So we've basically been M.I.A. for the past six months, although it wasn't on purpose. A TON has happened since I last wrote. For starters, we bought a house! And we moved into that house! And we LOVE that house! It's in a little planned community in Mapleton called Harvest Park. Of course, we've spent the majority of our time packing, cleaning, unpacking, painting, and decorating, but it has still been worth every drop of sweat, blood and tears shed in the process! We really do LOVE our new place! I'll put up some pics of the house next time...
Another thing that has kept us busy is that we bought two little kitties. Their names are Pumpkin and Sundae and they are the funniest little fur balls around. We randomly were out at Petsmart on Halloween, and saw this darling little orange and white kitten who just snuggled and purred the whole time. We asked the lady if he had a name, and she said it was Pumpkin. We could not resist buying a little Pumpkin on Halloween! I mean, how perfect is that?! So we bought him on impulse, and brought him home. Poor little Pumpkin had a brother and missed him so much he mewed the whole night. And we're talking sad little mews. We started to worry about leaving Pumpkin at home all alone all day while we were at work, so we went back and bought his brother Sundae. They have been such a fun little addition to our home! At times, they get a little kamikaze-y, but they are always good for a little snuggle and love.
Pumpkin
Pumpkin and Sundae
For some reason, they love my hair. They can never leave it alone. Tony said it's because it looks like string. (I was not too happy to hear that comment! :))
Here they are snuggling. We love to cuddle with them!
Another thing that has kept us busy is that I, (being Marni), started working at the Provo Temple as an ordinance worker once a week. It has been the most amazing and uplifting thing I've done. The sweetest ladies work at the temple. My only concern is that the temple presidency only know me as "Sister Gandolfo." I'm hoping that will pass... :)
I've also been doing a TON of sewing the past 6 months. My brother Brett's AA sponsor Ron passed away this summer, and Brett asked me to make Ron's four daughters quilts out of his old dress shirts. I don't know how I did it, but I magically stretched 13 dress shirts into four lap quilts and one twin size quilt that I surprised Brett with on his Birthday. The four lap size quilts were pretty basic and are shown below.
Quilt #1
Quilt #2
Quilt #3
Quilt #4
Here's all four quilts the day I gave them to Brett to give to Ron's family.
Brett's quilt was a little more difficult than the others. First of all, the front was made out of scraps and was a nightmare to sew--don't ask. Secondly, I embroidered the backing with the AA serenity prayer, symbol, and Ron's last words to him before he died which was also a nightmare to contrive and execute. It seriously took more time than the other four quilts combined, but Brett's reaction to it was priceless which made it all worth it. I love my brother so much and am so proud of him and how much he has accomplished! I know he will miss Ron but hopefully the quilt will remind him of the teachings and wisdom Brett gained from him.
Quilt #2Quilt #3Quilt #4Here's all four quilts the day I gave them to Brett to give to Ron's family.Brett's quilt was a little more difficult than the others. First of all, the front was made out of scraps and was a nightmare to sew--don't ask. Secondly, I embroidered the backing with the AA serenity prayer, symbol, and Ron's last words to him before he died which was also a nightmare to contrive and execute. It seriously took more time than the other four quilts combined, but Brett's reaction to it was priceless which made it all worth it. I love my brother so much and am so proud of him and how much he has accomplished! I know he will miss Ron but hopefully the quilt will remind him of the teachings and wisdom Brett gained from him.Here's the front:
And the back (sorry, the pictures straight on were hard to see clearly):
Brett opening it and his reaction.
I love him so much!
On the sewing front, I've also been busy doing various Christmas projects. I've sewed two Christmas advent pillows, one for my mom out of the fabrics she liked, and one for myself out of the fabrics I like.
I also designed two stocking patterns of which I have been sewing stockings non-stop. These pictures are of stockings that my mom asked me to make for a friend's son who was getting married. It's my least favorite of the two patterns, but they came out nice with different fabrics front and back. Plus, I made little pins out of poinsettias and tiny mittens that can be switched from front to back or taken off completely depending on the person's preference. The other pattern (which I like more) I've made almost 30 stockings out of. I don't have any pictures of those yet, but you'll see some come Christmas.
