Life.

Update on Brooklyn. . .

Brooklyn and Grandma Connie, (me) in the hospital a week after she was born, still on the oxygen.   She had to go home with oxygen and a monitor for two weeks.  

Here she is at home with the oxygen. . .not a great picture, but I captured the dimple!

Jaxson loves to hold Brooklyn and help his mom with the his new sister!

Wyatt likes to take a turn as well. . .he just turned 4 on Dec. 7th!

Brooklyn was officially cleared to be off the oxygen, so we went shopping for a blessing dress!

The dress and bonnet above is the one Kim chose!  It is beautiful, the pictures don't do it justice.

Mom and Grandmas trying on dresses. . .

What a good little baby to try on all those dresses when all she wanted to do was sleep!

She finally got her wish. . .

Other BIG news. . .Cami, Brett and family. . Connor (11), McKay and Makenna (8), have come to live with us for a few months!  They sold their home and needed a place to stay until February, when they will move to San Antonio, Texas with the Air Force.  Brett just graduated as a CRNA, Nurse Anesthetist, and will be giving back to Uncle Sam for 3 years!  Congratulations Brett and Cami!  We are having a blast with them here.  It is fun to see family life in full force in our home again.

With the Rush family come a couple of extra residence. . .

Tiggs the cat,

And the house elf, Mr. Peeps, who appears only at Christmas time.  He is assigned to watch and report to the North Pole the happenings here with the Rush children. . .Kind of creepy face, don't you think?  (reminds me of a creature from Harry Potter)

And a picture of a gift from my dear friend, Ann. . a cross stitched pillow with a perfect theme. . 'Crazy Quilter' pretty much sums it up!

I found a home for it on the window ledge so that I can see it every day!  Thanks, Ann!

And, last but not least. . .Caroline. . .this is a picture her mom sent.  She got into the basket by herself and was quite please with her accomplishment, as you can see by the look on her face!  They are coming in a couple of weeks!  Can't wait!

Can't blog the sewing projects I have been working on, they are gifts for Christmas and people might see them!  I will take pictures and show them later. .  Happy Holidays!

Brooklyn Jamie Bell

Kim and Mark before the grand entrance of Baby Brooklyn

(I was able to catch Kim with a smile between contractions)

Grandma Connie and Grandma Jill giddy with excitement!

Baby Brooklyn Jamie Bell was born 11/21/11 at 4:04 pm

7 pounds 10 ounces, 21 inches long

Mother and daughter

The proud daddy!

She is a good combination of Jaxson and Wyatt

Jaxson through the eyes and nose and Wyatt's mouth and chin

Brooklyn had low blood sugar (35. . .should be 100) because Kim is diabetic and Brooklyn was receiving insulin from Kim.  Now, Brooklyn has to get her pancreas working to make her own insulin, so she is in the NICU for a few days.  Mark and Kelly were able to give Brooklyn a priesthood blessing in the NICU.  The nurse who was taking care of Brooklyn recognized Jill.  They finally realized they knew each other from another hospital 12 years previous!  This same nurse was Jamie's favorite nurse when Jamie was ill.  We had felt Jamie there all day with us.  Jamie is Kim's older sister who passed away 12 years ago from leukemia at the age of 21.  A 'Divine Signature' that there are always angels among us, helping those they love.

Grandma Jill

Grandma Connie

Auntie Cami

Uncle Brett

PA!

A beautiful, gorgeous little princess has come to bless our lives and to teach us!

Welcome, baby Brooklyn!

Nesting for Baby Brooklyn

Here are the happy parents to be. . .Kim and Mark

This is a little quilt I made for Brooklyn.  Kim loved the fabric from the 'Ruby' line by Moda.

A simple quilt with the fun gathered white strips.

This a a crib quilt that Kim bought with the rest of a crib set, bumpers, skirt and such.  I wanted to make her a pillow that could go in the rocker, so I used some fabric that we made the curtains from and some other scraps I had on hand.  I think it matches quite well!  (The curtains are the striped yellow with a 2 foot hem of the yellow dot fabric--the walls are the aqua blue--doesn't that sound peaceful and soft for a little girl?)

Hand stitching with some crewel cotton thread sets off the simple design!

I didn't want to fool around with piping, so I just used a binding to finish it off.

We had a surprise  baby shower for Kim!  And we pulled it off. . .Kim had no idea what she was walking into.  Kim's mom, Jill (to the right in this picture) did a great job getting her there.

Good food and good fun and wonderful, generous gifts!  

Big brother Wyatt will be almost 4 . . .

And Jaxson is 6 and they are both very excited for their new little sister!

Only a couple more weeks and Brooklyn will join our family!  Can't wait!

Creations. . .

I love Fall and the wonderful colors we get to feast our eyes upon.  On my morning walk, I saw some of these beautiful creations and had to grab my camera when I got home and go back and take some pictures.  Even though these pictures are nice, it's never the same as having your breath taken away by God's beauty!

Here are a few other creations that I have am enjoying this fall season.

I made this long pumpkin pillow just a few weeks ago.  I didn't realize how perfect it would fit on this bench until it was finished!   Love it when that happens!

My cute daughter, Raquel, made these two baby quilts for her friends.  Didn't she do a great job?

Just as our Creator, we enjoy and are compelled to create useful and beautiful things. . .again feasting our eyes!  I love this quote from Pres. Dieter F. Uchtdorf-- "The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul."

The Bells' go to Washington, DC

Matt, Caroline and Raquel have moved to Maryland so that Matt can continue to work as staff for Senator Mike Lee and hopefully attend George Washington University for his law degree.

Sweet baby Caroline got sick just before they were to leave, so Raquel and Caroline stayed with us

until it was time for them to fly out.  Here are a few delicious pictures. . .

THAT is the face I got to see for 10 straight days!!! 

With the bedhead and concentrating on a Baby Einstein DVD

A fun ride on Uncle Tys' shoulders. . .

"Aw Grandma, I just woke up and there you are with that camera in my face again!"

Love my new dolly!

A happy girl!  (But like her mom says. . .she is NOT one who can just roll out of bed in the morning and look spectacular--the hair, that is--it's the blessed curly hair thing!)

We had a great time together and made some good memories.  It is a bitter-sweet time for Dan and I as parents and grandparents!  We are so happy for Matt and Raquel to leave the nest and FLY!  But I will sorely miss seeing them and squishing that Yummy Caroline.  Thank goodness for Skype and Holidays!