Quilt Fair

I found out last minute that there was a Quilt Fair in downtown Houston the weekend following Aspen's baptism. So while the older 3 were in school, Sicily and I left bright and early to go have a look. It was wonderful. Absolutely amazing. It was set up like an Art Exhibit and honestly I felt like I was walking through an Art Museum after looking at the work these women put in to these quilts.

These first 2 pictures were in the Americana section.

Some of these quilts were dated into the 1800's, or early 1900's. Quilts tend to get handed down through generations and when fabric is scarce they will make another quilt over the top of an existing one. So as time goes buy and the outer layer starts to fray, their owners will unpick the outer quilt and find beauties like these underneath. Amazing!

Very traditional quilts, these.

I love this Pineapple pattern, with the few squares that are "missing."

This butterfly kaleidoscope was awesome!

The Grand Canyon, can you believe that is a quilt.

This one and many others was quilted with metallic thread giving it a shimmery realistic look, Sicily liked these sparkly ones.

You'll have to zoom in on this. It's like one of those painting made out of tiny dots, except this it made out of 50 cent piece sized circles of fabric. There were some old ladies already looking at this when we came up who, as I told Sicily, "Look at the face," hadn't even realized it was a face. :)

National Geographic anyone.

MOOOOO!!! Was all Sicily said to this.

I think this may have been my favorite. The ship is just magnificent! And each sail is individually pieced and quilted. Amazing!

I took this one for Jared. I don't remember the exact title but it was something like "Guatemala Red." Notice the #1 Blue Ribbon, and the other quilt on the left of the woman's face. Wow!

My boys liked this one the best. I thought it was funny.

I'd really like to hang this in my own personal library. It's just so darn cute.

All in all a good trip downtown. Sicily was so good and kept interested the entire morning. I wished I could have spent more time there. And I wished my batteries hadn't been dieing or I could have gotten you some shots of the quilted bras (too funny) and dolls (really cool). I'll just have to make sure I have extra batteries with me next time.

Cute Little Girlies

Sicily, Kayla and Bailey. 3 little red heads, 3 little friends.With only one child at home now things are rather more quiet during the day than I'm used to. So we've joined another group of Moms to let our 3 year olds play. There's these 3 girlies and 4 little boys. It's so much fun when they all get together. Toys, singing, running and laughing. Love it!

Aspen's Baptism Day

What a beautiful day it was. October 31, 2010. Aspen has grown up so fast and is quickly becoming a wonderfully, beautiful young lady. We are so proud of her and her decision to be baptised.

First things first, some shots I took for her Baptism Invitations.
Isn't she just so big!!

Nana (Jared's Mom) made her beautiful dress. Smocked and everything. She made all the kids blessing outfits and many asked if she's to make the girls' Wedding gowns too. We shall see.

This fit Aspen perfectly, and she was so proud of how beautiful she looks in it.

The day of. Would you look at that smile. No teeth but all excitement! :)

Daddy was so excited to baptise his oldest little girl. There is nothing more wonderful than an Honorable Priesthood Holder as a husband. We are so glad he is our Daddy!

Family Photos!

With Jared's Mom and Dad.

My Mom and Dad and sister, Aunt Marlene.

I didn't get to come in with London, so it was extra special to be there with Aspen. Definitely words exchanged on the importance of her decision. She really is grown up, and really does know what she's doing.

Just before we got started, a little practice with the hands to help calm both Daddy and daughter. She looks so little here to be making such big choices. :) After the actual baptism Jared also Confirmed her a member of the Church and gave her the Gift of the Holy Ghost. Aspen then was able to share her Testimony with everyone. She's borne her testimony many times but I think this was the first time that she truly felt the Spirit. Her lip was just shaking and she really spoke from her heart. We are so Proud of you Aspen, and so grateful to have you as our daughter.

Time to Celebrate! Cake and Nachos for everybody.

Grandpa Kenison smiling just as big as Aspen.

One of our bestest friends, Sophia Strathearn. These 2 are peas in a pod, neighbors and partners in crime. So glad she could be there to see Aspen baptised.

Our favorite babysitters. Brother and sister, Nikki (16) and Ben (12). Their mom already has Aspen and Ben's marriage arranged. She pointed this out to her husband (who happens to be our Stake President) just after Aspen bore her testimony. To which he said, "Hmmm. Now are they the same age?" To which she said, "Think about this Honey, Ben's 12 and Aspen just got baptised....you do the math." Love it!

Playing with Papa

Papa and Nana got here Saturday night for Aspens Baptism which was on Sunday night. After church Phoenix was apparently needing to burn off a little energy. Too much candy I think. Him and Papa went at it with his balloon sword. You've gotta zoom in on that face of his, pure joy and fun.
But after a few good hits from Phoenix, Papa did get back at him, much to his giggling delight!

