I've been quilting!

I've always wanted to learn how to quilt and thanks to Relief Society enrichment class, I finally did! I always look forward to each month for the next class. I always leave that Saturday open so I can go. I really love the lady that teaches the class; she is such a sweet lady and she says that she's no expert, but her quilts are always awesome! The top quilt was my first quilt.

This quilt I'm still working on, all I have to do is cut the material for the backing and quilt it with the batting together. This one is my favorite because it's Mary Englebright, I just love her patterns and colors.

This one is a wall hanging that I made last month. I've also made a table runner, 2 tote bags, which I gave one to Sharon, and another small wall hanging or it could be a pillow top.

There is this lady in our ward that made her husband a handmade tie and thought that it was a good idea, so I made these for Bryon and Josh. I found out that I really enjoy sewing. I think next I'll try to make a skirt or purse.

Random pictures from the last few months

This was the last day of Bryon's play, Fiddler on the Roof.

The scene right before Bryon's solo.

Josh's 11th birthday party, having german chocolate cake, one of Josh's, Bryon's and my dad's favorite cakes.

This is Josh's snowman that he made in our driveway, when we got that snow last month. It was such a fun day! He didn't have school(it was a snow day) and he went cross country skiing with our neighbor on their field across the way.

Josh's cross country meet

This was Josh's 2nd cross country meet. I forgot to bring my camera for the first one. This meet was in Grass Valley and he said it wasn't as hard as the first one, which they ran a mile and half in Loomis. He has two more meets and his last one they can wear a costume because it is the day before Halloween, but not to constricting ,one that they can run in.

Visiting Grandpa and Grandma Southwick's House

We took a trip to Santa Rosa last month to see if we could get a piece of raspberry bush from the Southwick's yard. The raspberry bush died but his peach tree was still there and the owners let us have 3 peaches. I wish they were still around I would of loved to meet the Southwick's.

Joshua receives his Arrow of Light

Joshua recieved his Arrow of Light among a number of other awards. The Arrow of Light is the highest award a Cub Scout can receive. Joshua has worked hard and it was awesome to see him reap the fruits of his labors. Way to go Joshua! Oh yeah, Dad and Mom might have helped a bit - :)

my berry making process is upside down

To note,this blog only lets me do 4 pictures at a time and so the berry making process is in reverse. I don't know how to fix it unless I delete and write it from the end to beginning. Any suggestions(brother-in-laws that are good with computers)? So when reading you have to start from"making raspberry jam" and go up.

continue of jam

pouring the jam in the jars that have been completely dried and then you place the lid and band on it and turn it upside down on a towel until the seal pops... you have to check them periodically....

jars coming out of hot bath..

and lids..

the last bit being dumped...within 24 hours you have set jam!!

squeezing the juice...

putting in the pectin, which has to be the exact amount....

after it comes to a rolling boil you put the sugar in...

another rolling boil for an exact 1 minute....

continue of berry jam

the jars and lids in the bath...

rinsing off the berries...

getting the cheese cloth ready...

blending the berries...

Making raspberry jam

We went over to our friend's farm, they are in our ward, and picked some raspberries. They had so many this year it was crazy. This has been our third year picking raspberries and making jam. I told Bryon I think that this will be our family tradition. The first year we picked golden raspberries and I canned them myself, first time ever I made jam. The second and this year we picked red berries and Bryon helped me, much better. Even with his help it is a long process.I still would like to pick the golden, I think we will do it later. So this is the process and making raspberry jam......

These are all the berries...

getting the bath ready for the jars and lids...

going to wash the jars and lids...