Email Conversation with My Mom

Context: My maternal grandmother passed away shortly after I arrived in Paris, France at the start my LDS Mission. I did see her before I left, but I wasn't able to return Stateside for her funeral. My mother and her siblings all gathered for the funeral. When they started to disperse her things among each other, they noticed several items had a note attached to the back which read, "This is Mary's when I'm done with it." There are five children, and it was only my aunt Mary's name on things! They all had a good laugh about it, as if Mary really would try to take these things from her own mother. To this day, Mary is still perplexed as to why grandma did this.


This week, I had the following email conversation with my mom:

Mom to me: Did I loan you my French Braid quilt books?  I can't find them and can't remember who I loaned them to.

Mom to me: *second email sent 15 minutes after the first* Found my books!  Sorry. 

Me to Mom: Is this when you start labeling everything thing "This is Allison's when I'm done with it?" *grin* Glad you found it!

Mom to me: Smart Alec.

Birthday Hike

It's my birthday today. I know what you are all thinking, and it's true--Everyone got the day off from work and school today to celebrate with me. You are welcome. 

The boys woke me up for breakfast in bed. They made me oatmeal, a small bowl of blueberries and yogurt, and toast with garlic butter. Yup--garlic butter with my breakfast because they know how much I love garlic. I had to cover up my smile of that one. It was sweet of them to think of things that I love. 

I wanted to do something with the family for my birthday, so we went on another hike. I figured if the kids could handle the hike to Timpanogos Cave last week, than a hike to Stewart Falls would be a breeze.  The funny thing about that assumption is that today's hike was just as long than our other hike and we did about the same in elevation over the duration of the hike. R and I have fitbits we use to keep track of our physical activity. When we hiked Timpanogos Cave, it said we did 110 flights of stairs. WOW! Today, at the end of our hike to Stewart Falls it said we had done 91 flights of stairs.

Midway through the hike we took this group selfie. 

 

C, S, and MK along the trail.

 

S, C, and MK after a break.

 

S and C looking out at the views.

 Brothers

S in the waterfall. He was SO cold after this. 

Stuart Falls

C in front of the fall.

Stuart Falls

The boys and I hiked up the falls. MK and R did it earlier.

Stuart Falls

S, C, and Me up at top of the falls.

Stuart Falls

And because we can't ever be serious...

Stuart Falls

I really like this one of S.

 

S, MK, C, and R just before we headed back.

Stuart Falls

We hiked back to our car and ran into one of my very good friends and her family along the trail. It was so random! 

After the hike, we came back home and everyone cleaned up in record time so we could go out and eat.

It was a great day!

Moustache!

Yesterday, the kids had dentist appointments--No Cavities! Hurray!

We go see an awesome pediatric dental group who give the kids tokens at the end of each check-up they can use to buy small toys. Well, S used his coin to get a fake mustache. 

Me and S

S and MK

We have had a ton of fun putting mustaches on each other, dolls, hands, toys, etc.

First Place for My First Quilt

I finally finished my first quilt. It took me forever and a day, but I did it and love it.

I made it for C. I named it "Stars of Glory."

Here is a close up:

Stars of Glory Quilt

Here is the entire quilt, well, as much as I could get with the camera:

Stars of Glory Quilt

Mom convinced me to enter into the Eagle Mountain Quilt show and I won First Place in the Beginners Category. WOW! At first, I wondered just how many were entered. Did I win 1st place out of 2? But, there were actually quite a showing. I couldn't believe it.

C was so funny about the quilt. When I found out it won, I told him about it and that we'd go and see all the quilts. Later that day, C called R and told him, "Dad. The quilt mom and I made won First Place!" Yes, he's taking credit for the win.

I've made a quilt for S as well. Same fabrics, just different pattern. I haven't figured out what to name it yet. Haven't completely finished it yet.

Barbed Stars Quilt

Don't worry. I didn't forget about MK. I've found an AWESOME quilt pattern of butterflies (her favorite) but in the meanwhile, I'm doing this pinwheel one for her.

Pinwheel Block

I'm having fun with my new hobby. I've set up my "sewing room" in a small strip of house between the kitchen table and the back of the couch. I have to commandeer the table when I sew.

Our First New Year's Eve

10 years ago tonight marks the first time R and I went out. Our history together is quite funny, looking back. When I got back from France, an old roommate asked me if I wanted to share an apartment again. R lived in an apartment on the same floor just kitty-corner to mine. I had acquired a stalker who I couldn't seem to shake and who claimed R and him were great friends. So thinking that R was in the same vein as this guy, I avoided him. The first time we spoke to each other, I walked away mid-conversation once R brought up that other guy. So for a few weeks/months I tried not to be ambushed and forced into talking to R again. I was more embarrassed than anything around him--because of the whole walking away from him while he's talking and because I thought he was like that stalker-guy and because I thought he thought that I LIKED that stalker-guy. Then came New Year's Eve.

I got back to my apartment on New Year's Eve Day. Originally, I had plans to go out with some friends from home.....but they abruptly changed their plans to go some where I didn't really care to go to. My roommie was there and we were hanging out in our living room wondering what we would do when a guy from downstairs came along saying that he's trying to get a group together to go up to SLC for New Year's Eve. His 2 sisters were visiting and he was trying to find others to come along. My roommate and I agreed, then I found out R was going to be part of the group. Yikes....and I had done so good on avoiding him.

So, the 6 of us drive up to SLC through all the fog. I remember it was hard to see the road as we drove up. They had fireworks that no one could see because of the fog: Instead, the fog just changed colors. We took some pictures, and EVERYONE of them R would put his finger in my ear! Weird-o!

 

 

So both pictures we have from that night I'm making a crazy face because who would think that a guy you barely know would stick his finger in your ear? During a group picture? Apparently, R would. (He still does that to our boys. Hilarious to me since it's not me this time around.)

We all had so much fun that we all kept getting together every night after that until classes started up again. Then, a couple days later R called me up and asked me out.

10 years later, we've been married 9-1/2 years, have 3 kids, and a mortgage. Oh, and I still have the coat.