Snow day

Kelleigh and Ryan had not seen snow in person so we took a drive toward Big Bear as snow much snow has fallen.  Apparently most of San Diego had the same idea!  Traffic was quite bad so we took an opportunity and stopped at a turn-out where there was fresh snow and made our own fun.  The kids had a great time building a snowman, enjoying a snowball fight, and - best of all - sliding down the steep hill back to the car!  Was a fun day!

We found a carrot piece at the foot of the hill ...
then Ryan found a hat laying by a tree!

New table runner

I have been looking for a long time for a table runner for the dining room and finally found one that is perfect!  I have a framed quote centered around a bird's nest on the huntboard so the theme was perfect as well as the color to match the rug.  And ... it's perfect given my love of birds ...

Their new beds

I am so excited over the new dog beds that Mark and Kenny made.  It's a beautiful piece of furniture and I love it.

Sweet surprise

Mark brought these roses home to me and they are some of the few that are opening.

Enjoying nature

My favorite place to take walks is on a nearby nature path with a creek.  Watching the ducks, birds, and just seeing the beauty of nature is so peaceful.  Late afternoon brought us a hail storm but once it cleared, we decided to take a walk to see the creek full from the rain.  While the ducks had taken shelter, the scenes were beautiful.  (Click on "Keep reading" at the bottom to see all the pictures.)

Our little hailstorm ...

A very full creek ...

Happy Birthday Connor!

Wishing Connor the happiest birthday - love you!

Luxury dog beds

We've always had a dog crate in our room as at least one of the dogs sleeps in it (generally the puppy of the group).  I saw on Pinterest this double-sided crate and fell in love with it.  With very little persuasian Mark and his friend, Kenny, agreed to build it for me.

Here is the inspiration piece:

And here is their progress so far ...

The frame (will be white with black rungs)

The stained top

The Lorax

While the guys were working on their project, Debbie and I created some pillows and pictures from Dr. Seuss' Lorax fabric she had brought.  Her newest grandson's bedroom is in that theme with walls painted with the trees, themed bedding fabric, etc.  It's darling!  Here are our end results ...

The front sides of the pillows ...

... and the back sides.

Her daughter wanted these framed so I built
frames, sewed borders, and we loved the end result.

A New Year begins ...