She's here!

Meet Mckinley Mitchell, she came into this world on September 30th at 2:38 a.m. She is now just a little over 12 hours old. Isn't she cute and I'm not saying that just because I'm the Grandma. She weighed in at 6 lb. 14 oz. and was 20 " long. She has beautiful skin, I'm so happy she made it without any complications and both her and mom are doing well. Kaitlyn was a little trooper, she did an awesome job delivering her, she had a natural birth and it was very long. She was glad it was over and could finally see her little miracle that had been growing inside her the last 9 months. We thought McKinley was going to share her birthday with her Aunt Kira, but she was not going to leave her warm space all to soon. Look how cute that little chin is, and that little button nose, you just want to kiss her all over!

Could she be any prouder?

This picture is priceless, I think she's got Dad wrapped around her finger already!
What a special day it is for these two, they will cherish this day forever and in just a few years they will say, when did she grow up. Enjoy her while she's small they don't stay that way for long.

I still can't believe my baby has a baby of her own.

Sharing Time

I've been sewing again! You're probably not a little bit surprised by that are you? I've been sewing for our neice Megan White, she is married to Stuart's nephew Patrick. She had asked me if I would make her a nursing cover up(I call it a hooter hider!) and burp cloths. They have a brand new little boy, Samuel that was born on the 2nd of September. This makes #3 boy for them, and boy, oh boy does she have her hands full already with Ethan and Phenix. Good luck to you Megan with this new little one. She got me the fabric, which is darling. I finished the bundle of goodies up on the weekend. There is a drawstring bag to put the cover-up and the 3 burpies in. She gave me the ok to share the finished project with you even before she had seen them. I hope they are what you expected them to be Megan. These are some hot new accessories that are in stores for the new mom to be. I'd rather make them, that way you can personalize them with your own favorite fabric. Thanks Megan for letting me do something for you and that cute new baby. I love sharing.

Baby Update!

As most of you know Kaitlyns baby was to be here last Thursday. They started her that morning and by mid-morning she had done nothing. Afternoon came and still nothing, the baby was to high to even break her water to get the ball rolling, she just wasn't dialating. They decided to send her home for the weekend to see if she could do something on her own. She was a little upset over this, she was hoping for a perfect ending to a special week that they had just had. Well she went this morning for a check-up and the Dr. sent her right to the hospital, they decided to try it again. We will have a baby sometime today whether it be a natural or a C-section birth, they are going to let her go until about 5:00 this evening and see what happens. That means we will celebrate another birthday on September 29th at the White house. I'll keep you updated and I'm most positive this proud Grammie will have pictures, lot's of pictures!

Happy Bithday Kira!

Today is Kira's birthday, let's see that would make her a cute young thing of 2&.(opps, I pushed the shift key on the second number!) Kira wanted to celebrate her birthday by having dinner at her favorite mexican resturant called Baja Cantina, and a quiet one without kids. They invited Me & Stuart to celebrate with them. Baja is in Park City, what a beautiful drive through Provo Canyon, the fall colors are so pretty. What was even better was just the time we spent visiting with each other about different things that are going on with each of us right now, Kira is always busy doing something(I wonder where she gets that from!) It seemed like we got there in no time, I guess because we talked the whole time up. Our dinner was really yummy, but boy were we full when we got through.

All Kira wanted for her birthday cake was a caramel apple from the Rocky Mountian Chocolate Factory, she picked out the Apple Pie and I stuck with your boring caramel. On the way home she commented that this wasn't coming out of the bag until all the kids were in bed, she was going to enjoy this treat by herself!

I know Kira is going to be reading this post so I want to take a minute and tell you a little about her. She is always so giving and caring, she would do anything for anybody. She takes such good care of her three darling kids, they adore her. Most days she has her hands full but she still finds the time to do the things she enjoys. Kira loves being a Stampin' Up demonstrator, and has wonderful ideas and puts together the cutest things. She always has the perfect solutions to any project that I or others need help on. Kira is active in the Young Women's in her ward and is doing a fantastic job there, I know she has brought some good ideas into their program, they are lucky to have her. We are very fortunate to have Kira as a daughter, we wouldn't of traded her for anything in the world. We wish you a very happy birthday and hope you have many more. Love ya, Mom & Dad
By the way, I have a yummy sunflower sugar cookie for you to. I couldn't pass up not getting you one, I know they are one of your favorite things.

