. . . variety is the spice of life . . .

. . . i made a deal 

with our relief society president . . .

. . . i'll make special blessing day oops!

 for all the babies born in our ward . . .

. . . and she'll never ask me 

to teach sunday lessons . . .

. . . score! . . .

. . . pink and grey ~ 

a classic combination . . . 

. . . these flew out the door 

as soon as i got them made . ..

. . . and for shlepping 

around disneyland 

with an infant . . .

. . . you'd be the envy 

of everyone in line 

at mr. toad's wild ride . . .

. . . see? there's an oops! 

for every circumstance . . .

. . . ric rac paddy whack . . .

. . . in the last couple of years . . . 

. . . ric rac has really come of age . . .

. . . i know it's been around forever . . .

. . . but now there are 

more sizes and colors than ever . . .

. . . i love to hoard collect it . . .

. . . and then the fun starts 

when i try to make 

ric rac/ribbon combos . . .

(we may have had an instagram discussion about this color's name)

. . . i have a fun "job" . . .

. . . ruffles have ridges . . .

. . . i've always loved it . . .

. . . there's just 

something about eyelet . . .

. . . the holes . . .

. . . the daisies . . .

. . . the scallops . . .

. . . so glad i finally had the bright idea

 to use it on oops! . . .

. . . it looks especially fresh and springy

combined with these trendy colors . . . 

. . . baby gifters 

can't seem to get enough 

of mint, coral, teal and melon . . .

. . . take me out to the ballgame . . .

. . . every time i go to the ribbon store, 

the pink polka dot section 

is like a magnet . . .

. . . i mean, really . . . 

. . . but i was on a mission . . .

. . . focus focus focus . . .

. . . ahhhhh . . . 

. . . there it is . . .

. . . for a special little sports fan . . .

. . . or probably, more specifically . . .

. . . for the offspring 

of a special sports fan . . .

. . . i'm always up 

for the challenge 

of a special oops! order 

or two . . .

. . . call me maybe . . .

. . . i love to see the temple . . .

. . . since i'm there 

every wednesday . . .

. . . and because 

it's such a beautiful place . . .

. . . i decided to snap a quick photo

 each week . . .

. . . the flowers are glorious . . .

. . . and the smell is intoxicating . . .

. . . at the mesa arizona temple . . .

. . . row row row eleven . . .

. . . since i was on a roll . . .

. . . maybe i should say 

i was on a "row"ll . . .

. . . nevermind . . .

. . . i shouldn't say that at all . . .

. . . anyway . . . 

. . . the next row looked like 

it'd be quick and easy . . .

. . . little spools of thread . . .

. . . fourteen of them . . .

. . . so i pulled some fabrics . . .

. . . and lined 'em up . . .

. . . they went together super fast . . .

. . . and i just couldn't resist . . .

. . . putting them in roygbiv order . . .
. . . i have a little ocd obsession 
with that . . .
{technically rpygb order ~ no o; p instead; no i or v either}

. . . another gratuitous yard shot . . .
. . . ivy today . . .
. . . springtime in arizona 
is the best . . .

{total number of pieces in row 11: 85}

{total number of pieces in rows 1-11: 1317}

. . . row row row ten . . .

. . . after i made it 

to the bottom of my ironing pile 

during general conference, 

i rewarded myself with 

a little "get to" sewing . . .

. . . maybe i should make myself 

a chore chart 

with stickers and prizes . . .

. . . time to work on

row ten: houses . . .

. . . earlier in the week, 

i had selected these fabrics 

for houses and roofs 

and residents . . .

. . . got 'em all cut out . . .

. . . and construction began . . .

. . . here're the first two houses 

on the block . . .

. . . and the whole subdivision . . .

. . . with crazy toddlers 

in the grey and aqua house . . .

. . . identical twins 

in the yellow and red house . . .

. . . visually challenged hat wearers 

in the red and pink house . . .

. . . a cute little top-knotted redhead 

and her sister 

in the pink and green house . . .

. . . and a ballet studio 

in the yellow and grey house . . .

. . . these are, of course, tract homes . . .

. . . everyone has the same floor plan,

 door and chimneys . . .

. . . how about 

a gratuitous geranium shot 

of the whole row? . . .

{note to self: blue painters tape 

definitely shows through white background fabric}

. . . this row was pretty quick 

to put together . . .

. . . ten rows down . . .

. . . three to go . . .

. . . plus a few other things 

that make this quilt 

over the top amazing . . .

{total number of pieces in row 10: 110}

{total number of pieces in rows 1-10: 1232}

. . . conference weekend . . .

