Liberty Loray Kindell was born on April 15th at 3pm.  She was 8 lbs and 19 inches long.  She’s a beautiful baby and it has been incredible 11 days! 

I’ve finally finished all of my projects and now I’m ready to sleep for 6 weeks until this baby comes…. yeah right huh?

I have to say that having a boy was a lot more fun that I expected, but getting ready for a girl has been a lot of fun because girls just have so much fun STUFF!  When I found out I was having a girl I knew pretty quickly that I wanted to decorate her room in cupcakes.  I had a friend tell me once that she wanted to make a cupcake quilt and it got me thinking about all of the fun things I could do with cupcakes.  I may have gone a little overboard but who cares, right?

I already had a quilt that I had made in a class a few years ago.  It took a little bit of searching to find cupcake fabric that matched the quilt but I finally found some that was really cute at Gracie Lou’s in Salem.  After I watched and waited a bit for coupons, (I can’t let myself pay full price for fabric, it’s just how I am) I had my 8 yards of cupcake fabric and got started.

The first thing I made was the car seat cover, it was so easy!

The next thing to do was put a baby in there so Brighton could practice being a big brother.

Then I made some wall decor,

A changing pad cover,

Pillows,

And some vinyl cupcakes for the wall thanks to Jodi and her amazing Cricket (I’ve got to get one of those!)  You’ll have to ignore the letter, we haven’t settled on a name.  We do like a few that begin with L, though it would be a quick change if we decided to name her Chillon. 

I took a class from Shannon and the Corn Wagon in Springville and made this adorable diaper bag.  It was a lot of fun to make and I learned a lot in the class.

Here’s a shot of everything together and a silly face

And here’s a shot of two silly faces

Since she’ll be about 10 days old when the Easter Bunny visits I thought she’d need a basket so I made one to match the others that we have.  And for my last project I made a family night chart for the wall.  I’m very proud of this one, I think it turned out really cute!

I know you can’t tell how tiny these boots are in this picture, but they’re tiny!  (like 2-year-old size tiny, but I had to have them!)

I still have the dress that I wore on my blessing day but it has a few yellow stains on it from sitting in a box for 25 years.  If anyone knows how I might be able to get them out, please help!  We’re going to need a blessing dress in a few months and I would love to use mine. 

I know this is a pathetic pregnancy picture but just wait a couple of months and I will be 10 times that big!

I have such a hard time posting on my blog.  I started my blog so that I could share pictures and thoughts with my family and friends that I don’t get to see very often, but I have such a hard time sharing my life with the cyber world!  It’s a problem I have. 

Also, I just can’t get my blog to look  how I want it to!  So, if there’s anyone out there who feels they know all there is to know about cutifying a blog.  Please come help me!

I love making baby quilts because I always think about the life ahead of the person I’m making it for.  I wonder what they will look like, what talents they will have, what challenges they will have to over come, and how they will bless the lives of the people around them. My latest project has been two baby quilts for my two cousins.  They were both born in september, but one is a girl and one is a boy.  I’ve had so much fun making these quilts. 

They both turned out great but totally different.  The first one is a sail boat pattern that I got from the under ground railroad pattern book.  It’s a story about the slaves escaping and finding quilts that would tell them what to do.  The sail boat quilt would tell them to cross the water.  I love how the colors came together, the blues and browns with a touch of red worked so well together!  I had my neighbor quilt this one and she did an incredible job, she covered it in waves!  That’s why I named this one “ridin’ the waves”.

There’s really only one word to describe this next one… Girly!  I named this one “a beautiful summer”  and designed this quilt specifically for the nursery that it’s going in.  Jodi (baby’s mama) painted the room green, used pink bedding and she and her husband  painted a beautiful tree on the wall.  It looks so awesome, and I wish I could draw but I can’t so I guess I’ll stick to quilting.  This one is a totally different style from the other one.  For the center I  used a piece of fabric that was meant to be a curtain panel and hand appliqued the circles around the border.  I quilted this one myself on a quilting sewing machine.  I went around all of the printed design and the circles. The detail was difficult to conquer at first but after I spent an afternoon with my grandma I was able to get it just right.  It took about 8 or 9 hours total to quilt it and I say it was well worth it.  I’ve never been able to finish a quilt like this and say that it was all my work.

I had a lot of fun making these quilts and I hope they’re well-loved by these beautiful cousin babies!

It was beautiful, and everything turned out perfect.  Here are some picture from the big day.

