Who Said Snow?

Someone said "Let it Snow!" and the heavens dumped tons of the white stuff all over the place. Virginia Beach is covered and more big flakes are making their way to earth with no sign of letting up. It is 30 degrees here, just cold enough to make it happen. Our screens have captured the flakes and blocked our view of the outside world. We are in an igloo! Mike and I are snug at home with no plans to venture out. *Photo #2 borrowed from Wavy 10 news page, wavy.com. Like I said, we are staying in!

Mike bought a pretty little Norfolk Pine, all decorated, for our living room. He must be feeling more festive than I have been. He bought me presents too. A very pretty little sight visited me as I wandered into the living room Christmas morning. Snuggly new slippers. a new camera, and an i-pad! I am totally thrilled! Have been playing with the i-pad non-stop! I even downloaded a book to read on it. Awesome! So less cumbersome than holding up a heavy book in bed.

Well, I am off to collect my Diet Coke and head to the sewing room to work on a quilt. We were delighted to hear from each of our kids yesterday and happy to know that you are all enjoying your families and each other, except for Jennie, who is happy amidst her cat and dogs, but I wish she was here with us.

Love, love, love to you all!
MOM

PS: Dad did the Christmas puzzle all by himself and complained the whole time. He wants to do it with YOU!

Off to Houston!

Hi everyone! You probably all know that I am on my way to Houston for International Quilt Market. This is a big deal for me, as I am having a booth with my quilts and patterns for the first time. You know it is difficult to jar me out of my house, let alone set up a booth at a trade show to sell my wares. But things began setting the wheels in motion, and I have been preparing like crazy and off I go to Houston tomorrow! My good friend Joan is going with me, and three ladies from the shop-Holly, Sue and Sandra, have offered to help. If nothing else, we will have a blast! Wish me luck!
Love, from MOM!

Dim sum and Some Dim

 Today Mike and I went for Chinese dim sum. Dim sum is often referred to in Chinese novels that I read and I always wondered what it was.Turns out that it is small portions of food, like dumplings, shrimp puffs, etc. They bring it to your table on carts and you can select which delicacies you wish to try. I imagine that the Chinese select a few items and have a small meal of it. We, however, kept saying "Yes" to everything they showed us! We had shrimp dumplings and shrimp puffs and shrimp stuffed eggplant and tiny spare ribs and sesame balls and spring rolls, some more wonderful than others. Our favorite was the siew mai, pronounced shu mae. It had chicken and shrimp in it and was yummy. Least favorite: the sesame balls. They were pretty, but gummy inside. Didn't care for that.

 

I didn't have my camera for food photos as Lisa and Becky would have done, but got this from Google. Ours was served just like this, it little metal steamer containers. The Chinese people serving us were very nice and helpful, except for the guy who told us they charged extra for silverware. Very funny! 

Guess what else we had Lisa? Kanji! They offered us rice porridge and then called it kanji and I said "Yes! We have to try kanji"! I remember Lisa always wanted kanji when she didn't feel good and I felt so bad that I couldn't make it for her--since I had no idea what it was. Mike has decided that it is definitely a comfort food and that he would like it when he is sick also. Think chicken rice soup with more rice and very mashed up. They also had a big pot of dessert that Mike asked about. Turns out it was tofu with syrup. We passed.

We also stopped at the Apple store to look at the I-pads. They look pretty cool. Especially if you have a clue how they operate. The little kid next to us had his fingers dancing all over the screen. We just stared at the screen and said, "Now what?" The store was mobbed, as it always is whenever we go there. It literally buzzes with electronic activity. My mental acuity is depleted the moment I enter that store. I feel like I was raised in the Stone Age. This is where the "Some Dim" is realized.

More later...

The Payne Family Reunion August 2010

It all started with this family, William and Carrie Payne, of Mt. View, Alberta

and their children.

Olof, Oliver, Billy, William (Father), Randell, Mary, Carrie (Mother), John, Hilda, Harold, & Delvin

These are just a few of their descendants: Ruthie, Kathy, Marcie, Nolan, Marie, Janie and Linda.

Kathy, me and Linda are from the oldest daughter, Mary Payne Chambers; and Ruthie, Nolan, Marie and Janie are from Hilda Payne Romeril, the youngest daughter!

