A Finished Project

Over a year ago I had cut squares for DIL's friends and relatives to write advice to her. I put them into quilt squares. I used a pattern found in McCalls Quilt magazine. I think it turned out very nice.

 I wanted to finish it for Christmas but ended up finishing it for Son and DIL's first anniversary. I learned a lot from making this. Yes, a quilt this size can indeed go under my very small sewing machine arm space. It certainly didn't want to very bad. Free motion is quite a skill. I will have to do more to get more proficient at it.  I put the backing on, quilt and bound it in one week. It gave me a good feeling like "hey, maybe I should finish a ton of the rest of the quilt tops that are storing away in totes."

Blackbeard the Pirate

Dd#4 was in a play today. They tried out for parts on Monday, rehearsed all week, and then put it on for the community twice today. She was singled out as one of six crabs. They did some singing and dancing too. The  play was sponsored by Murray City and the directors were from a company called the Missoula Children's Theatre. The company brings the props and costumes and they help young actors put on the play for the community.
 #4 was on her knees much of the play. She said her knees were screamin' tonight after it was all done. Her costume was darling.

Happy New Year!

Christmas was wonderful at our house. Santa was very good to us. Dad and Mom came and spent a week with us. We are so lucky to have them here. We all enjoy their company. I hated to see them go.I am posting a few family pictures. After the grand present opening, we had all of the Butcher family over for snacks and a party. The house seemed very full and very happy to have so many people come. I never would have been able to host such a party at the other house. I feel very blessed to have this big of an area upstairs to get everyone together. DH worked very hard to make it happen and it turned out great.  We also realized we needed a few things changed and added to make it more comfortable for next year.

   I caught the flu bug the day after my parents left for home. I stayed in bed for two days and then last night I felt like I shouldn't expose the family at the New Year's Party so I stayed home and watched the ball go down on the couch. ( I switched channels to the ball only for the few seconds before it dropped because the smut that was shown was so worldly......wow...)

   Today we loaded up the sleds and took the girls up the canyon to a golf course/tubing area. The girls fairly flew down the mountainside because it was pure ice. Two of the girl's took on air. DH will certainly be sore tomorrow.
    Here's praying that 2014 will be a good and productive year for our family!