Bronco's

This is the hat I made for Connor.  Since he and Jaden live in Boise, and have always had season tickets to BSU...I thought they would enjoy the Blue and Orange.  Hopefully they will anyway.

This one is for Jaden.  I know my granddaughters here are loving these hats, so I thought they might too.

We had season tickets to the BSU games for about five years, but last year due to the increased games during the week, and the price of the tickets going up so much, we decided to give them up.  Saturday night when we were watching them play Oregon , we were sure wishing we were there in person.  It just doesn't seem the same on TV.  Even though I get excited and scream and cheer...I miss actually being there  with the crowd screaming and blowing horns and booing...I didn't really like that part...but, there's nothing like the spirit at the real game.  Plus, we really miss seeing all the couples that we tailgated with.  There were about ten couples that always came, and we miss that part of it.  Darin called on his way home from the game to tell us that he really missed having us there also.  That was nice of him. 

This Saturday it's New Mexico...there.  They announced on the news this morning that Sports Illustrated will feature the BSU Bronco's on their front cover this week.  It came out today, but when I checked at WalMart, they said it would be Friday before they got it.

Patriotic Photo Challenge

The last challenge for our photography blog was to take a patriotic photo.  I took my camera to Boise on 9/11 thinking I'd see all kinds of things...nothing.  So, I've been taking my camera to work with me, looking for something.  Then Robin said she had thought about a photo of a veteran or someone standing at attention, etc.  I hadn't even considered that.  Still watching...nothing.  Finally tonight, Jeff and I went to the Paul cemetary so I could take photos of Dad's grave.  I was hoping for a flag on it, but they've taken all those off so they can mow I guess.  But, I did like this memorial by the little chapel there.

This photo is just above the memorial, and the flags were fluttering in the breeze which was cool

This one is taken from Dad's grave site.  It's really a very beautiful cemetary.

This is the headstone the veteran's put on Dad's grave.  He never talked about the war, and I always assumed it was because it wasn't a pleasant experience.  I sort of wish he had told us about it, but maybe it was just too difficult to talk about.  I've seen many war movies, and it didn't look like it would be to pleasant to tell people about.  I've always wondered about the "post traumtic" syndrome...he never acted like anything was wrong, but by never talking, I'm assuming there had to be something there.  I've always been very proud that my father served and fought for our freedom.  It really makes me upset that so many Americans do not appreciate or understand the sacrifice these men made.  My father had four children and was in the middle of building a home when he was drafted.  And my mother said Grandma Stapelman shook his hand and wished him good luck...good ole German!  No wonder it's hard for me to hug people and tell them I love them, but I've gotten better at it.

Are you ready for some football?

We went to Boise a couple of weekend ago to watch Connor and Jaden play.  Jaden got sick during the week though, and didn't get to play on Saturday, but we did watch Connor.  He wears these bright yellow shoes, so it was pretty easy to photograph him.  I just watched for those yellow shoes to show up in my frame and snapped away.

The teams all have little "cheerleaders".  Darin said football has become VERY popular in Boise, probably in large part from the popularity of BSU.  He said this year they have 2500 kids playing football, and over 200 cheerleaders.  Amazing.

Darin is the defensive coach for Connor's team, and his brother-in-law helps him.  That's pretty cool. The day we watched, Connor's team played very well and won by 36-6 or something close to that.  The boys were all pretty jacked about it.

The parents and spectators make a tunnel, and the kids love running through it for applause and pats on the back for a job well done.

Connor plays with the boys (and one girl) that are a year older than him since he's a pretty good size boy.  I guess that's not surprising when you look at Jeff's shoulders and Darin's.  I think he comes by it pretty naturally.  He's such a cute kid with a fantastic grin.

In August, Danelle held a birthday party for Treven, and invited us.  Jeff was gone for the day, but I went up...and got stopped by a policman in Declo...I'm about to quit driving to Albion!  Anyway...I digress...They had a pirate theme, and I was surprised that ALL the kids came dressed in something  for the theme.  Gary filled water balloons forever, and Brogan, myself, and another mom tied them.  About 200 in all.  Danelle split them between a couple of coolers and one of the games was to divide in teams and throw them at each other.  For the most part, no one wanted to get close enough to get wet, so it was just balloons popping on the ground.  Even Ellie thought it was great fun.

Gary roasted hot dogs for lunch, and they each picked a bag of chips.  Danelle had made some salads, and Treven had a treasure hunt to find his big gift from mom & dad.  The kids seemed to really enjoy it.  On the table were treat bags for each kid.  Whitney was the only girl there, but she didn't seem to mind.

