Thanksgiving in San Diego

So we decided to forego the traditional Thanksgiving this year, and take a much needed family trip. Besides camping, this is the first trip we've ever been on with just our little family. Unfortunately, the kiddos were a little sick, but since we paid months in advance, we were definitely going. On our driving in, we saw a huge Christmas tree made of lights with a blinking red light at the top. We discovered that the tree we saw was at Sea World.



We stayed at a Holiday Inn in San Diego, and went to Sea World on Black Friday.


Asher on a tree in the parking lot of the Holiday Inn

At first, we followed some flamingos that were being led by their trainers around the park. The trainers took them to a grassy area and if you sit on the curb, they may nip at your hair. Asher and Mason tried their luck, but didn't have any takers. Katie had fun just being there.


We had a buddy system. Asher and RuthAnne did a great job holding hands.


The kids had a great time. I was quite surprised at what a wide selection of things they had for the kids to do there. Besides Shamu and watching the dolphins, they have amusement park rides and a huge playground. They loved climbing on the nets and in little tunnels.



The kids watching the Shamu show.



Here is Ruthie smelling the flowers at Sea World.



There was a forest of dangling punching bags that Asher had a lot of fun running around in.



Out of the kid rides, we flew on some Elmo Fish, rode in an Abby Cadabby Tea Cup, and Mason took the kids on a spinning boat in an Oscar the Grouch ride.







Here we are watching the dolphins. We kept hoping to touch them, but they never came close enough for us to do so. Maybe next time.





The kids got to try cotton candy for the first time.

Asher, Mason, and I were able to pet some Bat Rays. It was a little creepy, but a neat experience at the same time. We even got to feed some of the Bat Rays. It felt like Kaitlyn chomping on my fingers without any teeth... all gums!



There was a sea lion basking in the sun that reminded me of a supermodel posing and this one swam right up to me thinking that I was going to feed it some food, but I just wanted a cute picture.



We also got to see scenes from the movie Polar Express in 4-D. Basically, you watch the action-packed scenes with 3-D glasses on and they spray you with air and water at different parts as well as buzz your seat. I was worried that the kids wouldn't be quiet or sit still throughout the whole thing, but they did great, and I think they had a fun time. RuthAnne kept her glasses on the entire time too! There was real snow blowing outside the doors when we left the movie theater.


RuthAnne was being really cute while we were waiting in line for the Polar Express 4-D Experience.



Asher poses being Santa.



While we were in San Diego, Mason and I took turns going to the temple. The San Diego Temple is truly gorgeous.



I intended on going when it first opened in the morning at 6:30 a.m., but all of our clocks were on the wrong time, so I actually arrived there around 5:10 a.m. It was wonderful to have time to ponder and pray, and to feel peace in the quiet morning.



We stopped at Mission Beach on the way out of town. It was a beautiful day, though very cold. The kids enjoyed chasing the seagulls and running away from the water.


They also liked digging around in the sand.







When we first arrived, Mason was eating some food, and all these seagulls were just hovering over him waiting to tackle any food they could get their beaks on. It was kind of creepy because they weren't that easily frightened away. But with my shooing skills, we made it back alive!

Mason and I read Fablehaven #3 on the way home. I strongly recommend reading the Fablehaven series, if you haven't already done so. Mason and I have really enjoyed them. We had a nice drive back home. The kids were all excellent during our traveling time in the car.

Quilt Show

Here are the quilts I've made. I love quilting... especially after they're completed. This is the first "Yellow Brick Road" patterned quilt I made. I love these colors together. I'm a huge fan of the color RED.


This was a Christmas present one year for my wonderful mother-in-law, Robin. She admired a quilt given at my baby shower for RuthAnne made by my friend and quilt mentor, Mary Butler.


(Mary's Quilt)
She admired it so much that I decided to try and copy it. I think she liked it a lot because it resembled the style of a town in Northern California by Humbolt University where her daughter, Becky, goes to school. Becky is very talented artistically, and I would have to agree that it resembles the same style of oven hot pads that I received from Becky for Christmas one year (which I love and still use!). I believe the technique is called a "rough-edged" applique. And this quilt began my continued interest in quilting.

This baby quilt was made for my niece, Adelaide Etta Poyfair ("Addie"), after she was born. I also made her sisters, Emilie and Ivy, tie-knot quilts, but I forgot to take pictures. Drat!


This was my favorite baby quilt I've made so far. It was made for Kyla Zion Poyfair. I think it's really fun. With all the baby quilts I make, I try to choose materials that I think the mother will like.


This quilt was a Christmas present for Asher when he was 2 years old. In the CARS movie, Lightning McQueen would say, "Ka-Chow!" Asher's attempt would result in a, "Da-Dow!"


I made this quilt for Mason. My aim was for Father's Day in '08, but I think it took until September for me to finish. I began in April '08. I really tried to choose fabric to make it look masculine. I made this quilt in my Quilting 101 class at a local quilt shop here in Tucson called The Quilter's Market. It is here where I learned the art and importance of pressing. What a difference it makes! The blooks really looked quite pathetic before I pressed them.



This was a Mother's Day gift for my mom. She loves the color blue. I'm not sure if you can tell in the picture or not, but I tried to quilt little swirls in the diagonals. I took many pictures of the quilt backings to see the material I chose for the backing as well as any quilting I've done. I hope to get better at doing my own quilting the more I practice. I think this one is my absolute favorite.


For Callie's Christmas present last year, we made this quilt together. Yes, this is the 2nd Yellow Brik Road quilt I've made. Thanks, Callie!


These 2 quilts were made for Mary Butler's twins she had in December 2008. I finished them on January 22, 2009. I love the bright colors together. I tried quilting these with multi-colored thread, and I took a close-up to show the detail. I think it turned out really nice. I altered both patterns which are from The Quilter's Market. The first is called Fiesta (my favorite of the two), and the second is called Star Struck.



The backing of the black and white star quilt was especially tricky, but luckily it ended up being centered pretty nicely, don't you think? The tricky part of doing this is trying to align the top with the bottom when you're pinning and then quilting (with a layer of batting in between). I really liked how they both turned out.



These quilts were made for all the baby boys born in 2009. The blue and brown one was made for Luke Grandin, the brown and green one for Kian McKay, and the bright blue and green one for Kash Brandon. I cut some corners to finish them all on time. Monique, Christie, Sharee, and I were all due 2-4 weeks apart from one another. I had Kaitlyn in May, then there was Luke and Kian in June, and finally Kash in July. Can you guess what pattern I used? Yep, the Yellow Brick Road!








This is my current project I'm working on. I plan on quilting a more intricate design than "stitch in the ditch."