Christmas Quilts

I did it!
I finished five pieced quilts for my kids and their spouses for Christmas that I had started at the beginning of the year! They are the first pieced quilts that I had ever made and it was very fun! I can't believe all the hours and hours I put into those things, but I sure am hooked on making them now!
For next Christmas, I want to make I Spy quilts for each of my six grandchildren. That sounds like such a fun project and I've already started collecting different, fun fabrics for them.
So many fun things to do and so little time!

Amy and Greg

Danny and Courtney

Steven and Katheryn

Jacob and Mary

Julie and Adam

I sewed lables on the back of each of them.

Halloween Cuties

All of our grandkids except Sammy came over on Saturday night in their great costumes. Every year Mason and Gavin ring the doorbell and I come to the door and try to give them candy, but they don't have their bags. I ask them about that and they say "grandma" and then I know it's them. They get me every year! ( It doesn't help that they are always wearing masks!)
I sure love all my grandkids!
Mason and Gavin, the Grim Reaper and scarey creature with lighted eyes!

Logan the Jedi knight.

Cason the bear.

And sweet little Emma, our ballerina!

My Dad and Me, Part 2

I feel very lucky that I was the firstborn of my family. I got to have my mom and dad all to myself for the first 17 months of my life! Then sisters kept coming every 17 months for several years. These are all the photos that I have of my Dad and me when I was young.

These photos were all printed from slides which my sister Becky was so nice to have made onto discs for us.

Don't I have a good-looking Dad?!

What a nice Dad to play with me in my crib!

This was at the Great Salt Lake.

I know I look like a little ghost! And this is my sister Laurie, who was lucky enough to be born with some color in her skin!

"Helping" my Dad shine his shoes. That kitchen table, which we had for many years, brings back lots of memories.

I sure love my Dad. He was just the greatest!

My Dad and Me

I am so glad that I had this picture taken last year of my dad and me. It is a real treasure now. I miss him so much and still have a hard time believing that he is gone. The only other pictures I have of just Dad and me are when I was about two years old and younger. Why I didn't think to have more pictures taken of us together in all those years in between, I don't know. I just always thought that he would be here for a very long time like his long-lived ancestors before him. His grandmother, Elizabeth Jane Russell Day, lived to be 103 years old. I thought that my dad would live a very long time like her because he had always been in such good health. This is obviously a lesson that we need to more fully appreciate all the special people in our lives now, because we never know when they will be taken away from us.
My dad graduated with honors from this school of life on earth. He lived a wonderful life of service and was such a great husband and father to us 6 girls. After he passed away my mom was asked if Dad had ever expressed any words of regret that he never had a son. She said that he NEVER said a single word about that. He was happy with his 6 little girls. We are all very happy to know that.
In my prayers every day, I ask Heavenly Father to please tell Dad how much I love him and miss him.

Altered Books

I have been having so much fun these last few months getting back into doing altered books. This is such a fun thing to do. The possibilities are endless when it comes to materials and techniques to use. It's great fun to use items that have been gathering dust around here for ages. The pages in this first photo were my sister Carolyn's idea. She did this in her book too. It's so fun that she has gotten excited about doing this! It's great to work (I should say play) on these together! In this book that I'm working on I decided the theme is sayings or thoughts that I like and then illustrate them however I want. So much fun and so little time!

The Latest ATC's

These are the Artist Trading Cards that I have had people make in my classes for the last few months. I can't believe how fun these are to make and all the many ideas and techniques that can be used. It's very fun that I have several people come back each month for my classes.

My Dad

I lost my dear, wonderful dad on July 13th. I still can't believe this is all real. My 5 sisters and I could never have asked for a greater dad to grow up with. I love him and miss him so much. I know that it must have been the time for him to go since we are told that no righteous person will be taken before their time, and I know that I will see him again someday, but that doesn't make my heart stop hurting right now to think of having to live the rest of my life without him here with us. And my heart just breaks for my dear mother to have to live without him and be alone after 56 years of marriage. At the funeral, the former bishop out at the State Prison where my dad was a counselor, said how much he loved watching my dad going from cell to cell talking to the prisoners and bearing his testimony to them. He must have been needed in the Spirit Prison to teach them there now.
My sisters and I have so many wonderful memories of growing up with our great dad. I remember him trying to teach me how to whistle when I was only about 4 years old. I remember going on the roller coaster with him, which he loved, and he had to hold up his hands the whole ride. I loved that he took us out to the airport and let us go in the big planes that he flew for the Air National Guard and go in the Operations building. It was great to sit in the car with my mom and sisters and watch him take off in his plane. He loved to fly.
I loved dancing with him at the "Daddy-Daughter Dates" at Church. He was a great carpenter. He built our house and the chest of drawers we used for years. He made the great bedroom with all the built-ins for Laurie and I. He always grew the most perfect gardens and loved to work in the yard which he kept immaculate. He was a really big tease with all of us girls. When we would ask for our allowance he always told us "I'd rather owe it to you than cheat you out of it". Being the banker that he was, he always encouraged us to save our money and brought home little covered wagon banks for us. I remember him chasing my mom around the house- through the kitchen, the dining room, and the living room- with all of us girls screaming and laughing chasing after them.
I'm really going to miss him calling me "Mary Man", which he did every once in a while.
"Gee cly!"
"Judas Priest"
"Put the board in the hole"
"I'm going to see a man about a dog"
I have a wonderful dad. I miss him so much and always pray that he will know how much we love him and cherish the life we had with him. I look forward to being with him again someday and getting that great big hug he always gave us. I love you so much dad.