Trunk-or-Treat / Halloween

What fun it is to dress up your kids for Halloween. My older ones are finally getting of an age where they want to BE something in particular. Aspen this year wanted to be a Peacock. And I must say our costume turned out quite nicely. Dad found the wings and skirt, Mom made the Mardi Gras Mask and added the Peacock feathers to the wings. And with Aspens help it all came together.

Beaux was easier to dress, though he was not happy about it in the least.

Because Halloween was on a Sunday this year our Church hosted a Tri-Ward Trunk-or-Treat the Saturday before. We all had such a good time. There was a carnival first with games and food then the Trunk-or-Treating began. We brought home WAY more candy than we handed out. I was a Fortune Teller, Sicily's a Graduate, London was a Werewolf, Aunt Marlene a Doctor, Granma with the Spiders, and Grandpa just as Grandpa.

Phoenix went as Bumblebee and found his friend Adam was Optimus Prime. You'd have thought they'd worked it out.

Let's get some Candy!!These little girls are just the cutest. You've got Princess Peach, Princess Zelda and Cleopatra. They're mom made all these costumes, can you believe it!

Jared wanted to take our snake, Flame, as part of his costume. He was thinking a Pirate of Wizard or some such. Well shopping for costumes is tougher as your "kids" get older. In the end I found a Snake Charmer costume. Well, we called it that anyway. It was a HUGE hit. Every kid there got a chance to touch Flame.

And now that Jared's an Early Morning Seminary Teacher even the older kids were impressed.

This guy was awesome! Had to pose for pictures all night.

This is the Marine that came to my Den Meeting last year. Looking good as a Musketeer.

I never knew you could get these chairs this big. You'd have to put it in the back of your truck just to take it with you.

Disney's favorite ghost.

And my favorite. The Aussie dressed like Vegemite, with free samples and everything. I'll take the Chocolate though, thanks!

All in all a good evening.

Actual Birthday Oct. 28th

This is our true Aspen. We took some cutest Halloween cupcakes in to her class. They were rather tasty but also FULL of dye. Of course the kids loved them.

Little Jack-O-Lantern

Little Jack-O-Lantern so small and round and fat. Phoenix had to carve a pumpkin for school and roast up the seeds inside. He was so proud of his tiny Jack-o-Lantern and needed a candle for it straight away.

Family Birthday Dinner

Aspen picked Mexican for her Birthday Dinner with Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Marlene. They had this awesome balloon artist going around making things for the kids.

I think Aspen was happier about her ladybug than the loud waiters singing her Happy Birthday. But it may be a toss up.

Kitty Dance

Aspen has started dance again and they did the cutest little mini performance for Halloween.

This is Aspen, her friend Jessica, and their teacher Jana. She's such a good teacher, and the girls just love her.The whole class, aren't they just the cutest Kitty's!!

HMNS with Grandma & Grandpa

I love Museums: Art, Science, Children's, Health, War...everything. You can learn so much and experience everything in a museum. You don't have to travel the world to do it either, it's just right there in your back yard.


Well the Houston Museum of Natural Science has a rather large Chemistry section. And since my Dad is a Chemist I knew he'd love this section, which of course he did, made a Bee Line right for it. That section is followed by an Energy Section that pretty much walks you through Jared's job of how they get Oil out of the ground. So this was an adventure I knew my parents would love.

Let's start with some Amethyst. Isn't it lovely! They have huge ones like this all over the museum. There is a Pirate Exhibit going on. We weren't able to go through it, but we did get a few shots with the local pirates just for fun.

Now I know where I get my craziness from, and here I was thinking it was from my Mother. Silly Grandpa!

This wall acts like a mood ring. Sicily loved it! Notice she has bare feet, we were making footprints on the wall too.

In Oil Field language this is a Christmas Tree. After they've drilled the well this is what they install to continue to flow of oil coming from the ground.

There is Oil all over the world. When I think of oil I think of slippery, black, wet stuff. Well that's not always the case. In some places it's red, or green or even silver muddy goop. This shows you the thickness and colors of oil in different places around the world.

Nitrogen compared to Oxygen, or something like that. Pretty much just a cool spot to take a picture with my Mom.

Racing to make the most energy. HURRY, HURRY spin it faster!!!

Cool little model of how they refine the oil and make it usable as gas or what not. Jared and Dad had fun learning from each other.

Mom, Dad and the baby. Even though I'm 31 I'm still the baby. So nice to have my parents visit, stinks that we can't live closer together.