Family Visit

I had a wonderful day yesterday! My dad and Carolyn drove down and spent the day with me. They brought Chipper their dog. When I visited them earlier in the summer, Chipper wouldn't have anything to do with me or Nick. He's a very picky puppy. This time, he crawled right up on my lap like we had been friends for life. Nick will be so jealous. He usually makes friends with dogs before anyone else even has a chance.

We tried several times to stop by so dad could watch Nick practice football but for the first time all year they decided to practice all day in the gym. Partly because we had a really severe thunderstorm in the afternoon. It sounded like it was right over the house. There was no delay between the bright lightening and almost deafening thunder. It hit one time and my dad was off that chair in a second. I'm not sure I've every seen him move that fast in my life. It was a freaky storm.

We ate lunch at the Texas Roadhouse. Carolyn and I had salmon and dad had steak. After lunch we picked up the girls from daycare and went home. The girls took right to dad. Usually they are both a bit shy, especially Alyssa, but not this time. Emma talked constantly and Alyssa enjoyed playing "don't copy me" with dad.

Chipper didn't like getting in on the photo action. He's not used to being around children. I think they made him nervous. Emma loved snuggling up to her Great Grandma, though.

Dad loved it that Emma just jumped right up in his lap. She's not usually shy but it did surprise me she just climbed right up there. Dad has a way with kids. Carolyn said that he communicates with them on the same level. I think dad just rolled his eyes and went on. They have a great relationship. They tease each other back and forth and don't get mad. It's cute.

Carolyn brought me a stitching book. (A woman who knows how to get to my heart.) Dad brought me a picture of him and my mom when they were still very young. I think I was just a little over a year old when the picture was taken. He also gave me a picture of his parents when they were first married. I have to get my scanner signal to connect with my computer signal and then I will scan and post them here. I have to admit I have some very handsome and beautiful people in my family. (Maybe good looks skipped my generation and picked back up after me. LOL)

I sent them home with the apple coasters I made and a welcome banner that I stitched and finished the edges with the Finishing With Flair class I took from EGA. I think they liked them. I usually don't give stitched items as gifts but I know that they will both appreciate the hard work that goes into making something by hand.

Before the snow gets here this winter, Phoebe, the girls and I are going to get up to see them again. Nick and I had such a great time, he's ready to go back soon, too.

SAS XXX

Another Share-A-Stitch is over. Time flies by. It seems as if we wait eons for SAS to get here. We plan, budget finances, make schedules, arrange dates and plans just waiting and waiting for it to get here. Then, we get in the car, head off down the road and before we have time to blink, it's over. We then wait and plan for the next one.

This SAS seemed almost as much work as play. I helped Debbie with the bookstore and while I enjoyed seeing everyone, I just didn't get enough stitching time in. Here is Becky helping us set everything up.

Every year we get to visit with friends we haven't seen probably since last year, but once we get that first stitcher's hug (ask Debbie about that), it's as if no time has passed and we again pick up just where we left off.

Jill Hatfield with her very dear friend Ms. Fredreca.

This is the EGA tapestry. I had seen it in pictures before but this was my first time to see it (in person?) It is beyond words to describe how wonderously beautiful it is. Photos can never match the glory of seeing the real thing. One could stop in to see it a dozen times a day and each time find something that was missed the first time. I was honored to have seen it myself.

Becky and I at the banquet Saturday night. The centerpieces were wonderful handmade fabric cakes. Tickets were drawn for each cake to be given away. They were all beautiful. We also received biscornous and small, hardanger gifts from Marion Scoular (a stitching legend).

So now I sit back and wait patiently (or not) for Birmingham. I didn't pre-register this time but saw three classes I would like to take so when I do register I would happy taking any of the three.

Nick and I leave early in the morning after a dentist appointment to visit my dad in WV. We are really looking forward to it. I don't see him nearly as often as I should or as often as I would like. He said he already has dinner plans. That does not surprise me. His is the best cook in the world. We didn't make major plans. It's always better to "wing it" as dad says and see what happens. The visiting, talking and just sitting together are the best kind of plans to have, don't you think?