Skirts

My sisters have made lots of cute skirts for their girls. I really, really, really didn't want to get involved. I'm not a seamstress, (except on paper) and fabric intimidates me, and I'm really not interested in that line of crafting. BUT, with Andi so close in Utah for a few months I thought it would be fun to see how she made them and it would be a good excuse to get together. So I made an appointment and went fabric shopping. (That was experience enough since I'm clueless about fabric!) And for a dummy like myself, I actually understood and was able to come home and make one on my own. Mine doesn't look nearly as professional as the one I did with her because I don't have a serger, but it isn't too bad given the brains behind the operation :). I have stuff to make one more, but I need a little more fabric so I'll have to post that one later. The pink one, I made with Andi (she did most of the work :). The black one I did myself. I still haven't entirely convinced myself that it is very cute. It might have to do with the fact that I don't like how the green shirt goes with it. (Anyone know where I can get a plain baby t-shirt or onesie in that light green or purple? White doesn't look that great with it either.) But it might also be because I'm a fashion idiot and I don't often know what is cute and what isn't. I'm just dumb that way. I'm ready to hear the brutal truth. Is it ugly? (or maybe our little model just needs a better hairdresser??)
(You can click on the pictures to see them closer up.)

Reunion!

This year the Tom's reunion was held at Bear Lake. Jerry and Carolyn rented a boat and 2 jet skis as part of the fun. While the weather in the morning was a bit cold and rainy, overall, it was a nice day. Jerry and Carolyn also provided a lunch of 3 ginormous pizzas. (the picture below doesn't seem to do the size justice) Needless to say, there was plenty of pizza left over to feed the birds at the end of the day! We had Tess on a leash, tied to a long rope, tied the canopy. Because she was very wandery this Bear Lake trip, it was an excellent solution for all of us!

This doesn't show Jud getting all the way up on the skis, but he eventually did, I just wasn't in the boat to catch it on film.When Nate got up, he didn't stop grinning. He was able to cross the wake a few times.Because Caleb has absolutely no fat on his body, and because the water was on the very chilly side (even for Bear Lake) he could hardly control his body because of the shivering. So this is about as far out of the water as he got this year.Cache was able to meet all of the requirements for the watersports merit badge while we were there. (Such very great news for us since it is one we were dependent on other people to meet since we don't have a boat.)Thanks for such a great time, Jerry and Carolyn!

Faith, not fear

I made this little scrapbook a couple of weeks ago--I just got a burning idea and went to town with it. This seems to be my motto lately and I decided to write my thoughts down about it for posterity. It is only a few pages long, so it came together quite quickly.The cover is a texture template (which has become my new addiction--they make awesome album covers!) and then I sewed these ruffles on the end of my sheet protectors. I just had to cut the page inserts just a little smaller. But it is really cute having the ribbons hanging out of the edge of the book.The text on this page says: "Life is uncertain. . . health, the economy, job security, addictions, evil temptations, human frailties, relationships, politics, feelings of self worth, natural disasters, death. . . "(I made it a bit symbolic as the threads are fraying and the star is falling out of the swirl)"With so many unknowns, it is easy to be overwhelmed with fear. But I've learned that peace of mind and true happiness come only when I live by faith. My favorite quote is by President Hinckley: "I believe that God will always make a way where there is no way. I believe that if we walk in obedience to the commandments of God, if we follow the counsel of the priesthood, He will open a way, even where there appears to be no way.""I truly believe President Hinckley's promise. We have to push away all fears with faith and just trust God. He loves us and will make things work out beautifully for our good if we are patient. Faith, not fear."

(click to enlarge if you want to see pictures closer)

Backpacking

Every week, starting last week (7-17) until August 23, we will have someone in our family on a backpacking trip. Sounds like a bit of a fetish? Let me assure you, it is not. Just a few scout camps (Caleb) and a backpacking merit badge (Cache) crammed into a very short period of time. Just how much backpacking does one have to do to earn the merit badge? Three 3 day trips over 15 miles and one 5 day trip over 30 miles. But in order for this to happen a lot of gear needs to be acquired. A few backpacks, water purifier, backpacking cook stove, bear bells, bear pepper spray, small sleeping bags, water bladders etc. etc. Thankfully a few of the things have been collected over time so the budget hasn't been super strained, but earning these merit badges has not come without a large price tag!! Last week this gang (Jerry, Tom, Caleb and Cache) hiked Mt. Timpanogos. They definitely recommend to not start backpacking with such a strenuous climb! But they had a good time. (Or so they say, most of them say the best part of the trip was getting back to the truck!)

