Friendship Retreats

This past Saturday my hubby was on sports duty with the kiddos, so that I could go down to Norman for their Stake Relief Society Retreat.  My sweet friend was asked to be their guest speaker, and I got to help be part of the presentation.  We essentially crashed (with permission) their luncheon and classes.  It was seriously so much fun! Among other things we learned how to royal ice cookies.  I'll show you the designs from my friends, because um, mine was on the less-than-stellar and e-for-effort spectrum. 

 We ended with Tracy's presentation on ministering and it was lovely.  It was just such an uplifting day, and we enjoyed every minute of it together.  That's what sisterhood is all about.

 I got home just in time to take my hubby to see Les Miserables.  It's his early birthday gift since it's his (and my) favorite musical.  The talent was off the charts.  I've seen many versions of this musical and this was BY FAR the best cast I've heard.  There wasn't a wink link.  Every single solo was incredible and I had several moments involving chills.  I cried multiple times, and it was amazing!  The only thing I missed in this production was the turning wheel on the stage.  A couple of scenes, particularly the barricade, lacked some of the intensity without the scene revolving on stage.  It was kind of fun to see the musical produced differently, but I do prefer the original concept.  The talent was phenomenal though and I walked away completely in awe.

A Special Finish

A sweet friend showed up at my doorstep with a huge bin of fabric on my birthday.  It was all of her mother-in-law's fabric.  I never met Shirley.  She passed away a year before we moved to Oklahoma.  I loved her husband.  We referred to him as Papa Wade.  He was a spiritual giant, former Patriarch, and he just had the most amazing smile that could instantaneously make you happy when he walked into a room.  He passed away about a year ago, but he never touched any of Shirley's things, so when the family cleaned out their home, it was a treasure trove full of Shirley.  My friend was so sweet to give me all of Shirley's fabric.

I took a day and went through all of the fabric, organized it, and turned the large bin into my scrap holder.  Among the stacks of fabric I found a partially pieced Dresden plate that Shirley never finished.  My sweet friend's birthday is this weekend, so I decided to take the Dresden, finish it, and turn it into a pillow for her using only Shirley's fabric. 

 My only sorrow is that I didn't even notice that my bobbin thread was bright red until I flipped the pillow right-side out.  Oops!  There's one random line of red thread showing, but I'm choosing to believe it gives it character. 

A Flowery Finish

My sister is expecting baby #5 in a few weeks.  It's actually kind of fun, because she's due on Halloween.  I love this, because our Grandpa Stuetz's birthday was Halloween.  I secretly hope this little girl comes on her due date, because I'd love to have another family birthday on Halloween and keep the tradition alive.

 

Gratitude Pies

I have the sweetest Beehives.  I love these girls!  Sadly, one turned 14, so I'm down to 3.  I want to keep them from turning 14 forever!  For our class activity the girls wanted to make Gratitude Ice Cream Pies.  They each chose their favorite flavor of ice cream and then I researched a recipe for each of them.  They wrote a thank you card to go with the pie, and then we delivered them that evening.  These girls are so fun and thoughtful, and I love being around them.

Pecking Order

This month Kirsten asked us to make a pecking order block for Do.Good Stitches Peace Circle.  It's actually 16 smaller blocks that you can't piece together, because the blocks overlap each other.  This is a really great scrap buster.  She wanted bright corners with any gray backgrounds.  I really, really liked this block and I love the look of a full quilt, so I think this will probably be my next full quilt project. 

Crowning the Temple

We were so excited to hear that the Angel Moroni was finally put back on top of the Oklahoma City Temple this week.  We've been waiting for what seems like forever.  The date was kept a secret, because of the safety concerns of lots of people being around the huge crane.  Only the publicity committee knew about it, but luckily, we have family of friends on the committee, so they sent pictures for us to see.

The 12 oxen were also brought into the Baptistry as well.  Doesn't it look like the ox is wearing sneakers?!  He's stylish.

TOFW

This weekend I went to Time Out for Women in Dallas with sweet friends.  We left early so we could go to the temple.  It was so needed!

 We love our girl's weekend!  We stay up way too late talking and having a marvelous time.  I also came away from the event with a few new personal goals, so it was a wonderful time.

"P" Night

This week we had so much with the Young Women getting them excited about finishing their Personal Progress.  Tracy did an awesome presentation on the value of personal progress.  She had the YW values and little envelopes hanging from the ceiling as a visual of Personal Progress hanging over our heads.  She had 8 activities in the envelopes that can be done in under an hour, so that they can feel like they're making progress. 

Everyone dressed in as many things starting with "P" as possible.  There was a trophy for the winner and I believe Ashley Confer won with 19 things.  We ate snacks that all started with "P."  It was such a fun night!  These girls are seriously awesome!