And the back (sorry, the pictures straight on were hard to see clearly):Brett opening it and his reaction.I love him so much!On the sewing front, I've also been busy doing various Christmas projects. I've sewed two Christmas advent pillows, one for my mom out of the fabrics she liked, and one for myself out of the fabrics I like.I also designed two stocking patterns of which I have been sewing stockings non-stop. These pictures are of stockings that my mom asked me to make for a friend's son who was getting married. It's my least favorite of the two patterns, but they came out nice with different fabrics front and back. Plus, I made little pins out of poinsettias and tiny mittens that can be switched from front to back or taken off completely depending on the person's preference. The other pattern (which I like more) I've made almost 30 stockings out of. I don't have any pictures of those yet, but you'll see some come Christmas. Here's the front of one:
The front of the other:
And the two backs:
Oh, and I also helped with a baby shower for a neighbor last week and made the favors. They turned out pretty cute, if you can tell what they are... They're little boxes made into ovens with a tiny cinnamon bun inside. They said "Alisha's got a little bun in the oven." I made them blue and green since she's having a little boy. They were more work than I probably should have done, but I was very pleased with the results.
The front of the other:And the two backs:Oh, and I also helped with a baby shower for a neighbor last week and made the favors. They turned out pretty cute, if you can tell what they are... They're little boxes made into ovens with a tiny cinnamon bun inside. They said "Alisha's got a little bun in the oven." I made them blue and green since she's having a little boy. They were more work than I probably should have done, but I was very pleased with the results. 
Another crazy thing that has happened is that Tony totaled his car! He was fine, and so was the other driver, but his car was another story. So if anyone has any good suggestions for a mid-size SUV, let us know!One last thing--Tony and I got new callings. We are over the 11-year-old boys primary class and are the new Bear Scout Den Leaders in our ward. WHAT THE???!!! This will be a new one for us, that's for sure! We're excited though, and there are only like two boys in the group so it shouldn't be that big a deal.
Anyways, those are the highlights of the last six months. We'll see if we can keep things updated a little more regularly...! Tony's family is coming out to our place this Christmas, so there will be lots to post and share after that! Hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving!
7 comments:
Yay for a new post! I like your little kittens, although Nate says that now we can never visit. (He's allergic to cats and obnoxious about it, remember?) So I guess you'll just have to come over and visit us sometime. And way to go on those quilts. Tia was telling me about them, and I really hoped that you would post pictures so I could see for myself just how awesome they were.
Marni, I love all your crafts! You are amazing! You are an especially fabulous sister to put together all those quilts out of shirts and surprise Brett to boot! Your talents just never end! Did you just "throw together" the advent pillows or do you have a pattern? I am really interested in borrowing the pattern/copying the idea:) The kittens are cute. They look like good company.
K, first of all, your crazy, second of all I am IN LOVE with your cats. I am SOOOOOOOO envious. Third of all did some itallian gypse throw some craft dust on you or what? And if so, where was I? - I still can't seem to break away from the perpetual state of the "Italian funk". Miss you.
Okay Marni you are amazing!! Those are beautiful quilts, pillows, stockings, etc. You have quite the talent. What a good sister! I'm a bear den leader too! Fun stuff!
I stopped checking your blog 5 1/2 months into your 6-month hiatus, and then I totally miss the update. BAH!
A few items of business:
1. You are amazing.
2. Amazing and double amazing.
3. Those quilts are so cool! What were the cut lengths for Brett's quilt? I want to do one like that (smaller, though) for my niece.
4. I am forever mad at you for perking my interest in nice quilt fabrics and quilts. I am now addicted.
http://craftycupboard.blogspot.com
I need to e-mail you now!
The kitty's are so cute. Madi is going to love them! Did you move into a new house than the one James painted or is this the same house? Check out our blog... theshoresfamily.blogspot.com
Marni! I didn't know you had a blog! So we totally have some friends who live in that neighborhood--do you know the Marshalls? Mike and Stacy. If not, that's cool--we definitely don't know everyone in our planned neighborhood; maybe soon we will, since they just redid our ward boundaries...
We seriously need to get together some time. It's been forever. I think I saw Tony at Wal-Mart once. He was buying a ton of eggs, supposedly for the deli, but I know that you two were really planning on egging someone....:)
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