Getting ready for Turkey day!

Today I made place cards for our Thanksgiving meal.

Don't know if you can see, but Addie has a really tiny addition.

We should know this week what she and Trevor are expecting

Old man winter hits Western Colorado!

Friday night we could see "the storm" coming from the south!

~When Joshua was in second grade, he started all his stories with..

"It was a dark and stormy night.." That's what this night felt like!

(click on photos for a close up)

Then we awoke to our world in a blanket of snow.

Joel measured 6 inches total.

Hmmm .. I feel like starting the count down to spring.

Here is a shot of Mr. Darcy, wearing his bloomers of snow after jumping thru the mounds of white stuff. This is going to be one long winter!

Looky - looky what my swap sister sent to me!!!

I have to say I think I have the best swap sister this side of Virginia!

Look at all the wonderful things she made for me!!

When I opend my box from Stephanie, I gasped at all the creative things she put together. Take a look below for details!

Thank - you Stephanie. I love everything!!!

Here are some close ups on all the goodies Stephanie sent me. Click on the photos for a real close up inspection..

I'm really excited about this decorated mini composite book! Isn't it the cutest thing? That baby goes straight into my purse to help me keep Christmas organized. I love it!!!

The card is a winner! I love how Stephanie put it all together using stickers from the Stampin' Up Christmas Decorator paper set. Soooo clever!

This folder is amazing. Such a great idea for gift giving. I can see making this for any occasion. Stephanie filled it full of gift tags, the cutest pad holder and candy..Yum!! Love everything about this project!

Here's a close up on the pad holder and all the chocolate goodies and - Virginia Peanuts from Trader Joe's. Now how did Stephanie know I' crazy about Trader Joe's? Didn't she cover the candy with the cutest paper and tags??

I am so excited to have all these darling tags for Christmas!

I won't have to make one for at least a couple years! Can't find

anything like this in the stores! -Lucky me -

My swap project is complete!

I'm fianlly done with all my little projects for the Christmas swap I joined.

What fun I had! Here are all the goodies I made for Stephanie in Virginia...

This is a little 3x3 gift card.

Simple and fun!

I decided to make the tin a gift tag holder.
We were to send our favorite candy treat.
This is what I made to hold the candy.

Here it is opened up.

(I will post pictures of the swap items I get from Stephanie when they arrive.)

Close up on the candy tin...

This little tin is from a set I bought at Wal-Mart in the wedding section. I decortated it with the same Stampin'Up products that I used for the pad holder.

Things I made for a Christmas Swap..

It has been several years since I joined any kind of a paper crafting swap. This swap -

UStamp with Dawn & Friends - caught my eye and I joined in on the fun last week. So many wonderful ideas are presented everyday and today I got the name of the person I'm swaping with! Stephanie from Woodbridge, Virginia! Last night the swaping bug bit me and this is what I made for Stephanie..

...a note pad holder for the holidays and a little candy tin. Some close-ups on details

Note pad holder open

Only Stampin' Up products were allowed in the swap. I used Real red, old olive and ivory card stock. The same colors for the buttons and ribbon. The deco paper was a sheet Stampin' Up paper from 2006.

Addie's visit...

Addie had her Fall Break this last weekend and she chose to come home
and relax a bit with her dear old parents and Mr. Darcy!
Time went way too fast but we sure enjoyed having her here.
(She gave me a break with this little dog....I think she threw the ball a ba-jillion times!)

Mr. Darcy discovers the wood burning stove...

Columbus Day and Joel went wood cutting...before he left for the hills, he built a fire in the stove. Guess who has discovered the warmest spot in the house?
Joel says children and little dogs aren't allowed on the brick .. now how can I keep that rule?

This one is for the Mother's of our Ward's FANTABULOUS Missionaries!

Saturday morning, October 3rd, we had the hungry Missionaries over for breakfast!

Elder Baker asked for waffles with applesauce - our family favorite!

For you mother's of these fine young men...this is for you!

A serious moment as they begin their day..

Now this is more like it!

Still young and loving life.

Mr. Darcy is feeling much better, thank-you!

Yesterday was a big day for Mr. Darcy...he had his "operation".
I took him into the Vet's office at 8:00AM and picked him up at 4:00PM.

He wasn't feeling very well, as one might expect.

Today, however, has been a different story!

He bounded out of his crate this morning like a new dog - ready for a new day!

I snapped this photo after he raced around the yard, chasing falling leaves.

We had company for General Conference weekend!

Megan and Lonie came home to watch General Conference with us!

Megan got to meet Mr. Darcy. They got along just fine...A bonding moment

First day of fall and look what happened.....

This part of the fall season always makes me sad....

A miracle....the tomatoes were spared...for a while anyway! Leaves are starting to turn..,

The girls are starting to molt. Feathers everywhere!

and Mr. Darcy behind his fence...patiently waiting for me.

Meet our new grandbaby....

Addie had a little scare today and ended up at the Doctor's office to make sure all was well..

... and it was! Whew!

She sent this photo of our new little grand-darlin'.

I have no idea where he or she is in this photo,

but I love it just the same.

Guess this little one was as active as can be.

So many people are praying for the well being of this child

and I am grateful

The news is out!!!

Addie is pregnant!

(I stole this photo off her blog)...Her due date is around April 6th. We are thrilled and excited to meet this new bundle of joy! Please keep her in your prayers. I celebrate each day that all is going well for her and Trevor and this precious baby.

Time to get ready for the holidays!

The change in seasons reminds me that Christmas is just around the corner.

This time last year, Kristina Werner - my very favorite graphic creater - posted her version of this fun little gift card. http://www.kwernerdesign.com/blog/?m=200809 Scroll down on the page and you will find it. Thought I would post what I did with it here:

I ended up having a class on making this gift card. Such fun to see what everyone came up with!

Close ups....