Kayla's new BFF:

The little boy who lives across the street has become Kayla's shadow. His name is Tyke (they call him Tykie) and he is 4. He is quite smitten with Kayla and they act like an old married couple. Jared calls him her husband. If the girls are here - he is here. When we pull into the driveway he is usually already running up to the car. To up the *awe* factor of my blog, here's a pic:

(I think he is adorable!! I wanna just pinch his cute lil' cheeks!)

The Perfect View

Another LO! I am so glad to be home and scrapping again! American Crafts hosts weekly contests on their blog. This week's challenge was to use 2 AC products and sewing. So of course I used thickers and the crown pp. I added stitching to the title with embroidery floss and stitched on the buttons. Another thing I adore on this LO is the Maya Arts ribbon (blue with white scallops): YUM! I haven't had the guts to cut into my strip yet but I think this LO was well worth it. I love how simple and bright this LO turned out. Here ya go:

A close up of the hand-stitched accents on the felt thickers:

**ps - DH bought me a new camera!
I'm still learning the settings so have a little patience with me a'ight? ;o)

Finally something scrappy to share!!

I have created a couple of new LOs since I have been home but seeing as they are for DT assignments, I've had nothing to show you. BUT I was feeling especially scrappy this afternoon so I busted out a card for 2 Sketches 4 You (#33 by Kazan). As always, they have a great sponsor for this week's challenge. And as an added temptation... they are also offering up a Guest DT spot to this week's winner! I adore 2S4U. They are who got me addicted to cards. BUT there are hundreds of amazing card artists that tune in each week so I'm not holding my breath. I used to try to make stuff that I thought they would like but this time... it's all me. Bright, bold, funky. I love this cloud paper, too! I didn't have the right sentiment (in the oval) so I created one on my computer and printed it out. Here it is, hope you love it too:

The pics aren't great which is disappointing bc this is a brand new camera. Mine spazzed out (literally, it kind of has a mind of it's own lately!) so DH bought me a new one (insert *awe* here). But It's going back. He accidently bought me a Kodak. It's a'ight. But I am taking it back for the Canon that I had my eye on. Anyways, sorry for the dark pic.... this whole camera thing is a work in progress, LOL.

A month to remember...

I finally edited, sorted, cropped and uploaded all of my pictures from this last month (minus those of my mom's memorial service - I started to but I just can't yet). If you are Facebook friends with me... find them all there. Here's a few of my faves that will give you a taste of a very crazy month:

I had to drive DH to the airport in Seattle (about 3 hours from where I grew up) so he could fly home for work (the girls and I stayed an additional two weeks). After dropping him off at the airport, we hit the Seattle waterfront!!

We spent lots of time swimming (it was over 108 degrees on some days!):

and hungout with family. This is my dad:

We played in the Columbia River (in Oregon):

and visited Canon Beach and Seaside, OR:

And saw Multnomah Falls:

I also got to hang out with Adrienne!!

Before visiting Yellowstone:

Where we saw Old Faithful:

and a whole bunch of beautiful geysers:

and a lonely bison (that scared the snot out of Emily!):

In South Dakota we stopped to eat "$.99 all you can eat cowboy pancakes":

and visited Mount Rushmore!
(a personal favorite from the trip):

Before heading home, we "mined" for gemstones:

and visited the "Corn Palace" in Mitchel, SD:

All in all, a pretty crazy and exciting summer!!

I'm back!

Oh my gosh, I have never been so glad to pull into my driveway! In the last month I have been in the car for over FIVE THOUSAND MILES! Can you believe that?? This summer has been the best-worst-happiest-saddest-craziest-most boring summer of my life!! I have seen some of the coolest things of my life (visited NYC, Seaside in Oregon, Portland, Seattle, Old Faithful and Mount Rushmore) and done some amazing things (concert in Carnegie Hall, Harbor Lights Cruise past the Statue of Liberty, Ric-shaw ride through Central Park, open casting call for "The Biggest Loser", played in the Columbia River, ate Clam Chowder at Mo's, played in the Pacific Ocean with my girls, hiked through geysers, hung out with a Bison, pressed a penny at Fort Hays, SD, walked through the set of "Dances with Wolves", ate "all you can eat Cowboy Pancakes for $.99, sat on a "jack-a-lope", mined for gem stones, checked out the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD and so much more!). What an amazing adventure this summer has been!

But it has also been completely heartbreaking. Loosing my mom is indescribable. Planning and "hosting" her memorial service was... numbing. The day before I left for home I went into her room (something I had been avoiding) and said goodbye to her things. To the physical part of her that is left. I bawled and laughed... then bawled some more! I was able to bring home several things that were especially representative of her. I am so thankful to have had such an amazing mom. I am so sad to have her leave us so early but grateful that she is no longer sick or hurting and is now with our Lord. I hope to be the kind of mom that she was....

So on that note, I'm home!! Wooo hooo! The girls' school starts Monday (wow, right?) and my classes start Thursday. But I am sooo excited to start scrapping again! I have three DT assignments due and a big announcement on Sept 1st. So keep watching!! No more sparatic blog posts, promise!!