To finish up the merit badge, Cache and Tom are doing the 5 dayer by themselves and Jerry is taking Cache and Roon (a cousin) on a 3 day trip. Cache and Tom will finish up the merit badge with a 3 dayer sometime in September. It will be one merit badge all of us will be very happy to have out of the way!Caleb leaves this afternoon for a trip in the Uintas with his scout troop. I have to say that it is most brave for these leaders to take some 15 boys who have never done any backpacking and who, for the most part, are on the small side for these kinds of packs on an overnighter! But if that isn't sacrifice enough, they are turning around and doing it again in a month. I think I need to bake a few cakes! We live in an awesome scouting ward!!

Contest Winners

Sorry for the delay of announcing the contest winners. . . we had an all day family reunion yesterday (I'll post pictures soon). So here are the winners:

Binghams

1st place: Alison

2nd place: Kendi

3rd place: Malita

4th place Jeanine

Please post a comment as to which prize you want--you'll have to do it in the order of your placement. See this post for the prize listing. Congratulations!

Porters

1st, 2nd, 3rd,& 4th place: Dustin
Thanks for playing, Dustin!

I know there were many, many extra Porters who visited, I guess they just didn't want to participate. I'm sad, but what can I do?

Thanks for all who participated! I'll post the answers below the pictures.

If you were a winner, could you please send me your snail mail addresses to chart@utwire.net (even if you've sent it in the past--I didn't save them).

Pictures from my Dad's side

If you are new to this contest, see rules here. Remember to send your answers to chart@utwire.net instead of posting them as a comment. Click to enlarge as needed.

Picture #11: Dustin 2: Casey 3: Julee 4: Jonny
Occasion: Bailey Creek 1981 (New Years)

Picture #21: Uncle Kent 2: Uncle Kenny 3: Uncle Mark 4: Tyler 5: Dave 6: Uncle Keith 7: Uncle Dale 8: Robert
Occasion: Spring Clean Up 1995 @ Grandma's

Picture #31: Casey 2: Dave 3: Amy 4: Shanell 5: Alissa 6: Shawn 7: Jonny 8: Casey 9: Robert 10: Dustin
Occasion: On top of Grandpa's Snow cave. I'm not sure on the date, but the date stamp on the back of the photo says 1989

Good luck!

Bingham Pictures

If you are new to this contest, see rules here. Remember to send your answers to chart@utwire.net instead of posting them as a comment. Click to enlarge as needed.

Picture #1
1: Ron 2: Katie 3: Connie 4: Tim 5: Chip 6: Greg 7: Kendi 8: Jeff
Occasion: Family Reunion at Grandma Bingham's (not 100% sure on the date--early 80's) If any of my aunts or uncles can tell me the date, I'd be glad to know.

Picture #2
1: Danna 2: Kendi 3: Andi (nice leg!) 4: Jeanine 5: Heidi 6: Darcee 7: Katie
Occasion: Christmas day 1975, in dresses all made by Grandma

Picture #31: Rachel 2: Sheri 3: Danna 4: Ben 5: Christy 6: Marjorie 7: Josh 8: Nicole 9: Mark
Occasion: Grandma and Grandpa's 50th wedding anniversary 1994

Good luck!

Cousin Contest Rules and Prizes!

WELCOME

to the Cousin Contest!

First a disclaimer: Gathering so many people to look at my blog is not something in my comfort zone. at. all. Personally, I could do without the attention. However, I feel strongly that it is something I should do. I've thought a lot of Grandma Porter in planning this and how she wants her family together. I'm positive she has been the one feeding me ideas and giving me these nudges. (and the Binghams can benefit too :). I also believe that one purpose of technology is to bring families together and blogs are a great way to reconnect. So if you are my cousin and new to my blog, please check out all of my cousin links on the left. A lot of my cousins have awesome blogs and it is a good and fun way to catch up with people. Also, if you have a blog and are not on my link list, please leave me a comment so I can get you added.

