Last summer mom got to come visit us - was great fun to have her here! Had some girl time shopping, grabbing a bite for lunch, and then in the evening mom whooped my butt in Yahtzee! She always told me dynamite comes in small packages, and she's not kidding! at 4'10" she's a live wire!! Love you, mom!!! (P.s. see the chicken clock in the background? Yep, hubby made that!! Love it!!! Fused glass and other mixed media!)

Now I can reveal my secret project from a few months ago. My brother-in-law had asked if I would make them a king-sized quilt, which I had never done before. I was a little intimidated, to be honest, but I didn't see how it could be any harder than the smaller ones I've been making. I drew out a diagram of how I would construct it, figured the yardage (no small feat for this math-challenged person!!!), made a trip to my favorite quilt shop in Albuquerque - Southwest Decoratives - and headed back for a sewing marathon. I will confess, got stuck with pins a few times, but it went together fairly quickly and seamlessly (sorry 'bout the pun), and I'm rather proud of myself! Sis and brother-in-law celebrated their anniversary with a re-wedding ceremony December 1st, and we got to watch it streaming live from their church's website. Hubby and I watched from here in Santa Fe and our daughter watched from Santa Barbara - was fun, and yes I cried! :-) Sis sent me a couple pictures of their quilt, and it received a seal of approval from Emma, their cat. :-) Success!!

Haven't taken time in ages to post on my blog. Time gets away from me sometimes... Recently, hubby created and installed a new entryway to the living room, and it looks gorgeous! Used to have a metal threshold track for sliding glass doors which was nice, but this is much more "southwest" flavor. :-) The doorway gives a much wider access between the rest of the house and the living room, and it just "feels" so elegant! Great job, hubby!! Another project was installing track lights in the living room, and once again hubby rocks!!

This photo of my hubby and me is from Monday August 13th - our 41st wedding anniversary! We went out on a beautiful dinner date, had such a nice relaxing meal, the evening was relatively cool with beautiful clouds and sunshine. Had to take a quick snap before the evening ended - but I didn't mean to get an antennae in the picture! oh well! :-)

Today was my aunt and uncle's 50th anniversary! Wish we were in Idaho to celebrate with them! (the quality of this isn't the best because I scanned a copy of the newspaper article) Their kids are sending them on a wonderful trip which will include a trip down the Danube River! Happy 50th Anniversary Unk and Aunt Annie!!

This is a picture of my mom and me - August 15, 2012 would have been my mom and dad's 63rd wedding anniversary. Daddy passed away in 2005 after a valiant battle with Alzheimers. August 15th would also have been my neice's 35th birthday.

Tonight hubby and I enjoyed a dinner date for our 41st wedding anniversary - on the way to the restaurant he spotted these amazing clouds, so I grabbed my phone and started taking photos out the car window. We think the vertical clouds are a rain storm. A beautiful evening - nice n cool, still a bit of sunshine. We even got a snap of us after dinner :-)