Something SWEET

In one of my first blog entries I told you about my good friend Kaye who is going through breast cancer. On Friday she went for her second round of chemo and I knew she wouldn't be feeling to well this weekend so I went to visit her today (Saturday) and took her a sweet surprise. A sunfower sugar cookie. I know Kaye likes sugar cookies because everytime I make them for club she can't thank me enough for them. Well, I cheated on this one. I was in American Fork today so I stopped in this cute little bakery called Dippidee. They have the cutest and yummiest things you have ever seen, I wanted one of everything. They have fun, fun cupcakes, birthday cakes, bar cookies, mini treats and lots more. Check them out at www.dippidee.com I hope Kaye has a speedy recovery this week, she said nothing is even tasting good to her right now, not even a good old sugar cookie. We put it in the freezer for her to enjoy later in the week.

This is so cute in real life, the frosting is so thick and looks so scrumpcious, they sprinkled yellow sugar crystals on top to make it shimmer. They put it in a box and tied a cute ribbon around it too. Wow, I guess I should have "picked"one of these sunflowers for me to, just writing about it is making me hungery. Will you share Kaye?

Another Apron!

Uh-la la! Isn't this one sweet!! No this one isn't for me, and no it's not for a swap. I made this one for my little sister, Jan to give to her good freind that she has known for many years. She is a small petite lady, and likes pink and black. I got the pattern from a book called More Retro Aprons by Cindy Oates. I really enjoyed making this one, I love how the pink and black together make it look both retro and chic.

Thanks Jan for letting me share my talents with you and Ann, I hope she enjoys it for many years, I know she loves to spend time in her kitchen, and who wouldn't if you could wear an apron like this, right!

Cupcakes Anyone?

On the 2oth of September our ward had a Super Saturday and we had a cupcake exchange. I am on the enrichment committee and we thought this would be something fun and different for the ladies, we had about 8 or 9 sign up. We had lots of yummy cupcakes like: Coconut, Caramel apple, banana butterfinger, pumpkin spice, sour cream chocolate, lemon almond just to name a few, then we all came home with a plate full of these cupcakes. It was hard to decide which one to eat first. I decided to make some Cupcake Pops, very very cute but a little time consuming, here are a few pictures of the process. If any of you want to try them I got the directions from
marthastewart.com/recipe/cupcake-pops. Try them, they are kind of tasty little bites. You mix a baked and crumbled cake with a tub of cream cheese frosting and then roll it into balls and set in the freezer for a few minutes, then you can either make pops or small cupcakes. I did both. For the pops you mold the cupcake rolls into a small flower cookie cutter and push it out the bottom.

These are the mini cupcakes, you put melted chocolate into the candy mold and put one of the balls into the chocolate to form the cupcake. Put in the freezer for a few minutes to pop them out. Then dunk in melted colored chocolate discs.

Tah-dah, this is how they turn out after they have been dipped and decorated with sprinkles and a colored M&M. The next picture is showing how I took them to Super Saturday to the exchange. I wrapped the pops in little bags and tied a ribbon around them and the mini cupcakes I put on a little cake stand. Pretty cute don't you think? They were impressed with this idea.

I also made Caramel Apple Cupcakes, they were yummy!! They remind of fall, they have cut up granny smith apple and strudel inside and then you sprinkle the strudel on top before you bake them. When their done baking you melt Kraft caramels and drizzle that over the top. I'll do the recipe on a different day, it's quite long.

I was over the display table for the cupcakes, and any of you that know me, I love to do displays! I had used most of the cake plates that we had for Kaitlyn's wedding, then I put together a little baking display and made a cute apron and table topper out of fabric that had the cutest cupcakes on it. Each sister had their own cake stand for their batch of cupcakes, it looked really cute when they were all full. I forgot to take a picture when that was, but I remembered shortly after.

What a beautiful day!

The words of the primary song goes, I love to see the temple, I'm going there someday. And we did just that on Tuesday, September 23rd to see Kaitlyn and Mike be sealed together as husband and wife for time and all eternity. What a beautiful day we had. The day couldn't of gone any better for all of us, the weather was beautiful,all the guests arrived on time and Kaitlyn didn't go into labor!

As me and Stuart have visited a few temples here and there, we try and have a picture taken outside, this is just one more to add to our collection. That would be a fun post sometime, I'll have to do some digging. We have even visited outside of Utah!

Kaitlyn and Mike outside the temple, they were so happy and a little nervous at the same time.

What a special day it was for them to be sealed together for time and all eternity and that on September 25th little baby McKinley will be joining this eternal family. What a way to finish out the start of a fantastic week. (Notice Kaitlyn isn't wearing any shoes, her feet and toes were to swollen to get her shoes back on!! Poor thing.

