gooey

Last night I got the hankerin' for something sweet. I decided that since it was already 80 degrees in our house and we don't have an air conditioner, why not add to the heat by baking some cinnamon rolls. Of course, the recipe doesn't make just a few for the three people that live here...and well, Brinley doesn't really count, she's only half a person...I had to make a HuGe batch.

I used my Aunt Nora's recipe, minus the frosting. Instead, I used a friends recipe for a gooey carmelly topping.

However....
this happened while flipping the pan. I knew it was going to "leak" some when we flipped it, just didn't expect this much. It was worth the mess. They are DELICIOUS!

Thank you Aunt Nora for the breadyness part of the rolls and thank you Becki Stevens for the gooeyness!

Grace

I have a friend (two actually) who would have a child in Kindergarten, but instead, they mourn the loss of their would be 5 year old and watch as their friends prepare their Kindergartener's for their first year of school.

So, in memory of my friend, Sarah's, sweet daughter, Grace, who never took in a breath, she is asking that as you go school shopping this year, that you might buy a backpack full of supplies for a child who can't afford it.

You can read more about Grace's backpack project here.

I think this is fantastic. In 5 years, when Olivia would be starting school, you just might see that I will be asking the same of you.

Sarah Mae's quilt

Everytime I pick this up, I think "It's too hot out to be working on a quilt!" But, it gives me something to do at night(other than watch the Olympics) because I am, yet again, not sleeping.

Front: The pictures don't do it justice, it really did turn out nice. I love it and since I have been hand quilting it, I have notice all of the mistakes I made. However, Sarah won't know and I hope that she adores it.

Back:
I haven't decided what to do with the edges. I had lots of ideas in mind when I started, but decided that simple was better. I may start on another one once I get quilt done.

cleaning projects

My daughter is such a slob!...No, it was me. Two weeks ago I started a project to clean Brinley's room, get rid of toys, move everything toy out of her bedroom to make room for a crib. Yeah, two weeks ago this was how far I got before getting burned out. I have made her bed and such but not done anything with the pile of toys and garbage sitting in the way. She thinks it's been great not having to put her toys away, not a good habit to get into. Okay, so Summer is here and who wants to be inside cleaning right? Well, I kicked myself in the butt today and got it done. Now there is room for a crib and a small shelf for diapers and such...I just have to actually BUY the crib. I am such a slacker. I have been looking though, so that is good. I have bought a few pieces of clothing and I'm working on a quilt but not much else...so sad. Anyway, her room now looks like this:
this will be where the crib goes, the toy box won't be there. I didn't have the energy to move it downstairs.we will see how long it lasts. I am only letting Brinley keep that little pink tote for toys in her bedroom.

And just because it's cute:

I found this at goodwill yesterday. Brinley "hates" it because I took down a picture she painted and put this plate in it's place. It will grow on her...i think she secretly likes it.

another busy weekend

Friday was busier than expected. I met with the Heathers from Forget Me Not at 10:30am. Our meeting lasted 2 hours. Since we all have girls the same age, they played while we talked. Heather Roberts had to leave and Heather Evans and I had other things to work on so we went to her house and let the girls play some more...5pm rolled around and I HAD to leave. We got a lot accomplished, but have so much more to work on. If the Forget Me Not program wants to move forward and grow, we had to get some things worked out, especially now that there are more photographers.

That night we went to Matts 20 year reunion with friends from church, which consisted of 3 high schools. He had his 20 year high school reunion last month, but we didn't go. Why do to something if you already keep in touch with the people you want to anyway? Since the other 2 high schools had their reunions this weekend, it was planned around that. It was fun to hear all the stories, most of them centered around driving Matt's VW bug, getting pulled over by the cops numerous times for different reasons and lots of pranks. Lots of laughs that night.

Saturday we went to Skyfest at Fairchild Airforce Base. We had so much fun, and though it was hot, the wind helped keep us somewhat cool.

Brinley forgot her sunglasses, so she wore Matt's around. We walked through a few planes, but there were so many things to see. We only saw about 1/3 of the tarmack. We ran into our friends, the Conrads, and Julie and Merv, then waited for the Blue Angels...
what are dad's shoulders for? to hang out and chat with each other. and then the kids were like this while we watched the planes.It got pretty loud. Brinley covered her ears, but forgot that she had a cup in her hand. We found out there was 100,000 people on base, so you can imagine what it was like trying to get out of there. It took is an hour just to get off base, Julie and Merv...2 hours.

We got home and I crashed for a few hours. All that walking wore me out.

