I have a new hairdo

I know...I've had the same hairdo for 30 years now I think, and everyone will think it really isn't any different, but to me it is.  I had Cinda cut off about 2" or so, and layer it (thin) more so it isn't so thick.  Then I had her streak it a little.  Probably more blonde than usual, but I actually kind of like it.  Of course, tomorrow when I do it myself...it will probably look like the same ole' hairdo.  I have a hard time picturing myself with anything else anymore. 
I went to donate blood today...my brother called me two or three times ...trying to coax me into it I guess.  Anyway, I finally went and thought...well, my blood pressure's going to be too high anyway, especially after getting through all the road construction to get there.  But, that was very good...lowest I've had for quite awhile.  But I had a temperature of 101.  I told her that I'd had my sweatshirt on, and maybe I was just hot, so she finished taking all my information, took my pulse, checked my blood pressure, checked to make sure I wasn't anemic...then retook my temperature and it was still over 100.  So, they won't take blood if you're over 99.5...so I just went back to work.  Maybe I'm sick and I'm so dumb...I don't even know it!  More likely, I am still fighting the flu or whatever Jeff had all last week.  I've only had a headache, but it's been a doozey.  But...I still have all my blood!  I actually wanted to do it...and have been thinking about it for a long time.  Especially whenever we pass the armory in Burley and they have their sign out...I feel guilty.  I'm perfectly healthy and don't donate.  But, now they have me registered, maybe I'll try going.
Tomorrow we will be doing Danelle's blog hop.  Please check by and check it out.  Should be fun.

Cutting wood

Yesterday, Jeff and I had decided we'd go for a drive and I thought we were heading to Twin.  Just before we left though, I called to talk to Danelle, and Chelsey told me they had gone to cut wood.  When we were getting ready to leave, I said...We should be going to help Danelle and Gary.  After we started out in the car, Jeff asked me if I was wearing anything that couldn't be washed...no...he said then we're going to try and find Danelle and Gary and help them.  I thought they'd been going up past Elba getting wood, so we headed in that direction.  When we got to Elba, I tried ccalling Danelle.  No answer.  We got a little further and when I called again, Treven answered.  He told Danelle we were headed up and she gave me directions.  Good thing.  We never would have found them otherwise.  They were past Almo and way back in.  When we got there, Gary was just changing a flat tire. They already had their pickup full, so we filled the back of ours.  Then they invited us for dinner.  Mikayla and Chelsey had to change lines, and Gary went to help them.  We visited and I got to play with Treven and Ellie for awhile.  Then Braquel and Keven showed up for dinner.  Braquel made the best Pico...um...We had a great time.  What a great family.  Thanks for sharing with us.

4H

Dillion was first to show his sheep at the Minidoka County Fair.  He did very well, and placed high enough that he got to come back and show for "overall".  His lamb stayed in place and obeyed pretty well.

This was the photo they take after he placed in the top three.  He came back again later.

Cody really struggled with his lamb.  The thing just simply didn't want to be in the ring.  He continually had to work at holding on to him, and positioning his legs, etc.  I think the judge felt like he had really worked hard and he rewarded him by placing him in the top four and letting him come back for "overall" also.

Poor Cody was just sweating by the time he finished.  It was hot anyway, and then he had to work so hard...

Joel was dressed up like a cowboy, because he rode in the "mutton" busting.  He was pretty excited about it too.  I didn't get to see him ride, but they said he stayed on like a champion.  We had lots of kids riding this year.  Clay, Joel, Luke, ...a bunch.  I didn't get photos of all of them though.
Jeff's mom, my mother, and myself all went and had a great time.

Here's Luke,Aubrie,Zane, and McKenzie

Luke is my nephew Jeff's oldest son.  He doesn't really know me very well, and when ever I speak to him, he tries to hide. But, Jeff reminds him I'm the one that has the little horse he likes, and then he's a little friendlier.  Isn't he a doll?

Aubrie is my nephew Larry's only daughter.  She has naturally curly hair, and is so cute.  I think I have the cutest nieces and nephews there are, and now they're having kids that are so stinking cute it isn't funny.

Zane is so serious.  Very, very smart.  He talks more like he's 20.  He has just stolen my heart.

McKenzie is such a darling.  She always calls me Lois, and she is very smart for her age also.  He older brother was making flash cards to help her learn her alphabet and words before she starts kindergarten this fall. 

All the little kids in our family are soooo cute.  They have just captured my heart and I love them all.  I try to talk to them and let them know that they are really special in our family.