Obituary:

Royal Duane Ridd 1931 ~ 2010 Lt. Col. (ret.) Royal Duane Ridd passed away July 13, 2010 of complications following surgery. Duane was born on April 11, 1931 to Heber Eugene and Etta Ridd in Hunter, SL, Utah. In 1954 he married Janet Meriam Holding in the Salt Lake Temple. They are the parents of six daughters, have 15 grandchildren and seven great grandchildren. He graduated from Granite High School and the U of U. After going through Air Force Flight and Gunnery Training he received his pilot's wings and returned to fly in the Air National Guard for 24 years. He flew fighter jets, cargo planes, and air refuelers to over 60 countries and islands in the world. In 1992 he retired from Bank One after a lifetime of working in banking. He was an active member of the LDS Church. He served in three bishoprics and had many other church callings, most recently serving at the Utah State Prison as supervisor in the Family History Library. He was also a member of the Murray Kiwanis Club. He is survived by his wife and daughters Marianne Nattress (Robert), Laurie Shaw (Paul), Carolyn Smith (Ken), Linda Herzog (Ron), Rebecca Hammond (Wayne) and Sandra. Each of his daughters is so proud to call him Dad and they always knew that he loved them. Duane and Janet spent 56 years of marriage and loving each other. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, July 17, 2010 at the Holladay 1st Ward, 2065 East 4675 South. Viewings will be held on Friday, July 16, 2010 at the Holladay Cottonwood Mortuary, 4670 So. Highland Drive from 6-8 p.m., as well as one hour prior to services at the church. Interment: Holladay Memorial Park.

Baby Emma

FINALLY! Our first granddaughter was born on July 4th. She announced her independence by being born at 6:07 that morning. Her name is Emma Denai and she is a beautiful little girl! She weighed 7 lb. 11 oz. and was 20 inches long. She is the daughter of Steven and Katheryn. We are all very happy to have her in our family!

The Baseball Box Prophesy

I just finished a great book called The Baseball Box Prophesy and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a long one- 550 pages, but it was great. It's about a boy who discovers he has special powers. The story was really interesting and the book was hard to put down. Apparently the writer, Bruce Newbold, wrote a screenplay of this story first and it's under consideration in Hollywood. It would make a terrific movie! Bruce has been on a lot of TV shows as well as acted in some LDS movies.

My Mom

My mom has been my hero my entire life! When I was very little, I wanted to be with her all the time. When we went somewhere, I always wanted to hold her hand. I was so terribly shy and I felt very safe and secure being with my mom.
I remember how hard it was to even go to school. I just wanted to be home with my mom. I know that my sister Carolyn felt the same way- having major butterflies in our stomachs at the beginning of every school year.
I was always so amazed at how my mom was so confident and able to talk to people in all kinds of situations, such as with strangers in stores, doctors' offices, or anywhere we went. As I got older, I wanted to be more confident like my mom. In high school I tried really hard to be more outgoing and I decided to act confident, even though I wasn't, by smiling at people. I remember walking down the halls between classes with a smile on my face most of the time. It's funny that now, many years later, I read the writing of people in my yearbook and many mentioned how they liked seeing my smiling face at school!
I also discovered that acting confident actually makes a person feel more self-assured. I've definitely come a long way from that very shy, insecure young girl that I was. If someone had told me back then that I would someday be a Relief Society president, Primary president, Young Women's president, teach classes, and have my own business, I don't think I would have believed them!
My mom has had such a great influence on me in so many ways besides helping me feel more confident. She taught me how to cook, knit, sew, crochet, clean, organize, keep files, teach lessons, give talks, take care of children, do all kinds of crafts, and the list could go on and on. I feel like she taught me every important thing I know! I remember being very young one summer when mom had to spend a lot of time in bed for health reasons. I would walk back and forth from her bedroom to the kitchen getting instructions on how to cook things for the family like macaroni and cheese. That's how I learned to cook.
Mom even got me started on using rubber stamps, which I love. In the late 1980's mom showed me some rubber stamps she had bought. I told her they were cute and asked what you do with them. Well, I figured out quickly, loved using them, and started collecting them. Soon after that I learned how they were made and started my own business making and selling rubber stamps under the name Rubber Stamp Emporium. It was a great home business money-maker all through the 1990's and I have my mom to thank for that.
One of the major things I've learned from my mom is to have a thirst for knowledge. As long as I can remember, my mom has been taking classes to learn all kinds of things and has also been a constant reader learning everything from crafts and painting to writing, history, and archeology. She even ended up helping dig for dinosaur bones here in the Salt Lake valley and up in Idaho. We always said she should go on a television game show because she has so much knowledge about so many different subjects! I have loved reading ever since I learned how to read! I definitely got that from my mom!
And most importantly, my mom also helped me have a testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I remember many, many times seeing her sitting at the kitchen table with books and papers in front of her, preparing for her Relief Society lessons which she taught for many years. Quite often, I sat at the table with her and she would read me little stories and information from her lessons. She would get very emotional and I could feel the Spirit with her, which also became very strong and a great help in my own life.
Yes, my mom, Janet Meriam Holding Ridd, has been my hero my whole life and continues to be a huge inspiration to me. I love her so very much and feel very blessed to have been born to such a wonderful mother.