Jeff and I gave Treven a target since Braquel and Keven gave him a bow & arrow.  When we were up there a few Sunday's ago, Jeff was showing Treven how to pull the bow back and aim, and he started hitting the target every time.  He always pays attention and listens and then does.  He shot until his arm started to shake from the strain of pulling it back.

Lindsay's Homecoming

Lindsay was nominated as a Homecoming attendant for the Sophomore class in Gooding, and Steph invited us down for the game and to see half time when they would announce the winners.  They had to find a car to ride in the parade with, and they were trying to figure out where they could find a convertible, when Lindsay remembered seeing Gary's new BMW convertible on Danelle's blog.  Danelle said when they called, she wasn't sure Gary would go for that, but he said she could take it down.  Lindsay was pretty excited about it.  I didn't get to go to the parade, but hopefully Danelle will post some photos of that.  Mikayla went with her and helped Lindsay do her hair and get ready.  Steph said everyone was holloring..."nice car...can I drive that?"  "wow...super car"  Gary would have been proud.  The game was against Glenns Ferry, and they played pretty well.  I think it was tied at half time, but they eventually won...barely.  Glenns Ferry was almost to the goal line at the end of the game, and if they had scored...they would have won.  But, Gooding held them and got the ball back and just had to kneel down to win.  At half time, they brought out the four class floats and announced the winners.  The above photo is the Sophomore class float, and they took second.  The Sophomore's beat the Juniors in everything.  They took 2nd on the weeks events also.

 I took my camera, but let Steph take it down on the field to take the photos.  Just before half time, I said..wow look at the moon coming up.  When Steph came back from taking pictures, she said...oh I forgot to get the moon in them, but if you look...she got it!  Steph said she took Lindsay to Boise shopping for a dress, and was very proud of herself...she didn't look at the price of them.  Just let her find what she wanted.  One of her very good friends was also nominated, and Steph said she figured they would split their votes, and the other girl would win...and that's just what happened.  But Lindsay said she was totally fine with it, that it had been alot of fun anyway.  She stayed for the dance, and when I talked to Steph on Saturday, she said Lindsay was excited because everything had been so much fun...even the dance.  Congrats Linds.  We love you!

We got our new horse

We got "Scout" on Friday.  Shawn brought him down for us, so we didn't have to drive to Blackfoot today.
He looks very out of place in our pasture with all the sorrel horses we have.  In fact, we don't have much of anything that isn't a sorrel with white blazes and white feet.  But I think he'll be a good addition.  Chief chased him around the corral for quite awhile, but by the time we got home from Gooding last night, they seemed to be settled in.  I thought Sage was going to finally have a friend, but Chief and Scout seemed to have made up.  Until this morning when we were trying to treat their ears and spray them.  I was holding the grain bucket to give them treats if they were good, and Chief wasn't about to share with anyone.  He's down right orney sometimes.  I guess they'll all survive though.

Christmas Council project

I think my family is totally awesome.  I'm sharing these photo's, not to say we did something special, but because I feel like our family is very generous and they are so supportive.  At the beginning of the year, Danelle started a family blog and called it the "year of Sharing".  She outlind a project to share or give for every month of the year.  And so far, our family has been very, very generous.  In August, we asked everyone to bring a new toy to donate to the Christmas council.  As you can see from the lower photos...everyone brought something.  I think some families brought more than one.  Then, the Johnson's, who were over the family reunion this year, planned for the family to spend Saturday morning making things to donate as well.  I was so impressed with the projects that I just had to share.

 We  made 30 bracelets.  Even a couple of men sat and arranged beads and strung them.  Cinda was in charge of this project.

 Years ago, my father made these folding wooden fences for Jason and CJ.  They loved them.  You could corral animals or cars or whatever.  We made 10 of these.

 We made 39 of these darling hair clips.  And if you notice...we not only made them, the Johnson's finished packaging them so they looked wonderful.  Sorry about the shadow.  I was taking these photos out in our shop and it isn't the best lighting.

 We packaged up ten bags of all occasion cards.  (I could probably do that many more).

 Since I've been having so much fun making hats, I did a few of those for teenage boys.

The younger boys had a ball making these marshmallow guns.  Danelle & Gary said they're going to go get pvc parts for Treven to just play with.  I think he could build almost anything out of them.  We ended up with 18 of these.

This was a cool project.  It is a large washer wrapped with ribbon and then put on string for a necklace.  They were so cute.  Again...notice the nice packaging.