Another family from the reunion

Ivy is the oldest of Jason and Sally's kids.  She surprised us all with her "blue" eyes.  Jason's eyes are hazel...almost brown, and Sally's eyes are very brown.  So we were all so surprised when Ivy arrived with these gorgeous blue eyes.  She loves horses, and she's been coming out and working with our colt and riding Chief and Sage for us.  We're really enjoying spending the time with her.  She's a cheerleader at East Minico this year, and in the 8th grade...already!

Natalie is a little firecracker.  She's ALWAYS smiling and is fun to be around.  She stayed with us for a few days earlier this year while her parents were gone, and we really loved every minute with her.  Jeff's mother tells me she's just sure I was just like Natalie when I was young.  She said everyone wants to be her friend and follow her around.

Whitney is like a precious moments doll.  She's very girly and loves taking her dance classes.  She is such a pretty girl.  Sometimes she's a little quiet until you get her going.

Sammy.  Boy...all boy.  He loves throwing balls and never comes out without his glove and baseball, or some kind of ball.  Last time he was out, they were trying to get everyone loaded up to go, and he and Grandpa are still playing catch.  Every time he would miss one, he'd say...just one more.  Then Grandpa would say...just one more...when he would catch it.  He's such a cutie.  He ran up to me the night of the reunion and said..."Hey...I kow you".  I think there were so many people there, he was excited to find someone he actually knew.

This photo is actually at my work place.  The kids were running the parking lot during the fair to earn money, and Kylee liked sitting on our hyster.  She always has bruises on her...I tell Jason & Sally we're going to have to turn them in...She ran into the door or something I think.  She just simply doesn't like me though.  She's over two, and she still won't make up with me.  She will finally smile at me once in awhile, but I feel pretty special when she does.  Did you notice that their last one ended up with blue eyes also?  How weird is that?

Look what I've been doing

When I went to Boise with Danelle and the girls, at the Carter's outlet store they had the cutest hat.  It was brown with a big flower on it, and I loved it.  I've been thinking about trying to make one for Ellie, and when I went to Idaho Falls Monday afternoon, I made a quick stop at WalMart to look for some buttons.  I saw this cool brown yarn, and decided I'd try to make one.  After Robin and the boys and I ate dinner that night, we stopped at Porter's, and they had a free pattern for knitted or crocheted beannies.  I started one when I got back to the hotel.  It looked pretty cute.  Then I thought maybe I'd have enough yarn to do another one, so I tried to crochet looser (trying to make it a little bigger) and got almost finished when I ran out of yarn.  I decided to add a couple of rows of pink and then tried to make up the flower.  I thought it turned out super cute and I'm excited to make more.  I've got to try it on Ellie though, because it still looks a little small to me.  But I love it.  I think I'll add a little blue trim on the first one and send it to a nephew and his wife who just had a new baby boy. 

Family

Danelle and Ellie on Friday night of the family reunion.  Ellie always has a dirty face...have you noticed?  Danelle said that her MIL calls her the hurricane.  She's always going a 100 MPH.  My sister Leslie is in the background.  She lives in Utah and we don't get to see her very often.  McKenzie walked up to her and said..."I know you...you're Aunt Lois".  I didn't ever think we looked alike, but maybe we do.

Braquel and Kevin came out for just a little while, but it was good to see them.  Braquel had to work on Saturday, so they didn't come then.

Mikayla should be a model.  She is always willing to pose and be beautiful for the camera.  Love it!

Chelsey is much harder to get photos of...she never wants her photo taken.  But she's becoming so beautiful, I keep trying.  What a fun family.

Challenge #7 for the retreat

This was a challenge to make your own background with inks, paint, or whatever you wanted.  I used the mist spray.  I put down some ugly blue stickers to spell senior and a template of paisley designs.  Misted, and then lifted the stickers off.  Cut the rest of the letters out of black paper.  She went to Declo High School and their colors are black/orange.  It didn't turn out too bad.  I think I probably should have trimmed it a 1/4" and then mounted it on black cardstock to make it stand out a little better, but oh well....it's done now.

Flowers

I thought this flower was so cute in Zoey's hair, I had her turn around so I could take a photo of it.  I want to cut some out and use them for different things.  I have one big project to put them on, and need to make over 20 of them.  Isn't her hair cute too?

Treven

This photo was taken at the family reunion, where they got cotton candy and popcorn after the pinewood derby races.  Treven had purple cotton candy all over his face...but he was one happy boy.

Treven will turn seven on Thursday this week, but he had a birthday party on Saturday.  The theme was pirate's, and you were supposed to come dressed like a pirate.  I couldn't believe how all the kids actually did!  It was pretty cool.  I'll have to load some of the photos from the party a little later,  What I wanted to share today though, is what a sweet kid he is. 

