Frog Hop

Each year there is a dance for girls and their dads put on by the Girl Scouts. Don't know why it is called the Frog Hop, but it is. Haley was quite excited to attend. They danced the night away.

Retreat

My fabric usually looks like this. Colorful piles of various prints. Eventually they will be sorted, cut, and stacked. If only they would sew themselves. Am I dreaming? What fun would that be?

I did continue working on DD Jen's quilt. Only two plus years late. All the center blocks were completed. On to the 100+ tiny stars. Progress was made this weekend. Yes!!!!

The view from the Long Lake Conservation Center. Even though it was cold outside, the sunshine and birds made it pleasant. We stayed warm inside while we sewed the night away.

I have always thought it would be nice to just live from one retreat to the next. There are definitely enough of them out there so you never have to go home. But how special would those retreats be if they become a daily occurrence? Probably not. Our local guild has their retreat in January, up north, in cold, snowy Minnesota. Even with the cold, we still have a wonderful time.

New Years Eve at Targhee

Kiddos able to go up the mountain after the area had closed. Everyone had glow sticks and snaked down the mountain to celebrate the New Year. Fun but cold.

Christmas morning

Decorated tree. Stockings hung by the fireplace. Fun and very quick morning before we headed west to go skiing.

University of Minnesota

Kevin graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in Civil Engineering. He has also learned that he will be a TA and continuing with his Masters at the U of M in January. We are extremely proud of him.

Kevin showed us around the engineering building prior to the ceremony. Most of the building is under ground. The kids loved the tunnels and wanted to check out the other levels. Photo was good enough for me.

3D Block Trinket Box

These blocks are awesome! Making them is easy. Finishing the trinket box, that's another story. I have learned from this first one and know what adjustments I will make next time.

Quilting in Indiana

Looking over all our activities during the Dear Jane retreat in Shipshewana, I felt our opportunity to quilt with the local Amish women was very special. My hand quilting skills are not the best. Sitting and speaking with one of the women was such a joy. Realized we had so much in common. She had children ranging in age from 20's to toddlers. A son of her's had moved out to Idaho, and was involved in winter activities including skiing. She had visited him, and toured Yellowstone National park. It was a enjoyable morning.

Halloween

Pictures say it all. Grandkids knew exactly what they wanted to be this year. A hippie and a ghost. When you are the costume maker, it is so nice to have an "easy" year when it comes to making costumes. Luckily I didn't have to construct the robot costume. Left that up to Kevin.

Countdown to Shipshewana

Two weeks from today, our quilt gathering begins. Several Caravan friends will arrive here in Minnesota for a pre-Shipshewana mini-retreat. Ten of us will have a few days to sew, chat, and relax prior to the "real" retreat in Indiana. Ten more will join us in Shipshewana for our semi-annual dose of clip clopping horses, chicken with mashed potatoes, and lots of pie!

Here are a few photos from last November's retreat. Time sure flies when you are having fun!

Iowa visit

I have a tendency to make quick decisions. When a friend offered a piece of furniture to us, I found it a new home with DD Jennifer in Iowa. Hum....... friend wants the hutch out of her house on Tuesday.......it is now in my van.......do I really want to take it OUT of my van and put it in the garage? Heck no. Hum........have a few days off of school........why don't we just keep it in the van and head down to Iowa for a brief visit? I can't work, as school isn't in session. Grandkids are out of school too. Seemed to make sense.

So I packed the van and tried to get out of the Twin Cities before rush hour. Didn't happen. And since winter hasn't arrived yet, we still have construction zones in Minnesota and Iowa. Fast forward six hours, 300 miles, and we arrived in Grinnell Iowa, tired, but happy to be there.

Hutch looks great in their house. Grandkids were excited to visit Jen and her husband. I got to relax and enjoy my son-in-law's great cooking. Didn't realize they were also on Fall Break. Next day, Jennifer did a photo shoot with the grandkids. You really should check out her pictures at www.jenniferweinmanphotography.com. There is a link in the right column of my blog. Awesome photos! And then there was my feeble attempt at photographing the grandkids, like below. Hey, some of us have it, some of us don't.

Two days later, we were back on the road. I stopped and took one photo of the grandkids by some gorgeous grass on the Grinnell College campus. Then we headed north on backroads through Iowa. Stopped at a neat quilt shop in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Grandkids enjoyed the break. I enjoyed the shop. Eventually we arrived back home, in time for weekend activities and another week of work. Short, quick mini-vacation. Very glad I decided to go.

Chaska Area Quilt Show

Shirley Prindle's Civil War quilt from Kaye England's pattern

Pat Jensen's hilarious Hawaiian shirt quilt

Toby Nelson's amazing applique quilt

My Glad Creations' Nifty Nine Patch quilt

Every two years our local guild holds their quilt show. There were many wonderful quilts exhibited. My favorites included those by Toby Nelson, Shirley Prindle, and Pat Jensen. Of course I had to include the batik quilt I made for John and Carrie. And finally one of our challenge quilts. Yes you are seeing double and triple. Many made blocks. Mine are still in a bag. What setting will I chose? Love both of them.

Happy Birthday Dad!

My brother and his wife, along with Jim and I drove down to Illinois to surprise my dad for his 81st birthday. Boy did we surprise him! Enjoyed a quick two day visit at their new home. My brother had 30 years of 8mm films converted to DVDs. Some of which I had never seen. Can't wait to view all of them.

School again

Every year the summer seems to disappear so quickly. This year was no different. With many trips and adventures in July and August, no wonder why school crept up on us!

Minnesota State Fair

Every few years I try to get to the fair. I love looking through the Creative Activities building. Beautiful quilts, knitting, stained glass, woodworking. Love it all. Motivation for me to start working on projects again.

This year Kevin, Haley, Lucas and I decided to go to the state fair on a "cold" day. We hoped people would stay away. Not the case. Quite a crowd! We still had a wonderful time. Ate a variety of foods and enjoyed many exhibits including the Lego Mindstorm robotic one.

Next year we will need to pick a nice, sunny day.