Our local Game and Fish had a shooting event that we took the boys too, here they are having the rules outlined and it I just got a kick out of seeing them lined up! They provided all the 22's and they had an unlimited bullets for each station.
There was a gun exhibition going on in Wikiup at a gun range in the area, which is about 45 miles from us. There were to be guns going back to the civil war era up to current day weapons and I thought it would be fun for the boys to see. So we loaded up into the truck and headed out.
Now what I didn't know about was the 10 miles of primitive kept roads that lead to the range........the two photos are just a little bit of what we drove through to get there.
The total disappointment came when we pulled up and gal said get out of the vehicle and fill out some paperwork, umm, ok, we start filling out then she informs us it is $25 per person to be a spectator! There were 6 of us present so you can imagine what we did!
Went home and baked some white pumpkin pies! Now I don't really think Blakes' nose got pushed into them but there were some pickers when they came out of the oven, sticking the knife in to see if it was done wasn't good enough, needed to spoon a little out to make sure!
It should actually be called nutmeg pie with a hint of pumpkin, ever have one of those moments that you cant remember for the life of you what the rule was for fresh ground spices?
That is about all I use when I cook or bake, fresh ground pepper, cinnamon, cumin, nutmeg etc so when the stupid moment hit of "is it more fresh to dry or more dry to fresh?" I chose the more fresh must be it and twisted away!
Now when Donnie did the checking he casually said out loud ~ wow, it sure tastes like nutmeg!~ That was when the bulb went off! They still tasted really really good though!!
First there is a Big Fat Congratulations in order! This Little Bugger, also soon to be known as Deputy Davis, had his final exams this last Friday and passed! We didn't expect anything otherwise as he has been preparing for this day since he turned 17! Graduation is this coming Friday and he will have a good 20 people there to cheer and celebrate with him! Afterwards we are going to host a big bar-b-q bash, thankfully my Dad and Mom are coming in Tuesday night to not only visit but help put it all together! Good Times! Then he will have the weekend off and report for duty at 6am Monday morning,
Then here is just a quick shot of the two baby quilts I finally got quilted, the one on the left is a pattern from Jan Patek, I like her stuff!
The Pink one is for Rosie, it is going to have the scalloped edges, the design idea is from Alex Anderson's Baby Quilt Book, she has some cute stuff in that one and Christmas Goose Quilt Shop in Las Vegas had quite a few samples up on one visit this last year.
I probably should have marked it first before quilting but I figured it wouldn't really matter, we shall see!
Was hoping to put up a shot of the quilt I did for my Mom but must have accidentally deleted them from my camera thinking I had already downloaded them. That is OK though as I put the first phase of the binding on it while in Vegas so will have her bring it back up so as to retake the pictures. She found a really pretty blue to go against the gold sashing and it is really going to be very striking when done, plus it will be washed by then and that always makes the quilt and quilting stand out for better shots.
This here is my boy William! He is the Cutie-Patootie of the family and wears the badge well! A week (or two) he decided he wanted to do some piecing with me. And the machine I was going to get him going on was already on the table, would just take a minute to get moved for 'em! Easy peasy!
I just needed him to give me a minute to finish whatever it was I was doing. 24 hours later he asked if I was finished doing whatever it was that I was doing and I pleaded for just a few more!
48 hours later he smiles and says, so you think we might get the machine moved? Yes! Just let me finish this up, it will only take a momento! and in his little sing-song voice he says 'Mom! I have already given you 3 days of minutes', then he happily skipped away to play a round of Halo with his big brother.
So after I scraped myself up off the ground I not only got it moved but cleaned oiled and threaded up so he could go to town on some muslin! And he is doing great, it is fun to watch his hands operate the hand crank and fabric. He is about ready to start on some simple blocks and I just happen to have some denim squares he can play with, I will just set the gauge up to give him a bigger seam allowance.
The machine he is using is (one of) my favorites, a 201k, can't recall the year at the moment but it has the most beautiful stitch and it has pieced many of my tops with a faithfully perfect stitch every time! It had been in a treadle cabinet so it could be used either way but since getting the longarm I had to move a few of them out so popped it back into a case and plopped it onto the cutting table for whenever the urge would strike to use it.
When we first moved here I would set up on the veranda and crank away while watching the kids play, and with the days getting nicer I am thinking it might be time to do so again!
During one of the work days there was a little more fun than work going on! Donnie Blake and William along with a friend went for a ride! I was busy doing something else and the laughing caught my attention, I looked over to actually see them already in the air. What was equally funny is some of the elder's faces, they were waiting to see how I was going to react, I couldn't get to the camera fast enough! This is Andy one of our Pastors sons operating the tractor, my boy's love him to death and trust him with every ounce of their being! The Kids could have stayed up there for hours but the sighs of relief when they were back on the ground was hilarious!
Here we are in the midst of another storm, couldn't have come at a better time. But it would have been a lot better had we gotten the wood re-stocked yesterday instead of during this! So I had to have a little fun with them while they were out there.
