a wedding in Cornville

I love everything about weddings. 

And nowadays, they are so unique to the couple. So one of a kind, anything goes affairs.

Unlike years ago, when everyone had that predictable, cookie-cutter wedding.

Saturday we drove 2 hours to Cornville, AZ

to attend Shane & Coley's wedding at the Living Water Retreat Center.

Oh my gosh, one of the most breathtaking wedding venues ever!

Everywhere you looked there were oodles of photo ops.

And Emolyn wore the most darling vintage dress I've ever seen.

Oh, and I found my lace blouse that very morning at a yard sale for one dollar!

Elsie Lane in a turquoise smocked dress ~ well, it just about pushed me to my cuteness limit.

Emolyn Kate needed a little lipstick touchup just moments before the ceremony started.

Hey, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do... to be at her utmost cuteness.

Here's the coolest part of this wedding ~ the reception.

We all brought our own picnic dinners and gathered around tables and blankets.

And many signed up to bring delicious desserts to share.

Good thing I took this picture, because my lemon bars were snatched up quickly.

John & Beckie (Emolyn & Elsie's other set of grandparents) 

set up their darling vintage travel trailer and served street tacos for everyone.

 

Have I ever told how much I want to hang vintage colored globe lights 

from the trees in our backyard patio? 

Well, I do... and this one almost sent me over the edge with envy! 

You can be sure I'll be pinning this on my Pinterest board immediately upon posting. 

When we finally got ready to leave, the dance floor was a rockin'.

As I was refilling my glass with lemonade for the trip home,

I asked the bride if she was planning a trash the dress photo shoot.

She whispered that her & Shane were planning on jumping in the pond later that night

for that very reason! I can hardly wait to see those photos!

I will leave you with these trash the dress google images that will blow you away!

AZ Bloggers Luncheon

Liz, me, Laura's daughter, Laura, Cindy, Marty and Ceekay

Whenever my 4-H friend Cindy comes to town, we have a bloggers luncheon in her honor. So much fun gathering with these gals. We take forever to order because we're talking non-stop. Thankfully we had the sweetest waiter who took several group shots using each of our cameras. Hey, you know bloggers, we never go anywhere without our cameras.

Cindy & I both have granddaughters born 10 months ago... one day apart.

We celebrated Marty's birthday by sharing a slice of yummy cheesecake. 

And The Cheesecake Factory serves up the best!

Thank you Laura, for the exquisite french lavender-filled strawberry sachet pincushion 

you made for each of us! Oh my gosh, smells divine!

I couldn't wait to position it just so... in my bowl of vintage sewing trim.

Be sure to click each blogger's name so you can view their lovely blogs!

Miranda's in Australia!

My daughter Miranda arrived in Australia!

I woke up at 5am this morning and she had posted this picture along with ~

I've seen a crocodile in the wild, scrub turkeys, I've stood on the beach, 

seen glimpses of the rainforest... I must be in Australia!

And this here mama took a deep breath and gave thanks to the Lord!

I am so excited for her! She is spending 2 weeks with her friend Phoebe,

that she became best friends with while studying in England for 6 months in 2009.

They have not been together since their last adventure in Greece. (below)

I love this post ~
when they got all weepy while being serenaded to "Let It Be" ~

knowing they would be saying good-bye in a few days.

Notice that Miranda brought along this hat (top pic)

After Miranda says goodbye to Phoebe this time,

she will be spending 4 days in Sidney.

Please pray for her safety and that she experiences blessings around every single corner!

camping gadgets

Check out the latest S'More maker!

My daughter-in-law Nicole bought us this cool gadget for the camping trip.

And it was a smash hit :)

Think about ~ the grahams, marshmallows and candy bars are all roasted over a fire.

And I'm telling you, so much better than just a roasted marshmallow
between a boring graham cracker & chocolate bar.

We made our S'Mores with peanut butter cups,

but you can also use chocolate bars or cookies 'n creme bars.

Ok, I gotta come clean here, camping is not for the faint of heart. You gotta be ok with communing with nature when nature calls. You gotta be ok with no running water... and waking up to bad hair. Thus the cap. I have noticed over the years that campers wear caps. Well duh, it's to hide bad hair. It covers a multitude of faux pas. So I dug around my closet and found this cap. And I wore it the 2nd day... on bad hair day. I am not a hat person, nor a cap person. Heck, headbands hurt my head. So it took some getting use to. But I think I'm sold.

