Funny stuff from Kayla

Today's email from Kayla was wonderful! Here is an excerpt to give your day a laugh!

So guess how many scarves the three of us got for christmas...........25 between the 3 of us! I got 8....but I love them all, it just take an extra 10 min. trying to get ready because I have to choose which one to wear :)

Ok.....these funny stories are for you pop :) (and anyone else that wants to read)

The other day we stopped by to see Roman (our russian investigator that I can't understand very well). He offered us tea and cake, so we said we would take some cake. I wasn't hungry at all, so I tried to say no, but it didn't work. So he started dishing out cake and he put 3 pieces of cake on one plate....so I took them and put one on each, he didn't like that, so he put another piece on each of our plates. So while he was in the kitchen, I hurried and put one of my pieces of cake back, hoping he wouldn't notice. Well.....I got caught. He came back into the room and stood there for a sec, then grabbed the piece of cake and put it back on my plate......so I ate 2 pieces of cake.

Yesterday we had a lesson with Dezsa (samoan famiy) so I knew we would be eating over there, because you just come to expect that when you teach samoans. But I was not ready for what they fed us. They fed us Musabi (not sure if I spelled that right) So they brought it out and to me it looked like seaweed wrapped around rice and a tomato.....so I was expecting some kind of fish inside, so I was a little worried, and sister barlow was just watching me laughing......so I took a bite, and the tomato, wasn't a tomato. It was spam. I do not like spam sam I am, I do not like it at all! I had such a hard time getting it down! The seaweed wasn't even that bad....it was the spam. And they gave us each 2 pieces! It took me the whole hour to eat it, and I couldn't finish the last half of the second piece so I stuffed it in my napkin when they weren't looking. And then I burped up spam the rest of the night.....it wouldn't leave me alone.

I am very grateful that I did not get called somewhere where I would have to eat weird things all the time....I think I would die.

Oh....let me tell you a funny thing that happened in companionship study this morning. So durring companionship study we each take a turn and share what we studied and learned in our personal study. So sister Yura read Luke 7-10 and was explaining to us about Jesus being transfigured. Well while she was explaining this, she said........Then Jesus went to Hell. So of course me and sister barlow were pretty shocked and very questionable about that statement....then we realized that what she meant to say was......Jesus went to the Hill......So don't worry, Jesus is still in Heaven :)

Oh and the other day during language study....we read a verse in first Nephi that said "they took the beasts, and the sheep and the goats and the horse and the ass"......Dead silence.......WHAT!? Hahahahahahahaha........don't worry, we explained to her that ass means donkey :)

I returned some stuff to Kohl's today (Kayla worked there prior to her mission) and the customer service person remembered her. She said "Kayla was such a wonderful, sweet person to work with. She was always so calm and kind." Yes... I miss her!

Christmas Day 2008

Christmas morning began at 6:30 with Shea and Braden ready to go. Robert and Andrew had been up VERY, VERY late, so they weren't quite as excited!

Since we do our party-thing on Christmas eve, Christmas day is fun to just be lazy, play with new toys and eat lots of junk. We did lots of all those things!



This is us talking to Kayla on speaker phone. She called us about 1:00 and it was WONDERFUL! I have really been missing being able to talk with her. Shea had a list of questions, so we kept it on speaker phone for the first half. One of the questions was "What do you like least about your mission?" Kayla said it was knocking on doors. Shea said "That must make your hand hurt" We all laughed and Kayla tried to explain, but I'm not sure Shea really understood.

Shea's Christmas present to Kayla was to sing Silent Night. That was a tear jerker for Kayla! We all had so much fun talking with her... but the time flew by and just wasn't enough for me!



After Kayla's call, we decided to take Jack & Sasha to the park. The love to run free at the grade school yard. And ALWAYS win the race against Shea & Braden up to the wall.











Sasha only tried to eat one kid at the park... but that was because we only had one other kid at the park. We keep telling her that's not the way to make friends.





This is Shea with "Meneope" her new purple panda that went on our walk. And that is a dead fish in yucky water. I told the kids we were going to have fish for dinner.

Christmas Eve 2008!!

Sawyer family traditions each Christmas eve....

Friends

The Lohnes and Deveraux family (making 10 kids and 7 adults). We've had over 30 before. The more the merrier!

Food
Apple nut salad. Peas & baby onions. Lime slush. Apple cider. Pumpkin pie. Ham. Turkey. Yams. Other yummy stuff! Kayla told us that the she wasn't homesick at Thanksgiving until she realized the family she was eating with wasn't having peas w/onions!

