Celebrating the 4th in California

The 3rd and 4th was fun. We celebrated in Colfax, watched the parade downtown and then Dutch Flat the following day. The kids rode in a train that their grandpa made for the local Lions Club, throwing candy to the crowd. This year they had water guns. Fun!!












My favorite part of the parade was seeing the Budweiser Clydesdales up close. Beautiful horses. Loved the Dalmation! After the parade was over we headed over to see the Mini Dotson and the Soap Box Races then headed to the pool and back to the house for a BBQ before the fireworks.

We watched the fireworks at RJ Miles construction and got waay tooo close!! This is when its great to know someone in the family who can get us front row seats, and not worry about parking. He just moved some heavy equipment and we were in. The concrete below us made the fireworks echo like explosions all around us. The best view ever, shook me up good!! never seen them like that before! Whoa! I was laying flat on my back gripping onto my daughters arm for dear life, when I shot this photo showing how close we were, yikes!!

Another Amazing Day

I took a drive up to Northstar this morning and enjoyed this amazingly beautiful day. The drive up the mountain in itself was a real treat. Clear blue skies and beautiful pine trees the entire way. I decided to do a little ice skating and see my sister and family one more time before they head back to San Diego. They spent most of the day skiing and came down the mountain for lunch and we all visited for awhile. I had my fix of Starbucks decaf cinnamon dolche with soy, yum! and did a little window shopping. I came back home to Reno and stopped at my favorite fabric store, Mill End and picked up a few zippers and a few remnant scrap fabrics to compliment my next round of artsy and fun bags!

Beautiful Lake Tahoe

Talking about Tahoe in the summertime and spending the day up on the summit yesterday has made me long for the warmer days:) Its almost here again!! The past couple days have been beautiful and all I want to do is soak up the sun and kick back and relax. These are a few shots that we took one summer up at the lake. Revisiting these makes me realize that we live in one of the most beautiful places on earth, The Sierra Nevada's. I love the pic of my son looking through the binocs. My next fav is the one of the seagull flying above the water. I want to jump in right now! Those are "not" my hairy feet by the way, haha :)

A Day at the Meadows

Me and my kids took a drive yesterday to play in the snow. On Mt Rose Hwy is a large open area called Tahoe Meadows. Its perfect for snowshoeing, sledding and snowmobiling and cross country skiing. I love to go hiking here in the summer and snowshoeing in the winter. This is where we spent the afternoon. We all had a blast playing in the snow and sledding. I also had the chance to visit with my sister, brother in law and my niece and nephew, whom I haven't seen for a year. The weather was amazing!!

Tonight I am working on a large hand painted tote. I am hoping that I will be able to show some progress photos tomorrow; or a better thing would be to show the completed piece. Here is a photo that my daughter took of me at my machine while working tonight. I am finally getting some work done. Its been a busy day, between the regular random business stuff, home and family. I spent about 3 hours talking to my sister on the phone today. That took up a big chunk of sewing time time, but sooo worth it:) I miss her. I cant talk to her enough and hope to visit her in Texas soon. Well, time to catch up on work! Will post some progress pics soon:)

Thankful

We spent a couple of days at my in laws on their beautiful property for Thanksgiving. It was nice to slow down and take time off from work to just relax. It is very hard for me to slow down most to the time, so it is good to force myself to do this every now and then. It is times like this that I get to reflect on my life and the ones I love around me. I am so thankful to have such amazing children. They are growing so so fast. Here are a few pictures; one of me and my children; a deer wandering onto the lawn for a bite to eat and a photograph of a card that was hanging on the wall in the office. The words are beautiful and thought I would share it.

You may not understand just how much your life means to those around you ~
how our days are brighter because you are here and the sound of your laughter touches the hearts of everyone around you. Your presence adds something special and invaluable to the world. You bring joy to those who love you and a smile to everyone you meet.

Amazing isn't it.

Indie Sacramento Craft Fair

I have been planning on participating in the Indie Sacramento craft fair for over a month now and it was finally here. I decided to make the whole trip a family event as well and and brought my husband and kids and stayed in Colfax at my in laws on their beautiful property which is on the way to Sacramento. The first photo was taken in their driveway on the way out to the show on Saturday morning. My camera is not so good with distance ; a little blurry, but here are the deer I saw as I drove out on Saturday morning in the rain. I thought that the rain was suppose to stop on Saturday for awhile but . . . . . . .

it rained the entire time. It never stopped, not even for a little break. I did not have a canopy but managed somehow to stay dry under a tree. I thought it was a good turn out and was a surprised that people were out shopping. I had a great time meeting new people and other Etsy crafters and all the people who stopped by my booth to look at my work. See Photos from the event at the link below.
Here is a flickr slideshow and gallery of the entire event.

After the show I returned to Colfax and visited with the family and did some relaxing. The kids had a chance to play ball once the rain let up on Sunday before heading back to Reno. The geese with their little babies were so cute to watch.

My Amazing Sister

I wanted to share this picture I received last night. These were all custom made baskets by my sister Kathleen in Spicewood Texas. She has a ‘farmer’s market’ stand located on Haynie Flat Road just past Barton Creek Lakeside. She sells fresh produce, interesting food and gift baskets - and a special Tomato Happy Hour on Friday afternoons! She also does some catering. I guess you could say that we have a lot in common:) Wow! Incredible. I don't get to see her very often and miss her lots. We talk on the phone when we can and are always saying how cool it would be to work together someday. These were all baskets that she put together herself and then hand delivered to Arizona. I admire her amazing energy and dedication to her business. Apparently she has quite the fun business going and I am very proud of her.