When I took this stuff over to the Christmas Council, the lady was very appreciative.  That makes it all worthwhile.  I have a few more things to work on, and maybe we can make another donation.  But I just want to thank our family!  That mainly who reads my blog, and I want you all to know you're AWESOME!
Thanks

I'm back

I got home from Soda Springs last night, and was pretty worn out.  I'll try to post something for tomorrow, but for today I'm doing good to get up, get ready for work, and go....
We're buying another horse, and will get him on Friday.  His name is Scout and he's a pinto.  I wanted to buy him almost eight years ago, so I'll give the whole story later.

Challenge #9 for retreat

The challenge this time was to use 1 stamp set to make at least 3 different cars or layouts.  We were to learn to make use of what we have.  I didn't have much trouble doing this challenge.  I have a million stamps, and the hard part was picking a set to use.  I finally settled on this one, because it's been one of my favorites and it's easy to get different looks.  Again...used fronts that I already had made up and just colored things to work with them.  I really like all of these.

It's pretty amazing how different they all looks just by using different color schemes and rearranging the very same stamps.  I forget to do this more often...I usually like buying "new" stuff!  That way my drawers and closets are stuffed to the brim with things I don't use...sound the least bit familiar?

Cards, cards, cards

These are more of the cards that I've been trying to make up and use left overs and exchange items that I've had on hand.  It's amazing how much stuff I've collected.

Today is my day to help quilt.  I'm furnishing lunch and we're having chicken crescent sandwiches with fruit salad and chips, and I thought I'd do texas sheet cake brownies for dessert.  I think we'll just have water to drink.  Should be fun.

Last exchange card

I made these cards out of scraps that I had made into fronts, and used up some stickers that I'd had for quite awhile.  The theme was holiday, and I made these as Thanksgiving cards.  I thought they turned out pretty cute.  When I took them into Janell, the other ladies at FB thought they were cute...I was surprised since the other cards were actually more involved and holiday themed.  I guess simple is okay.

Mikayla and her spirit hat

Mikayla modeling her Orange and Black Declo Hornet hat.  I didn't want to make it exactly like Chelsey's, so I tried to do something different.  I sort of liked the narrow stripe, and loved the little bit smaller flower with the button in the center.  Hope she likes it too.

Mikayla actually picked this brown hat the first time she came over, and I just finally got a tan flower made for it so she could take it.  I thought it turned out super cute.  It really helps to have such beautiful girls to model them for me.

Friday night, Robin, Christopher, and Taylor came down.  Robin did a photo shoot of Jeff and I.  We ran ou of light before we had too much time, so we just did them down to mom's.  We used the bricks/shed, the barn, the tin on the shop, the big tree in her front yard, and on the grass.  We've used these same backgrounds alot.  They seem pretty cool for alot of photos.  I told Jeff...I hope we get at least one good photo.  I always crinkle up my eyes now...I didn't used to, but the older I get the worse it is.  He told me...We are what we are!  Good advice, but it's really hard for me to accept it.  Robin did not show me one photo...guess she wants to try and fix them up!

Saturday we went to Janell's for the SU club.  The funny thing is, Robin has been in the club for 3 or 4 years, and this is the first time she has been able to come down and actually go to it...and guess what?  Janell, Danelle, myself, and Robin were the only ones there.  It was just a family get together.  So, we did some retreat work, and then Robin, the boys, and myself went to Doc's pizza for lunch, then into the Gathering Place to scope out fabric.  Robin bought some Christmas pieces for a bag, and some green/browns that were pretty unique.  Bet they turn out super cute.  Then they took off for home.

Chelsey posted something about Ellie on facebook, and so I called to see what was going on.  I guess they thought Ellie's arm had been hurt, but when she got up from her nap...Danelle said she was fine.  Chelsey is the "best" sister to Ellie.  She has been since she was born.  Chelsey always wanted to take care of her.  Ellie is such a cutie.  Her personality is really coming through now.

More hats

Chelsey seemed to like her hats enough, that she was willing to let me take photos...that's really rare.  She usually turns her head or covers up her face, which I don't understand.  She's just a beautiful girl.  I said she would love to wear her black and orange hat for school spirit day, but they don't let the kids wear hats to school.  I suppose it has something to do with the "gang banger" thing.  Too bad.  I thought it turned out really cute.

The purple hat seemed just a hair too small, but she said she liked it.  I think purple is her favorite color.  I liked the gray/black flower on it.  Thanks Chelsey for posing for me.  Love you!