Family
Tall Andrew and me. Isn't he handsome!

Games

We play a game where 4 boxes are wrapped inside of each other so there is only one large box to begin with. Whoever is it gets ski gloves, a fork & spoon and has to try to get to the smallest present before the next person that rolls a double grabs the gloves and utinsils. Fun!

We also play Christmas charades for the kids. We still laugh about Braden's 3 year old voice yelling "I'm diggin' in the NO!" when we couldn't figure out what he was doing. I can't believe it's been 10 years!

Nativity
Shea was a very beautiful Mary and Braden was a the best shepherd ever! Robert reads the Nativity as all the kids act out their parts.

Music

We love Christmas music and each year everyone is invited to share their talents. I took a short video of Shea on the piano and a duet of Robert & Braden, but I can't seem to get it to upload. I may try it again later! Because I'm sure you just won't be able to sleep without seeing them!

Celebrating the Light of Christ.

For the past 22 years we have ended each Christmas eve with the same tradition. (thanks to Uncle Johnny & Aunt Linda!) Each person gets a candle and then all the lights are turned off. Robert lights his candle and as he talks about the light of Christ and our responsibility to share it we light each candle around the room. A very visual example of the power of light. At the very end we sing Silent Night.

When we got Kayla's email on Sunday, she asked that we light a candle for her. Shea, of course had to be the one to do this. Kayla told us today during our phone call that at a district meeting yesterday, she had been asked to share a Christmas story and she told about our candle tradition. And yes... she cried!

A few Christmas things...

I love Christmas! Here are some random Christmas photos....

Today we received a package from Kayla with a note for everyone and this ornament in it.... I've always loved Seattle, but now it's pretty much my favorite place!

Each year I buy all the kids their own ornaments so that when they go out on their own, they will have a few for their first tree. (When I kick them out, they can't use the excuse "but I don't have anything for my Christmas tree. Pretty smart, huh?) I usually do something that describes them, but this year I just did these funky balls.

Santa Sasha and the Professor.

We usually do a gingerbread house competition... this year it was just one house that we all worked on. Shea and Braden said it was more fun the other way. They are very competitve with each other!

My kids love white elephant gift exchanges. This is what Shea won at one of our parties this year. Brings back a few bunny/geese/country blue/mauve nightmares for me.

Santa Shea reading Kayla's letter today. We love mail from Seattle!

Happy 19th Birthday Andrew!

19 years ago today, Robert Andrew Sawyer was born in Augsburg, West Germany. He weighed 8 lbs 11 oz and was adorable. Lots of black hair and chubby. Luckily, 19 years later, he ISN'T chubby and his hair IS a wonderful brown (this is after a few years of dying it a very unnatural black). Here's what I love about Andrew:

• He is doing very well in college along with working at least 20 hours each week.
• Andrew took his brother and sister to a movie this week.
• He is handsome. Takes after his parents.
• Andrew is willing to help when I need him. (He graciously helped me put a quilt together this week)
• He tries hard to respect our rules. Even if he doesn't agree with them.
• Andrew has worked at 3 grocery stores over the past 3 years and there are many people who shop wherever he is just because they like him!
• He isn't on crack or in jail.

Andrew with his new guitar!
Happy Birthday Andrew!

After school fun...

Shea and Braden go to school with another family in our ward and they love to play together after school. Here are some shots from a recent fun day!

Kade, Braden, Shea, Hayley & Gavin

Jumping on the Tramp!

The boys playing video games... what else?

The girls playing twister!

Quilt Sisters

I guess you can call me blog-happy or even blog-addicted. I've had my work blog for about 2 1/2 years, and it was fun - in a "I have to because it's work" sort of way. But then I started doing this blog to stay in touch with friends and family and also to record our lives (I'm not a journal-writer and I haven't scrapbooked forever).

This week I started another blog with some of my quilting friends. Quilt Sisters is our way to stay connected with our projects and to inspire each other. We've only been doing it since Tuesday and the bizarre thing is that we have people from all over the world that have found our site and visited. What a fun way to share!

I recently posted about a quilt that is yet to be named... take a look here and comment on which name you like best.

This whole technology thing is so great!

Ms. Creativity Strikes Again

Shea has a talent for being creative.... She decided this week that Sasha needed some new clothes since the little jacket Andrew had gotten her as a puppy was too small.

In case you can't tell, Sasha is modeling a purple print sleeveless jacket with a coordinating scarf in sunny yellow.

