Changing the Wedding Dress

My friend Mary asked me to help her by making her daughter's wedding dress have sleeves.  I haven't ever worked on a wedding dress like this, but I told her I was willing to try.  Last fall, my friend Julie helped me figure out how to change the pattern for Hannah's homecoming dress to go from strapless to one with sleeves.  I borrowed her pattern, combined it with the pattern I had, & sewed it into a very beautiful dress.  My friend Becky helped me with the draping.  (I am very grateful for my friends!)

 

Making that dress for Hannah gave me the confidence to work on Mary's daughter's dress.  This is what the dress looked like when they bought it.

 This is what it looks like now.  I made the top of the bodice from a dress pattern.  I made the satin bias tape (trim) to finish the edges of the sleeves and to go along the neckline.  I added the beads & sequins on the trim.  I resewed all of the sequins and beads on the appliques that are over the shoulders.  I am very pleased with how it turned out!  It is nice to have it finished!  I felt like an artist when I was sewing the beads on.  The bride told me she really likes it and that it doesn't look like someone was trying to fix the dress--that it looks like it was purchased this way.  What a compliment!

Snow and Ice 3

These pictures were taken Friday, January 20.

Snow and Ice 2

These pictures were taken on Wednesday, January 18.

Snow and Ice

These pictures were taken about 9:00PM on Thursday, January 19. We had a little snow on Sunday, Jan. 15 followed by a lot of snow Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of that week. Thursday was supposed to be a better day, warming up and raining, but we ended up having a terrible ice storm. We had many branches break both on the driveway (pictures above) and in the yard (pictures below). One branch that fell by the chicken house was about 12" in diameter. The last picture shows snow then ice then snow on the trellis. Mike was in Georgia Monday to Wednesday. We were grateful the airport was open so he could get home. He was able to go to work here Thursday. We lost power on Thursday from 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM. (Many people had their power out for several days.) We were able to keep warm with our wood stove. Hannah even cooked top ramen for lunch on top of the wood stove :)

Hannah turns 16

On May 11, 2010 Hannah turned 16. She always likes to go out to Azteca for dinner. (Maybe it is because they let her wear this sombrero :))
She had a birthday party on May 14. The kids roasted marshmallows (huge ones) at our fire pit. One friend covered Hannah in silly string.

The next weekend, Hannah's friend Clayton flew here from Boise to take Hannah on her first date. Here they are at the gum wall at Pike Place Market.

Visiting Mr. McRoberts

When Rachel and family were living with us November 2008 to February 2009, Rachel requested several people to be friends with me on facebook. I didn't even have a facebook account. Since I didn't want to be unfriendly, I signed up and became friends with my children, my nieces and nephews, ward members, etc. A few months later, I was happily surprised when my high school choir teacher friend requested me. I had not seen him in over 30 years! He now lives in Washington, so we arranged for a time to get together. On May 4, 2010, I drove to Port Angeles to visit Gary McRoberts and his wonderful wife Valerie. I spent about 4 hours there. I really enjoyed the day!!! Mr. McRoberts was the only teacher I had for all 4 years of high school. I learned so much from him about music and about how to survive and enjoy high school. We sang some challenging and incredible music. Our Chamber Chorale won several competitions. I have a lot of fond memories of being in PVHS choirs!Sue and Gary looking at Palos Verdes High School yearbooks 1975-78

Valerie & Gary Harmony & Missy

Flowers/Our Garden

I love that we have flowers in our yard. It has been very sunny recently, so I went outside and took some pictures.

Last year, after my mother passed away, my friends from book club gave me this beautiful bench and book to put in our garden. Thank you to my wonderful friends!