The Whitehouse clan, Me & Stuart, Kaitlyn & Mike, Kira & John

Package #2 Arrived!!

So here are both the packages together. Talk about perfect timing, the mailman came just as we were finishing packing up the trailer to go to Manti. We had decided to take the trailer and stay overnight so we wouldn't have to get up so early Tuesday morning to be at the temple. So I ran in the house and snapped this picture and threw them in the truck to open them on the way. My partner was Kelly Wilsey from Elizabeth, CO any of you know her or been there? I don't, but she put together a cute package! Let's go to HAWAII!! just what I thought, and

I couldn't believe how well the apron matched our trailer, which by the way is decorated all in the tropical flare. So that night I had Stuart take pictures of me in my apron and the loot that was in the package. She had included, the apron of course which just fit, it's a flirty apron that wraps around and ties in front, the fabric is tradional palm leaves on a moss green and gold background, it has black pockets, the neck strap is knotted in the back. She also made a matching oven mitt, can you see it in the background?(that's what she had forgotten to put in the 1st package) Also in the package was a lei and a shell bracelet and a recipe for Pineapple Upside Down Cake, it sounds really yummy. She did an awesome job, now I need to send her my thank you. I think this apron and oven mitt will defineately stay in the trailer so I can enjoy them out there. They look like they were sewn up just for the trailer! That was a fun experience and I'll probably to it again. And just so you have a heads up, I'm participating in a sewing organizing swap right now, I'm making a tote bag for my partner, I'll let you in on the details when I'm finished and ready to mail her package. These are fun and addicting. I seem to have caught the swap fever!! Do I need help? Wow! what a model, should I be in Vogue, a McCalls pattern book or a trailer salesman!!!

Once a Bride always a Bride!

Anniversaries are the happening thing around the White house this week, both Kira and Kaitlyn got married in September, and get this, Kira got married on my 40th birthday. That was seven years ago on the 21st. (Oh my gosh I just told you how old I am!) She married John Carter, and the following year they were sealed in the Manti Temple. What great birthday gifts. They are happily married and live in a beauiful new home in Santaquin. They have 3 darling children and are doing a wonderful job raising them. Happy 7th Annivsery Kira and John, may you have many more years together to celebrate, through the good times and the bad. Love, Mom & Dad

A Happy 1st year Anniversary to you Kaitlyn & Mike, your still newleyweds!

Kaitlyn married Mike Mitchell on the 22nd of September, 2007. They live in Levan and are getting excited to be sealed in the Manti Temple on Tuesday the 23rd. What a special week for them, temple on Tuesday, new baby on Thursday. ( We hope in this order!) We are so proud of Kaitlyn and Mike for setting this goal and achieving it in a year. We're also getting pretty anxious to meet this new bundle of joy that will be starting their eternal family. We love you both and wish you many more years of love and happiness. Love ya, Mom & Dad

Package #1 has arrived

Look what was in the mail today, do I open it or wait? The package is an all around floral pattern, I'm guessing the Hawaiian Fantasy, how about you? If you don't know what I'm rambling about, read my last blog.

Package Coming!

Do you remember me talking about the apron swap I was in and I hadn't recieved my package, well it's on it's way. My partner had e-mailed Shawnee who is hosting the swap and asked if she would pass this along to me because she can't tell me her identity yet. This is what is said:

Hi Shawnee,
I just wanted to let you know I sent Shannon White's apron package out yesterday...I know...it was a day later than I thought it would be (cringe) But even worse! Today, I discovered that there was one thing missing from her package...so she actually gets TWO packages!!! I sent the "special extra" out today...would you mind letting her know it is on it's way and to wait an extra day to post pictures...cuz that second package is really kind of cool!!! Thanks so much for hosting this swap. I had a lot of fun playing along.

Wow! I'm really getting excited now, not only one package but two. It's kind of like a kid at Christmas waiting to open presents.

I didn't tell you about my fantasy vacation spots that I put on my list. I want to cruise all the Hawaiian Islands and someday see the Cherry Blossom Festival in the early spring in Washington, D.C. These aren't exotic fantasy trips but something I have on my list to do before I get to old to enjoy them! Someday. Always dream big, right? So it will be interesting to see what my partner choose to do for my apron, and what she came up with.

Now I probably have some of you excited to see what's in my packages as well. What should I do? Should I open the first one or should I wait for the second one to come and open them both at the same time? Delemma!! I need your help on this one, we'll take a vote, leave me a comment on what you think I should do about this, you never know maybe I'll get lucky and they will both come the same day!

This will make you SMILE!!