That is one lucky puppy! If you're lucky, Shea will make an outfit for you one day.

I won the wish!

Shea and I did the turkey wishbone thing. Braden decided to be the photographer and here are the pictures he took. Pretty funny!

I broke off the largest part. She was obviously
not very happy about it. She told me that she wished for Kayla to be happy on her mission and since I won, that meant Kayla wouldn't be happy and it was all my fault.


I told her to complain to her therapist.

Pictures from Kayla!!

Kayla had a member of her ward email us a few pictures... so wonderful!


Kayla with what has to be one of the biggest leafs I've ever sean and with her companions Sister Barlow and Sister Yuri. Here's a bit from today's letter:

Washington is COLD. I am always cold, and I don't like it :( I think my feet are going to fall off before I come home, will you still love me? Oh and my nose might fall off too. (Don't worry, I'm sending her more warm stuff for Christmas!)

In our mission we have been asked to go out for about 3 hours each day and knock doors and talk to people about the gospel and invite them to come take a church tour and learn more about the gospel. This is kinda scary. Most people are pretty nice, and will let you down easy. Occasionally you get people who are pretty interested and will listen. And sometimes, you get some pretty interesting people.

So last week, we were tracting in an apartment complex and sister barlow was like, k sister sawyer and sister yura this is your door. So i knocked, and it was a guy and a girl, in their 20's......and they were kinda scarry looking, long hair, dark clothes, piercings.....so I started talking and I asked if he had a belief in Jesus Christ.....He looked straight at me and very forcefully said NO. Me and sister Yura were in shock or something, cause we couldn't say anything, then 10 seconds later, sister yura goes ".......mmmmm I like your hair." Hahahahaha......after we left sister barlow could not stop laughing, she found our reactions very humorous.

Yesterday was an amazing day at church....we had 5 of our investigators come!!! and they brought their families! This is such a happy day in the life of a missionary :). We have lots of appointments set up for this week and I'm super excited to be teaching and sharing the gospel.

Giving Thanks!

A chilly, rainy day in West Texas... the perfect day to stay inside and share Thanksgiving together! I have so much to be thankful for (of course I still complain, but in a more thankful way:) Here is my top 10 list of THANKS...

1. My Kids. They aren't perfect but I love them. More than my bike, quilting and even pumpkin pie.
2. My Husband. Only a great guy could put up with my craziness. And our kids un-perfectness.
3. Missionaries. You just don't realize how wonderful it is until your child is serving.
4. Health. I've had a few minor issues and I am so grateful when I feel good. (This is why I have "Feeling Good" on my play list below)
5. Abundance. We have a wonderful home, good cars, lots of food and closets of clothes. We have been very blessed.
6. 4-legged family members. Jack is a wonderful, hairy husky that we love. Sasha the chihuahau is very loving and fun as long as no one else is around and Faya the tabby is my constant companion as I work each day.
7. A mother, father and brother that love me. And I love them.
8. The worlds best in-laws. This is not an exaggeration. (includes my sister-in-law Ann!)
9. Friends. I have been very blessed through my life to have wonderful friends. They are my sisters.
10. Chocolate.



We all missed Kayla - but substituted her for 4 of our missionaries here. (not quite the same, of course:) It's always fun to feed four hungry young men. Then we had fun playing Apples to Apples and Speak it Not. Shea asked them all to give her their favorite scripture so she could mark them in her scriptures. She's going to be a great missionary one day!






Shea was in charge of decorations and the centerpieces... it looked beautiful!

Snowy Quilt projects

My friend Tammy thought she wanted to be a quilter and bought enough stuff to make two of these cute table runners. But once she got started, she decided she didn't REALLY want to be a quilter, so I made her one and this one is for our other friend Kristi.... we were neighbors about 11 years ago. We've had babies together, traveled together and gone through many of life's struggles together. I love my friends! (I must - because these table runners were SO cute, I didn't want to give them up!)





















I made this snowman quilt for Lois while she was here last month for her birthday. Happy 81st birthday!!

I love it when Lois comes to visit... she does my laundry and gives me time to quilt!! She also makes the worlds best rolls. hmmmmm. That makes me hungry.

Sawyer family tailgate party that doomed the Red Raiders

We decided to have our own "family tailgate party" on Saturday for the Tech/OU game. Tech WAS 10-0. Undefeated. So we went to the store and let the kids pick out the party food... I had it all planned, I was going to take pictures of our whole family wearing red and black supporting the winning team. A real fun family time.


