Summer Wrap-Up

I'm behind, and I have to do a review.  You don't have to read it.  I've gotten so used to the immediacy of blogs that when I click on to something that happened weeks prior I think, What--this is old news, this happened ages ago--and a little of the meaning is lost.  And here I am about to cover things that happened months ago--I am already bored with my own post, but I continue none the less since this is my best effort at scrapbook/journaling and it's for posterity (so be honest :).

Movie quotes aside, here goes.  I'm starting at the end of the summer, we'll see if I ever make it to the beginning. 

We ended our summer with our Air Show tradition which this year nicely coincided with Joseph's birthday.  Number 3.

I'm dumbfounded.  Number 3.  He's got the attitude to go with it.  

Even now as I am typing, watching them through the window of the parent room at gymnastics, Joseph is standing in line behind Will and periodically poking Will in the shoulder and then hiding his hand a giggling.  Rascal.  Anyway, back to the air show.

My favorite part is having them fly so close that even after they pass the sound is still rattling around in your chest.  Matthew's favorite part was getting up close with a Sherman Tank,

 an old B-17 (the Memphis Bell), the rescue helicopters,

and watching the Harrier stand still in the air and rotate in front of us. 

 (Chest cavity was rattling around for about an hour after that.)  Little Moo has been so enamoured of the military of late that he and I took a special date up to the fabric store so he could pick out his own fabrics he had spied a few weeks earlier for a quilt.  They all star jets, rockets, and weaponry.  This makes me slightly nervous but on the flip side, he was at the fabric store sifting through textiles--I'm hoping the two things balance each other out.

After the air show we headed home for some pizza, cake and party for the littlest Moo.

I sourced out his birthday cake this year and it was a total triumph--thanks Aunt Becky!

He's still talking about it.  If anyone asks him how old he is, he skips the number and goes right to "I had a dinosaur birthday!"

Chris and the older boys went and did a little shopping for Joseph.  The first present he opened was a football 

and he was gone.

Uninterested in any other presents.  My pleas the only thing keeping him seated on the grass.  But he was not letting go of the ball--completely gave up unwrapping his own gifts.

Once he saw it was a helicopter he was a little more interested, but still not enough to let go of the ball.

And the steam roller didn't even garner a one hand welcome.  He gave it a glance but both palms stayed firmly planted on the foot ball.

So the rest of the time was spent throwing balls, catching balls, kicking balls, and batting balls.

And of course, we finished it off with a great game of steamroller thanks to Ben. 

 I wish you could flip through these pictures fast--it's better than a movie.

Birthday Wishes From Afar

I was going through an old box in the basement and found this (if you click on it you can read it bigger)--apparently from our sacrine coated dating days (I embarrass myself a little with the ridiculous reference to Browning--honestly, did I say those things?  I thought I was much more level headed and even, much more Elinor Dashwood than Marianne, oh well).

In any case, it made me smile.  And remember all the early reasons I loved you.  And remember all the silly ways I had of showing it. 

 In case you can't read it, here were 10 ways I had to show I loved you back in our Chatham Towne days--I'll spare you the laughing comments I would add to each now, I'm sure you'll have your own . . .

10.  If you had a 2:00 A.M. craving for them, I would make you brownies from the box.

9.  If one of the girls you home-taught talked as long and as fast as Annie Kennedy (Ashley's friend from next door) and needed to vent, I would come over and listen to her while you went and got a pop.

8.  If all the gas stations and grocery stores around Provo closed for some bizarre reason I would drive to Nephi to get you cherry filled powdered doughnuts and milk.

7.  If you came by my house at 1:00 A.M. after an extremely long and tiring day with a hand written 12 page paper detailing the wonderful new qualities of carbon fiber piping that was due at 10:00 the next morning I would stay up all night typing it for you (and love it!).  (I hope that wasn't a run-on sentence.)

6.  If the Dodge broke down and you were stuck driving the Saturn, I would put in a lumbar support system for your back.

5.  If you needed to test your hand cycle for oscillations at high speeds but didn't want to get hurt I would be your crash test dummy.

4.  If you were stuck at my house in the middle of winter and our heater was broken I would sew all my sweatshirts together to make one for you.

3.  If we got caught at Stewart Falls again after dark without a flashlight and you sprained your ankle I would use all my girls' camp knowledge to cut down some small Aspen trees, make a stretcher, and haul you back to the car. 

