This past weekend was our church missions conference.  It is always one of the highlights of our year!  We started on Friday night with a dinner as the missionaries arrived in town, this time at the home of our pastor, John,  and his wife, Martha.  It was a wonderful time for the missionaries and the missions committee to get together and chat and get ready for the busy conference.

Here is Martha, getting some rolls out.  We all brought food, and I know she appreciated that -

                                   

For privacy reasons,  I am not going to mention any of the missionaries'  names in these pictures.  But, here are two committee members, Gwen and Barb -

                                   

A few people chatting -

                                   

                                   

Here is John, our pastor -

                                   

And Boaz, I think, is the name of this very large standard poodle!

                                   

And some pictures around the tables -

                                   

                                  

                                  

On Saturday our missions conference was in full-swing with our keynote speaker ( a good friend of mine from college days!) and the missionaries speaking.  And we had a wonderful children's program going on as well -

                                   

                                   

                                   

                                   

                                   

The missions conference continued on Sunday, with some missionaries speaking during the Sunday School hour and then participating in the worship service, with our main speaker giving the sermon.

Betsy and a friend went to a small group Bible study party on Sunday evening, and here they are in the afternoon, creating some fun rice crispy treat houses -

                                    

                                    

                                    

And I had finished Megan's dress right before the busyness of the weekend started!

                                    

                                    

And here she is in it!  I got  pictures of Megan on Sunday night at our annual Reformation service -

                                     

At the reception afterwards, here are Charlie and Megan enjoying some yummy food!

                                     

                                     

It was a great weekend! 

Such a busy, busy day!  I am exhausted!  Started out early with making applesauce.  We made some, a couple of weeks ago, but we had some apples left of what we bought.  So today was the day, and last night I got everything ready in the kitchen for cooking and canning -

                                          

That canner doesn't look so good!  But those are actually permanent marks down the sides, I guess from using it so much and the water overflowing out of it!

Anyway, Amanda and kids arrived around 9 this morning, and I had started cutting up apples and cooking them.  Charlie wanted to help with the apple-peeler-corer -

                                           

                                           

He got tired pretty quickly and went on to play -

                                           

                                           

Meanwhile, Megan decided that ALL of the stuff had to come out of this drawer!

                                           

Oh, well, it kept her occupied!  And they played with the same truck we had outside yesterday -

                                           

                                           

                                           

And here is what we got from those apples today -

                                           

The next thing was to go with Betsy to the Verizon place to have them look at her phone, which hasn't been working right - and they are replacing it.  I came home from that in time to take Minuette to a vet appt.  She just hasn't seemed herself lately - even as old as she is getting, this was different.  Turns out she has a pinched nerve, the vet thinks, causing pain, and she has a staph infection on her skin, causing her fur to come out in clumps.  So, she is on meds for those things.

Came home from that to try to finish cleaning up the kitchen, until it was time to go to dog class.  We had class, and then Betsy had Luna taking the Canine Good Citizen Test tonight.  Luna passed!  Here she is looking pretty proud of herself -

                                            

And then she went to lay down.  I guess she is exhausted too!

                                            

                                            

It was a beautiful fall afternoon here!  It had rained earlier, and later, and now we are under a tornado watch!  But late this afternoon it was pretty enough to take the kids outside for a little while - mommy teaches piano on Tuesday afternoons.  And there were lots of leaves, which are now gone, for a little while anyway, because Grandpa has since blown them away.

                                    

Charlie pretending to take a picture with an old camera of mine that I had broken -

                                    

                                    

                                    

Megan's turn!

                                    

                                    

                                    

                                    

This is what I have been working on lately - smocking and then putting together this little dress for Megan.  The smocking was fun, and I really enjoy it!   But I am struggling with the construction of this dress!  The instructions are not as clear as dress patterns that I am used to - at least they aren't clear to me!  And there are things I have never done before, like putting in a placket, working with yoke linings instead of facings, attaching the gathered skirt to match up with the bottom of the smocking, etc, etc.  It has really been stressful!  I wake up in the morning just dreading having to work on it!  But then I think about little Megan who is such a cutie and how much I want to make smocked dresses for her, and so I keep at it!  But it is not easy!  And it will be a miracle if I make another one just like this one - a yoke dress, even this sleeveless one.  We'll see. . .

So, here is the progression from when I remembered to take pictures -

The front, with the smocking.  The sides are still unfinished here -

                                  

The gathered back - no buttonholes yet - you can't even see the back opening in these pictures, but it is there!

                                   

And here is the back with the sash and the side seams at least basted together!

