Below Zero = Freezing

So it has been beyond cold here the past few days. With it being somewhere around -8 degrees we have been spending a lot of time indoors. With the below zero temperatures I have decided to tackle some craft projects that I have been wanting to complete.

1. Over the past 4+ years my friends and I have been finishing up an Alaska quilt together. We finally finished all of our individual blocks and exchanged them with one another. My plan in the next few months is to get the quilt pieced together. The finished quilt will go on our guest room bed. I am really looking forward to seeing this quilt pieced. There is a grand total of 24 blocks.



Here are a few close-up shots of just a few of my favorite ones -




2. I signed up to participate in a mug rug swap this month. I have never done a craft swap before but am excited to try one. If you don't know what a "mug rug" is here is a sample of a few i've seen:


I will be making two mug rugs and sending them to my exchange partner and then will be receiving two mug rugs from her. I can't wait to see what I get from her and I am excited to use all the scrap fabrics I have to make my mug rugs. I will post pictures of the ones I make as well as the ones I receive when I get them.

3. Finally my friend Brandy and I will be making this bag together:


I could really use a nice size book bag/diaper bag to carry around. I don't need to carry around much for Neal anymore but it would be really nice to have a medium size bag to carry the few diapers, sippy cup and snacks that I always need to have on hand. I haven't pick-out my fabric for this bag yet but am excited to go shopping soon.

That about sums up the current projects I have going. Also on the docket of things to do: Organize the guest room closet, watch NCIS season 7, make birthday invitation for Neal's first birthday, and finish reading "The Passage". If the weather stays cold like this I will have plenty of time do all of these.

Cle Elum & The New Year

We started off the new year in Cle Elum Washington, at a cabin in the snow with my family.


That's right we left AK for something new...Snow! For some reason we never seem to plan our vacations for warm weather. We either leave Alaska during the summer for vacation or we leave snowy Alaska for somewhere else snowy. But the weather doesn't really matter if you get to spend time with family.




We had a great time at the cabin my parents rented. We had good food, played lots of games, watched movies, went hot tubbing and of course drank lots of coffee.



It was a great get away for everyone. All the kiddos (Neal and his cousins) loved playing together and learned to sleep quite well with lots of noise. With 10+ people in one cabin there was never a quite moment. We brought lots of toys for the kids but nothing was as fun as the pop-up tunnels we found at the cabin to play with.





In previous years I have always made New Year resolutions - this year I haven't a clue what my resolutions will be. 2011 seemed to sneak up on me, coming much faster then expected. I guess I have a few ideas of things so I will take this month of January to narrow down the possibilites and perhaps post on some concrete resolutions/goals later. I am very excited for this upcoming year and all the unknowns that it holds. I am looking forward to seeing God's hand at work again, like always, in our family, church and future. As I reflect back on 2010 I see how much God has shown me about his character. Through my study of the book of Isaiah I have learned a lot about who God is and have gained a greater and more complete understanding of my Savior. He is by far much greater then I could ever understand or imagine. Therefore I look forward to this New Year and all that the next 365 days (well 357 to be exact) will bring.


Happy New Year!

Splish, Splash...

What a great time Neal has had with his cousins in Seattle. They have been playing all sorts of games together and we have gotten a lot of fun pictures so there will be lots more pictures of adventures in Seattle to come. Tonight however was an extra special night because it was "tubby time".

At home if Neal wants a buddy for tubby time he gets Yawkey.


This is fun for Neal but Yawkey is not so thrilled with the whole bath time idea. The bath time buddies tonight were different. We got all four cousins in the tubby tonight at Grandma's house and they had a blast. They played great together and there were only a few tears over incidental splashing. The bathroom was filled with mostly lots of smiles and laughing, and best of all by the end there were lots of happy, clean kiddos.

Neal's very first Christmas

Christmas for us was in Seattle this year. What a great day we had with lots of family and friends. Our day started off with coffee and a reading from my dad's favorite Christmas story book. We then moved on to watching the kids open their stockings. Neal was very interested in pulling all the toys out his stocking and loved the large jingle bell that Grandma gave him.




We had a wonderful Christmas breakfast, more coffee and then moved onto present opening. The whole concept of opening gifts was new for Neal and he wasn't really interested in any present unwrapping. That coupled with the fact that it was past nap time ment that I got to open most of Neal's gifts.

(Merry Christmas! - it's so nap time)

(wearing the hat mom got for Christmas)


Neal sure did love playing with all the new toys throughout the rest of the day. It was extra fun with all the cousins around.



(Neal and Providence playing the toy firetruck)

We enjoyed lots of food, dessert, christmas music, games and even a christmas play put together by Neal's cousins. There was lots of laughing and lots of Grandma and Papa time for the kiddos.



It was a wonderful Christmas with my family.

Baby Quilt Completed

Well better late then never right? I finally finished Neal's baby quilt today. I had great plans to make his quilt before he was born and be able to take him home all wrapped up in it - but of course that didn't happen. It is done before his first birthday so I think that isn't too bad. I am so happy with how it came out. It was quite the project piecing together the border (1" unfinished strips are hard to work with). My favorite part of the whole processes is the hand applique and the hand quilting. I tend to try and rush through the piecing processes just to get to the hand work. I sure hope Neal likes the quilt as much as I do.


(notice his names down the side)

I learned this new way to attached the binding and love how the corners turned out. I think I will use this method again next time.


(the tag on the back of the quilt)

A little memory about the tag: When I was a little over half way through my pregnancy I was driving home from work one night and started thinking about what I needed to do to get started on his quilt. As I thought through the whole process of making the quilt I thought about the very last piece of the whole project, the tag. As I thought about what I would right on the tag I thought; his name, date of birth and then "love, mom". Then it hit me - I'm going to be a mom! That moment really sticks out in my mind as the time that it hit me that Tyler and I were going to be parents ---we were going to be "mommy" and "daddy". I then remember thinking "what?!? Am I really ready to be a mom?" God has perfect timing however and knew that we were ready for this little boy.



We will be spending lots of time together snuggling under this quilt. What an amazing opportunity it is to be a mom. God has already taught me a lot about myself, relying on Him and patience through this little guy. I love being "Mommy".

2010 Gates Family Tree Trek

We had a great time this weekend out in Palmer with Tyler's family on our annual Christmas Tree Trek. We only got a total of three trees this year (not all of us needed trees or had already gotten our trees) but we all joined in on the fun afternoon. We headed out a little later then originally planned (thanks JR) but still managed to find all three trees before we lost daylight. Everyone was bundled up including the babies and we had hot coffee waiting in the car for the ride home.








When we arrived back at the house in Palmer there was a power outage. This didn't stop us from enjoying the evening - it did make it more difficult to cook dinner and play cards but we managed. Another successful Tree Trek for the record.