With the Grandparents

Elena and Grandma

Ana and Grandpa

Yeah, Ana was Grandpa's helper the whole time with the irrigation and horses.

The same skirt again

I made this skirt before in Chicago, but if you recall, I didn't know how pattern sizing worked, and since this is a wrap around skirt, that created some issues. I loved that skirt though, so I finally got around to making it again. I used tissue linen this time and it's a little stiffer than the last linen I used, and I don't like that quite as well. Oh well, at least it actually wraps around me.

And with my awesome hat. I've had that hat for over a year but no purple anything to wear it with. I saw this shirt at Target recently and jumped on it. Just so I could wear me hat. Sweet!

I just realized that none of these pictures really show the skirt on the side it wraps. Oh well.

Ahh, I love my honey.

Sledding in August

Irrigation ditch surfing. What more can I say?

Cassidy

Hailey--every day my girls ask if they can go back to Grandma's and play with Cassie and Hailey. Fun times.

An Unfortunate Series of Events on Horseback

We've been on vacation at my parent's house. It's been fabulous. Fresh veggies from the garden, grilled steak, chocolate tarts (yes, I made another one--I'm addicted), and horseback riding.

Dad took Leo, Ana, Elena and me on a horseback ride up Logan Canyon on Saturday morning.

Since we're not experienced riders, and the horses are pretty young, it was only going to be a short ride.

It was beautiful. I can't believe how green everything is this year.

But then something startled Rio (with Dad and Ana on board) and he took about two five feet jumps. Dad said he lost the reins after the first jump, and then with Ana behind him, he couldn't manage to stay in the saddle. Poor Dad, he was still limping from when the horse rolled over him up in Canada. Rio took off running down the hill.

When Rio jumped it startled Casper, who Leo was riding, and he hopped a bit and then spun around and almost ran into my horse. Casper jumped to the side to avoid hitting our horse, and Leo came off.

I was on Smokey with Elena sitting in front of me, and my horse startled along with the other two, but I managed to rein him in, but then when Casper almost ran into us, he started again and almost spun us into a bush off the side of the trail. I was coming off anyway so I managed to slide off and keep my feet and I tried to grab Elena but Casper was still twisting away and I missed her so she hit the ground flat on her back and scraped it up some.

So yeah, all of us lost our seats and our horses took off, but lucky they didn't run far, and Rio came right back up to the trail so Ana caught him, and Dad caught the other two, while I tried to calm down Elena, and took a look at Leo.

As you can see, Leo caught the worst of it. His head hit a rock and gashed it open a bit. I think it could have used a stitch or two, but he didn't want to bother so I just washed up his head.

He's a good cowboy though, he got right back on. Elena, however, walked a ways before she would get back on. Rio kept acting jumpy for most of the way down. But Elena said her favorite thing she's done at Grandma's is ride horses, so I guess she wasn't too scared. Fun times.

La Cucaracha

Well, projects, I don't know 18? 19? done. Skirts and shirts for Elena and Isabel. I was just going to sew the skirts, but Elena demanded the shirts as well, and truth be told, it didn't take much to convince me.

Plus all the white fabric I had left over from another project. The lace I bought at a thrift store, and the skirts themselves are made from old bedsheets I bought from the same thrift store. So really I only bought the ribbon new. That's pretty stellar, if you ask me.

There's eighty-billion pictures here, but I love seeing the girls spin around so happily. So sweet.

Ana's Skirt

Another project done. It was fun and easy too. And Ana likes it. So all's good in the world.

The Queen of Hearts made some tarts....

On Sunday I made a Raspberry Truffle Tart. It was heavenly. One of the best things I've ever made. One of the best things I've ever eaten. Seriously. It was that good.

So good in fact that I made another one the next day. Yumm..... (We had friends over both nights to help eat it.)

Anyway, it was super easy. The first day I made it with a graham cracker crust and the second day I made it with the biscotti crust like the recipe actually calls for. I definitely recommend the biscotti crust. I mean it was good with the graham cracker crust, but even better with the biscotti. Here's the link to the recipe.

Another project and pictures

Elena being sweet.

Ahhh.....

Cheesy face, Sebastian.

Sebastian learned to say "no" this week. Leo was singing him a lullaby before putting him to bed, and Sebastian started saying, 'No! No! No! No!......" He also learned "duck" and "jump."

Seriously, his cheesy smile cracks me up.

Ana looking cute.

Isabel asleep after church.

Isabel after eating cookies and with her typical attitude.

And this is a random project that was thrown into my other ones. I made a skirt for Ana years ago in Chicago, but I made it with denim fabric, so it wasn't right for the style of skirt. So, she never wore it. I don't blame her either. It really wasn't very cute. She suggested I make it into an apron, and so I did. Worked out well too.

Isabel trying to get in the picture. What a loony.