken 

a card making class 

every month . . .

{i haven't missed more then a handful of times}

. . . it's held at my 

local {favorite} scrapbook store . . .

. . . i started when my first daughter

 was working there . . .

. . . continued through daughter two

 and daughter three 

working there . . .

. . . and even now that 

no daughters work there, 

i still go to class . . .

. . . the teachers are/have always 

been so creative . . . 

. . . first was margie . . .

. . . then lesli . . .

. . . and now it's amy . . .

. . . each teacher has her own style . . .

. . . but here's the truth . . .

{it's not about the cards}

. . . it's just another form 

of creative {relatively cheap} therapy . . .

. . . one more weapon in 

the "let's keep steph sane" 

arsenal . . .

{creations from last week's class}

. . . and {icing on the cake} scrapbooks, etc. 

is now also my 

local {favorite} fabric store . . .

. . . it has morphed 

over the last couple of years . . .

. . . now they carry 

all the latest 

quilting fabric lines . . .

. . . and patterns . . .

. . . and tools . . .

. . . and classes . . .

. . . it's a happy place to be . . .

. . . check out their calendar . . .

. . . sign up for a class or two . . .

. . . you'll see . . .

{just a reminder: i'll be picking a winner on wednesday ~
so, there's still time to enter}