But then the game happened and Tech pretty much STUNK from the beginning. The kids never did get into it and I decided to do something more productive (like read a book) than watch Robert yell at the TV. At the 3rd quarter (and many more OU touchdowns) Robert went and took down the Tech flag from our front yard. Yes - it really was that bad.


So no, I did not take any pictures after the initial food excitement wore off. But hey - it was fun thinking it was going to be fun :)

Letter from Kayla

Here is an excerpt from Kayla's email today:

I have 2 companions. Sister Barlow and Sister Yura. Sister Barlow is from Utah and she is my trainer. She goes home in February. Sister Yura is from Mongolia and has been the field for 2 months. We live in the home of some of the members, the Spaders. They are an older couple. The church is trying to get as many missionaries in member homes as possible, they sign a 9 month contract. It's pretty amazing. I'm pretty much spoiled, I love it :).

I absolutely love that sister Yura is from mongolia. She just started learning english at the mtc, i'm pretty sure, and she as a very strong accent. One example I can give you is this....We were talking about music and she said, "you know this song? Too late to lopogize" Yes, she was trying to sing, It's too late to apologize" I love it! So, I love learning languages, just random words here and there from lots of different languages, so I asked her to teach me some in mongolian. I don't know the symbols, but to say 'Ilove you' it sounds like this....'Bi chum heartse' So she taught me another phrase....'Bi emmer tychango' and she told me that this meant, I am cool. So we are teaching a mongolian and I wanted to show off and say this phrase to him, so I did. It wasn't until yesterday that sister Yura told me what this phrase really means....basically I told our investigator that I am a very seductive woman. Ya, I'm never trusting sister Yura again :)

I am planning on printing pictures today and sending them to you.

Oh my goodness I absolutely LOVE Washington!!! It is SO beautiful here! There are so many trees, and flowers, and it is so green everywhere! It's only rained a few times and it's really not that bad, yet :). We are by the water, some lake, I forgot what it was called, but it is beautiful! I love the water. I think there is a lake called lake sawyer somewhere in our mission, I will find it and take a picture by it.


Missionary work is awesome. I absolutely love it. I feel the spirit all the time. I mean, what could be better than this, serving mankind by sharing this wonderful message about Christ and His love for each and every one of us. I am definitely one of the luckiest people on earth.

Smart kids = Free donuts!

Did you know that kids can get up to 6 FREE donuts at Krispy Kreme for their A's? We've done this for about 5 years now (surprising that we aren't fatter!)

I've also heard that Mr. Gatti's and Chuck E. Cheese's give out tokens for A's, but I'd rather poke my eyes out than go to those places.

Braden & Shea had an awards assembly at school today for the most recent term. Shea received "A Honors" for all A's and Braden received "AB Honors" for having all A's & B's.

I LOVE THESE TWO SMARTY PANTS!

They have both been working VERY hard this year at school and hey, I get a few donuts out of it as well. I consider it being a good parent.... less fat and cavities for them! Of course, the ultimate goal is scholarships, and if a few donuts along the way keeps them motivated - then I LOVE IT!

Kayla's new address

Kayla is flying to Seattle tomorrow!! Her three weeks in the MTC have flown by and she is on her way to be a "real" missionary. Her letters have been wonderful... I especially like the parts where she says what a great mom I am.

New address:
Sister Kayla Sawyer
WA-Sea Mission
13353 Bellevue Redmond Rd Ste 103
Bellevue, WA 98005-2329

If you feel so inclined, here are some ideas on what to send in a care package:

Stamps
Treats "especially the chocolate and peanut butter variety"
Mints
Headbands that could match conservative styles
Lipgloss
Nylons

Kayla hasn't just hinted that she wants to hear from family and friends, it's pretty much been a plea for mail! She hasn't said too much about being homesick, but I know the holidays will be tough.... and mail is what all missionaries live for!

I don't have any pictures of Kayla on her mission yet - but I loved this one from our family photo shoot.

Caprock Canyon on a windy, chilly day...

There was a Boy Scout camp planned for last night that Robert had volunteered to help with. Braden had a Science & Math competition today at Tech, so he couldn't stay overnight... and was bummed! So we decided to go up earlier on Friday since Shea and Braden did not have school to hike and have a campfire. It was a bit chilly and VERY windy (November in West Texas) but we had a great time.

Shea & Sasha in the car. It was an hour and a half drive... not too long!

Braden & Shea exploring. Lots of stickers and cactus.