What a fun evening we had tonight, Kira needed a babysitter for the kids so we watched all 3 of them while she went out with her sister-in-law. The kids were really good, Hatch had come across the duck horns that Great Grandma Thomas had tried to send home with him a few years ago, well when we cleaned out my mom's house I brought them up here and put them in the junk drawer, they've been out a few times before and we've always told him to put them up, they can get a little annoying after awhile. ( Why did I bring them home in the first place? I guess they still link me to mom) Well tonight was different, play the video for a good chuckle. Why is it that the smallest things in life can bring us so much pleasure? Enjoy our little video, made by Stuart, actors Hatch and Thanye Carter

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

What could be better than this? These are a few of my favorite things. It was let's pile on Grammie day, I was holding Thanyne and Hatch wanted to play with him so he climbed up onto my legs that were resting on the sofa table, then of course little miss Karas wanted in on the action, so she climbed up on my legs. You can't see my legs out stretched in the pictures because they are all sitting on them! What joy these 3 little ones bring into my life, if only they would stay this way. This is what a grandparent is all about.

My brother-in-law sent this e-mail to me not long ago: What is a Grandparent? ( It was taken from papers written by a class of 8-year olds) I'd like to share a few of my favorites with you.

1. Grandparents are a lady and a man who have no little children of their own. They like other people's.

2. Grandparents don't have to do anything except be there when we come to see them. They are so old they shouldn't play hard or run. It is good if they drive us to the store and have lots of quarters for us.

3. They don't say , "Hurry up."

4. Usually grandmothers are fat, but not too fat to tie your shoes.

5. They can take their teeth and gums out.

6. When they read to us, they don't skip. They don't mind if we ask for the same story over again.

7. They know we should have snack-time before bedtime and they say prayers with us every time, and kiss us even when we've acted bad.

8. They wear glasses and funny underwear.

And my very favorite of them all,

9. A 6 year old was asked where his grandma lived. "Oh," he said, "she lives at the airport, and when we want her we just go get her. Then when we're done having her visit, we take her back to the airport."

Only out of the mouths of babes. Enjoy your kids and grandkids.

Flirty Apron Swap

In August I signed up for a Flirty Apron Swap with some other bloggers on the internet, we were matched up with partners who we didn't know, these ladies were all over the country. This was all done in secret. The theme for the swap was Fantasy Vacations so we had to base our aprons around their fantasy vacation, and include a recipe from that location and some kind of trinket or souviener with ties to that spot. We could list two vacation spots, my partners were to see Hong Kong or Paris, as you can see by the pictures I chose to do Hong Kong. The fabric I found was perfect, I embellished it with ric-rac and a black frog ( like the ones the oriental ladies have on their dresses), I thought that was a pretty clever thing to add. The black accecnt fabric was Chinese symbols printed all over it. I sent recipes for homemade Ham Fried Rice and a yummy Chicken dish called Mrs. Wong's Chicken. I also made a little pendant that had the chinese symbol for the word enjoy, I had wrapped it up and put it in a take-out box. The apron itself I put into a little gift bag that I had made out of the leftover fabrics with chopsticks sticking out the pocket, then when I boxed it up to send I stuffed the whole box with fortune cookies. This was so much fun, our packages had to be sent by Sept. 15th. My partner was Maudina Piper in Pittsburg, PA. I got a thank you e-mail from her today thanking me for the lovely apron and the wonderful stuff that was inside. She said she squeeled at work when she opened it. I haven't received my package yet but when it comes I'll take pictures and this will be a whole different blog entry. This is the apron, notice the frog closure on the top, cute huh!

This is everything I sent in Maudina's package, I forgot to take a picture of the pendant though.

McKinley's Baby Quilts

These are the quilts for baby McKinley who will be joining our family in a couple of weeks, I had them all done so I took them to Kaitlyn's baby shower that we had at Kira's the end of August. The basket of goodies was from me and Kira, it is her diaper bag loaded with everything she will need. You can't see the quilt very well, it's sticking out the corner of the basket, it all matches, from bibs, to burbies, her wipe case, receiving blanket to clothes, and her hooter hider(a.k.a. nursing cover-up). I've made everything to coordinate with her diaper bag. I'll post a picture of it later when McKinley is all wrapped up in it, how's that? This quilt is from the Strawberry Lemonade fabric line. Kaitlyn liked this one because it is so bright and cheerful, now all the baby needs it a Strawberry Shortcake doll!
This quilt is one of my favorites, it has the cutest daisies quilted into it. The browns and blues in it just match McKinley's carseat and stroller. I was cutting this one out to take with me to work on up to Girl's Camp while we were camp hosting and Kaitlyn was here that day and she put her dibs on it. I have several quilts that need to be dubbed, their stacking up in the closet!! I think I have a problem don't you? Oh well that won't stop me from sewing, I'll have more grandkids to spoil! I hate to admit it but there are still two more quilts in the works for this baby, one that just needs to be bound and the other may not get completed at all, it's a little more challenging than I had anticipated it to be, we'll see. I'm sure McKinley will be snug as a bug in her others if it dosen't get finished. I need to get started on Jacob's quilts so he doesn't think I don't "lub" him anymore, and I certianly don't want him to be chilly this winter in Idaho. I love sharing.