The trip to Vegas was exhausting, the kids squeezed in every activity 
they could with their friends and even amongst the glitches they had a great time.
The final activity was ice-skating and they were having a ball, I of course spent the time as a spectator, cringing every time someone fell and that was quite often. Then as it was coming to the end and I had that feeling of relief that all would walk out as they went in, then I seen my Little Man go down and watched his head bounce off the ice. From where I was it didn't look like it was a hard one but from that perspective it wasn't a good assumption. 
As he was brought across the ice I could see the cantaloupe developing on the back of his head, I knew it was going to be a visit to the Quick Care. What we didn't know at the time was that he had lost consciousness long enough that gave the Dr. concern, it wasn't until after we were all together that we were able to piece it all together, and that was because when they did the triage he had memory loss, he is fine now and we can laugh, but when the Dr. asked him what my name was he busted out in tears, he didn't know it, and cried just give me a minute, I know it! He failed to answer others but that is the one that sticks out.
They x-rayed him and thankfully there was no fracture and they sent him home with instructions to stay down and watch him carefully. My concern was driving home so close after the accident so we spent the evening with our friends and waited until Don got off of work and drove home together. Made it for a long night as it was 4am before we got home but it gave time for him to rest and get ready for the jaunt.
What is truly amazing is that when it happened prayers were going up fast, not only from the rink, but calls were made to our old Church family and our current one here in Kingman, from the time he fell to the time we got to the hospital and into the Dr's office maybe 20 minutes had passed, then they said it would be a few hours before they could check him again, nope 10 minutes later he was in getting x-rayed and released! The swelling had gone down to where you had to know where to look to see it! God is good!
We are all watching him like a hawk! And every so often he recites my name, and not only first and last but with the middle! Those little things!
This is Donnie Jr, or Don as he is liking to be called as he has gotten older. He will be turning 49 on the 8th, don't let that soon to be 13 year old body fool you! From day one he has not been content to be a normal child. And that is OK, there is so much about him that I don't know where to begin to describe him!
He is funny, and very quick on his feet, he has worked by his Dad's side since he could walk, we have a side business that we have kept even after moving in Vegas doing lawn maintenance. Each boy child has started working with Dad at an early age, and the two have been a team since Chad started working at the Lodge a year and a half ago. The younger two started up at the end of summer but all their eyes can see is the Slurpee and candy bar at the end of the day!
Donnie sees the step toward getting some more gadget's for his Bow or ammo for his rifle or something from the antique store to add to his collection of old cooking utensils, which he uses everyone one of as he whips up an omelet full of veggies from his garden that he keeps during the summer or frying up some fish that he caught and we brought home and froze or whatever else he feels like making. My current favorite is his grilled cheese sandwich with grilled bell peppers! Yummy!
And tonight as I was tinkering with some books he grabbed the camera and said 'Hey Mom, look at me' and took that shot that is over on the profile. But one of the things about him that I love the most is his Faith, he asked Jesus to save his soul when he was 6 years old and I tell you what, there are times he astounds me, when I am feeling doubtful and or fretting over something he is quick with a verse or just a flat out 'get a grip Mom, you know God is in control'.
Now don't get me wrong, each Child is phenomenal in his or her own way, I am just getting more and more comfortable with expressing my thoughts and will expound on each one more in the coming days, I am just starting with Little Man. ;0)
What can I say? She dug through and found another orange to go with the plaid, she sees a beautiful creation in the making!
She and Chad work at the same place, The Hualapai Mtn Resort here in the fabulous Hualapai's! Anyway, the owner's are going on a vacation to Jamaica and have closed up the place for two weeks, so the employee's are also on a paid vacation!
This is going to be her project to complete in that time. Her sister isn't too happy with the color combo but isn't going to give any guff as Levia bought her a bunch of 'girly' stuff for her side of the room. Courtney is all pink, lace and fluff, Levia is cammo, greens and a splash of blue, now what is even wilder is they picked a deep maroon and taupe color for their walls, it is amazing how it just looks right for them!
It also reminds me how I like to throw a little of this and that in my quilts, remember how I would let the kids pick out a handful of fat quarters? The Gal who owned the Shop would cringe at the choices because she knew I would use them together. Once the battery is charged, yes, the new one came in today!! Some of those creations will be shared, now remember that our quilts are to be used so the colors aren't as brilliant as they once were but they are holding up strong! 
Here we have Dale and Chad, they are preparing for Dale's sister's wedding where they are 2 of the usher's. Dale has been Chad's best-friend since we moved to Kingman 6 years ago and they have come pretty close to saying they have spent every weekend together. They work together, our families camp together and we serve at our Church together. We can also say that his family and ours have become one since we met. That is pretty awesome if I do say so myself!
Just wanted to see if I could figure this out, guess once I push the button we will see! This is Scott, he will be 22 Saturday and is the oldest of the clan. We are very proud of him, he has just been accepted to become a Sheriff's Deputy and will be heading to the academy in February!