Robert had Shea & Sasha go in the tent to weigh it down while he set it up. It was pretty windy! Sasha had a great time on her first adventure. All except the thorn in her paw. She was crying like a baby. Tears and everything. We carried her quite a bit after that :) Spoiled baby.

This is Caprock Canyon.... looking down from the trail. My camera doesn't do the colors justice. It was very beautiful!

Hello. My name is Bliss and I'm a Fabriholic....

I keep telling my quilting friends that a fabric problem is better than drugs. Maybe not cheaper, but definitely better. I have loved fabric since I was about 10 years old and my mom taught me how to sew... my first project was a beanbag in the shape of a frog and then I started making clothes. I always knew I wanted to quilt, I just thought I would be old when I started. That was before I met my friend Grey, who is a wonderful quilter and teacher! So... for the past four years, I've been a quilting maniac!

And my fabulous mother recently found an estate sale of another fabriholic (may she rest in peace) and horded boxes of fabric for me. That's really the only reason I wanted her to meet us in UT when Kayla went into the MTC. FOR THE FABRIC! Ok... it was also nice to be with my mother for a few days. And since we are on a spending freeze in our house - I can be happy for some time now :) with my stash.



What's wrong with getting rid of a few kids? I just take over their space! These are the cubbys that used to separate Braden & Shea's rooms. Now I keep my lovely fabric there. The denim quilt on the night stand was one of my first ventures into quilting.



I am an entrepreneur by nature and earlier this year (when the mortgage industry started going in the toilet) I thought I wanted to be a quilt designer. That was until I found out how little they made and how time-intensive it would be. But this is one of the quilts I designed.... "God Bless America" It has all the words to the song appliqued or embroidered in the quilt.


This was a fun quilt I recently did... "Lost Socks" You can't see it, but I've embroidered all of our names next to different socks.

This quilt hangs in the back guest/fabric room. It is one of my favorites... and probably took the longest. It has such fun prints and patterns in it. These are just a sample of the quilts I've done. I estimate that I've made over 2oo quilts. It's definitely an obsession!

So there you have it... now I need to go sew.

Go Red Raiders!

I am definitely a fair-weather football fan. Hey, what's the use of being loyal if they are just a bunch of losers? Robert, of course is always loyal. So this year we have actually been watching together as the Texas Tech football team is 10-0. The ENTIRE town of Lubbock is red and black rooting for their team.

Robert is in charge of flags for our boy scout fundraising, which means every federal holiday he puts up (and then takes down in the evening) the US flag to businesses around town and every Tech home game he puts up Tech flags. Holidays and Saturdays - No sleeping in for him!

This past Saturday we went up to Tech for a tailgate party with Robert's department. We didn't have tickets to the game (I told Robert I would have scalped them if we did - hey, they are selling for hundreds!!)

But we did have fun at the BBQ. One good thing about W. Texas - you can have a gorgeous 70 degree day in November!

This card was sent to me from a guy I work with in Boise. I had sent him a TT shirt to say thanks for all his help with my recent work... and after he wore it for the game, we won! I'm sure that's what did it.

November 22 is Tech vs. Oklahoma. Go Tech!!

West Texas Biking

I love to bike.... so here are my ramblings about biking in good ol' West Texas.



The Good

1. Not many hills. Hills are my nemesis.
2. You can bike year-round.
3. Drivers are friendly - for the most part
4. This is my time to think. Not many distractions on these roads.
5. Endorphins. I'm just plain happier when I get to bike.

The Bad

1. Wind. Evil, evil wind. Especially when you have a head wind both ways. It's happened more than once.
2. Rabid dogs. Farmers don't see much need to chain them up.
3. Road kill. Dead skunks smell no matter which way the wind is blowing.
4. There isn't much to look at... it gets a bit boring. On the other hand, biking in the mountains is prettier, but I'm usually too busy throwing up a lung to enjoy the scenery.
5. My knee. I hurt it quite a while ago and it still gives me problems if I push too much.

I took my camera today....

Andrew once told me that I love my bike more than him. So not true. Well maybe a little when he was 15.

I love to bike past this fencing company... the smell of cedar is wonderful! Go Red Raiders!

West Texas is famous for it's cotton. It is just getting ready for harvest right now.... and yes, it does feel just like a cotton ball.

Can't be Texas without a cow. No Longhorns allowed.

Roadkill. Sorry it isn't more exciting, that's all there was today. A slow day for roadkill.

You can basically see to eternity from Lubbock. Except I hope eternity is a bit prettier. Stand on a tuna can and you can see Mexico.