2.  If you needed a kidney I would give you one of mine.

1.  If you really wanted to, I would face the roaches, pestilence, disease, and amoebas and travel to Guatemala with you.

Still love you to pieces.  Have a HAPPY BIRTHDAY.  I love you.

your Emmy

Foiled

I tried to wake up early today.  But then one baby and then another came into my room sleepy eyed, crawled into bed with me, and miraculously fell asleep again snuggled up against me.  So I didn't get up.  Then I was running late.  So I showered quicker than usual, jumped out, and found I was running later.  Then when I started to brush my wet hair I found a nice spot of soap still in there--how did I miss that?  So I tossed my head back under the shower to rinse it and ended up getting my whole body wet again. 

Rats.

It's going to be one of those days, I thought.

But then I thought of something else.  

You might not win yet, FATE.  Or KARMA.  Or WHATEVER it is that conspires against me.  

Because--Today, today I am wearing my RED pants.  And when I wear my red pants I always win.

So I put on my red pants, got my boy on the bus, and went to change the laundry.

And then I found money in the dryer.

Ha Ha.  I WIN.  

Thank you Red Pants.

(blog hijack!!) A Note to My Perfect Wife on Her Birthday

Dearest Emmy-

Happy birthday! This will be the 9th we've celebrated since we were married, and I've loved every minute of it. I still think you're perfect. I still think you have no guile. I think you're the best mom in the world, and you remain my absolute dream girl. I couldn't possibly ask for more.

~188 of my favorite memories (by no means complete):

