Christmas activities 2016

Part of December was spent in Arizona where we visited the Mesa Arizona Temple lights with our Arizona grandchildren as well as their Utah cousin visitors.

It was a beautiful evening and display.

My favorite part has always been the Wise Men crossing the large front lawn.

We took a walk north to the street to take in the view.

It is always beautiful and heart warming.

If I'm in Arizona next year, I will have to see if pictures with my new camera might be clearer.

We celebrated my middle son's birthday and let his family open their presents early as they were traveling to their other grandparents for the Christmas weekend.  That sweet little girl is his older brother's baby and she was the best part of 2016.

This year our main gift to each family was a family history book that I put together.

I took these pictures so I can remember how I decorated this year.

On Christmas Eve we had visitors in their new Christmas pajamas, our Utah grand children.  Their parents also came over for a Christmas Eve chimichanga dinner which has been a tradition for years.  The Bunkers also joined us.

The next morning we awoke to White Christmas.  Before church services we went to our son's home to see their gifts and to enjoy a breakfast fixed by his wife, Nichelle.  It was a lovely drive through the freshly fallen snow.

There is something special about a White Christmas.

This year we splurged and bought a 9 1/2 foot tree for our high ceiling kitchen/family room.  We have really enjoyed it and there was room to put all the ornaments on this tree that we have collected over the years.

That cute little mouse ballerina was my new ornament for this year.

This year we flocked our old tree and decorated it as a Hummel tree in honor of my mother and her love of Hummel figurines.  My husband thought it would look better as a flocked tree which we did ourselves in the garage.

 

I really enjoyed have this special tree in our living room this year.  I began collected the Hummel inspired ornaments in 1999 shortly after my mother passed away in October.

We had been invited to my sister's home for Christmas dinner.  As we stopped to take a picture of our jingle bells with snow top hats, the evergreen tree broke in half right before our eyes.  First there was a cascade of snow and then a swosh as the tree top landed.

What are the chances of this happening as we sat in front in the car?  It was a heavy snow.

It did look a bit like someone had discarded their Christmas tree.  I guess that is why someone left their tree next to it the day after Christmas.

And here is the jingle bell picture I was taking.

A winter wonderland on the way to my sister's home.

On the Tuesday after Christmas we collected my husband's sisters and went to lunch.  Before taking them home we drove to Draper and the city park where we reminisced until the Tree of Life turned on.  It was so beautiful just as the sun was going down.  This park is full of family memories.

It was a wonderful December, both in Arizona and Utah.  And now it is time for a brand new year.

Fabric panel dolls

Every once in awhile I come upon a fabric panel for a doll that reminds me of my grandchildren.  This year it was Opal and I just had to sew it up for her for Christmas.

The fabric line was "Just Another Walk in the Woods" by Moda and the panel was 36 by 44 inches, so one yard of fabric.  Just a bag of polyester filling and we were ready to go.

I loved the cheater quilt panel with backing and the Home Sweet Home pillow.

And their little stuffed animals.

Now I knew that this was a lot of pieces for a four year old to carry about so I found myself back at the Cotton Shop looking for coordinating fabric from the line to make Opal a carry around bag.  A half yard of fabric and some stiff woven interfacing and the problem was solved.

Closeups of these two cute faces.

Isn't it so adorable how the fabric piece for the skirt gathers up and make such a lovely dress?  I added some lace around the bottom.

So there you have it, Opal's look alike Christmas gift.  I understand that there have been some tea parties at Opal's house.

Julianna's baptism day and dress

My granddaughter, Julianna, turned eight and was baptized as a member of The Church of Latter-day Saints during our last visit to Arizona.

 It was a special day which she had been looking forward to for some time.

She had many of her friends and family come to support her including this "best" friend.

I love being present for the baptisms of my grandchildren.  It is a truly special time.

I have made baptism day dresses for four of my granddaughters so far.

Grandpa Glen was also happy for his Julianna.

Grand parenting is an amazing adventure.

Julianna with her sweet mother, Susan.

It was a special day for Julianna and her family.

Both sets of grandparents had traveled far to share her day.

And they were not the only ones.  It worked out well that Rachel's wedding and Julianna's baptism were on the same weekend.

Here are some closeups of her dress.  I added a jacket because it would be December.  On Friday at the wedding, it was 75 + degrees.  After a big wind Friday night, it was a chilly Saturday at 55 degrees.  I was glad that I had included the jacket.

Embroidery on the jacket.

Each baptism dress is white and has smocking details with a bit of color.

The smocking was made with the same colors as the embroidery on the jacket.

Crystal buttons on the back and a back buttoned belt.  She seemed to really like her dress and I was happy to make it for her.  It was a great day Julianna!