Ok, onto the 2nd gadget Nicole gifted us with... the cast iron old-fashioned waffle maker. Oh my gosh, love, LOVE! Thank God we took the time to season it before we left ~ we coated the entire cast iron in solid shortening and baked for one hour in a 350 oven. It took us a couple tries over the Coleman stove before we got the process down pat... 2 minutes and then flip the iron over for another 2 minutes. Perfecto.

Ok, so here's the story... while packing for the camping trip ~ which btw, we have down to a science ~ I asked Randy... ok, I badgered Randy about always bringing his tools and jumper cables. Always. He's been packing them every single time we travel anywhere for 32 years. But this time I had the audacity to point out that we've never needed to use said jumper cables. Like ever. So why bring em.

Well, fast forward Sunday afternoon. We break camp ~ which we also have down to a science ~ and we're ready to hitch up the cozy cottage to the van and head down the mountain. But... we have a problem. The battery is dead. We neglected to keep the tailgate closed most of the time and drained the battery.
Did my husband point out how I had railed on him for always packing jumper cables everywhere we go? No. He's a humble man and thanks the Lord he brought jumper cables. (in spite of my nagging) I, on the other hand proceed to gush about how he's the best husband ever for always bringing jumper cables! And thankfully we use a 12 volt battery on our cozy cottage, which get us jumped and on our way. Whew!

And for those of you that didn't get enough of our camping trip ~ more pics found HERE on facebook.

Thompson Camping Trip

We may have just established the 1st Annual Thompson Family Camping Trip. Although it came with it's share of glitches, I'd say it was overall a pretty good trip. For one thing, we were missing our youngest son Tyler. He couldn't get off work. We missed him terribly.
Once everyone had arrived on site, we initiated the event by reprising an old family camp favorite ~ Tacos in a Frito bag ~ taco meat, cheese, tomatoes, avocados, sour cream & Nicole's homemade salsa. YUM!

At the time I captured this sweet moment, emolyn was running a temperature of 103.5. Poor little thing, she was so sick... or as she calls it "grumpy". She kept apologizing for being grumpy. Let me tell you what, she is the best sick kid ever. She never complains or whines or cries.

Can I tell you something else? elsie is about the happiest little munchkin there ever was! 

 

She cracks me up! She's either SO BIG! 

or flashing her signature Popeye the sailor man grin.

 

Miranda took emolyn on a scavenger hunt once the Motrin kicked in 

and emolyn perked right up.

emolyn loves the woods and is excited to go camping again when she's not so grumpy.

They found so many lovely treasures in the woods.

Pop pop & Mimi brought bubbles to entertain the girls... and yes, we mean Koda too.

While Shawn's family went to check in to their cozy cabin at Christopher Creek and to rest for a couple hours before dinner... I took a little nap in our cozy cottage... while Miranda finished rereading the 7th Harry Potter book.

Then while Randy started the bonfire for roasting hotdogs and S'mores,

I got the potatoes, sausage, peppers, onions and mushrooms cooking, 

along with ranch beans.

6 words ~ peaceful, quiet, chilly, family, warmth and love ~

How sweet is this mommy & emolyn moment.

Nothing more cozy than my husband & soft vintage sheets.

emolyn had quite a rough night at their cabin, so they decided to drop Miranda off at our camp site before heading home Sunday morning. We were sad to see them go, but thankful emolyn would be in her own bed. She's doing much better today after seeing the Dr.

I can't wait to post about the two camping gadgets that my daughter-in-law Nicole gave us for this camping trip. Just the coolest gadgets ever! Oh, and I gotta tell you what happened when we were ready to leave. Here's a hint... my husband is always prepared for anything that could possibly go wrong. Always.

4-H memories

Growing up in rural Wisconsin, summers were all about getting ready for the Jackson County Fair in Black River Falls, WI. So when I found out the County Fair back home was starting today, I got all nostalgic. And with 4-H celebrating 75th years at the County Fair this year, my Mom called and told me I was in one of the archival 4-H pictures (left) in the local newspaper this week.

I was chosen in 1972 for State 4-H Congress and to represent Jackson County in a 4-H trip to Washington DC. That's me ~ top row ~ far right ~ mouth awkwardly open.

The DC trip was in 1973, I was 16 years old and I had the time of my life with my friend Patty Lien (to my right). I sent her an email today, hoping to reconnect after 35 years. So excited to hear back from her and catch up!

