Joy, week 46



I can’t believe another week has come and gone.  I’m going to break with my standard format and share a picture I took this afternoon:


It hadn’t been raining.  They were playing ping pong in the basement and hollered up that we should look at it.  We all ran outside and discovered a faint second rainbow as well.  The bow arched so high above the clouds it nearly took my breath away.  It got brighter, for soon we could see a distinct green color emerging.  We stood outside and talked while we watched, and within minutes it began to fade slowly.  A moment later and the sun was suddenly sending it’s last horizontal rays across the earth before sinking behind the mountains.  The rainbow was gone as quickly as it came, giving way to the sunset.  We went back inside and I thought how happy that moment had been, and how we would have missed it if we had waited only a few moments before acting.

So much of the week was like that.  Little rainbows tucked here and there in cloudy moments, unexpected, fleeting, and then gone.  Some of them I chased like we did tonight; others I assumed would be there when I finished whatever “pressing” thing I had going on.   Of course they weren’t.  But the ones I grabbed were happy and good for my heart.

I thought things would slow down more than they have.  We’re still too busy and I’m trying to fix it.   I was hit with a cold this week which is making it harder to combat the stress of getting ready for out-of-town company during Thanksgiving.  I feel like I’m off my game and really hope I can “come round right” in the next day or two.  I am thankful for small reminders of how good life truly is so I don’t get too far ahead of myself.  I have a lot to do before Thanksgiving, so the task ahead is to savor the rainbows while working harder.

I am grateful for the opportunity to make good decisions, to make mistakes and learn from them, to be a part of a family and become who I’m supposed to be.  There is much to be thankful for!

Fourteen Years!

Fourteen years ago today, my oldest daughter was born.  What a gift the years have been, and how thankful we were to celebrate her birthday today.


She is strong, beautiful, happy, spontaneous, smart and funny.  She has a natural tendency to enjoy being alive.  She’s a dream come true and I love her heart.


Notice the rainbow?  How often do you look outside on your birthday when it hasn’t been raining and see a double rainbow in the sky?  We all went outside to watch it until it disappeared.

 

Yesterday we went shopping together for her birthday.  We picked up one of her friends and went to the BYU Women’s soccer game – the first game I’ve ever attended for any sport that is part of the NCAA tournament, and this was a Sweet 16 game!  The rain kept to a drizzle and we had a fantastic time.  We found front row seats across from the Cougar bench and watched 110 minutes of  intense soccer, only to have the game still scoreless after two sudden death overtimes.  Next came a shootout in which both teams tied again, 3-3, followed by a second shootout, this one sudden death.  Both teams matched each other and then Marquette missed a shot, giving BYU an opportunity to win.  The shot was good, BYU won, everyone was screaming and jumping for joy, and they’re in the Elite 8, which will also be played at home!  Going to that game was kind of a last minute addition to our weekend, something that complicated several other things but was such a great opportunity that I couldn’t bear to have her miss it.   After watching her screaming and loving every minute of it, I realized that these seemingly small decisions to make time for special outings is an essential part of the memories we package together of our childhoods.  I watched her and thought that someday she’ll be watching a game with her children and she’ll tell them what it felt like, all those years ago, to be at that game.  I also realized how close she is to leaving home, how soon this swarming crowd of college students will be her world.  Oh, we made a priceless memory at that soccer game!


(Yes, in the picture above she’s hugging a snow shovel.  She was messing around with her Dad.  It’s so goofy but what I love about it is that it’s totally her .  The smile – she’s actually laughing – the light in her eyes, everything about it is who she really is.  She has this habit of striking a comical pose for all her pictures, so they’re always funny but never really her .  I can’t tell you how happy I was to snap this one.)

Today brought breakfast in bed, a new skirt to wear to church, ping pong in the basement with her Dad, and a game of chess with him as well.  I made one of her favorite meals for dinner topped off by what’s become the norm for her:  dutch apple pie instead of cake.   It was a great day and I think my favorite part was the warm, genuine hug of thanks that she gave me.

I am not always the mother she needs or deserves, but I am so thankful to be her mother.  She has been a joy to me all her life.  I wish I could slow down these years just ahead, but I know we’ll live them more like we’re in front of a fire hose.  Today, at least, was a day to slow down and enjoy, and for that I am grateful.

Jennifer

Swooning for Christmas

I had this idea in the spring when I finished my swoon quilt , sketched it out, and then it sat.  It sat while my son broke his ankle and had surgery, while my husband blew out his knee and had surgery as well.  It sat through four months of crutches, through summer vacation, soccer seasons and the rest of life.  But I kept looking at it.

At last I started .  Now it is done.


A large scrappy Swoon quilt to snuggle under while we read Christmas stories!


There are 108 half square triangles and 492 squares of fabric in this quilt, all simply pulled from my stash.  The quilt measures 72 inches square, just a few inches smaller than the original Swoon quilt .


The backing is pieced and the quilting is simple.  I found that there was so much activity in the quilt with dozens of different fabrics that the quilting hardly showed up at all, so I kept it basic.


I went with a scrappy binding as well.  After I finished it, I had it laying flat on the floor so I could cut all the stray threads off.  As I worked my littlest girls marched and danced all over it, then sat down and started playing I spy with the fabric squares.  I love that this quilt will be large enough for several of us to snuggle under, and that it will supply lots of fun hunts for their favorite squares.


Many loved fabric prints are included in this quilt.  Some that I’ve saved for too long and others that are the last little piece I had. Some that I purchased this year (such as Aneela Hooey’s Cherry Christmas) and hope I never run out of.


The holidays are fast approaching!  I’m so happy to have this project completed with plenty of time to enjoy it.


In fact, we already are!  THIS is the best part of quilting.


Jennifer

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