Last Weekend

Well I had a great time last weekend. Friday started out with the Scrapbook Expo right in Sacramento, just over the river from where I live. I showed a great deal of restraint and hardly bought anything. But I DID get a new paper trimmer - It's from Crafter's Companion and it's called Clevercut and it does perforating, wavy cut, straight cut and scoring...and you don't have to swap out a blade!! You just flip a little switch. All the blades are in the housing unit and it's made of German steel. It also has a built in corner rounder, and all the lines and markings, including protractor lines. You can check it out here: http://www.overstock.com/Crafts-Sewing/Clevercut-5-in-1-Paper-Trimmer/4615057/product.html
I paid $45 for mine, but Overstockdotcom has it for $38.49, and I think shipping is currently only $1!!

Onto Saturday....On Saturday I went to Elk Grove to take a workshop from Tim Holtz called "Seasonal Memoirs". As always, it was a great day! He is an amazing instructor and SO very patient. On Sunday I took another workshop from Tim again called "Configurations of you holiday imagination". Another great class!! I haven't taken pictures of my project with my camera yet, but I did take general pictures during class with my camera. Here is one of my favorites of Tim:

When I take pictures of the projects I made I will be sure to put them on here.

Today was a sad day as I had a funeral to attend of a friend's mom...but the mom and I actually became very good friends over the last 25 years and I was closer to her than my friend. Rest in peace, dear Twyla.

Today is also my dear father's birthday, as well as son Kyle's birthday. Happy birthday to 2 of my favorite guys!

Now I'm off to go to wine-tasting with my son and then take him to dinner!

TaTa for now!!

Caity Sue

WOW! Has it really been that long....

since I've posted? What a loser! lol. Actually I've just been incredibly busy, which can be a good thing. Let me start off where I last ended. Jake and Elizabeth had a fabulous wedding on 10/10/09. On 9/22/10 they had their first child - a GORGEOUS baby girl they named Nevaeh. She weighed 6 lbs 8 oz and ws 19" long and just PERFECT!! I was so honored to be there to assist and witness the birth of my first granddaughter. And I can't even begin to describe the feelings that event evoked in me. She's become my whole world in a very short time. I'm head-over-heels in love with this beautiful angel. Here's a picture of her so you know I'm not making up her beauty! lol.

As you can see for yourself, she is just adorable.

All the above photos were taken when she was 10 days old.

We are all doing well. Jake and Iddy bought a home right after getting married and they have it decorated so nicely. Kyle finished Culinary Arts school in late May, but they didn't hold graduation ceremonies until September 11th. I'm very proud of him. Now he just needs to get a job in the cooking field! Dustin is in Iraq again for his 3rd tour. James, my grandson, is living in Arizona now with his Mom, Stepdad, and baby brother, Clayton, who turns 1 on Christmas Day! Kimberly graduates from Law School on January 15th, 2011 and I'm hoping to fly Patrick out for his birthday present, which is January 12th. Doug is currently a Junior at UC Berkeley and working very hard to maintain a nearly perfect GPA.  

In late June one of my dearest friends moved in with us after rather devastating circumstances. My mother-in-law (who has lived with us for 5 1/2 years) just adores Lucille and follows her like a puppy dog! lol. I can't believe the last kid moved out (Doug when he left for Berkeley in August) and now we have Lucille. Sometimes it feels like we'll never be alone in this house! lol. BUT we are happy to help her out and she helps out some with Mom. Lucille will probably be moving into her own place in a few months. She is having major dental work done ($10,000 worth, but insurance is paying for half, thank goodnesS!), and then when that's paid for she has to get her car repaired (about $1200 worth). Then she will be in a position to find her own place to live. In the meantime we've all adjusted to having each other around. Having Lucille here has afforded Patrick and I the opportunity to actually get away on weekend excursions now and again. That's something we haven't had much of a chance to do before.

I have added a few recipes to my cooking blog, so pop on over there to take a look(http://cookingwithcaitysue.blogspot.com/) . I also spent some time today revising the look of my blog. I really don't know what I'm doing and there are more changes I'd like to make. I'd love to hear feedback on what you think of the new look.

Halloween is rapidly approaching and I'm hoping to make my yard look better than ever. I bought the COOLEST mirror today and can't wait to get that put up outside. Every year I add more and more. My "potions" section really should be awesome this year!  I'm really getting excited about decorating but I don't want to start too soon. I always worry someone will steal my decorations. I have cameras outside and hopefully that will be a deterrent to the thieves who feel they are entitled to something they haven't worked for.

I will be posting photos of my yard as I get it decorated so keep checking in.

TaTa for now!

An Update

Wow, I sure miss blogging? Why do I let it get SO far behind??? Where to start?
How about the wedding on October 10th? Jake and Iddy were married that day and everything turned out SO beautiful!! I will share photos with you all.

The church was decorated so beautifully by Iddy's aunt and grandma. They did such an amazing job with everything. Iddy was an absolutely GORGEOUS bride!! Jake had such a look of love on his face when he saw his bride in her gown. She wasn't even nervous! She had been waiting for this day for a long time and she was so ready, as was Jake. I did pretty well until they showed the slide show photos of them through the years. Jake's cousin did a great job with that presentation. That's when I started to cry...and just typing this out makes me tear up too. There was so many people who came to share this special day with them. I want to thank all who showed up to show their love and support for Jake and Iddy. It meant so much to them and their families. It turned out exactly like they had envisioned, which was so cool. I had a gift for Iddy, which I gave her while she was getting ready. It was a diamond necklace in the shape of musical notes. I hope she likes it. It was my "welcome to the family" gift. I had a speech prepared to tell her when I gave it to her, but I was having a hard time saying what I wanted to say, as I was fighting back tears.
Here are some photos of the wedding.

This is my 3 sons and precious grandson - aren't they a handsome bunch? The good-looking one in the middle was the groom, Jake aka JakeBaby ;)


This was the decorated church.


Elizabeth and me prior to the ceremony


Jake and me prior to the ceremony


Jake seeing Iddy for the first time in her dress


Their first dance as husband and wife


Being toasted by Iddy's sister


Running the gauntlet (we all had bubbles to blow for them to run through)


The sign I made for the back of my car they used for their honeymoon

I hope you enjoyed the photos. They spent their first night as husband and wife at the new hotel, Le Rivage, on the Sacramento River. They then spent their 2nd night at their new house for the first time (Jake had moved in about 10 days earlier, but Iddy didn't move her stuff in until the day before the wedding, and didn't stay there until the night after the wedding). On Monday they headed to Monterey for the week. They really had a great time and they both love Monterey. They bought the house they are living in now but escrow didn't close until December 11th (2 days after Jake's 23rd birthday). They had to wait for the people who owned the house to own it for 91 days before they could buy it due to the "No Flip" rule FHA has, so they rented it for 2 months but now they own it. They both lived at home until they got married and then moved into together in their own home! They have sure been blessed by doing everything right. I am so proud of them!

Well, I hope to write more later....maybe finish up the year before the new year gets too far along lol.

Thanks for reading!!