Rachel's baby quilt

This quilt is for one of my dear friends, Rachel. She has been my counselor in the primary for the last two years and is one of the best people I know. She is an emergency room nurse at the children's hospital, an exceptional mother, super talented, and a hundred percent dependable. I would have fallen apart a long time ago except for her help and support in primary.

She is having her third baby on Thursday, so of course I had to make her a quilt. :) I used THIS tutorial and had so much fun putting it together.

I have done strait-line quilting before, but never when I have to turn the quilt. So quilting this quilt was a new experience for me. Luckily the quilt is quite small. It didn't end up being too tricky. And I gained a little confidence in my machine quilting ability.

Jessie's baby quilt

Yesterday was my sister-in-law's baby shower in Knoxville. I really wanted to be there, but since we're leaving early tomorrow morning for Oregon I wasn't able to make the trip. I was able to send her gift though. And I am crossing my fingers she likes it. 

When they were here for Emily's bapsism, my Mom & Jessie picked out fabric for the heirloom quilt my Mom makes for all her grandchildren. I offered to make a drag-around quilt with the left-overs. But instead of sticking with the fabrics Jessie picked out, I added in some from my stash as well. Now it has a little bit of both our styles represented. It's a "Jessi quilt" and a "Jessie quilt." :) 

Rainbow Toes

Whenever we paint their nails, my girls want to use two or three colors of nail polish-- ie., pink & purple on their hands with red sparkles on their feet. I think it looks tacky so I usually try to convince them to do the same (one) color on their hands and feet. But when Lydia came up with the idea to do rainbow toes I agreed to try it. Probably not something I would do on my own nails, but she totally rocks the look.

Summer's first sewing project

I showed Summer THIS tutorial online and mentioned that maybe she could make herself a bow. (She has just started learning to sew on the sewing machine.) She had to be a little patient (or as patient as a 6 year old gets) while I finished some time-sensitive projects of my own, but I could tell from her persistence that she really wanted to learn. Today we finally made it happen. And look how cute her finished project is!! I love it when my kids feel good about themselves.

    



Summer's watercolor handprint

One of the coolest thing about being a parent is seeing your children develop into unique individuals. It's fun to see their natural talents emerge. At church on Sunday, Summer's class made handprints to give to their dads for Father's Day. Just a plain handprint wasn't quite good enough for Summer. So she got out the watercolors and spruced it up. And I think the end result is so cool! Maybe I'm biased, but I think she has an amazing eye for color and design. She never just colors a picture in the traditional way-- her pictures are always a little abstract and bursting with color. I'm curious to see how this talent will translate in the future. I know that as parents we are supposed to shape and guide our children, but sometimes I think it's good to just step back and watch what they can do.

Marla's quilt

My sister-in-law, Marla, is having her first baby in about three weeks. She has her nursery all decorated and ready. A while back she asked if maybe she could pay my Mom to make her a quilt because she wasn't finding anything she liked in the stores. My Mom is an amazing quilter. But I can make quilts, too. :) So I offered to make her a quilt as a baby gift. She picked out some of the fabrics and I added some I had in my stash. It was so fun to put together!! I forgot to take a picture of it before I gave it to her, so this is a pic Marla took for me with her cell phone. (I like to have a record of all the things I make.) 

Summer so far...

Besides our trip to North Carolina, we have had a pretty quiet summer. Here is a quick summary of the highlights so far...

Emily and Summer were able to go to a week-long dance camp. They loved it!

David and I went with Brian and Marla and their kids to see Josh Groban in concert. We lucked out on seats!! Below is a picture I took with my measly little camera. I didn't even really have to zoom!! (I kept trying to get a picture of his face, but since I was trying to be discreet and take a picture without my flash, none of them turned out. But trust me, this is him.) :)

He is every bit as good in person as he is on his recordings. So, so talented. Did you know he also plays the drums? He does. Really well.

We have been going to the pool pretty much every day. I don't think we would survive in Georgia without a pool.

On Saturday my sister-in-law, Marla, went through the temple for the first time and we were able to go with her. (David's sister, Leslie, and his parents also went.) It was a beautiful experience. I'm so thankful our temple is available again after being reconstructed.

The next big thing will be our trip to visit my parents in Oregon next week. I can't wait!!

Looking on the bright side

The other day I was bemoaning the fact that all summer I am constantly washing towels. But then I realized that at least there are no socks in the laundry pile. That fact is worth smiling about.

