Showing posts with label Grandma Alice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Grandma Alice. Show all posts

Sunday, November 27, 2011

The Best Parts

Thanksgiving is possibly my favorite holiday of the year, because there isn't the stress of Christmas, but you still get the good food and family.  Here are some of the highlights of this year's Thanksgiving holiday.

Every year my Dad gets us a table at the live auction at the Christmas Tree Jubilee.  I love it, mainly because I get to dress up in a fancy dress, eat fabulous food, and watch a bunch of rich guys spend lots of money.

I make a killer apple pie.  It was gone in two days between three people.

I made this for my Mom awhile back, and she used it this holiday.  I always feel great satisfaction when I see something I made being used.


My Grandma Alice got sealed in the temple to my Grandpa Bill on Saturday.  It was a great thing to witness.  Not all the family is here, and I can't name everyone, but here's a family picture afterwards.

Ian and Megan, my cousins.

Megan and me.  She loves princesses.  I tell you, I don't know what I'd do if I had a kid as obsessed with princesses as she is.  I entertained her for an hour or so at Thanksgiving, and she was all about princesses.  I was much more comfortable when we got to card games and I Spy.

My uncle Jeff, Aunt Katherine, and their kids.

So, here's to a great kickoff to the holiday season!

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Sometimes I Get Crafty

My Grandma Vickie taught me how to crochet when I was seven.  Just the basic stitches--it's hard to teach a seven year old much more without losing her attention.  I got into it for awhile, then forgot about it.  When my Grandma Penny bought me a "learn to crochet" book for Christmas when I was about twelve, I relearned and started again.  Soon, however, the novelty wore off, since I didn't have the patience to learn how to do the harder patterns in the book.

Nearly a decade later, I started up again.  When I was in Monterey without Nik I had a lot of time on my hands.  I spent most of it on homework, playing video games, taking walks in the mists of Monterey, eating Chinese food (or, when I wasn't in the mood for that, making something cheap at home) while watching movies and playing on facebook.  However, this routine became slightly boring, as one can only imagine after weeks of it.  So, I remembered my old hobby, and also remembered all the yarn that my mom bought me for an afghan sitting in my craft/game room.  I took up the book I had bought in college (during that time I also had a brief crochet spurt, and bought a new beginner's book), and started in on the afghan.  It took me months to do.  I watched every episode of the original Star Trek series while doing it, and still had a third of the afghan to go.

The activity kept me from going insane.  After the fiasco that led to my leaving, in an effort to try and keep myself together/put myself back together, I continued work on the afghan.  I wasn't going to let it go unfinished because of where I started it.  I did get it finished, and it now sits in my family's cabin up at Bear Lake.  I don't have any pictures of it, but if I remember and you guys want to see it, I'll take a picture this summer and put it up for you all.

While in Monterey, I had bought yarn for several new projects.  I finished a baby blanket, a couple of burp cloths, and a play rug for my mom to take home with her (she and my Grandma Alice came out to visit) while I was in Monterey, but I had a couple more projects sitting in boxes that I hadn't begun.  I decided to start one of these projects right before I came to Provo.  I finished it today.

Don't mind the printer and backpack in the background.  I didn't have a ton of room to properly showcase my work.




This afghan didn't take me near as long to make.  I've become a more seasoned crocheter.  The pictures don't really due the beauty of the afghan justice.  If you're ever over to my house, you want to see it, and I have it with me, then you can truly admire how much work it takes to make something like this look good.  Since I'm already bragging, I guess I'll end with saying how proud I am that I actually finished this.  Lately I haven't been so great at finishing things I start, so I this is a big deal for me.