The first wedding cake I’ve made, I think it turned out pretty good.

Here’s a close up:

I knew as soon as I suggested the chocolate tile that with the heat on August 3rd it was going to be a bad combination, so I was totally emotionally prepared to not cry when I saw this:

Luckily the back part of the cake was facing the sun so if you looked at the front you wouldn’t even know it was melting.  About half way through the reception they left the line they were standing in to cut the cake so that it didn’t turn into a puddle before everyone could enjoy it.

Such a beautiful day and great memories.  Congratulations Mandy and Spencer!  Here are a few more pictures of the evening.

Brighton with uncle Austin, it was very sunny!

Like father – like son, right?  I love my cute boys!

The pictures hanging from the tree turned out so incredible.

Beautiful girls.

Beautiful bride.

Beautiful baby.

My baby.  Don’t tell him that I said that, he knows very well that he’s three and a half!

I’ve had quite an eventful week involving zucchini!  For those of you who don’t know, our garden failed this year.  We think it’s the soil, it’s in a spot of our yard that has had a lot of weeds and we think that the previous owners probably  sprayed a lot of week killer there.  We’ll try again next year, but raise it up and add new soil.  Don’t think for a minute that this means that we haven’t had yummy summer vegetables!  Our neighbors have been so generous with their tomatoes, zucchini and green peppers.  They’ve done a garden for several years now and have figured out all the tricks to make their plants grow like crazy.  before now I didn’t know that one zucchini plant could produce so many, and WOW they get big! 

Here is a picture of one they gave us a couple of days ago – they’ve given us three of these now.

In light of the recent zucchini events (and yes, my finger is still swollen!) I thought I would share my moms recipe for zucchini bread.  I think it’s incredible right out of the oven with a little butter on top , Brigham thinks it’s best cooled off with about an inch of cream cheese smeared on it and Brighton will eat it anyway it’s handed to him just as long as he doesn’t have to smell it too long first (I’m sure I would find him holding an entire loaf taking huge bites out of it)  It’s a matter of opinion I guess.  Anyway… if you have a zucchini sitting on your counter that’s almost as long as your arm I’m sure you can make two batches out of it and share with the neighbors.  It’s the right thing to do.  It’s hard, but the right thing to do

Zucchini Bread

In large mixing bowl, beat:

2 C. Sugar
1 C. Vegetable Oil
3 Eggs
3 t. Vanilla

In separate bowl, combine:

3 C. Flour
1 t. Salt
1 t. Baking Soda
1 t. Baking Powder
1 t. Cinnamon

Add to first mixture, along with 2 C. peeled, grated, raw zucchini, 1/2 C. chopped walnuts (optional).  Fill greased bread pans half full.  Bake for 1 hour at 325.  Cool 10 minutes.  Remove from pans. Slice and serve.

And here’s a fun little picture just to make you giggle, I’m off to make this for dinner: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/07/grilled-chicken-with-lemon-basil-pasta/  Enjoy the rest of your week!

May and June were so overwhelming for me!  I guess it’s always like that but I just didn’t see it coming.  Here are some of the things that consumed my time the last few months.

First there was this: http://spanishfork6thward.blogspot.com/2010/05/do-not-come-between-woman-and-her-purse.html

I was asked to do the decorations for our relief society gathering.  It was a really fun mother daughter purse party.  If you click on the link and scroll down you can see better pictures of the center pieces.  I was able to gather a few purses from friends around the ward and some of them are mine.  As for the shoes I used four of my own, one pair of my stylish little sisters’ and one pair that belongs to my neighbor.  It was really fun to show off my “pursonality” a little (haha pardon the pun) and everyone was really surprised at my colorful shoe collection.  A girl can never have too many shoes right?

A large part of my month was spent on this:

Our first garden!  It’s been a fun learning experience, and hopefully we’ll get some yummy vegetables out of it.  I’ll post some more pictures when the plants are a little bigger and start baring those delicious summer veggies.

Next up:

We got one of our flower gardens planted this month.  A shady area underneath a tree in our back yard. 

I know it’s still going to take some time to get our house and yard just the way we want it.   But we’ve been here a year now and it’s nice to have one more thing to cross of the list.  Now I just have to get those bleeding hearts to grow.  Hopefully all they need is time

Don’t let the sun in these pictures fool you, it was freezing out there that day!!  I’m glad that June was less cold and rainy, and so far July is very promising!  