North Carolina Trip-- Deep Creek Hike

If anyone in the area is looking for a fun family hike, I would highly recommend the Deep Creek Campground right outside Bryson City. It has three beautiful waterfalls that are easy to hike to, water to splash and play in, and lots to explore. It's definitely kid-friendly.

Just look at this hanging-vine-turned-Tarzan-swing.

Usually when we go on hikes we take Chloe in a hiking backpack. But she was able to walk most of the trails by herself.

This is the first waterfall we hiked to.

And this is the second waterfall. 

We could have stayed here for hours letting the kids splash in the creek and hunt for critters.

My battery went dead, so I didn't get any pictures of the third waterfall. But it was beautiful as well. The kids splashed in the water at the base of the falls there, also. And there is the most magical little area that you can walk into and feel like you're surrounded by enchanted creatures. :)

Deep Creek Campground is a place I would definitely not mind returning to!

North Carolina Trip-- Great Smokey Mountain Railroad

The ride on the Great Smokey Mountain Railroad takes you through picturesque country-side, alongside the Nantahala River, and over Lake Fontana. The turn-around point is on the Nantahala, where we cooled off by soaking our feet in the river.



North Carolina Trip-- Indian Village

Our cabin was not too far from Cherokee, where we toured the Oconaluftee Indian Village. I really enjoyed learning about the Cherokee culture, crafts, and way of life. It amazes me how resourceful the Native American cultures were.  

It did make me appreciate our living conditions though. This house below is smaller than my bedroom-- and I don't have a terribly big bedroom. Their true living quarters were outdoors-- and the surroundings (as I've mentioned before) are beautiful.

The kids seemed to enjoy the village as well. Of course any time with cousins on vacation is a good time.

We got one of the guides to take this picture of our entire "clan" in one of the clan huts. I'm happy to be part of the Pyne Family clan. :)

The highlight of the experience was a pottery class my Mom arranged for the kids. They let the adults participate, too. It was fun to see everyone take a clump of clay and turn it into a beautiful, unique pot.



North Carolina Trip--Fontana Lake

We rented a pontoon boat and went out on Fontana Lake one of the days we were in NC. It was a gorgeous day in a gorgeous setting. I LOVE boating, so this was a real treat.

(Later in the week we went on the Smokey Mountain Railroad and rode over the trestle in the background.)

One of the best things about getting together with my family is that we really are best friends. My kids are friends with Audra's kids, and they have such a good time being together. Chloe and Josh are even little buddies.

Almost everyone got a few turns on the tube.

And the brave ones among us jumped off the rocks...

and tried out the rope swing.

The rest of us just enjoyed the water and sun.

How could it not be a great day when we were surrounded by scenes like this:

 (Photo by Abbi)

North Carolina Trip-- In the Cabin

Last week we had a wonderful reunion with my family in North Carolina. We stayed at a cabin just outside of Bryson City. That area has to be one of the most picturesque places in America. I have kind of fallen in love with the Smokey Mountains.

This is the view we saw every time we drove to and from our cabin.

Here is another scene from over a bridge right by the cabin.

This picture is a close-up view of the white building in the picture above. Doesn't it look like it belongs in a movie?

After a short drive winding up into the mountains, we arrived at the cabin. It was perfect for our family. Lots of bedrooms, a HUGE kitchen table, two refrigerators, and a great room where where danced, played, and watched TV.

One of the first orders of business after we were all gathered was to give my Mom the quilt my sisters and I made for her over Spring Break. It was our Mother's Day present to her, and it was hard to keep a secret this long!

Feeding 20 people breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a week is quite the effort. But the food turned out to be one of the best parts of our reunion. We ate well. Each family was assigned a breakfast, lunch, and dinner so no one was totally overwhelmed. And it worked out well.

Probably the hands-down favorite meal was Audra & Mike's breakfast of crepes with strawberries, nutella, and whip cream. It was so good my Mom & Dad decided to do a repeat later in the week. My mouth still waters every time I think about those crepes.

Playing games was another favorite in-cabin activity. The favorite games this reunion were Werewolves, Bananagrams, and Sequence.

It was hot the week we were up there. (As I'm pretty sure it was everywhere!!) So we gobbled up many a pack of Popsicles. In some ways they became a source of contention, but who can survive a summer without Popsicles?!

Stay tuned for a recap of the fun outings we went on while we were there. It was a week full of adventure!