Aunt Kathy

Cousin Nolan Romeril, auctioneer

Showing the ancestor quilt at the auction

Kathy Chambers Blackhurst, Marcie Winspear Patch, Nolan Romeril, Becky Froelich Pitcher

Marcie Patch and Janie Romeril

Grandpa Jim Winspear and Hoyt Blackhurst

Cousins

Me-Dad-Linda with Ethan and Gina in front

Renn Patch and Mark Brower

David Slaughter and Lorna Brower

Aunt Jennie with Isaac and brother Renn

Jennie with Isaac and Linda

Keira took most of these photos for me, so she is not in any of them! Thanks Keira, they are great!

This was such a fun event, and I loved seeing relatives that I haven't seen in years, and meeting some for the first time! One sweet lady told me that one time when my mom visited Mt. View she sat on the porch with her and  a bushel of peas that needed to be shucked and the two of them went to work until they were done. That was a sweet memory that she had of my mother when she was 18 years old.

Nolan told me that he remembered when I visited at about 14 or 15 years old and how bad I hurt from horseback riding. He apparently thought it was quite funny to see a city girl in pain. Ha ha! I am amazed that they are still nice to me, because my memory is that they all had to get up early and bale hay and I slept in!

We do this again in two years! Start planning now to come!

Utah Trip 2010

 Polly, Grandpa Jim and Jennie

It is good to be home sleeping in my own bed after almost a month away. However, this morning I was awakened by screaming sea gulls. It was more quiet in every other bed that I slept in while away, even at student housing---well, except for Kathryn, who always needed something from her room that I was sleeping in, in spite of that fact that her mom got everything for her the night before. But what is the point of being five if you can't be the center of the universe, as she certainly is!

I had the pleasure of seeing all of my children and grandchildren on this trip. Plus my dad and lots of other relatives. It was great!  This was my first glimpse of Isaac since we saw him as a newborn last Christmas. He and Keira picked me and Jennie up at the airport in Salt Lake. He was very sweet and friendly and had no problems letting me and Jen smother him with love and kisses.

 Keira is such a good mom and Isaac is a very happy baby!

Isaac finally received his quilt that I made, and that was published by McCall's Quick Quilts this summer. I actually made it before he was born, but was pleased to know that McCall's wanted to publish it, so it was delayed in the delivery.

 

We were delighted to see my brother, Chris Winspear and darling wife, Gina and Tatum and Ethan at the Payne Family Reunion! 

(Photo above shows Isaac-Renn-Me-Tatum and Gina-Chris-Jennie)

 Look at these beautiful kids! Isaac-Tatum-and Ethan!

More later!

Love,

MOM

Family pics

Kathryn with her hamster collection.

Happy Birthday to Jack! He really wanted a guitar for his birthday. Uncle Renn gave him an electric guitar ad Travis gave him an acoustical. What a lucky kid!

Travis and Becky

Isaac sure liked Jennie!

Pretty Keira feeding Isaac. Oh I sure miss him!!!

Just a few photos to share!

Love,

MOM

Cousins Unite!

Last week my cousin Donna came to visit and brought her darling daughter, Lindsay, who was a year old the last time I saw her. Yes, it has been that long! They drove here to Virginia Beach from Buffalo, NY and spent one whole day with me. Can you believe it? Donna had to get back for an appointment on Thursday, but decided to make the tip anyway, even tho it was a quick one with lots of driving.

This is how we looked last time we saw each other! Lindsay grew up to be a wonderful young woman and I enjoyed her so much. She seemed to be content to sit and look through the family history research that I have accumulated for the Winspear family over the years. She even spouted names and dates that she remembered from visiting cemeteries with her mom. How lucky Donna and Lindsay are to be able to team up and enjoy doing the searching and researching together!

As I mentioned in a previoius post, Donna and I only recently reconnected after all these years. Our fathers were brothers, Jim and Burt Winspear, of Buffalo, NY. Donna happened upon my Dad's blog while searching on line for Winspear information. Since Winspear history has been my pet project for years, we got together and shared info. I have lots of names and dates and am still finding more! Donna has the advantage of visiting local sites and cemeteries in Buffalo and surrounding area. She knows where all the bodies are buried! 

We had so much fun talking and sharing and scanning photos. We discovered that we have much more in common than just our family history. So now were are delighted to be not only cousins, but friends! And Lindsay too! 