Sunday we went to church and then hung out at my parents house, ate dinner and did nothing. It was nice. I needed a break. My mom makes the BEST mashed potatoes...I have been craving them all week...and roast, well, she just makes good food. YUM!

need weekend plans?

This Saturday at Riverfront Park is Kids Day from 11am-5pm.

Stage shows

Bounce Area

Dance Teams

Karate Demos

Meet Ronald McDonald, Gordon from Seasame Street, Cookie Monster, Elmo and Clifford

Games and Prizes

Sounds like FUN!

And its All FREE!

Also this weekend...

The Blue Angels will be at Fairchild Airforce Base.

And again, it's all FREE!

Spokane Indians Baseball Game

I have two FREE tickets to the Spokane Indians baseball game Thursday night, against the Vancouver Canandians.
If you would like them, leave a comment.

an honor

I had plans yesterday to go on a walk with Brinley, catch up on more laundry, clean my house, blah...blah...blah... I got a call from Heather about taking photos at the hospital, so I spent most of afternoon and evening at Sacred Heart with a sweet family. I also was able to get a hold of another photographer from NILMDTS and she was able to come and shadow me.
I felt so honored to be a part of the time this family got to spend with their baby.Late yesterday afternoon, she was taken off of life support and past away this morning, free of all of her tubes and snuggled in between her parents.
This family took the time to pray for Sarah Mae... it made quite an impression on me. I always pray for the families that I photograph, but for them to say a prayer, in the hospital, while spending there last few hours with their baby, that was just sweet. To see this family snuggled up together, making their baby as comfortable as they could, and we got to experience their first few hours alone with them, capturing their time in pictures...what an honor.
Last night was also a MISS Meeting. I literally made it for the last 5 minutes. I really enjoy going to these meetings. I walked in and got a hug from everyone in the room. It jsut feels good to have that kind of support, expecially having been at the hospital for 5 hours. I will become a facilitator in November, after Olivia's 1st birthday. I really wish I could go to the confrence at the end of September, but no, that just ain't gonna happen. Not when I would be that close to having a baby. I don't think they would let me fly anyway.
So today I look forward to not doing much and maybe get that walk in with Brinley...to 7-11 for a slurpee.

another sweet baby

After taking photos at Sacred Heart last week, I was sure that I was going to be called again this weekend and I did, just before we hopped in the car and headed off to camp with family. I felt so bad saying that I couldn't be there, but you can only do what you can.
Today, I had a feeling I should call Heather Roberts down at Sacred Heart Hospital just to see how the weekend went and if anybody else was available to take photos for the family on Thursday. Instead, I got a call from her, tonight, to see if I could get down to Sacred Heart as soon as I could to take photos for another family. (I tell ya, they come in bunches. I hadn't done pictures in quite some time, and then it just hits. I am pretty sure I have another one in the next few days too.)
This family was so sweet. Like us, they had found out early on that their baby wasn't going to live. She was a beautiful little girl, with full lips and lots of hair. The family was doing really well. The parents of the mother lost a child to PKD about 20 years ago, so they had experience to help their daughter through this. I haven't physically ran into anyone else who has lost a child with PKD. It was interesting to talk to them about how things have changed and what doctors know now compared to then...but back to the family. They have a lot of support, which is great to see, and really had a perspective on how things are...things happen in your life and you do the best you can. There was nothing they could do to prevent it. The mother had a good attitude overall and just felt like things happen for a reason and that we grow and learn and are able to share our experiences and teach others. AMEN to that!
As for Heather Roberts, what an AMAZING woman! She was on shift at 7pm Saturday night, got off at 3pm this afternoon and came back to "work" after her sons baseball game so that she could be with this family. She was still there at 11pm and wasn't even close to finishing up things. She works so hard and does so much for the Forget Me Not Program on her own time. She didn't get paid to be there tonight. I always want to do more, but since I am not an employee of the hospital, I can only get word out there about the program...they are looking for a grant so that they can expand and help more families...anyone? anyone?
I love being able to help these families in some way. It's a privilege to be let into their lives, for a few hours, at such a difficult and painful time. And when I say that we grow and learn and are able to share our experiences and teach others, never did I think that I would be doing it in the way that I am, nor did I think I would have this opportunity had it not been for my sweet little baby Olivia.

camping

We went camping at Heyburn State Park in Idaho this weekend. Highlights included:

dirt mustaches and no makeup
lots of hikes with cousins
dirty children hangin around the campfire reading books and telling stories
fishing off the dock
playing card games and looking trashy
more hikes with cousins and getting to walk on railroad tracks
making our own tin foil dinnersand getting to be with family. oh, and beautiful sunsets....see header.