• Seeing you in the temple right before we got married--what a beautiful girl!
• Sitting in the celestial room with everyone who loved us, daydreaming about how lucky I was and what might become of our new life together
• A wonderful kiss at the wedding
• Riding in the carriage
• Dinner at George's
• Going to Ensenada with the guys
• Hanging out the window in Conneticut to clean the windshield
• Moving in 27 below weather
• Flooding the Medford house
• Rides from Davis square home
• Days on the beach in Boston
• Calling the preschool as I went in for surgery
• No way you should watch TV on the sabbath (unless it's Nascar!)
• Bowling until my legs hurt
• Trips to Maine, complete with Lobsters
• Finding the gorgeous tables and Woodmans on our trip to Essex
• Olives with the McMullins on valentines day #1
• The cat that peed on the bed. . .thrice
• The firt visit with Mikas
• A great week in Boston with Jim and Lori
• Moving to Jacob's barn
• The cherry sideboard surprise
• The little black kitty
• The flying squirrel
• The giant turtles in our back yard!
• The Air Force grill barbeques
• Nightmares of your dad seeing the bright red BMW
• Long nights at MIT, hanging out in the Lab
• Always wanting to sail, and never quite managing it
• Swimming in the neighbor's pool
• Teaching nursery together
• A bump with a tree in the grand cherokee
• The grand marnier souffle
• "Detroit is just as I imagined it"
• Cooking school in NYC
• Making the stoplights for the temple dedication
• "that man needs to calm down!"
• No Boeing. No Exxon. No McKinsey. No Visteon.
• Seattle in the winter, complete with a plant tour
• San Diego in the summer, complete with lots and lots of mexican food
• New York with the family, complete with Niagara, the WTC, and Po with Misty
• Losing the first little one
• Finding out about Mr. Moo
• A rocking chair trip to vermont
• Many weeks on the couch preparing for generals
• Lots of saturdays in the Temple
• Aujord Hui and the fly
• Olives, Capital, Prezza, etc. . .all since "we wouldn't be able to do it again"
• The TV interview on Christmas night with my pregnant wife in the snowstorm that no one would go out in
• The conference call at the hospital
• Meeting Matthew--or was it Michael??
• "Hi, I'm Mat"
• Our angel at the hospital
• A bit of a run in between grandma and the ice
• A freezing house, grandma with a broken leg, a husband going to take his generals, and a new baby--how did you do it?
• Renaming the baby "Mr Silly"
• "Dude, you forgot your Dr. Pepper; don't worry--I got it for you"
• So much On the Border takeout that we couldn't stand it anymore
• Saving $20 bucks, but getting the handicap room in Vegas
• The new silver SUV
• The new titanium sunglasses
• The collision between the silver SUV and the titanim sunglasses (guess who won??)
• MBA graduation
• Continuing on in Boston--exactly where we were supposed to be
• Our baby loves Howie Day!
• Learning to wrestle one little boy on the floor of Jacob's barn
• The Five for Fighting concert
• The Howie Day concert. . . that didn't happen
• Our great friends from Boston--Josh & Christie, Murray and Anna, Jen and Dave, Jeff and Allison, Annie and Greg, Joel , Dougie, Burke and Melanie, the balmforths, Ron and Sue, Tom, Clay, so many others--what a wonderful time
• Blueberry picking on your birthday
• The next call from McKinsey
• The interview process that landed us in Cleveland
• The call from the Ritz--"honey, I feel like this is where we need to be"
• Saving $20, but getting the post office party at the holiday inn!
• Finding our dream house at hunt club
• Another baby's coming!
• Finding the apartment
• Those gay guys at the model home
• Swimming with Matthew
• Matthew saying goodbye every morning from the apartment window
• Strawberries at the Marriott
• The envelope with the house plans
• Trying to choose our colors for three days--all in the boston airport
• The next conference call at the hospital, except at Mt. Auburn this time
• Meeting William--or is it Michael??
• Renaming him Willians
• Driving to work on thanksgiving right before my defense
• A few minutes late to the defense. . .that's ok
• Capital Grille after the defense
• Taking the family to Utah for a month of post-defense decompression
• The very, very tired pictures of me after the defense
• Preparing the house for you
• Moving into a house with no lights in the family room
• Installing trim in the dining room and living room
• Finding beds for the boys
• Learning to wrestle with two little boys on the floor of our new house
• Late nights talking, and loving every minute with you
• Late nights complaining about a horrible time working in Mentor
• Questioning whether we had done the right thing
• Our first talks in the westlake ward
• Matthew finding the hot dog
• All of our wonderful friends in the westlake ward
• Meeting Jodi and Gavin
• Meeting Eric and Shelly
• Being ever so glad when ben and tara decided to come live in hunt club
• Getting called to be EQP, with the big long discussion about headlights
• "Don't tell him to get a truck!!"
• Getting the Lord's truck
• The chocolates at the Westin in Grand Cayman
• Breakfast at the chocolate shop in Grand Cayman
• Snorkeling at Stingray City
• Tommy's baptism
• The new sprinkler system
• Driving to St. George to get a puppy
• "Hmm. . .maybe not a good time for a puppy"
• Looking forward to Joseph
• The new blue car to fit all three kids
• Meeting Joseph Michael "Big Daddy" Musso
• "I want to go to the park, Dammit!"
• Leveraging the Cayman to get the black 335
• A wonderful trip to California (albeit on the wrong weekend!)
• The first trip to Sea World
• "Matthew Musso, we don't pee on our friends on the sidewalk of On The Border"
• Learning to wrestle with three little boys
• Lots of wonderful trips to see our families, with several snowy trips over the mountain
• Will's first set of stitches
• Will's second set of stitches
• Our perfect three little boys
• Moving to Lorain ward, with 4 months of relief
• Getting called to the HC by President Rice
• Sending Laura off on her mission
• Watching you serve all of our friends, helping whenever, wherever you can
• Mr. Moo starts preschool
• A wonderful, wonderful trip to St. John
• Hikes through the jungle and pictures at the sugar factory
• The world's most picturesque wedding
• A long flight home from St. John, complete with tired, crying children
• Losing a wonderful grandma
• Christmas in St. George
• The red mountain with the boys
• Christmas in Montrose
• A great trip to Florida
• Stuffing the family into two rooms at the Diplomat
• Canoeing through the mangroves
• The old rooms at the Dolphin
• The second trip to Sea World
• The first trip to Disney World
• Visiting the animal kingdom hotel
• The white Mercedes
• A fun--and I mean FUN--new basement, with lots of room for wrestling
• Pop's truck as a bicycle backstop
• A trip out west for Tinny's wedding
• Swimming lessons with Jenny
• The Big Ring
• Roasting Joseph's wiennie
• The daddy-matthew airshow tradition
• Mr. Moo's first day of kindergarten
• Mr. Moo's F-22 self-perception
• Lots and lots of legos
• Trips to the Zoo
• Boo at the Zoo
• A new little Boo at our house
• A wonderful couple of days in Amsterdam
• Waffles at the Pulitzer
• A walk through the Van Gogh museum
• Visits to the science museum
• Our trip to Columbus and COSI
• Mr. Moo's girlfriends (he doesn't kiss them very often, though)
• Skiing down the hills of Montrose with Moo and Willians
• Skiing down the hills of Brianhead with you, moo, and willians
• Meeting little Dafu again as he learns to talk
• Two perfect days in Paris
• Montmarte
• Le Tour Eiffel
• Notre Dame
• The river boat
• La Grande Cascade
• Our awesome new playset and trampoline
• Your complete support through the toughest 6 months of my working life
• Our little gymnasts
• Kindergarten graduation
• Friend injured at our barbeque, and all of your service taking care of his family
• A great weekend in Oregon, with beaches, toy shops, and kites
• A full house this summer
• Our little swimmers
• Our quick drive to NYC
• My perfect family