. . . this was one of 

my favorite two weekends 

of the year . . .

. . . i love listening 

to the inspired words 

of our church leaders . . .

. . . and . . .

. . . i love to get 

to the bottom 

of my ironing pile . . .

. . . it's my general conference

tradition . . .

. . . and it keeps me awake! . . .

. . . especially if i arm myself 

with diet coke 

and leftover cadbury eggs . . .

. . . i'm always on the lookout 

for my hometown girl, 

tricia hyde swanson . . .

. . . we grew up in the same ward . . .

. . . she has a spectacular 

first soprano voice 

and has been in the choir 

for a long, long time . . .

{top row, center, dark hair ~ she and her voice are beautiful}

. . . tv screen photos 

in fluorescent lighting 

are awful . . .

. . . but let's take a vote . . .

. . . and i'm sure 

you'll all agree with me . . .

. . . periwinkle dresses 

are waaaaaaaay better 

than mauve . . .

. . . and it's good to see 

everyone in their assigned seats 

two days in a row . . .

. . . president uchtdorf 

makes all the foreign names 

of general authorities 

sound fantastic 

with his awesome german accent . . .

. . . and funny internet people 

make me laugh with 

{maybe slightly inappropriate ~ yet true} 

sayings like this . . .

. . . after the first hour 

of the morning session, 

and several white shirts . . .

. . . the congregation and choir 

stood to sing a rest hymn . . .

. . . "let us all press on" . . .

. . . and maybe it made me laugh . . .

. . . after the first two-hour session . . .

. . . halfway through 

the afternoon session . . .

. . . and i was finished 

after four hours . . . 

. . . i never claimed to be 

a super fast ironer . . .

. . . but i AM good! . . .

. . . my favorite 

{are we allowed to have a favorite?}

 speaker . . .

. . . if i had to choose one . . .

. . . is nearly always

elder jeffrey r. holland . . .

. . . it seems like every talk he gives 

is a masterpiece . . .

. . . another true funny . . . 

. . . after the final session ended . . .

. . . it was time 

to get my skewers on . . .

. . . and chris was a great sport 

and worked hard 

at grilling them up . . .

{sorry about all the smoke in your eyes, chris!}

. . . while tyler had his hands full

 keeping colby entertained . . .

. . . and yes, we did 

have an easter egg hunt . . .

. . . a week after easter . . . 

. . . bill filled them with candy . . .

. . . then addi and halleigh 

hid all the eggs . . .

. . . elliott didn't mind a bit 

that we were a little tardy . . .

. . . and tagg was happy 

to show me his treasures . . .

. . . while brent napped on the lawn . . .

. . . feeling the spirit, 

being productive, 

good food, 

and family time . . .

. . . that about sums up 

one of my favorite two weekends 

of the year . . .

. . . i'm already looking forward 

to october . . .

. . . i love to see the temple . . .

. . . the tops of the palm trees 

may be missing . . . 

. . . but petunias always trump 

palm trees . . .

. . . and i have a special love 

for daffodils . . .

. . . even white ones . . .

. . . just like gramma's house . . .

. . . i felt like i was following

 the beverly hillbillies . . .

{cue banjo music}

. . . and then the clampetts 

pulled up and stopped 

in front of my house . . .

. . . with two sofas . . .

. . . two wingback chairs . . .

. . . and a refrigerator . . .

 {tyler, austin, and brent are the buffest/best sports!}

. . . living room before . . .

. . . living room after . . .

back story: about fourteen years ago,  her children talked my dear mother-in-law into moving from her home at the biltmore in phoenix to the east valley, where most of us live. bill found a lovely patio home in val vista lakes, which she snatched right up. then, she asked if i would decorate it for her before she moved in. she asked for a competely different style than her phoenix home, which was sleek and modern and spectacular with lots of chrome and glass and red ~ everything my father-in-law had loved. but, as a widow, she wanted soft and tradititional and feminine and floral and wallpaper and purple in her new digs. her budget was, let's say, verrrrry generous. she wrote me a big check and said, "let me know when it's finished." how fun is that? i had a great time choosing flooring and shutters and bedding and furniture and art and everything. who gets to do that all at once? i had a fabulous time spending her money! fast forward to january of this year, when she passed away. there's a lot of stuff to deal with. who knew we'd end up with the living room furniture i'd chosen for her all those years ago? yes, it's really flowery {and purple isn't my favorite . . .} but i think of her and smile every time i walk past this room. maybe someday we'll reupholster these pieces because heaven knows they'll last forever. {we were also lucky enough to inherit that original oil painting of her. the artist is our good friend, allen garns.}