Five Parties and Carrying a Camel!

 On Monday I awoke with lots of energy ... see why I need my day of rest?  I scrubbed our bathroom from top to bottom, for the first time in months ... none of this wash just the sink, or just clear the counter stuff for me.

I also put together Charlotte's birthday package, since her birthday was coming up in a week.

Then I took it to the post office and headed to the DI in Provo ...

It was such a warm day,  I noticed several Convertibles out with their tops down ... on January 26th, of all things.  Then I parked next to one at DI, and as I was about to take a picture this motorcylist parked on the other side ... lovely weather.

Monday was also fun because I got to visit with Davin a bit ... he'd borrowed old blue, since he had to leave his car at the shop in Payson for the day ... so when he came to drop off the van, Dad was already home and we had a lovely visit with him!!  

 On Tuesday I went to party number one, a quilting bee and tea party.  To the left are Sherri and Margaret, sisters-in-law who live in West Mountain, the rural area to the west of Payson.  Margaret's family used to board Becca's horse, and evidently both Becca and Spencer became friends with these ladies' children. (Both come to my witch's teas as well)

We worked on quilting this quilt that non quilter Sherri started in her teens, quilter Margaret has been encouraging her to finish it.   Sherri's house is huge, and her kids are the ages of mine, so that means a huge empty nest.  She's decorating one of many guest rooms in a Winnie The Pooh theme.  She's been a fan since Junior High.

The luncheon part of tea ...

Above one the left is the back of a secret panel from the parlor that opens in to the bedroom hall behind the parlor ... on the right, above, is shown the triple alcove wall, the furthest left section of which opens into that back hall.  It was so fun!

Sherri was raised Moravian, before joining the church in her early 20's  She told us that her grandmother used to make Moravian Ginger cookies to sell, and then she bought things for the house, like the Persian rugs that Sherri has inherited, and is unable to part with even though they are literally thread bare.  I loved her stories and how she has taught her children about the religion she grew up with, and all the good things it adheres to. 

(Sherri's mother actually suggested that Sherri listen to the Mormon missionaries, after Sherri's older married sister joined the church.  Her mother had been impressed with the wonderful changes she'd seen in her oldest daughter's life.

This is the Pooh banner I made as a hostess gift.

 When I got home, I got to watch these two cuttie patutties while their mom was off showing houses near by.

 My cousin posted  this picture of my mom and her sister LaRee in California during WWII, I've seen it before, but it was fun to have it on the computer ... note that Aunt LaRee has those same skinny ankles that my dad so admired when he met my mom.

\

On Wednesday it was a work day for me ... we had someone come in and buy the large vintage Christmas nativity lawn set ... I was carrying out part of it, when this photo was snapped ... made me laugh.

On Thursday, at work, I wrapped up the rest of my gifts for Dad's birthday, as we were going straight to dinner after work for Dad's birthday, also known as party number 2.  The picture also shows the two blue gifts that Brittany had had sent through Amazon.

 Here we are at dinner, at Los Hermonos in Provo.  Becca and Brady gave Dad this card for his birthday ... Dad actually cried as he read it, check out the collage below to see why.

 We are so thrilled, we could never have guessed we would have a third grand child born this year ... this baby will be number 19!

On Friday I worked on projects for the 2 Dotters sale coming up on February 7th.  I was very happy with how this 50s dresser turned out.

That night I tried out my new meat ball maker, and was delighted with how nice they turned out.  Definitely a keeper.

After dinner Dad and I walked over to red box ... and on the way saw these pansies in the bank's flower beds, still blooming, who knew!!

After the movie, Dad, like the smart person he is, went to bed ... I on the other hand went to the kitchen at 11:00 P.M. and stayed there making fancy cookies for Jenn's  Cookie exchange the next day ... I finished at 2:00 A.M., sort of sick, don't you think?

 Here I am at Jenn's house and party number three, I took tons and tons of pics, but I won't make you suffer through them all, I will be posting more on my Pollyanna blog though, if you are curious about Jenn's mad decorating skills.

This is a section of the cookie table, mine are the whole hearts in the doubledecker red basket. 

It was fun to meet new friends, like this gal who is a chalk board artist ... she sells on etsy under the name 'the black and white store', which I thought was clever ... the famous Margie Aslet actually took the picture.  Its kind of cool because Jenn's party photos are going to be on Studio 5 on Tuesday!!

 We all had fun making these cute bird decorations for Valentines, mine is the overloaded one in the middle.

 When I was leaving I noticed all her funny signs ... her driveway was full of stuff for the 3 Dotters show she is hosting in PG on the 7th, yes, the very show I am getting ready for too ...

When I got home, I got to watch Dad as he finished up on the rolling island he's been putting together for me ... can I just say how much I LOVE it.  He had to cut the single corbel above in half to make the side brackets and it was FULL of nails, I think he counted a dozen ... fortunately he put his old saw blade back on the table saw so he wouldn't ruin his new one.  And let me just tell you, with my father's history on a table saw, I was soooo nervous, that after watching a few sparks fly, I had to leave ... Thanks Honey!!

Party number four happened that evening, we met the Moes and Heuers for dinner and for Dad and Randy's birthdays at a Thai place in AF, before heading back to Highland where we met up with the Gearhearts at their home theater to watch the Hundred Foot Journey again ...  Afterwards we played games.

 On Sunday, we all had our typical Sunday schedules ... Brittney gave the closing prayer in Sacrament meeting.  I'd forgotten to put the roast in for our English Dinner Party that night, and ran home to start it and missed half of Sunday School ... boo hoo.

 After church Dad peeled a 10 pound bag of taters, to make roasted potatoes, then Spencer helped pealing carrots.

We missed out on family members who had made arrangements to watch the super bowl elsewhere, but the dinner party was a great success. (Party number 5, by the way)

Here is my plate, complete with the Yorkshire pudding that Trevor made  and which was delicious.

Brittany and Spencer also made a trifle from goods on hand, which was pretty darn impressive!

Later, for entertainment, the grands and the boys all flew paper airplanes to the 'moon', J. Scott even drew a man inside the cockpit of one of the planes, so we had a manned aircraft landing on the moon too!!

So that was our week, full of friends and family get togethers ... love you all, thanks for being a part of our lives.