Only in Colorado

Happy Friday to you.  Yesterday was a very hot day until the afternoon, when it dropped over 25 degrees in an hour and we got high winds, rain and thunder.  I went from wearing shorts and a tank top, to putting on jeans and a 3/4" sleeve top.   The morning was spent at the pool with the girls and their kiddos and then the afternoon was spent getting groceries for tonights sleepover with our two oldest grandsons and our youngest; it will be his first time spending the night with us without his family.  Should be fun and interesting.  Last evening we had a softball game to go to with both son-in-laws playing and the two oldest grandsons.  It was so fun.
Today I'm walking, have a eye appointment and taking two friends to a fun store in town, before getting ready for the sleepover.  I'll be tired tomorrow I'm sure.
I hope you have a great weekend.
Hugs,
Noreen

Why We Love Chewy

As you know it's Thursday and today I'm very thankful for an online company called Chewy.  As a #Chewy Influencer, each month we get to participate in a wonderful blogging program, designed to let you try new products for you pet.  However, we were totally shocked on Monday when a box was delivered to our home and we knew it wasn't our monthly product.  Little did we know that Miss Natalie and the wonderful staff at Chewy had shipped us some goodies for the 4th of July.
We were thrilled to find two bandanas, sunglasses, a Chewy tennis ball, necklaces, a beach ball, a flat and a patriotic Pinwheel, plus lots of red,white & blue streamers.  What can I tell you about this company other than they are simply the best in customer service, product choices and pricing as well as caring representatives like Miss Natalie.  WE rank them a 10 Star rating.
If you haven't checked them out,  you can find them here; you won't be sorry!
https://www.chewy.com

I hope you have a great afternoon.
Noreen and a very happy Hunter

An Junior Chef

Hello Friends, I hope you all had a fantastic weekend and 4th of July. It seems that many businesses were closed and several family members had a four day weekend; but they were all working on major house projects. On Friday evening our granddaughter Miss D(age 8) invited us for dinner. She had set a goal of making dinner for her family this summer and included us(there were 9 of us). We were so honored to be a part of this. Miss D spent most of the day preparing her entree and baking. The menu was Alice Springs Chicken(an Outback Steakhouse dish), Green Beans, Fruit Salad and Sugar Cookies for dessert. Here she is checking her green beans to see if they are done.  Lest you think her mom did the actual cooking and she just helped, it was the opposite.

Sorry this is sideways, but what an incredible meal.  Hubby and I had never had chicken with bacon and cheese before; now that we know how tasty it is, we'll be calling for dinner reservations.

These cookies were made from scratch and were gluten free, plus delicious.

We so enjoyed our dinner; this granddaughter is one of the 7 who come for sleepovers. All 7 girls help with cooking both dinner and breakfast.  Miss D is a delight and we are so proud of her; o.k we are proud of all of them, but especially her thoughtfulness in having us over!
Hubby and I spent two days painting our basement family room this weekend.  It feels so good to have it done, but we still have two bedrooms and a hall downstairs to paint; that will come later in the summer.
Today I am going to be doing some things around the house and tonight have my ladies study.
May your cup overflow with blessings.
Noreen

Thursday Night Concerts

Can you believe it's Friday all ready? During the summer, from the first part of June until the first Thursday of August our town puts on a series of Thursday night concerts. The very first week is a town bbq for all the residents, free of charge followed by a concert. For almost eight weeks we have concerts at the lake, each Thursday and have a special one on the 4th of July. This has become a highlight of our summer, when the weather is good~we take dinner to the lake and sit with friends, visiting and listening to music. This year the bands have been excellent! Here is the band-they were so good and the lead singer reminded us of our friend in Carmel Valley.

Our small town is growing in leaps and bounds and the concerts highlight this.

Today, I'm taking a friend to lunch for her birthday.  Tonight a granddaughter, age 8, is cooking dinner for her family, hubby and I.  Can't wait.
Hope you have a fantastic weekend.
Hugs,
Noreen

Summer Tea Parties

Hello friends! As many of you know, every three months my daughters and their daughters host a tea party for all the girls. It has been a wonderful way to teach the girls how to entertain and how to be hospitable and godly. Each tea party is actually a luncheon and when you have 11 of us, it is learning to be relaxed, well organized and gracious; generally with a different theme. So this month, Kim and her girls planned a luncheon around a Fairy Garden theme. When Fairy Garden parties first started, about 8 years ago, we ran everywhere looking for decorations. Now they are easily found on Amazon; it is so easy that way and cheaper too.

If you look closely at the far left hand corner you can see a off white silk flower with a doll attached~the sister of my heart gave us all pins like this one Christmas.  Kim utilizes hers on a regular basis.

Carrie and her oldest; the years are flying by!

All the little goodies Kim got for each girls Fairy Garden.

Each of the girls made individual ones that can be taken home and put in the wooden box that Kim made for them.

We had a wonderful lunch and incredible desserts made by Carries girls.  After making their Fairy Gardens, the girls had time to play.  Such fun, such great memories being made as well as great training in hospitality.  Can't wait to watch the girls grow up and be so relaxed having others in their homes.
I hope you have a great day.  I've got some hand work to do and tonight have a new ladies Bible Study starting with the gals from our church-just can't wait.
Blessings on your afternoon.
Noreen

Getting Ready for the 4th

Good Morning to you! I hope your Monday went smoothly. I mentioned that I had made some 4th of July placemats and wanted to share the first one that is finished. All are made and just waiting for the binding to be tacked down. I had fun with this project and machine quilted it, adding some more dimensional quilting than I've ever done. On the red and white stripes, I have so wavy designs. For those who machine quilt, remember I am just starting out with this-I prefer to hand quilt, unless it is a project like this. This was a quick project, only took about 4 hours-which for some of you sounds like I'm very slow, I am.

Last night I started tacking the binding down, but also in the middle of hand quilting a granddaughter's quilt, so stopped after finishing one. We have friends coming for dinner on Saturday night and I want to be able to put them out. I really love the look and also how quick and easy they were.  Once they are all on the table, I will share the look with you. However, I made a runner last year for our island and after doing this project, I may need to redo the runner.
I'm off to the pool with the kiddos today, it will be so hot here.  NOT complaining though.
Hope you have a fantastic day!
Hugs,
Noreen

Celebrate Good Times

Good Afternoon! I hope you all had a great weekend! We sure did and it was centered around my sweet hubby; it was a combination of Father's Day and his upcoming Birthday. We gathered for dinner with the entire clan and the food was incredible.  It consisted of Flank Steaks, Ribeye Steaks, roasted Potatoes, stuffed Mushrooms, Balsamic onions and mushrooms, Wedge Salad plus Carrot Cake for dessert.

Hubby didn't know ahead of time, but the families were taking him/us to the movies to see Cars3.  Do you see all that candy-it was split between 17 of us.

Hubby has also been wanting a Keurig, since he is the only one who drinks coffee-so he got one.

The Carrot Cake was delicious.

We loved the movie-it was so cute.  I will say that we were tired when we got home; I also heard all the kiddos were too.  Yesterday was pretty kick back for us; I will say that I spent the weekend making the 4th of July placemats.  I'll put the binding on today and then share them with you.
It's warm again, so being downstairs won't be bad at all.  I've got another busy week, but at least it is better than just sitting around watching t.v. all day.
Hope you have a easy day!
Joy,
Noreen