Go Broncos

Matt went to his first Bronco's game! The high temp for the day was 20 degrees, but that didn't stop him from having fun. His inmates requested he make the poster and try to get on TV. I don't think that happened but he did take a cute picture, no?

Oh, and the Broncos did win, 43-7, GO BRONCOS!

Santa's Sweat Shop

Have you ever wondered where all the elves get those adorable clothes??? Well I have taken a part time job in making elf-wear, you simply make the clothes and Santa comes to pick them up on Christmas Eve! HA HA HA

Just Kidding.... I made 33 elf hats for our ward christmas play/party. It's so much fun to be an elf!

Sewaissance

A lady from church needed help sewing renaissance dresses for her daughter's choir. I sewed this dress in a week and I absolutely love it! Makes me want to sew another one!

Thanksgiving

Matt had to work this year so I decided to make a small Thanksgiving dinner for us... the chicken turned out really well, besides the fact that I had to remove it's innards! I couldn't touch it so I used tongs, thankgoodness because the liver broke on me!

The only thing I didn't plan on while cooking was ruining 3 pie crusts in a row, which lead to Matt making an emergency pie crust run to the store.

We had a great morning and the dogs loved it too, Tank had no qualms letting us know he was interested in the left over chicken!

We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!!

Winterland!

Our first snow is here!!! About 5 inches of pure white, wet, cold goodness!! The dogs had a great time as we ran through the snow!

Unfortunately Tanks long hair created quite the snow balls!!!

A little crazy for October, but by the end of the week it will back in the 70's.

Hanging Lake

Matt and I went with some friends on labor day to this amazing lake. It was a mile or so hike, but it was straight up hill!! Our poor friends weren't really expecting it, but it was sooooo beautiful. Here are some pics from our adventure and my camera isn't even that good so imagine what it really looks like!!! It was our labor day activity, we then went to a small town amusement park, we rode a giant swing which swings you out over the canyon (yeah a little freaky when you realize how old the swing is). Matt got sick so he had to miss out on the mini roller coaster and mechanical bull riding. It was an awesome day!

The Beatles are Back!

I went to a Beatles tribute concert this summer!!! Red Rocks, an open amphitheater was one of the original tour sites of the Beatles their first time in America. It was so much fun and the singers have been doing this for 23 years!!!

They were amazing and the place was packed, it was so much fun!!!

Our new roomies

I know most of you heard I had some extra roommates for a while, I just wanted to post a picture of my new friends!!! My friend Nikki, her oldest daughter Destina, younger daughter Delicia and her little dude Demario.

Matt's revenge

So our new addition has a super irritating power, which in an instant can make me loose all reason and rationale. We call him the URINATOR, for exactly what it means, he has a constant supply of urine, which at any moment he can unleash at any moment or on any unsuspecting victim. Actually, I think he was abused because every time we called his name "Sammy" he would cower, fall on his back and pee. So we changed his name to "Tank", for those of you who are movies buffs Tank is the brother of Dozer in the Matrix (the drivers of the Nebecanezer) That helped the problem but it's been a long road for our carpet and furniture, and after a lot of cleaners and air fresheners I think we have sort of mastered the problem, or at least he trusts us now. Matt has been very patient (sometimes not so much) but I think he needed to get out some much needed tension. In the middle of the summer we decided to shave some of his fur because he has ALOT of hair, Matt did the honors and this is what he did....

YES!! It's a mohawk, a very bad one at that!! I must say the rest of the hair job wasn't very good either, poor tank, well sort of anyway.

From Bags to Stitches

Have you ever wondered what it was like to create a Giant Quilt? Well I have first hand experience and it was a 7 month process from start to finish. I have a habit of taking on projects that are bigger then my scope of experience, but though they require blood, sweat and tears, those who are on the receiving end make the experience worth while and probably are the culprits as to why I keep doing it. Here is my latest triumph, and though I may not sew a quilt for some time again, I know I have the ability.

It all started with two innocent looking garbage bags.....

Which then turned into lots of t-shirts, jerseys, shorts, and collared tees. Quite the collection I might say.....