                                      

                                     

I make a couple of major errors - because I didn't know what I was doing!  I sewed the yoke lining in with the front to the gathered skirt, and so now I can't pull the lining over and cover up the seam, which might make it a little uncomfortable for Megan, but  I am  hoping that by tacking the thick seam down, that will help.  I did the same with the back lining, but only in the seam with the sash, so I took that out and re-sewed it.

I still have to try it on her, sew the side seams for the final time, make the buttonholes, sew on the buttons, and hem it.  Oh, and tack those linings and seams down. 

All for this little cutie pie, who, just like her brother at that age, can't resist getting in my cabinet where the non-breakable plates, cups, and containers are -

                                       

She loves it when Charlie pushes her around on the truck!

                                       

I had such a delightful trip today!  I drove with a friend, Candy, to Bridgewater, VA, to see Barbara Cline.  Barbara is a very special quilter, author, teacher, and friend!  I met her through one of her sisters, Polly, who I have been blogging with for several years, and then finally met in person!  Along with Polly, I had met several of her sisters, and I am now friends of theirs through xanga and facebook and sometimes in real life!

So, back to why I drove to Bridgewater, about 2 hours from here.  Barbara Cline has recently had a book published-

                                        

I won a copy in a blog give-a-way!  And I wanted Barbara to sign it.  It is a wonderful book that teaches how to make wall quilts that use a Lone Star pattern, and gives instructions for very simple through more complex combinations of the pattern, along with lots of helpful hints and personal touches.

Candy and I went to Barbara's house where she showed us several quilts she has been working on -

                                         

                                          

                                           

                                          

Then she served us coffee and cinnamon rolls -

                                           

And signed our books -

                                              

We had such a nice time chatting with Barbara about quilting, workshops, how she gets everything done - lots of things!  I had a few minutes of panic when we arrived and I realized that my camera was still at home on my kitchen table. . . I had picked it up. . . and put it down again for some reason.  But Candy had hers, and she let me take pictures, and then this evening she sent them to me.  Thanks, Candy!

                                             

There is another one of Barbara's quilts hanging on her wall.   We had so much fun!    It was a special day!                           

Last Saturday, we went to the Air Force vs Colorado State football game.  Now, let me say that the Air Force Academy Class of '75 must be the most energetically loyal and fun-loving class ever to have reunions!  They turn out for the game ready to CHEER!!!  Oh, and every class has their own color, I think that there are 4 colors that switch around.  Anyway, the class of '75's color is (shhhh - don't tell Jim I said this on my public blog) an absolutely awful mustardy yellow that they call gold!  The girls and I have told Jim for years that we don't like that color, so it's no surprise to him.  He was determined, for the last reunion, that he and I would wear the right color!!  So, we made sweatshirts - we found the actual sweatshirts at Dick's Sporting Goods and then he downloaded (uploaded?  I can never get those straight) a logo from his squardron and we ironed them on.  So, we wore them this year again.  Jim wears his in-between, but I only wear mine once every 5 years at the reunion!

You'll see them in a minute. . .

Anyway, Betsy was still visiting the school in Greeley, and staying with Andrew's parents at the end of that week, so Bets and Andrew drove down for the game - we bought Bets an AFA sweatshirt at the gift shop, but they didn't have the yellow color. . . I mean GOLD . . .( for which Bets and I were thankful) . . . and Jim didn't want to buy a blue one for her because it was too close to the blue that belonged to another class whose reunion was the same weekend, so we bought white  -

                                 

So, on to the game. . .

                                 

They start out with some parachuting cadets -

                                  

                                  

                                  

Even the mascot, a falcon, parachutes in -

                                  

And then one of them asked his girlfriend to marry him right there on the field and she said yes!  We all cheered!

                                  

Then there is a cadet holding a real falcon up above the stands, and the falcon is suppose to fly away, but this one didn't -

                                   

Then there was the game -

                                    

And the Class of '75 out-cheered everyone there with their own class cheerleader there to lead!

At halftime, the band did a great show -

                                     

Followed by the drum and bugle corps -

                                      

And Air Force won!  49 - 27! 

And so here we are in our um. . . gold sweatshirts.  This is as close to the true color of that class as we could find.  It's not nearly as bad as the very large and very mustardy gold wool blankets that Jim has had all these years - that were on his bed and are so scratchy that I can't imagine having them on a bed.  He uses them now for in his truck and for moving things and keeps offering them to the girls if they need them for camping or something, but they very politely tell him no thanks!

                                      

Here is another picture where you can see a view of the mountains and how windy it was -

                                       

Oh, and Bets and Andrew again -

                                       

Then, Jim and I went to one more party - one of the guys from his squadron had some of us over.  We had a great time!  Here are some of the guys -

                                        

And the wives with them -

                                         

Then we had to do the guys' picture again when someone else arrived -

                                          

And that is the story of our trip to Colorado!