I remember we left WI in one of those fancy charter buses and I slept on the floor under the seats.
I remember it was a big deal when we drove by the Watergate Hotel.

I remember getting off the ferryboat at Mount Vernon and being handed this amazing box lunch that we enjoyed on the lawn.
I remember the hoards of people trying to catch a glimpse of Ling-Ling & Hsing-Hsing at the National Zoo.

I remember when I got home, a tornado had uprooted the biggest oak tree on the farm, barely missing the house.

Patty & I are in the 2nd row from the bottom

Our 4-H club was called the Northfield Go-Getters. (circa 1970)

My sisters Ginny & Kathy and my brother Gary

showing off their many Fair exhibits...

... before loading them in the trunk.

Checking out the cattle at the 4-H Tour before Fair time.

This is the 4-H Food Stand at our County Fair.

We'd all have to take shifts working it throughout the 4-day Fair.
But let's be honest, it was all about getting our hot carmel popcorn fix each year.
The carmel popcorn lady always set up her trailer and served the most amazing hot carmel
 drizzled over freshly popped popcorn. You literally had to eat it with a spoon.
And when you got down to the bottom of the bag,
you were treated with spoonfuls of access carmel. Yes. Divine decadence.
I really didn't care how my exhibits fared ~ it was all about the hot carmel popcorn!

My sister Ginny after the garment judging ~ a blue ribbon winner!

That's me ~ not so much a blue ribbon winner.

We had to make a knitting bucket made from a cardboard oatmeal box,

then wrap it in contact paper with a yarn puff on top.

As a kid, I was pretty dang proud of myself.

I made many shift dresses and dirndl skirts in my early years of sewing.

Little did I know that pulling threads to gather is probably not a good choice for beginners.

When I was 14 (1971) I was one of two girls chosen to be a delegate at the Wisconsin State Fair Dress Revue.

I remember modeling that dress a lot that week... and never wanting to wear that dress ever again.

And yes, I still have that dress. You can read the story HERE.

I remember seeing The Carpenters and actually touching their limo as they were being whisked away after the concert.

And you may remember this story, about reuniting with Cindy (to my left) after 35 years. Her son and DIL who live in PHX, had a baby girl yesterday and Cindy will be coming for another visit. Can't wait to see her again!

* Be sure to clic each pic to enlarge for better viewing.

Columbines & pantry rooms

We took our cozy cottage up north three times last July. And these were some of the images I captured while camping in the Christopher Creek, AZ area.  These flowers grow wild everywhere and they are breathtaking. (these came straight from my camera, no photoshop)  Columbines comes in a variety of colors ~ red, yellow, white, pink, blue and purple. The blue Columbines (below) happen to be Colorado's State flower.

So, I'm sitting here on a Sunday night, waiting for yet another dust storm. We have had our fill of dusty, dirty, dust storms this summer... which makes for quite the clean up. Thank God we don't have a pool.

Don't know if I told you, but we worked all last weekend reorganizing the garage. We not only have our van parked in the garage... but we filled it with stuff we no longer wanted and hauled it away. Feels so good... especially with this dust storm rolling in... knowing our van is tucked in for the night.

Did you see the season premier of Project Runway Thursday night? Oh my gosh, I sew want to repurpose something. Hey, if they can repurpose a sheet and whatever they wore to bed... umm, seriously. But I love the show, even all the crazy challenges. And the colorful cast of characters have grabbed my attention already.

Anyway, before Randy begins constructing my closet pantry in the weeks ahead... I must begin reorganizing my laundry room tomorrow. Trust me, it's not going to be pretty. What a mess. Have I told you that I love laundry? I mean everything about laundry... the sorting, the washing, the hanging, the ironing, the folding. And I have a great laundry room... the first room I saw when we toured the house back in 1994. I literally said to my husband ~ I don't need to see another room. I want this house.

I tried to post a pic of what my pantry will look like... but strangely enough, if you clic the above paragraph you will see that pic. Don't know how that happened. Anyway, I actually found a similar "pantry" door on Craig's List. Can't wait to see it in my kitchen.

Speaking of pantries... check out my sister-in-law Carol's custom-built pantry room. 

The coolest pantry room ever! 

See what I mean! A colorful, functional, octagonal pantry room addition. 

And what you can't see is an upright freezer and a 2nd refrigerator! 

Just the coolest ever!