Quite a list--missing many, many more memories but more than enough to soak my keyboard with tears of gratitude for you. I can't tell you how much you mean to me, how much you mean to our family, and how much you mean to so many other people in our lives. You are the person I look up to most, the person I trust most, and the person I most want to be with.

After nearly 10 years, you are still the best thing about me. I love that we can't think of any "rocky patches" in our marriage. I think that August 17 is the best day of the year.

Thanks for marrying me.

Love,

your chris

A Note To My Parisian Lover

Missing you.  

Wish it was another day like this.

I love you.

Something the Walrus Said

Matthew came to me Monday night a while after I had tucked him in bed saying his tooth was too loose and wiggly for him to sleep.

"The time has come."  He agreed with me that it needed to be yanked.  There was only pittance holding it in anyway and it was becoming more snaggly by the day. He was loath for me to pull it however (as was I) and insisted it be done by a "professional."  So we called Ben.  Ben is a useful friend in many ways, not the least of which being his title as Dentist.  So we gave Ben a call and hopped out the door hand in hand for a happy little stroll down the street.  Matthew couldn't have been more excited.  He raced ahead to Ben and Tara's house but as soon as we walked in the door jumped behind me and needed some coaxing to come out. 

Ben snapped on some blue gloves, and with a paper towel wiggle back and forth, back and forth. Matthew kept giggling and laughing but would nervously pull Ben's hands away any time he felt pressure.  Ben wiggled some more, poked around with a tooth pick, and then handed Matthew the towel to do the same.  Little Moo pinched his fingers around the tooth, gave a tiny pull (but I think bigger than he was expecting), and with a minuscule POP it was free.

Moo did not have the reaction I thought.  It surprised him for sure.  And all of a sudden he wasn't as confident in his decision as he had been 3 seconds before.  

He didn't want to open his mouth and I could see in his face the unsure feeling about this new hole.  After a while biting on the paper towel and sitting with lips tight, curiosity got the better of him and he ventured a feel.

His little tooth was mostly hollow and his gum had grown down into it.  It left a funny nub of gum.  Moo saw it in the mirror and was not pleased.    His biggest concern (said with little furrowed eye browns and a pitiful fact) "my pictures are going to look funny all summer."

And so this is the best we are left with.

But by the time we got home he was back in high spirits dreaming of the hoards of cash he would find under his pillow the next day.  Apparently someone in his kindergarten class got $20 dollars.  (What kind of conspiracy is going on when some kid gets $20 dollars from the Tooth Fairy--I ask you?!).  I assured him that must have been for a whole mouth of teeth and he was just as pleased as punch with the one dollar bill paper airplane he discovered in the morning.

Update:  that gum healed up in two days and he is now left with a nice clean chiclet hole, smiley pictures are coming our way again!

Sister

Almost four weeks ago my very good friend, Meta, was over here for a Saturday barbeque with her family.  During dinner her husband choked on some food, coughed really hard, and tore a hole in his esophagus (bad news).  He has been in the hospital since then with multiple operations, in and out of the ICU, tubes being placed/taken out/and placed again all over his body.  Every time things were looking good an infection cropped up or fluid found a new cavity to fill.  Finally, FINALLY, he is doing better, he can walk around, and will come home to see his three children on Friday.  We all couldn't be happier.

About half way through this ordeal, Todd (Meta's husband) had a set back after we all thought he was doing better.  I drove over to Meta's house to see her before she left for the hospital.  At the time her sister was there helping with the children.  We stood in her kitchen, I gave her a love, and she told me how upset and disappointed she was with what was happening.  Meta has stayed miraculously positive through all of this but the days events were just a bit much and she started to break down.  Before I could even react her sister moved toward her, reached out a hand to her face, and kissed her on the forehead.  

