Patsy Jane...

I got an unexpected package in the mail this week.

It was from my sister in law, Patsy!

(Hence the cute box for shipping... smile)

What in the world, we don't have any birthday's in February, too big for their annual Valentines Day card... she works at William Sonoma now, so I was secretly hoping it was some fun new kitchen gadget... but really, she just can't go buying everything in the store for everyone she knows (although knowing her, I bet she wants to).

 So as I opened it, one layer at a time.... a very sweet handmade card, to me... alligator tears as I took in each word!

The next layer, I could see something through the tissue... something I recognized from one of her blog posts over the weekend.  Could it really be??? More tears, really big tears began to fill up my eyes!!

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It was!!!

The quilt she had posted about finally finishing!  She wrote it was a secret but it was going in the mail!

I was envious of who ever was going to get it, I LOVED IT!!

I raved to my husband about it when he got home from work that day.  She takes pictures of all of her beautiful creations, but this one resonated with me!!

 When I took it out of the box, I was even more in love with it!

Every patch of fabric was so "me"!!

She totally nailed all the perfect colors and patterns and fabric, it just screamed to me, I love every inch of it.

 See it even has fabric with words on it... good words, you know how I love words.

 Authentic, Pure, Simple, Timeless, Original, Fresh, Real, Renew, Natural, True...

And one of the fabric swatches has the words and definitions from the dictionary... it is darling!

It is also soooo soft and cuddly and it smells so wonderful.

It is the perfect gift at such a perfect time.  I am feeling allot of anxiety as we approach the date the teenager can begin his mission application papers.  I know it is a very good thing, but none the less, I have bouts of extreme sadness and anxiety for the process and how I will cope with all the change ahead.

This quilt will bring so much comfort, so much warmth, I am sure will be catching many tears to come.

 Patsy is an amazing Sister and I love her dearly, and how special this quilt is, made especially for me.

I love it Patsy, thank you so much for all of the Love that you put into it.  It makes me smile, and it makes me feel so special and so loved!  It is the most thoughtful gift that just keeps on giving day after day after day!! I love you and you mean so much to me!

Bird Hunting Practice...

I finally got to go on my hike (slash) bird hunting practice for Taylor.

She knew what was going on and was "in the zone" from the minute we got in the truck.... she would much rather be next to "Dad".

 He is her "go to" on these trips; and I am her "go to" at home... at night she splits us down the middle of the bed and leans on me, but puts her head on Dad. 

What a funny girl.

 You can totally tell when she is just sniffing around and goofing off having fun...

(insert song stuck in head here)
 ♫"aint no mountain high enough" ♫

 Vs. when she is on a bird.... you can't really see it well here, but in her sloppy form, her left leg is lifted and she stayed at what we consider her "point" on this bird until Jim gave her a cue to flush it out.

She has only been out hunting twice, so Jim is so excited that she has such good instincts in her breeding to hunt!!

She is a natural :)

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What a nice afternoon, it was cold, but the sun was shining bright.... I really needed the sun lift.

Oh, and the teenager survived Klondike and made it home in one piece.  Again, a really fun camp out for him.

A good time was had by all!