The Good Life at Virginia Beach

The past two weeks have been busy ones! Matt, Anna Marie and Danielle came and brought Mabry, Danielle's best friend. When Grandpa Jim heard they were coming he decided that he wanted to come also. So we had a house full and loved it! Matt took over the television, my Dad laid claim to the deck, and the girls loved their futon on the floor in the TV room. Anna Marie made sure everyone got down to the beach every day, plus they got in some bike rides through the park. 

Grandpa Jim (with his goofy face for the camera) learned a couple new card games from the girls. Mike got into the act also and I could hear them laughing and laughing out on the deck.

Grandpa Patch bought the girls hats and t-shirts from Life is Good. Pretty nice picture of the Chesapeake Bay in the background!

We ate out on the deck every night. Hot dogs, corn on the cob and strawberry shortcake--Life IS Good!

A weekend in NYC

This past weekend Mike and I took Danielle and Mabry to New York. We had such a great time! We drove up Friday morning and got there around 1:30pm. We stayed at the Mariott Marquis in Time Square. We walked all over for miles and I quickly became exhausted in the 90 degree heat. But I was able to keep up, only at a slower rate than everyone else. 

So maybe that's not keeping up after all. But I walked, and got there eventually. The girls were willing to shop till they dropped, only they never dropped. I, on the other hand, dropped several times. We had a fabulous Italian dinner at Sophie's the first night. We all had good meals, but in the end we agreed that Danielle's Fettucini Alfredo was the best. Wow--all cream and butter!

On Friday night we went to see the Addams Family. It was fabulous! Nathan Lane was Gomez, Bebe Neuwirth (aka Lilith) was Morticia. The whole cast was excellent! We loved it! The second night we saw Wicked and it was also fabulous! Great story and again, the acting and the singing was wonderful. We feel really lucky to have been able to get tickets for these hit productions.

On Sunday, before we went home, we took a buggy ride in Central Park. It was a lovely thing to do, tho Mike was embarrassed to be doing something so touristy. Sal, the driver, gave the girls a carrot to give the horse. They were a little nervous about that, but it was fine. Then the long drive home, not our favorite part, but our weekend was great! We all came home happy!

Facebook

I opened a Facebook account. don't ask me how this happened, it just sort of did. I clicked onto the Parent's Magazine photo contest and it wanted my Facebook account. So I opened one! Simple as that. Suddenly all these people pop up that have accounts that I know. Mostly relatives, fortunately. I guess it must have searched my AOL address book, which is the email account I gave them. Can they do that?

So far it looks like a lot of my relatives making smart-alec remarks back and forth. Hey, I think I might like this! They are all so sassy! I like that about them! And no one ever comments on this blog, so maybe Facebook is the way to go. Honestly, I kind of avoided it because I thought it was a thing for the kids and I didn't want to become a voyeur into their private lives. You know, the lives that they expose to everyone with an Internet connection? But then the first person I got a friend request from was Mary!  So I guess I will play along and see where it goes.

Pretty Baby!

Everybody knows we have the prettiest babiest in our family! We wouldn't be normal if we didn't think so!

Therefore, it only makes good sense that our little Isaac should be entered into the Parent's Magazine Cutest Kid Contest, tho they may have a different name for it. Well surprise, he has been entered into this contest! So please follow the link and vote for our little cutie. The one with the most votes gets on the cover! Vote-vote-vote! Vote every day until it's over, yes, they allow that. 
Everyone knows that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I sure wish I was the one holding Isaac right now!

OUR HANDSOME and HAPPY GRADUATE!

If you haven't seen Kyle for a while, he has grown into a man while we were looking the other way! And a handsome man too! Kyle graduated from high school recently and is now facing his future! What to do, what to do? 

I have a rather old fashioned suggestion: Get a job and work your butt off! Develop a reputation for someone who is hardworking and reliable! Save your money. The past has been fairly easy, but the future will not be. We want the best for you, and it is up to you to achieve it! Our prophet has said that "Our decisions determine our destiny"! Keep this as a mantra to remember and live accordingly. Show your love for your family and your gratitude as well. It is wonderful to have friends, but when things get tough you will learn that your family will always stand by you.

We are so proud of you and look forward to seeing good things happening for you in the future! We love you Kyle!