Ugghhh! I did it again!

Yup!  Just like last summer, this one has flown by so fast and I haven't blogged in over two months!  Where has the time gone!  After my last post, when my twins graduated, we went on a cruise to Alaska as part of their graduation present.  It was so much fun!  If you haven't taken this amazing cruise, I'd highly recommend it!  We're all ready to go back again!  We spent the 4th of July in Glacier Bay, and it was beautiful!

Once we returned home, I spent a week trying to get over the withdrawals of wearing the sea-sickness patch!  It took a full week to stop feeling dizzy and like I was still rocking!  Without it, however, I would've been one sick puppy the whole cruise!  

Haying season took a couple of weeks, as the family cut and put up 3,000 bales of hay.  A hot, dusty time, but we've gotta keep the livestock fed in the wintertime!

I lost my beloved Grandma on July 18th.  I last saw her on May 26th, and I'll forever treasure this last picture with her. 

Her funeral was a beautiful, family-centered memorial that she would've loved!  I made a video slideshow set to music, my son and his bluegrass band played some of her favorite songs, our oldest daughter did the opening prayer, and cousins and other relatives all played a part as well.  Two days later we had a family wedding, and that was another time spent with family that was so special.

Something I've waited my entire life for happened in late July!  I've always wanted a horse, and we found the perfect guy at the perfect time!  This is Ace!  He's very sweet, gentle, and is a trail horse.  We just love him!!!

The next week we spent a week at our county fair.  Used to be all five kids showed animals in 4-H, but we're down to just the last two - the twins.  They have one more year left of 4-H.  Daughter Emily was the sheep superintendent, however, and son Lukas and his bluegrass band were the main stage music Friday and Saturday nights.  The twins had an awesome fair, walking away as the master showman and reserve master showman of the entire 200+ livestock showmen at the fair!  They made it into the Round Robin competition where they had to show one of each species:  swine, beef, sheep, alpacas, meat goats, pack goats, horses, and dairy goats.  They've always been so close, and they scored just 1/2 point difference, with Kari coming out on top as Master Showman, and Kaitlyn right behind as Reserve Master Showmen!

Next up is a 50th anniversary party that I'm throwing for my parents!  I'm having so much fun preparing for this, and crafting some great stuff!  Click here to go to my Pinterest  stuff for it.  I ordered a great design for their invites.  I found them on Etsy.  Click here to see all the wonderful designs this gal does!  I had them printed from Overnight Prints.  Great company to deal with!  Check them out here.

So, that's pretty much my summer so far!  Haven't done much crafting at all, but will step into high gear once my girls go to college (DREADING that with a capital "D", underlined, and in bold!!!!)  That's September 22nd...so be thinking of me! :(

I have added most of my e-patterns to Etsy, and they are available as instant downloads.  I love this, because you don't have to wait for me to send them!  Check it out here.  

I hope your summer has been equally good!

Prim blessings,

~Laurie

Back to School!

This summer has been so busy and kind of crazy, and if you didn't notice, I haven't put up a post since the middle of July!  In addition to lots of out of town company, we moved two of our kids, took a couple of trips, spent a week at our county fair, some home improvement projects, and now it's back-to-school day!

Our son, Lukas, finished Grad School on June 1st, and was hired as a full-time English teacher on May 31st!  On August 1st we moved him from Pullman, WA, where he had been a student at Washington State University (Go Cougs!), to his new home in Asotin, WA.  Asotin is a tiny little Mayberry-type town in the southeast part of Washington State.  He really lucked out with the home that he found to rent!  It's on the Snake River, with fishing, hunting, and in the country, albeit, a dry part of the state.  He's very happy, and with school started last week for him, he said he can't believe he's getting paid to do this job!  We're so glad for him!

 

That's my boy!

 

His back patio

 

The Snake River is right there! I don't think your first home out of college is supposed to be quite this nice!!!

The next week we moved daughter, Ashley, (also a teacher) to her apartment in Camas, Washington. She lives in a refurbished apartment above Camas Antiques, which is the best antique store anywhere! She has a clawfoot tub, a built-in Kitchen Queen, hardwood floors, and best yet, they allowed her to take her kitty cat! I haven't taken photos of it decorated yet, she's still hanging up pictures, but here are some before move-in. The perfect place for my antique-loving oldest daughter!

 

For 17 years now our kids have shown animals at the Skamania County Fair.  (Prior to that, my husband and I did this fair years ago!) This year, one of our twins was the Round Robin Master Showman!  Kari won a big belt buckle, that she's hardly taken off! (You'll notice it below in her back-to-school photo today).  Kari was the beef grand champion, and the reserve champion for sheep, so she was eligible for the Round Robin, where she had to show her cow, her lamb, a horse, a meat goat, dairy goat, horse, and alpaca.  She did really well, and we were so excited for her!

Kari (left) and twin sister, Kaitlyn (right)

 Also at the fair this year, our son, Lukas, and his band "Train of Thought" were hired to be the fair entertainment!  Take a listen here.  It was a really good fair!

Once the fair was over, I decided it was time to move daughter Kaitlyn into Lukas' old bedroom.  The twins have shared a bedroom since day one, and they were ready to have their own bedrooms.  This dark green bedroom was painted (several coats!) of cream paint, and we just got it finished!  Kaitlyn made the patchwork quilt on the bed, and she won grand champion on it and a nice trophy!  She's proud of her work, and even more impressive is that this was her first quilt and she completed it in only 2 weeks!  

 

We made this "headboard" out of an old screen door I had been hanging onto. I took off the old torn, rusty screen (you can bet I saved that for another project!) and replaced it with chicken wire, after a fresh coat of white paint.

 

Just purchased this nice oak commode cabinet at my favorite antique store!

We re-purposed some old drawers into shelves after painting them and adding some paper liner.

 

We're in the process of painting the outside of our house now.  I also have plans to make a spare bedroom into a new craft room.  So excited!  I'll post pictures of the progress later.

Before school started, we made a trip to Deer Park, Washington to visit family and I got to see my 88 year old Grandma.  She's doing pretty good!  

Today was back-to-school day!  Kari and Kaitlyn are now seniors, and the last of our children.  Kind of sad, as it's been 21 years since I first sent one of my kids to school, and now it's almost over!  

So, there is my summer, in a nutshell, and a big reason why I haven't been getting any work done for my website!  Time to think about firing up the old sewing machine!  Happy September!

Primitive (early) fall blessings,

~Laurie