Christmas morning

Jen and Jerod made aebelskiver for breakfast. Lucas and Haley found presents from Santa in their stockings. Haley and Kevin made a snow house out of marshmellows. A wonderful Christmas morning.

Christmas Eve in Hastings

Christmas Eve decided to add a little drama this year. Snow storms all month would not wait for the holiday to be finished. We ventured to Hastings to be with Jim's brother and sister's families. My parents headed to Rochester with Dave, who had been dropped off by my nephew Alex. It was nice to have Jen, Jerod, and John with us. Carrie unfortunately had to work.

Oriental Double Delight

Last January, I decided to start using up some of my fabric. Luckily Bonnie Hunter has wonderful quilts on Quiltville.com that focus on using your stash. Her Double Delight mystery was perfect for my oriental fabrics. This quilt will go to my parents when quilted.

Visit with Santa

Lucas and Kevin made a lovely gingerbread house at school last week. It became one of our centerpieces for our Christmas celebration.

On Tuesday the 22nd, Lucas, Haley and I went downtown to the Minneapolis Macy's Christmas display. Santa's helper spoke fluent Spanish, and had a wonderful conversation with the kids. Lucas didn't know what to ask from Santa. One of these years that will change. Haley wanted to give Santa some money to buy toys for others. I told her we would donate toys instead. She made sure to tell Santa of our plans. We dropped some coins in the Make-a-Wish fountain, and then headed with Kevin over to Kare11 news studio in Golden Valley to drop off a load of toys for Toys for Tots. A bit too dark and cold to take photos there. It was nice to see the two of them enjoy giving toys to others. We will do that again next year.

More Christmas

Christmas with the Turners

Every year we find ourselves trying desperately to arrange schedules so that everyone in the family can get together for Christmas. This year we nearly made it. Unfortunately Jen's flight from Boston was cancelled due to a snow storm on the east coast. So Jen and Jerod didn't arrive until two days later. Laura was out west celebrating with friends. We were able to enjoy the evening and excitement as Haley and Lucas opened presents. Don't forget Max, our granddog. He was as good as a one year old puppy could be in a house full of temptation.

Now if we could just get Dave, Jim, and Kevin to be awake the entire time!

Camp Lebanon

Each year I attend a quilt retreat at Camp Lebanon, just west of Saint Cloud, Minnesota. Many times, DD Carrie has joined me. I love our time together, even if it is dealing with a difficult quilt pattern. Carrie got a good start on her quilt. I finished another top. This one was out of CW Repros in my stash. Floating star blocks were from a swap. Just took me a year to decided on the setting and border. Finally ready for quilting.

Tile patterns

Does anyone else look at tile patterns in kitchens and bathrooms? Some very simple, some extremely complicated. All potential quilt patterns.