June was so busy, I can’t even remember what we did!   A little camping I guess… and lots of yard work!

Here is a picture from our July 4th camping trip.  Brighton thinks he’s a real cowboy, riding horses all by himself.

I once heard that people who are named after someone are more passionate.  They have more spirit and more of a desire to live life to its fullest.  I don’t know if this is true but I know that my name gives me more passion for life.  I was named after my great-grandmother, and I find my attitude towards life to be very similar to hers. I only knew her in this life until I was maybe 12 years old but I know her daughter, and I think they’re a lot alike too.

I love my grandma Georgia.  I think I inherited 95 percent of looks and personality from her.  I thank her for my spunky attitude and my big arms love you grandma! 

When I was a teenager I wanted to move in with my grandparents, and since my parents wouldn’t allow that I would weazle my way over there as often as I could.  I spent one weekend there when I was 16 and discovered her deep love for creating quilts.  I thought it was incredible how she taught me to take small pieces of fabric and make something beautiful.  I made my first quilt that weekend.  We finished it in 2 days. 

I’ll never forget how shocked my grandpa was to see a whole quilt come together in one weekend.  You see, it was a simple quilt… Just squares, and my grandma would make very detailed quilts.  But that’s not the only reason it would take her so long to finish one.  She would get distracted.  She would go to quilt shows and conventions and gatherings and see another one that she would want to try.  She would work on that one until she got distracted by some other intriguing beauty of a quilt block pattern. 

Over the next few years she helped me finish 2 more quilts with appliqued squares-

 After that I made a couple on my own.

For Brigham-

And for Brighton-

  Then I decided to take the leap into real quilt piecing.  I took a little class and learned how to piece 4 different blocks.  I decided to have my first “real” quilt quilted and it turned out beautiful. 

 Too bad it’s so girly and I’ll probably end up having 7 boys… Just like my grandma!  (Just kidding Brigham, I’m sure the lord will show mercy on my soul and send me a girl to prettify). 

In 2006 my grandma fell and became paralyzed from the chest down and also lost most of the use in her right hand.  Her quilting haven was so far out of her reach and her previous way of living was only seen in pictures.  The life of my grandparents became all about survival, so much effort just to get through each day.  Well this year they built a new house and created a new independence for my grandma with wheel chair accessibility.  We’re all so happy for them and their new home but she has about 100 quilts started and just sitting in her basement (I really don’t think I’m exaggerating). I hope to be able to finish several of these for her, and here is the first.

  What a beauty!  I’m so in love with this quilt!  I just love the way it looks in my living room, and I can’t wait to enter it in quilt shows.  Hopefully my next project can be finding my sister’s wedding quilt that was started. 

And so I bow down to the quilt queen in my life and say thank you grandma Georgia, for 95 percent of my crazy genes and for sharing your love of quilting.

What is it with boys and shooting things? “Boy” traits come so naturally, its crazy!  I promise, initially, no one taught Brighton how to make car sounds, motorcycle sounds, air plane sounds, how to throw a ball, and that he should shoot everything he doesn’t like.  For three and a half years I’ve managed to keep toy guns away from him, I  just don’t want him to think it’s ok to pretend to shoot people.  But even without toy guns in the house he still pretends that everything long and narrow (such as a vacuum hose or a wrapping paper roll), and everything that curves at the end (such as a golf club or toy hockey stick) is, in his mind, a gun and when he gets mad at something you better watch out because that melon baller can be a dangerous piece of weaponry.  “Brighton!  We don’t shoot at people, OK!”  That’s what I’ve been saying for a couple of years now and hopefully it’s paid off. 

 Here’s why:

Yesterday at Walmart he spotted and eight dollar toy that he wanted.  I told  him that he didn’t have eight dollars but he did have one dollar at home so after we ate lunch we could get his dollar, go to the dollar store and he could choose any one thing that he wanted.  Did I really say that?  Anything he wanted?  Yep!  So off we went to the dollar store and just guess what he picked out… of course a gun! 

 Well at least it’s a water gun, and hopefully he’ll remember my words in his head if he ever thinks about pretending to shoot people unless it’s a summer time water fight, ’cause that gun will go into a high cupboard until he decides that he’s done shooting people

Today I was cleaning the kitchen with this

And of course he came into help because he loves to clean, but as soon as he walked in the room with his “mop” he covered his nose and said ” I don’t like that smell, I’m going to shoot that smell”, and he ran in the other room to get his new gun.  Boys…