Danelle told me that yesterday morning, he said "thanks for doing so much work for my party".  She was tickled that he realized it.  Then he said..."here's a quarter to help you for doing so much work"...Now how sweet is that?  The party was terrific.  Getting there is a whole different story, which I'll share another day.  They played pin the "tail" on the pirate, had relay races, had a treasure hunt, and a water balloon fight.  Gary filled around 200 balloons with water, and we stored them in two different coolers.  Then the boys divided into two groups and threw balloons at each other.  I didn't actually see too many of them get hit.  They were all afraid to get close enough to actually hit someone with them.  Sam hit a couple of kids, and the balloons just bounced off and then broke when they hit the ground.

After the games, Treven opened his gifts and then Gary cooked hotdogs for everyone.  Danelle had chips in a basket and they could pick which one they wanted.  Pop to drink, and cupcakes with the gold coins standing on top.  Each boy got a treasure chest full of treats, tattoo's, and a spy glass.  Sam even came wth a hook...  Whitney was the only girl there, but she seemed to enjoy it anyway.

Sunset

You know, one of my very favorite things are sunsets and sunrises.  I tend to see more sunsets though, since in the mornings, I'm usually down in my craft room working on things.  Even when I walk in the mornings, I usually get back before the sun is coming up.  Last week, Jeff's dad called and asked if we had been outside to look at the sunset.  I went upstairs and grabbed my camera and went out...and what a sky.  It really makes you wonder at the beauty of this world.  How can anyone doubt the existence of a Supreme Being when you have that to look at.

Pinewood Derby at the family reunion

Treven was really excited about building their pinewood derby car, and he pretty much picked the color and design for it.  They found some rub-ons in the scrapbooking stash and he was set.  When they weighed it, it was only a little over 2oz. so that night, they added a quarter with tape. He was really proud of it.

Doris got a package when we went in the gym.  Her son Scott, who lives in Montana couldn't come this year, but he built her a car and sent it to Larry to give to her that night.  So, she got to race her own car.  Joel was almost more excited about it than she was, and he would run to pick it up after every race for her.  Jason said he kept working on his until it pretty much looked like a cross coming out of a boat...so he named it "Holy Roller".  He had even painted that on the top of it.

The borrowed the track from the Dayley's in Rupert, and they even came to pick it up Saturday morning.  Is that nice or what?  We had a great time racing with several divisions and run-offs.  There was a big difference in the lanes, so at the end, they raced three races with cars being moved from lane to lane to make it fair.  They had popcorn and cotton candy for treats while we were doing the races.  They also had some games going for the little kids that weren't as interested in the car race.

Dale and I tried to do "photo finishes".  I never did really get the hang of it.  I usually snapped my camera to soon or too late.  I had it on the sports button, which worked...I just couldn't seem to get my timing down.  I kept trying to snap it too soon...too used to that delayed snap I guess.  On this camera it doesn't have that so much.  But what a fun night.

So many things to tell about

The photo challenge this week was to take photos of three different buildings.  I love taking photos of old buildings, so I loved this one.  Not sure I met the challenge of three different prespectives, or that any of these buildings mean anything to me.  They were all up Fish Creek, and I loved taking them.  We walked up to all of them and checked them out also.  The one above was a nice home, and it looked like they had lived in it until not too long ago.  There was a meter on a power pole and wires going to the house...so they had electricity.  There was an old stove on the porch, and bed springs on the front patio.  Looked like there had been a ton of rats in it though, so I didn't get too many photos of the inside.

This house is leaning, which was interesting.  I didn't get out and walk over to it though, because there was a fence around it.  I loved the color of the wood though, and the position.

This was a shop of some kind.  It was full of old tools and tires, etc.  We only looked through the windows and didn't disturb anything.  I don't think it's right to take anything from somewhere like this.  Don't you love the wood?  I liked looking around and taking alot of photos here.

Every time I start to think I'm running out of things to share on my blog, I download my camera and I have a million new things to share.  I have lots of photos to share in the next few days, and I love them all.  Mainly because there of my family.

Shopping spree

I was pretty thrilled to be invited to go to Boise shopping with Danelle and the girls.  She called me at 4:30 a.m. yesterday morning, and asked if I'd like to go. When Jeff got up, he said..."who called us in the middle of the night?"... I didn't know if I could since Darena was already taking the day off, but Jeff said "Yes",I could.  It was a ball.  The girls had all earned their own money and were so excited to be finding clothes they really wanted.  I thought they all did pretty well too.  Mikayla and Chelsey had been working and saving money all summer.  Braquel, of course, has been working too.  But everyone found something they were excited about...even me.  I bought a gray sweater with big buttons on it that I really like.  I was totally surprised that I didn't find more things I really wanted, but I was having so much fun watching them find things and purchase them, that I never really got in the mode to look for myself.
Thanks for taking me...it was so much fun.
We ended the day by having dinner at the Olive Garden, which is one of my favorite places to eat.  It was just a really nice day.
Thanks to Jeff for letting me take the day off...he said it was a zoo, and they were super busy.  Thanks to Braquel for taking her car, and thanks to all of them for inviting me.  Loved spending the day with them.  What a great memory...I took my camera and didn't take one photo.  Too busy having a fun day.