Latest Projects

This is the Valentine card I made for our last Stamp Club exchange last month. I used a new Cuttlebug embossing folder for the background and inked it with white. The hearts are punches and the scroll shapes are a Spellbinders die. (All those Spellbinders dies are just amazingly incredible!)

These ATC's (Artist Trading Cards) are the ones we did for the class I taught last Saturday morning. We used some techniques from Julia Andrus' great book Paper Transformed, including her mottled paper, faux patent leather, and faux sea glass effects. There are so many great ideas in this book that it will keep us going for a very long time!

Taberncle Choir Broadcast

On Sunday morning, Robert and I went downtown to the Tabernacle Choir Broadcast of Music and the Spoken Word on Temple Square. It was our Stake Conference that day, and we had gone to the adult meeting the night before, so we decided it would be a good day to go to the broadcast since he didn't have bishopric meetings in the morning as he usually does.

I had wanted to go do this for years because I love the Tabernacle Choir. When I was growing up, my mom played their music probably every Sunday morning. I love their harmony and all the wonderful music they sing. It was a thrill for me to sit there in the Tabernacle and listen to them. It had been many years since I had been in that beautiful building.

I have the greatest husband! He really doesn't like the Choir very much, but he took me anyway! That's just the kind of guy that he is and I really appreciated it and all he does for me! It was a great Valentine's Day gift for me!

Knitting Away

My friend, Laurie, gave me several old pictures that she knows I love, including this knitting mother and daughter. It's from an old Ladies Home Journal Magazine. This picture really reminds me of my mother teaching me how to knit many years ago. It's not a real easy thing to learn, but I finally got the hang of it! I have always enjoyed knitting and crocheting.

Lately, I have been doing a lot of knitting off and on while I am tending these two cute little grandbabies of mine. I can pretty much do it without looking, so I can watch them and the TV too! I have been making these wonderful dish cloths that I love to use. I made a bunch for my kids for Christmas and now I'm making a bunch more for my visiting teaching ladies. I'm so glad my mom taught me how to knit all those years ago!

And the Winner is...

The winner of my set of 12 handmade gift cards is
Miss Mary of Lillian's Stitches!
She was number 42 and was selected by Random.org as the big winner. She needs to send her address to my email so I can get them off to her.
What a fun several weeks this has been with people from all over the world visiting my blog and me visiting their blogs. There were people from England, Germany, Australia, Canada, Scotland, Israel, Netherlands, Phillipines, Mexico, Ireland, Sweden, Finland, and all over the United States. I couldn't even begin to have the time to visit all 1105 blogs that were participating, but I got to see many of them.
I will look forward to doing this again next year!

One World One Heart 2010

Again, this year I am participating in the One World One Heart event. Bloggers from around the world can go to each other's blogs and enter to win gifts. This year I am giving away a set of 12 handmade gift cards. To enter, just make a comment on my blog and on February 15th the winner will be randomly chosen. I will let that person know and ask for their mailing address to send it off to them!
If you would like to participate or go to see the other blogs that are participating just click on the One World One Heart logo on my sidebar!
What a fun way to "meet" lots of new people and enjoy their creations! I had so much fun doing this last year, that I just have to do it again!
Everyone have a wonderful day and Happy Blog Hopping!