It's Christmas!

Christmas Eve

Christmas morning at the Collins

Christmas morning at the Orlinskys

Just having fun -- Nov 23rd

Winnie the Pooh Ride (Kathy & Katie stayed off since Katie was sleeping)

Thanksgiving Day

We all had fun while Kathy & Stuart cooked

The House

"Grammie" came knocking

Katie is into drooling

Katie liked the tablecloth best

The meal was great. Kathy & Stuart's table fits us all!

Winter is Coming!

I've been getting a very few tomatoes -- one every couple of weeks. Now that it's getting cooler, the plant is going crazy. These pictures are of the back yard. The Coral trees' leaves from behind the fence on the parkway are now in the process of blowing in. It's worth it to see those orange red flowers that come out in January.

The top picture is of Kailyn helping to give Lady a bath. (Yes, that is a raincoat.)

Halloween

Kathy & Stuart had party for 4 little girls and 1 boy. They all had fun. Even great -grandmother came. When Kathy read a story the kids acted out the activity except for Katie. Kalissa was Cinderella and Kailyn was Tinker Bell.

Trunk Trick or Treating

A local church filled their parking lot with cars and people and invited the local kids in to do their Trick or Treating early and have good time. The trunks were decorated and folks were at the trunks to help the kids to something to "win" a prize of candy. Some just let the kids take candy without having to win anything. Kalissa got right into it. She was willing to try anything. Kailyn was more shy and didn't go to very many although Kathy kept telling her "get a candy for Mommy. Mommy loves that kind".

Katie just stared at all the sights and sounds.

One more thing

I forgot to tell you about the fabrics that I used. A few summers ago we were on an Alaskan Cruise and I made stops at all the quilt stores I came across. In one they had a bundle of fabrics that went together and the main fabric was of these bright cats. None of the fabrics were very big but they were enough to make several blocks. We came home and I unpacked and put that bundle tied with pretty ribbon on a shelf and there it sat. I decided to make Kalissa a big girl quilt like I'd made for Kailyn. I found the bundle with the cats and bright purple and tan prints. Of course that wasn't enough to make a very big quilt so I went searching through all the old fabric scraps. I found all sorts of tans and purples and even fabric with cats on them. That's what I used to make this quilt. I even had the left over fabric for the backing and the all organic cotton batting. No added cost. Yeah!

When I finished piecing the quilt I had to pick a quilting pattern. Since Kalissa takes ballet lessons I chose ballet shoes with intertwining ribbons. I wanted to give her something to go with the quilt and I found it at Amazon. A Kitty cat that takes ballet lessons. I was pleased with the way it worked out. I was even able to use some embroidery patterns I've had forever of Felix the cat and his girl friend Kitty Kat. When things work, they work.

A quilt from those pieces that hang around on the shelves

Yes, another quilt for Kalissa but this one will fit a bigger bed.

Can you see the ballet shoes and ribbons on the reverse?

You just sew together some 9 patches, cut them in half top to bottom and side to side. Rotate the sections and sew back together. You'd never guess you're looking at a 9 patch which is probably why the pattern is called "Disappearing 9 Patch"

We went camping at Carpenteria State Beach

Our campsite backed up to the sand with the ocean on the other side. It's a nice area except for the train tracks that run against the east side. The trains go 24/7 and blast their horns and I do mean blast. How can people say that they didn't hear them? People at the park said they sure heard them, especially the long feight trains that came through after midnight. We took Kailyn with us for company and fun. It was the first time we've had the van out in 2 years. We forgot a few things -- like the bag of clothes for ourselves. Kailyn's stuff we put in the van but not our warmer, cleaner stuff and sleeping gear. Lucky it wasn't a long trip.

The Long Beach Aquarium

Before we went home yesterday, we all met in Long Beach and did some "fish looking"

We're home again!

We got back home Sunday after a 7 day repositioning cruise. We flew to Vancouver, British Columbia and ended in San Pedro. Of course I've included some pictures. Please notice the escort we got out of San Francisco. The dog in the picture of us in Nanaimo, Vancover Island was borrowed from the lady that took the picture. It looks like we did nothing but relax and eat. That's right. (Don't forget to click on the pictures to see the details that you can't see in the small shots --it'll be worth it in one of them)