                                      

Jim graduated in the class of  '75 from the Air Force Academy, so this was their 35th reunion.  That class has stayed pretty close, and they always have a lot of guys return for the reunions (at that time it was all men.)  The only other one we have gone for is the 30th, five years ago.

The reunion was, for the most part, held at a hotel in Colorado Springs.  There were dinners and parties and receptions all weekend, starting last Wednesday night!  Some things were held at the Academy.  We were able to get shuttle buses from the Assoc of Graduates building to other places, but we did a lot of walking.

                                    

I have a few pictures on my phone that I took of some things, but I don't know how to get them from my phone to my computer!  I'll ask Sam; he'll help me.  Meanwhile, I did have my camera for one very special event at the chapel -

                                    

Every class that comes back has a Memorial Service at some time during the weekend, to honor the graduates that have died since graduation.  32 men have died in Jim's class.  Some of them, who died in the earlier years after graduation, were killed in action.  The most recent ones, now that most of them have retired from the military, have died from cancer, or heart disease, or accidents, and one from ALS.  The service is beautiful, with the name of each man read out loud.  And as each name is read, someone from that squadron says, "Absent, Sir."  Wow.  Very touching.  No one from Jim's squadron from his class has yet died.

Here is the inside of the chapel -

                                     

                                     

And then the back of the chapel -

                                     

Here is a picture of people outside, afterwards.  Some were trying to gather for a picture.  I took these from the shuttle bus.

                                     

                                     

This was the dorm that Jim lived in for his last 3 years there -

                                     

Here is another picture I took -

                                     

Next time:  Air Force beats Colorado State 49 - 27!!

Last week, Jim and Betsy and I went to Colorado!  I have lots of pictures!  And you know, when you come home from a week away, there is so much to do, and blogging and showing pictures makes it to the bottom of the list!  But I will start, anyway, and continue all week, or until I am done, I guess!

The original purpose of the trip was for Jim's 35th Air Force Academy reunion in Colorado Springs.  Then Betsy became interested in visiting Andrew. . . I mean . . . in looking at the University of Northern Colorado, in Greeley, and so it made sense to combine it all in one trip.  So, we flew into Denver last Monday, the 4th, rented a car, and drove to Greeley.  The school is beautiful!  Betsy is interested in their Masters in Theatre Education, and one of the reasons  (besides the fact that Andrew goes to school there) is that there is a fairly large deaf community, 15 interpreters on campus, and the professors and students (even in the theatre dept) are used to having Deaf and Hard of Hearing students and their interpreters in classes and school events.

So, here are some pictures of the campus -

                                  

                                  

                                  

                                  

Here we are on a tour of the campus.  Andrew ( have I mentioned that he goes to school there? )    was able to take some time to hang out with us -

                                  

                                  

And there were 2 interpreters who took turns signing it all for Betsy -

                                  

                                  

                                  

More campus pictures -

                                  

                                  

                                  

                                  

While Jim and I were still there, we all had lunch at this Mexican restaurant -

                                  

                                  

Jim and I left on Wednesday - the 6th - and drove south to Colorado Springs while Betsy stayed in Greeley and had a great meeting with the head of the theatre department, went to some classes, had dinner with the Deaf group, and liked everything about it all!

Next time - the Air Force Academy reunion!

Some of you know that Betsy and I love to come up with reading alliterations - we usually do it in the summer, but we just happened on one for me for the fall.  We pick a topic of books to read, and make an alliteration to fit.  Today, we were chatting about how she is reading The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand, and whether I would like it or not after she talked me ha ha - into reading Atlas Shrugged by the same author awhile ago (not only her, but my husband and another friend, Arne Paulsen, were in favor of it as well).  So, we got into this discussion about how Betsy thought I should take a little break from the mindless mysteries I am reading, which have gone long past my summer alliteration, and read some philosophical books to make me think.

And, I really can't complain about Betsy wanting to be reading books that make one think - I homeschooled her for all those years, after all!

So, here is the alliteration that she came up with - for me: 

The Fantastic Fall of Forays into the Fundamentals of Philosophy

I told her to pick out some books for me, and I will read them!  We have lots in our own library, from the college years of all the girls.

This won't start for another week, as we will be away this coming week, but I will keep you posted about what I am reading!

There is an interesting site in Norfolk that we saw when we were there for the SAGA convention.  There are letters - made of metal - letters that would have been sent from soldiers - that are made to look like they were strewn all over.  They look as if they were blown around in the wind.  We thought that they are probably taken from real letters from soldiers, and they are from all different wars -

                                      

                                      

                                      

                                      

                                      

                                      

And here are some random pictures along the waterfront -

                                      

                                      

                                      

                                      

                                      

                                      

It was a great trip, but I am glad to be home!