I watched and thought how glad I was for Meta to have this sister.  To have a person who can step in, and hold you up, and carry you if she has to.  And more than that, a person who realizes you need this before anyone else.  And a person who will do it over and over, without anything in return, because she knows you would do the same for her.  

I was glad Meta had this sister.  But in the same thought I worried.  I worried about what to do when this sister went home; and would the rest of us, all with our own children in tow, be able to fill the void.  And then I realized.  It's okay.  We only needed to get through a few days. Because a few days after Meta's sister went home--my sister showed up.  She showed up to help take care of my kids, to help take care of me, and to help take care of my friends.  

And when my sister is around, everything is better.  

Pacific Photo Essay

Remember how I went to Oregon, ages ago.  Well, I'm back.  I came back ages ago too.  But I pretended I was still there--pretended by avoiding my chores, reading books instead of doing work, playing with my kids instead of fixing any legitimate meals, and seeing how long it takes my laundry piles to resemble the Tetons (although I did laundry at least 2 times a day in Oregon--whatever).

Once I finally bit the bullet and accept my reentry into responsible life I have had several other projects occupying my blogging time, so time has gone, and here we are in June.  But as a hotter and hotter summer approaches, a little reminder of a sweet, cool, pacific spring.  It was lovely.

(I also put this off a bit not having the words I wanted to describe our trip--I give up and leave it to the pictures.  There's a lot of 'em, sorry, get that scroll bar going or head on to the next blog.)

Daddy got to stay with us the first day before he headed back to work.  He used his time to teach Uncle Matt the finer points of 2-line kite flying (they're a ton of fun, go pick yourself up one).  

Grandma B and Aunt Lindsey busied themselves keeping the little boys away from the big boys' kites--'cause as much fun as the kites are, they pack a mean wallop if you get in the way.

Of course the two older boys went for the water and it didn't take long for Will to come out on the short end of the stick.

Unfortunately he didn't mind and was right back up in no time.

Grandma had to resort to her most important job:  herder.  (all this because I obviously busied myself with the camera, sorry Grandma)

That was the last time we wore shoes.  Our liberated toes enjoyed their week's vacation as much as the rest of us.

The next days all fell into a nice pattern.  If it was too windy and cold Joseph stayed with Grandma B while the boys and I ventured onto the beach.  After the first day they kept asking me to play "water run" as they call it.  So they spent their time playing tag with the tide,

stretching out enormous pillars of seaweed,

getting up close with deceased wildlife and it's accompanying bugs,

and conquering burned out drift wood.

One day we wandered up the beach to the tide pools.  Matthew was in heaven.  Poking, proding, catching, chasing.

The problem with visiting the tide pools is you spend all your time hunkered over, concentrating on tiny things by your feet.  And you forget to look up.  It's important to look up every once in a while when you are on the Oregon coast.  If you don't look up, you won't notice until the moisture hits the back of your bent neck that you are much too far from home to outrace the storm, especially while encouraging two boys who have to run on their own since your arms are busy protecting baby Nikon.

We gave up on an all out sprint after about 30 yards, cut inland, and our bare feet carried us as fast as they could across the road and into a hotel.  

Grandma B was at home happily baking bread and not listening to her cell phone so we sat by the fire, waited out the rain while our hair dripped dry, and then walked back down the beach.

Rain or shine Matthew came home each day with an impressive loot.  Grandma didn't have much deck space left by the end of the week.

When Joseph came along he was content to trail William through the sand,

or follow Matthew through the grass maze.

Here's Will doing "Little House on the Prarie" coastal style.And, of course, there was plenty of sand castle building.

We did take a few day trips to the aquarium,

and to the Tillamook cheese factory.  It's fantastic.  You get to walk through the factory, learn all about cheese, watch 40lb blocks of cheese being made, sample all the cheese you can eat, and then wash it down with some of the best ice cream anywhere.  It was a dairylicious day. Mmmmmm.

Did I mention my mom's brother and his wife were there some of the time?  Uncle Freddy was just as much fun for my boys as he was for me.  He sang silly songs with them, ran around in the sand, and built a fire.  Fire building makes you an automatic hero for my kids.  Too bad this one didn't last very long.  Once the flames got to a descent size Uncle Freddy tossed in a stone and told Matthew it's always good to add a lucky rock to the fire.  Matthew figured two lucky things would be better than one so in the blink of an eye he yells, "Lucky Sand!" and tossed half the beach onto the logs.  Well, that about did it in.