Spoiled Kids!!

Ok so I think I have this blogging thing down some what so here goes another. I hope you don't mind that I share with you all the fun new things I have been working on. This is just about all I do, so I hope you don't get tired of it. As some of you know Kaitlyn has been having a few problems these last few weeks with her pregnancy, the Dr. has had her on bed rest until she delivers. She's going a little crazy, she has been spending Tuesday nights and Wednesdays here because Mike has school late on Tuesday, they have been sleeping here until little McKinley is born. She commented she wanted a new bag to take to the hospital for her toiletries and other personal items. She wanted to pick one up from Wal-Mart on her way back to Levan, I told her I had so many cute patterns for tote bags and that's all it took, she was off the couch and into the sewing room in a flash picking something from the stack of unorganized fabric!(Help! do ya think I need to do something about this?)We found a pattern she liked, but later that night she was looking in one of my quilt magazines and ran across this one, I've tweeked it up alittle bit by adding the bias trim and ric-rac (of course ric-rac, who dosen't love that stuff) and even added a pocket on the inside with a key fob to hang her keys. She hasn't seen the finished product yet until now, so I hope you like it Kaitlyn Jane, I think it turned out rather cute if I don't say so myself.

All the kids have flown the nest and I'm still spoiling them rotten, but then again isn't that what a Mom and Grammy is supposed to do. I love them all to pieces.

Stand Up 2 Cancer

I dedicate my first entry blog to two of the most wonderful people in the world, this is my Mom and Dad, Calvin and Carol Thomas. They both passed away of cancer, Dad in 2003 and Mom in 2006. Thanks Mom and Dad for giving me life so that I am able to fill my days with "sew" many sweet things that this life has to offer me. I love and miss you both more and more each day. In July one of my best friends was diagnosed with breast cancer. Kaye has been one of my dearest freinds well should I say since we were born. We share September as our birthday month, we also share the same week, her special day is the 16th and mine is the 21st. Our mothers were in the same hospital together, the Hughe's Memorial Hospital for those of you who can remember that! We grew up in the same neighborhood, we played together and attended school together until we graduated almost 30 years ago. We now enjoy each others company every month at what we call club! We get together with other girlfriends for an evening of fun and lots of laughter. So when I got the news about Kaye it really hurt inside, I kind of knew what she was going through, it's not easy hearing the word cancer. I had heard it twice in 4 years. After I heard this my brain went into quilt mode, I knew Kaye would probably be going through chemo and I just remember how cold my Dad would get while getting his treatment. The quest was on for the right fabric, I found something in the stash that would cheer things up for Kaye I had hoped. I finished the quilt and a cute tote to put it in, plus all the other goodies she needed to be comfortable for when that day would come. We as club friends went to see Kaye just after her first surgery, she was a little down, but we cheered her up with her chemo bag as we called it. She loved it.
Friday, September, 5th was Kaye's first day of chemo. She called me on Thursday to say she was going and wanted to know if I was busy and if I could go with her. What a great day for me. Scott wasn't able to find a replacement at work so I got the honor of taking her. She did awesome. That night on the T.V. all the networks were broadcasting a show called Stand Up 2 Cancer, what an amazing show. They collected money for cancer research. It always makes you feel good inside when you donate to a worthy cause for something like this,that maybe just someday no one else will have to hear that yucky word cancer. If you would like to donate you can go to the website, http://www.standup2cancer.org/. Thanks Kaye for being such a great inspiration to me and so many others. I've posted pictures of the quilt and the tote bag that will be part of Kaye's life for the next few weeks, the other picture is of me and Kaye the day of her chemo session, notice she's using the quilt already and she hadn't even been hooked up yet. I'm wishing Kaye well as she comes upon those little bumps farther down the road, but knowing Kaye and her positive attitude and her great outlook on life there will be no bumps in the road she's travelin on. Love ya Kaye.