Christmas Eve!

We had a lot of wait time to go through the Layton Commons park via vehicle. Being a cold night, everyone petitioned to wait rather than walk through it. I think next year I'd prefer to walk since the walking path is closer and goes through the lights instead of the long way around them. It was fun to enjoy the lights! 

                                       The blue tunnel!

We were on speakerphone with my uncle Steven, so it helped to pass the time away while we waited in line. He was a couple of cars ahead of us. 

 I'm not sure the significance of dragons and mythical creatures.

                                                                          Dragon

                                                                     Dragonflies

                                                                          Peacock

                                             Bear and salmon in the river

Humanitarian Quilt Finished!

Whew!! What a busy day! I've been fighting getting a cold for the last week. Yesterday at church I wasn't feeling the greatest. I was feeling colder than normal and was sneezing a lot. So I sat in the library where Mom was filling in during Sunday school with Ruby. I slept until 12:45pm today. Longest I've slept in in forever. Hopefully the extra sleep will help me fend off the cold. I got the baby quilt tied this afternoon for the humanitarian center inside the D.I. It looks pretty nice--almost hard to give it back! haha We don't have true quilting stands, so I carried in plywood 8' boards and we strategically set them up with our dining table chairs and C-clamps.

I didn't sew the strips of fabric together. The front and back were already assembled. I was given the kit and a bundle of batting. I pinned it together, sewed around the edge, and tied it. I think whomever assembled it used scraps, because most of the strips aren't the equivalent width from end to end. Some strips were sewn upside down, but I guess in the end it is a colorful blanket for a child. 

I worked with "J" for Jets this afternoon after he got home from school. We are nearing the end of "Freckle Juice" by Judy Blume. I'm hoping to find "Ralph S. Mouse" for his next book. It is hard to find books that are low enough reading level, yet engaging for an older teenage boy. We made ornaments for him to give as gifts. They are the glass bulbs with a digital picture printed on overhead projector sheets. Cut down and inserted into the bulbs. We went to Walmart to finish off his gift by purchasing bows. 


I get to make up about 16 hours of staff work before January that hadn't yet been implemented earlier on in the year after "J" was placed in my parents home. I'm pretty stoked. So I will have 28 hours in Staff pay, and 18 hours in Jets pay. Same job, just 2 different pots of money the pay comes out of. 

 Sunday night we made gingerbread houses. The pieces were put in the refrigerator to assemble closer to Christmas when Elizabeth is home from school. I decided to make a castle instead of the traditional gingerbread house. I ran out of dough, so my castle will only have 1 tower instead of 4. 

                            Antonio cutting out his gingerbread house.

Ruby is enjoying life! A few days ago we went to Walmart. I found a ball and kicked it down the aisle. Ruby went nuts over it. It lit up and had flashing lights. Turns out it is a stocking stuffer, as I saw it this evening when we were looking for bows for "J". Anyway, she kept looking up at the cart to make sure that we still had the ball. It seemed we weren't going to be able to leave the store without it. So we bought it, even though $5 seemed high for a plastic ball. She has LOVED it! She can catch it in her mouth, and it is big enough it is not a choking hazard like her tennis balls we've taken away from her. I chase after her and she has her routes under the table and around the kitchen. Quite a work out for both of us.