And once again, a considerable amount of time has passed since my last post... Family update: another little boy was added to the grandbaby list; Patrick Dennis Thomas was born Jan 8th, 2012, which means he'll be a year old in 4 days! The Thomas family stayed with us for 4 1/2 months while waiting for housing at Ft Belvoir... they moved there 5 days after Patrick was born. Steven and Rebecca, Declan and Abigail moved from Ft Meade to Ft Huachuca in November... sure do miss them! At least we have skype for visits! We are going to see them in April on our way to Reno for the Women's and National's tournaments. In my biggest financial blunder that I can recall, I booked our tickets to Las Vegas instead of Reno - OOPS! Still have to straighten that out! Mom and Dad came for Christmas; they were going to stay til New Year's, but were too cold! Thin Florida blood I guess, and they both developed head colds :( They are moving soon from Arcadia to Punta Gorda, FL, so the next time we visit will be in a new location. The grandkids are growing up way too fast! Andrew turned 5 on 12/26 and he's in preschool, Declan will be back in preschool starting next week after their move, Liam is in a preschool program to help with his (lack of) speech. Cierra can't wait to start school, but enjoys being a princess in the meantime! Abi is her adorable, sassy self, and Patrick is now crawling.
In the sewing room, I completed a quilt - start to finish - at the Sew'n Sews weekend last March! I got to use Mary's quilting machine, Dina(saur), which was WAY COOL! We are going to Gina's this year... can't wait!! I also made a quilt for Carrie and David. It took a bit of work to get the colors balanced right and by the time that was accomplished, I had enough pieces left over for another whole queen sized top, and then some! I also put together some Chinese coin strips that Elena had sewn oh, maybe 10 or so years ago! I think I'm going to use it for practice quilting on my machine now that I have some nifty tools my Honey got me for Christmas! I also have Declan's quilt basted and ready for quilting (Mom has slowed down with the hand quilting...having issues with her hands/numbness/aches and pains : / ) I still have 3 quilts to make to catch up on the grandkids... I really don't have a lot of kid type fabrics... Sharyn suggested r/w/b for her boys, and I will back them with some kind of cute kid flannel print.
We added a new fur-baby in July... Daisy Doodlebug turned 1 year old on New Year's Day She's a Dorkie (dachshund/yorkie mix - I got her from Debbie) She and Penny have gotten to be good friends. It works out well - Penny loves Dennis and Daisy is my little buddy! Meenu has had a couple bouts of kidney/bowel issues this past year (comes with age...) and I don't know how much longer she'll be with us. She's such a sweetheart, but she's at least 14 and these things will not get better with wishful thinking... :( Wiley and Tanya are still doing well. Wiley is afraid of the grandkids, so he hides under our bathroom sink when they are here! Considering he outweighs both dogs, it's pretty funny!
I'm bowling 2x week, on Tuesday nights with Dennis and Thursday mornings in a women's league... I bowled a 220 yesterday! missed a 500 set by 8 points! oh well, something to aim for!
We are now attending Horizons Church here in Stafford. It's much bigger than COTR, but I feel more connected there. I help in the nursery 1x month, and helped with decorating/undecorating for Christmas. I've also gone to a couple of women's events, and was asked to teach quilting by a few people.
Dennis and I celebrated our 30th anniversary in June! I've truly been blessed with a wonderful partner to share life with!