The cutting began and lasted about 4 months of the process. I cut all the t-shirts and then realized they weren't going to be easy to sew, so I called a quilting expert (Matt's mom) and she suggested interfacing. So it was back to the cutting measuring, I re-cut and measured pieces of interfacing to match the t-shirt pieces.

Next was sewing the pieces together, I had six rows of t-shirts on each side, ranging from 7-10 t-shirts in each row. A total of 100 patches all together. Sewing the t-shirts together and making sure the rows were the same length seemed an unending and daunting task. In no other moment does the little variations in length that seemed unimportant during prior work come together in an unrelenting realization that you're measuring and cutting was off. But through many long nights, lots of measuring, lots of rethinking, it all comes together into strips...


Next we put the strips together and then got batting and mounted it on boards. This sounds easy enough, but when your quilt is as large as this one, not just any mounting will do. We tried quilting stands, then 2x4's but it was just so big and so heavy it just sagged much to our disappointment. It's a good thing I am married to a super hero, because while I was at work stressing out he made the biggest quilting frame I've ever seen and mounted it up for me.


Then came the stitching. Maybe I was all quilted out, but this was the hardest thing for me to do. So again my superhero came to my rescue, and after having teaching him the night before, he quilted what I couldn't do.
With that all done next it was back to the sewing machine. I tried adding a border to the quilt, but no avail I could not get it on straight (and I really don't like things looking uneven), so I removed the binding and just folded the ends over themselves and ran the giant through the machine.

Then VICTORY! The beast though beautiful was still a beast: 7 feet wide and just over 10 feet long.

Though this consumed my life for last 6 months, I know it means more to those who will be using it then I could describe. To memories of life, happiness and love I dedicate this quilt and all my time.

Our New Addition

Though Matt says he's not a "dog person", I believe he is. I found this dog names Samy who is a year and a half old mini doxen who needed a loving home. He is adorable, and although he is in need of some serious training, Dozer loves the companionship and playmate. And they're so cute together!!

This is usually the look you get when you call his name. Soon after he rolls on his back, legs in the air and pee all over the place. His nickname is the "urinator", which will hopefully not be true for too long.

Samy loves dragging his hind legs on the floor, most of time he will walk around using his front legs with his back ones dragging.

Samy is also very comfy in any position, or rather very lazy. In the above pic, he is falling of the sofa while taking an afternoon nap. He will fall over in almost any moment due to over relaxation of the muscles.

Cute buddies, checkin' out the window (and no doubt wishing they were out there too!)

Anthony's First Birthday

Oh the joy of nieces and nephews! Anthony is one year old, and I was able to celebrate. Here are few pics of his birthday bash:

My latest Hair Transformation

Well every sensible woman is always trying to find the greatest hair cut, sometimes it's seems to be the most unreachable achievement imaginable, and just when you think you've the best stylist... disaster strikes!!! My last experience had to be the worst that I can remember in my short life thus far, which only proves my theory: Hairstylists hold way to much power with their pair of scissors.

Synopsis: I am visiting my sister and I have the brilliant idea to add highlights to my man-cut to make it seem a bit more feminine. This is before:

Not a happy camper. But no worry I had highlights coming my way!!!

We were all pumped up! And after an hour of pulling out those hair strands through those tiny plastic holes in the bonnet we were ready for the dye!

We put the plastic bag over everything to let the miracle of chemistry begin the change:



Unfortunately: There was a mishap with the dogs eating a birthday cake we'd just made and well I thought no big deal leaving in longer would've only made them more blonde.... well maybe an hour was a bit too long...

Yeah... as you can see it's really blonde!!! But this picture doesn't do it justice, no, in reality it turned it white! And since we had done all the little holes in the plastic bonnet ('cause more is better of course!) I looked like I had aged about 30 years!!! (but then again I am always saying I look younger than I really am!) At least it's not all bad... it kinda looks like a Sharon Stone do though.

Since we were getting all the ugly we could out of my hair we took it one more step for kicks...




Here's even a better view of the "Tina Turner" look...

So without saying the only option was to dye it again.... this time there were no highlights involved.


Well although I know you're thinking "what versatility" and that I could be a candidate for the Next American Top Model. I have had my fill of change and now will be doing what I should've in the first place and leave well enough alone!