I wonder...

 what the people think when they drive by at night

and see the headless form at the window.

Sunday... the day of rest

 So after our Sabbath day busyness (BYC, the 3 hour block, prep for the up-coming youth conference and  Home Teaching) our day melted into a more relaxing state with Jake and Steph.

Jake made cookies...from a jar

(A Valentine gift from my Visiting Teachers)

 

The instructions said it would make 2 dozen.

Jake got 8.

Could that be because he made "gimormous" cookies

or because we ate a lot of cookie dough

[ahhh...the gooey yumminess]!

A cookie induced nap...before bedtime.

Spring in our backyard

 Our little patch of tulips

 Apricots

 Lemon thyme

 Potted Pansies

 Patiently waiting for a space to be planted

 Roses are about to burst

Broccoli giving a plentiful harvest

 

 Our mini farm...in a mini yard.

Jessie...

 

is finished and ready to party.

Braving the Boulder

 Steph and I are really lovin' our Thursday hikes!   So much so Steph invested in real hiking shoes and we both  bought ourselves new back packs...the "camel back" kind.
We must be serious...(or just needed an excuse to go shopping).

 This last Thursday Jake was out of school for his Spring break...so we enticed him to come along with the promise of a "Subway" lunch.

Then we decide that this was the week to go "bouldering"  since we'd have Jake along to "rescue" us  from any precarious situations that we may get ourselves in.

So off we hiked.

 

 It didn't take long for us to realize the fallacy in our thinking 

when found ourselves "left behind".  

 Our challenge... just to keep him in sight and then figure out how to get to where he was

...before he disappeared.

 We finally caught up.

Then we offered him lunch.

A full tummy must have slowed him down cuz' from then on 

he stayed with us.

 He even gave us a little extra help when we needed it.

...holding up the big rocks  so we could get through.
 

Now Steph...she's part monkey and part mountain goat.  And now that she's got her new shoes she thinks she can go anywhere.

 Even Jake had to risk his life to keep up with her.

Now me...

 I was a little reluctant to follow


 but I did...to some places.

 

and other places

...no way!

 

 An amazing fun day.

Sewing with Mom Tobler

One of my current projects is creating a "Jessie" costume for Steph.

 So the other day I was making the chaps.

• Drafted the pattern from a pair of real chaps Steph had picked up at a yard sale.
• Made some design change to make them more size adjustable.
• Cut out the vinyl backing.
• Went to cut out the  cow print suede cloth and discovered I was 1" too short of fabric. Had some very irritated thoughts....( I blame the shortage on Joanne's Fabrics.)
• I don't want to shorten the chaps...even by one inch.  (Put Steph in cowboy boots and them thar' are some looong legs.)
• So I decide to create a yoke at the top of the chaps to give me the needed length  and add some western detailing.
• I cut out the cow print suede cloth.
• I cut out the yokes out of the scraps.
• Sew one leg to the vinyl....(thinking ...man this project is going fast.)
• Can't find the other cow print leg piece.
• Look everywhere...go thru the scrap pile,  look everywhere I've been in the house...the fitting room,  the fabric armoire...behind my sewing tables...under the kitchen table...thru the scrap pile again...behind the couch...
• Now I am getting frustrated...my progress is stalling out.
• I go thru the scrap pile... AGAIN.     
• I find it....with the yoke pieces cut neatly out of the lower leg... Bad word.

Deep breath....now how to solve my dilemma.
Back to the scrap pile...I am able to match the fabric pattern and piece the lower leg back on.
Create a nice diagonal stitching line that adds design and holds the cow print to the vinyl backing.
Add stitching to the other leg (without the piecing and cutting.)

 Next... add thrift store bought belts to the front and back.  D-rings and straps...
Mission accomplished.

Today I'm working on Jessie's shirt. (Hoping that I don't have more irritations or bad words:) )

Watch for the picture of Steph  as Jessie...
coming Saturday...that's her Toy Story Party event.

Lost...again!

Thursday was hiking day.

Destination... Keystone Thrust.

Noted on the map to be the most significant geological feature in Red Rock Canyon.  

How can we miss that?   

 Making sure we were on the right trail...off we hiked

A trail marker and cell phone reception...we're still doing good.

We were anticipating coming to an abrupt end to the trail and ...WOW...there it would be.  An amazing...something. We didn't know what it would look like...but we were sure we'd know it when we saw it.

We must be on the right trail...there's another marker

Sittin' pretty.

Someone took a lot of time to create the "Flintstone Resort"

Creating our own trail marker...we never did find it again:)

Well...the trail faded...into no trail going down into a ravine.   

But on we scrambled.  

Actual rock scrambling is our favorite part.  

 

And it was beautiful. 

Maybe that significant feature was just around that bend.

 

It wasn't... but we found these nifty round cactus

 Then we decided it was time to figure out
how to get out of this trail-less ravine.


  Steph's method is climbing directly up the face.

...and reluctantly I followed.

If we're going to be lost...we should be lost together.


Finally... back at the trail head we decided to read the information. 

 
So this is what we were looking for.

Picture of a picture.

Note to self...maybe significant doesn't always mean visually magnificant.