End of January Highlights

These are some of the things that kept us busy busy last month. Most of these pictures are my projects but James has been supportive the whole way and even doing some of these himself :)

So right of the bat I wanted to get started on my biggest and most time consuming project. It just so happens to be my Grandma Z project - my Bear Hall-o cabin quilt. My mother, so conveniently got a new sewing machine for Christmas. Oh my, what do do with her old one? How 'bout giving it away...to me! :) I inherited my mother's previous sewing machine and such. I went with her to the Phoenix quilt show Jan. 27th and had a blast. I was amazed at what people could do with material, thread, cool machines and time. While there I purchased my material needed to make the front side of my quilt. Mom helped me a bunch in technique and while at her house I cut all of my material. I'll keep going up to her house to put this quilt together. She's such a great teacher. :)

Pictured you'll see the actual material and on the right is the pattern I'll be doing. It's called a rail fence. I did the pattern on graph paper so I'll not be doing a ton of little squares but strips. It's gonna look so cool! Now I just have to practice my 1/4 inch stitching and I'll be able to start sewing my material (otherwise I'll be investing in quite a few seam pickins!)



Along with making the quilt I wanted to add some desert paraphernalia. I found this awesome cactus (below) at the Hallmark store in my mall along with the temperature thermometer. James and I also bought little wood figurines of a cactus and Javelina (pig-like desert dweller) and a metalic brightly colored lizard. Also bought at the quilt show was a wall hanging pattern of a lone Saguaro Cactus with a sun behind and a snake at it's base. I was going to make a day scene and a night scene and it'll hang above the bed or opposite wall or something. My goal is to bring the warmth of the Sonoran desert for anyone staying in that room :)



The weekend before the quilt show we went with our good friends, Jeff and Amy Jenkins (and their new 4month old baby Josh) to a small town (village?) south of us called Tubac. This place would fit on a football field that's how tiny it was :) But it was filled to the brim with artisans and their crafts and history. I took a pic of the sign in the restaurant that we ate. I didn't realize till after that it said "Settled by Mormons." Cool huh :)







On Jan. 26th my 3rd niece was born. Her name is Ada (like "aid-uh") She was healthy as can be and looks like her sisters (which means she's adorable). We get to go see her at the end of March to see her blessed. I am so excited!



To keep up with some of our other goals my sweet husband let my buy some fun things. I bought a gardening book written by a man that worked for the U of A here in Tucson which means his gardening tips are specifically for this area. It's a little outdated (written in the late 80's) but I'm excited to read it. (I can't start reading it till I'm done with the Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites series though. I've just finished book 8 out of 11 and I started the beginning of January!!) Eight books in four weeks isn't too shabby huh :)

I also canned some Cherry syrup and pie filling with my friend Amanda. With her inspiration I bought a few more toys - a home preserving recipe book and a steam canner. The steam canner was a breeze to use and with my guardedness with ovens or stoves (who wouldn't be after setting fire to your oven as a missionary!) the steam canner was perfect for me. I'm excited to start canning and adding to my food storage!





One of my other goals was to learn 6 hymns on the piano including a Christmas hymn. I've almost got We Listen To a Prophet's Voice. My mom let me borrow her simplified hymnal to help me get my bearings on the base clef line. My left hand has some issues still to work out :) It's not as fluent as my right.



James and I also have been very diligent in our personal and couple readings. It's remarkable the changes that I feel within myself as I read every day. I am so glad that we decided to be better at this. For his personal reading he reads with the Young Men's schedule. For mine I'm reading the New Testament. We read the Book of Mormon together. I love the New Testament. I made little charts for James and I (I do better when I can SEE my progress) to mark our readings. I bought smiley face stickers to mark the chart. I call them Hooray Boards (don't ask my why but it works... LOL). I took a picture of January's reading because I was so proud of us! Look at all those happy faces!



Oh and I decorated for Valentine's. :)



We sure have been busy but it's been fun! And I've been learning a whole lot of new things. I can't wait to see what the month of February brings! We've got plenty of activities lined up already! :)