July 2012

 Summer Vacation: Ferndale Washington. Went to Lyndon, WA to watch the tractor show. Pictured above, the tractor pull. 

 Old time mill, that actually works!!

Old Ford Tractor.

After the tractor show, we went to Birch Bay and let Cutter and Holly play in the water!!

Here's the sunset!! So beautiful! Had to try a picture idea I got from Pinterest. It is fun to play around with a camera!!

It's been some time......

Yesterday was Mother's Day. It was the first Mother's day that I did not get to spend with my mom because she was miles away. It was weird for me to experience that. I am so used to having my mom so close. The move my mom and dad made in November has done two things for me: 1) I have learned about myself as an adult and 2) I have taken it for granted having them so close. I miss each of my parents everyday but thank them for helping me realize I can do this.

The last couple of months have been a whirl wind. The school year is winding down and I made it through my first year as a full time teacher.

This is my dad, uncle Tom, and Grandma Morgan.

Grandpa and Grandma Nye Twin Falls Temple

In March, I lost my Grandma Morgan (pictured above) and then two weeks later, I lost my Grandpa Nye, leaving me without any of my Grandparents. Oh, how I miss them. I now have a hole inside myself because there were so many questions I wanted to asked and never did. I guess I learned the  hard way not to take family for granted and don't wait to ask questions because you never really know how much longer you will have that person in your life.

Since I posted last, we have a new addition to our family. My brother, Bill, became a father to the cutest little guy ever.

This picture was taken hours after Cutter Jeff Thomas was born. He is such a blessing for our family. It is simply amazing how something so tiny can make such a large impact on people's lives. Cutter is so much fun. He'll be 7 months old in about two weeks and he is almost starting to crawl.

Cutter's happy face, which by the way, is something he does all the time!!! He little grin makes all my worries disappear!! How amazing is that!

Picture Frames

This is a picture frame my mom found at Tai Pan trading. I spray painted it black, added the window decal and put scrapbook paper behind it. I love how it turned out.

This is the same frame different decal and paper.

 The first is an old frame I've had for some time. I saw the an Idea on Pinterest (if you don't have a pinterest board, I highly recommend it). I wasn't sure how it would turn out but I was surprisingly pleased. The second is another frame (I believe I got it at a garage sale), scrapbook paper, vinyl lettering and a spindle my brother made. I am completely happy with ow it turned out. I also got the idea from Pinterest.

Notebooks for Volleyball Girls

Yes, this post is a little late but I thought I would share some pictures of the notebooks I made for the volleyball team this year. We gave them the notebook and pen during the Volleyball banquet. I loved putting the notebooks together. I was able to use some paper I got from JoAnn's, in some packets. I didn't have to cut to much off, because the paper was 4" x 6". I loved not having not to waste too much paper.

Answering some questions

The other day I was reading through my comments and I came across a comment that asked me a question, and I did not read it until months later. So here's the answer to your question Heather.

The ribbon flowers are just a wide ribbon loosely stitched on on side and gathered. As you pull the thread it will gather the ribbon for you and you tie it when the ends meet with each other.

They are so easy and fun to make.

My fabric flowers are a piece of fabric cut into a circle, then you fold the edge over (just a little) and loosely stitch along the outside of the circle, gather them together and tie it off. This is what they call a yo yo.

I hope that answered your questions.

Another question was from my cousin and she wanted to know what rolled oats are and in my Cowboy cookie recipe I just use what ever oatmeal I have on hand. But I am going to do some research and see if I can find a more specific answer.

Cowboy Cookies

Here's the cookie dough.

Baking in the oven.

Out of the oven and on the plate.

And the entourage, waiting for me to drop something on the floor. Gotta love those little wieners!!

Recipe: Cowboy Cookies

4 cups flour

2 tsp soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

4 cups rolled oats

2 cups shortening

2 cups sugar

2 cups brown sugar

4 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

2 cups chocolate chips

Cream shortening, sugars, eggs and vanilla. Add dry ingredients. Stir in chips. Bake at 350* for 15 min (could shorten time if your oven is hotter than normal).

This is a very easy recipe and it does not take long to get them stirred up. I love it.

Notebooks

I covered these four notebooks for the girls who helped line judge at our tri match volleyball games. I had them tell me their favorite color, then I went from there. I really like how they turned out.