But Uncle Freddy found other important skills to pass on.  He shares my Dad's compulsive passion for dental hygiene and found a willing student in Joseph.

That's it buddy--careful you don't saw through those lips.

By the end of the week we had very sandy toes, and very clean teeth.  

And after about a month we have slowly eased back into midwest life (and time).  Although it is still evident that Will spent a lot of time with Grandma B since he tells me things like, "Mom, your just preposterous."  Any day now I'm expecting him to whip out words like "magnanimous" and "ostensibly."  Thanks Mom!

And as for you, Oregon, thanks to you to.  It was a great week.  We loved it.  We love you.  And we can't wait to come back.  Until next time . . .

On My Way

I've been trying all week to get a post up, something about lambs and pulling ribbons, or something about disappearing paci's, or something about a whole bunch of boys in a tub, but I've been too busy getting ready.  

"Getting ready for what?" you say? 

Getting ready to go.

"To go where?" you say?

I'm heading out Bridget's way for a little relaxation with my mom on the Oregon coast.  Never mind that the weather says it will be cold and rainy all week.  I don't care.  It's still the coast. It's still a week with my mother.  And it's still a week where I will have nothing to do but play with my boys.  There's going to be a lot of wet sand, a lot of legos, a lot of popcorn and movie nights, and a lot of curling up with good books together.  Can't wait.

Catch you on the flip side . . .

Lori's visit

A couple things have kept me away fro m blogging lately.  One of those things was a blissful visit from my sister-in-law and her delicious baby Corey.  I guess he'll be two in a few months but being the youngest around here he gets to be the baby.  We had a fantastic time.  It's too bad we don't live closer to each other 'cause Lori's one of those people I know I would be best buddies with despite the familial obligation.

Lori came to visit to play and also to help me accomplish one of my 2009 goals:  goal number--well, I don't know what number it is, never made an appropriate list but in any case--goal titled:  learn how to sew.   And let me tell you, Lori can sew.  Quilts like you can't believe, the cutest aprons you've ever seen, adorable bags, and whatever else you might want.  

My goal was/is to make a quilt for each boy to keep in the basement for snuggle movie nights. When she first arrived we got right to work, cutting out fabric squares, sewing, ironing, sewing some more, and before I knew it we had our first quilt.

After finishing it our resolve drained a bit and our focus turned to just having a good time with four little boys.  We decided it would be fun to take them all to get their pictures taken.  'Cause I've seen lots of pictures at friends houses of all their children sitting nicely and smiling at the camera.  

We dressed them up, talked with them about the treats they would get after they sat and smiled nicely, and then with spirits high went into the little studio back by Target's pharmacy. Little did I know how much I would need that pharmacy and it's plethora of pain killers by this photo shoot's end.

I don't know what's going on with my friends' kids but NO WAY were our four monkeys sitting still, not bonking each other, and smiling nicely at some woman with a camera.  Every time we got them remotely set up one child would tickle another, someone would bonk somebody else, or Corey would fall off the back of the little couch.  Most of our pictures looked something like this.  I love it.

Will (the only decent looking one) has got his quarter back stance on (and a pretty good one at that), but the rest of them, hmmmm--Corey I'm sure looks adorable as always but unfortunately he is as fascinated with his future NFL cousin as I am.  Joseph, well, it's obvious how he feels about Will having that ball instead of him.  And Matthew, what can I say, is there not something else you can grab?!

So, we get what we get, at least the photo pretty much tells you like it is.  Yes, those are our boys.  

All in all we had a ball (Matthew's into rhyming lately, I can hardly help myself)and before they left Lori helped me make another apron to add to my collection.  I wear it most every day willing spring to come quickly.  (And please pardon the blurry picture--first try at the self timer.)

After dropping them off at the airport the house seemed dull and lonely.   So we slugged into the family room, cranked up some music on the stereo, and we had ourselves a little dance party to forget our blues.  

As far as the quilts, I didn't want my newly aquired knowledge to seep away so I got right to work on the Will's quilt and finish it in a little over a week.

Joseph quilt . . . ?  I'm working on it.

A big thanks to Lori and her little man--can't wait to see you again.