August exchange cards

I had this great paper (only one page) that was all sparkly and bright, but I could never quite decide what to do with it.  I decided since the August theme was birthdays, I was going to use it somehow.  I flipped through the SU catalog, and just looked for a card that I might be able to use, and came up with this idea.  I thought it actually turned out fairly cute.

I thought this was sort of fun.  The color doesn't look quite right on here, but the flowers actually matched... It is a fun summery background paper.

I like paper piecing, but it does take quite a bit of time.  Besides, it uses up scraps, which I'm always trying to do.  I have tons of the things, and there are times when I think..."just throw it away"...but then I think, I could use that, and I get it right back out of the garbage.  It's sad.  But, I think my parents went through the depression, and they've taught me not to waste.  Even though there's other ways, that I do waste...funny how we are huh?

I had a pattern for paper piecing this card, and had been just waiting to try it.  It turned out fair...I think it might have looked better on a 5x7 card maybe.  But, I wasn't to unhappy with it.  I made several of these for myself as well as for the exchange.

Technique 49

I loved this photo of Joel, and when they said to change a photo to black & white, this is the one I choose.  He is such a cutie.  I actually liked the background papers and everything.  I only have a few techniques to finish, and the class is all ready over, but it was pretty fun.  I would probably do another class with her.

Technique 48

This was okay.  You fold the paper in lines, and then run the top of the fold along an embossing pad and emboss with either clear or colored embossing powder.  It was okay.  One thing I thought of...why could you emboss it, then refold and do it over with another color...making plaid?  I think it would work.

Technique 47

This was sort of an old idea.  Use plain white cardstock and a sponge to load it with ink, then cup your hand and spray water in it and sprinkle it on the ink...making spots.  It's okay.  The photo was one I took for the "up close" theme in my photoshop class.  It's from our spring retreat.  We were punching with the bind-all and this was all the "confetti" that was left.  Interesting, but I sure didn't make it all that clear.  I should have focused a little better.

Family reunion project

This is an apron I made for the family reunion auction.  I thought it turned out kind of cute.  I heard Janell was making aprons, and wasn't going to take it, but I didn't get anything else made, so I may be taking it anyway.  I have the fabric to make more, and I just love the color combinations that I found.  Just not sure what to do with them.  I don't think the girls want anymore aprons since I gave them some for Mother's Day.

Technique 46

The idea here, was to make a quick collage by scanning some crumpled patterened paper and then layering some thing on top of that and rescanning.  Then printing.  I don't really have a working scanner, so I just actually did it.  In the process, I used up a couple of things that I've had layiing around forever.  Love using up stuff, don't you?

Technique 45

I loved this technique.  The lady said she likes the look of fabric and sewing, but doesn't always have the time to do it.  So, she pleated patterned paper and put it over a plain color of paper.  I really like this and will probably use it alot.  Even on cards it would be a cute idea.

Technique 44

I really didn't care for this technique much.  It called for putting bleach on your photo, leaving it for 30-40 minutes and then rubbing it slightly.  I put bleach on several times, left it for quite awhile, and it would never do anything.  Then by accident, I scratched it in a spot, so I sort of just finished doing it that way.  I don't think I'll do this one again.  I'm just glad I have extra's of this photo.  Poor Taylor!

Fall banner

This is the banner I made to donate to the family reunion auction.  I posted it on the retreat blog before, but I have added the flowers between each flag, which I think made it look even better.  I'm really liking it, and I might have to make myself one.

Technique 43

This technique is under the time saving tips, but I think they take quite a bit of work.  I didn't get mine entirely straight either, but it's okay.  The photo is of the pinewood derby for Christopher, and the bottom photo is one I cut out of his car.  The green tab that shows up, is because I put it on the divider for Time Saving...it really isn't part of the collage.

My horse

Jeff's dad has had Sage out to his place for quite awhile now, but last week when they went riding, he used my horse since his was limping.  I had sort of forgotten how pretty Sage was.  Look at the color.  Isn't he pretty?  I guess he didn't get along with Vern real well.  He does not like a tight rein, and Vern thinks he needs tight control.  So, they were a little at odds all week.  He really is a pretty good horse though, and now he's here with us.  He's limping also, and we're not sure what the problem is.  Trevor looked at him, and can't really find anything wrong with him, so I guess we'll watch and see what happens.