Here is how the contest is going to work: on Monday, I'm going to post some pictures from different family gatherings. Your job is to simply name all of the people in the photos and name the events shown. There will be three pictures per family. Please send an email to chart@utwire.net with your answers. It is very important that you email your answers instead of posting them as a comment- - -otherwise your chances for winning will decrease (because everyone will be able to see your answers). You will have one week to get your answers in.

There will be 4 winners for each side of the family. It is Binghams against Binghams and Porters against Porters! The person who can name the most people in the pictures correctly is the winner. If I need a tie breaker, I will use the correctness of naming the events (this will be much more difficult). If I need another tie breaker, it will go to the person who sent the email first. Also, I have to say that I know this contest is not going to be equal-schmequal. Gathering pictures to use was hard enough, let alone finding ones that span the ages of my cousins. Just keep in mind this contest is to create connections and to have fun.

Now for the explanation of prizes. While these prizes are not nearly as grand as an unlimited gas card or a trip to Tahiti, they are sill better than a poke in the eye. I also realize that all of my cousins range greatly in age and interests so coming up with universal prizes was a little difficult. But if you win the first place prize, you get first pick of a prize, 2nd place gets 2nd pick, etc. Check back for a listing of winners in a week!

Prize options:
Mini scrapbook---holds 8 4x6 photos. It is all complete. You just have to tape or glue your photos in.
Framed wedding picture of our grandparents. (see pictures above)
Large bag of Swedish Fish
King Sized candy bar

Good luck and have fun!! (and spread the word!)

Chan's baptism

We had a great day on Saturday! Chandler was baptized and confirmed. He is such a sweet, sensitive boy. But you could tell he was anxious to be baptized because during the talk before the baptism, he was so fidgety and had a hard time concentrating! I remember being the same way when Jan Bowler talked at my baptism! During the service, I was blessed to be given a little glimpse of a possibility for Chandler's future. In order to understand it, you have to understand how focused Chandler gets. For example, when he was two he was so into tools. He ate with them, slept with them, looked for them in every book we read, tore pictures out of magazines and news papers with tools in them and carried those every where. It was all he talked about. He has done this with Rescue Heroes, Star Wars, football, Legos, etc. The little glimpse I was given showed him being an amazing missionary and teacher because he was so focused on the gospel that it became part of him. I shared this little 'vision' with him and he was excited. His comment was, "Well, I do love to read my scriptures." And that is true. He finished the Book of Mormon all by himself just a few days before his baptism. He set the goal earlier this year to have it finished before he was baptized and he kept at it. I hope I can do my part as a mom to guide him to focus on the gospel so it becomes a part of him.

PS. . .Cousin Contest Details will be up this week. There will be a time frame so make sure you check back so you don't miss it!

Angela. . .

I know you've been too busy to send me pictures, but I wanted to make sure you got your prize from the Power of One post, so I 'stole' a picture off your blog to use on a layout for you. I got it mailed off to you, but in my haste to get it out the door, I forgot to write a note! Sorry! Hopefully you enjoy your layout.

For my scrapbook friends: I photographed the layout in a couple of locations so you can get a better idea of how texture templates work for a background. (I often have people tell me they don't understand what they are.) You can't see the layout from these photos very well, but hopefully you can see how the templates work for a background a bit better. In the one on the left, you can see how they are transparent--I did paint the edges very slightly so if you look closely, you can see the outline. In the one on the right, you can see the texture on the template really well. You really should try some of this awesome medium!

Tessa on the Beach

These pictures are just too cute not to post. We went prepared with a life jacket and leash in case Tess was her usual very busy self. But she didn't love the water that much (we were on North Shore of Bear Lake with lots of floaties and those seemed to bother her) so we were able to take off the life jacket. Which was good since the 'under 30 pound' life jacket was still too big. And we let her off the leash for a while also until she started wandering again then back on it went. As you can see, her favorite thing about the beach was the mud!

Family Reunion 2008

I'm very late in posting these. . .but better late than never I suppose. Here is Dave, the master of the reunion. He had just had knee surgery (ACL and something else) so he ran the party mostly from a chair. But he and Julianna did a great job putting together a great time for all.

It was held at Sutton's cabin just over Strawberry canyon, about 15 minutes from Bear Lake. We spent most of the time at the cabin doing activities such as geocaching, launching bottle rockets, playing candy bar games, 4-wheeling, playing Rock Band, eating an just being together. On the last day we headed over to the lake for a few hours. It was a very relaxing, fun get together. Here are a few pictures of the highlights.