My friend, Connie

Two years ago we arrived in Whidbey Island and lived in our camper waiting for housing to open up.  We camped right on the beach, which was gorgeous, but cool and very very breezy.  We had quite a time getting fires started at night because of it.

One day I was off and Kevin was trying to light the fire.  A woman camped next to us, ran in her camper and came over with a handful of scrap fabric (y'know, those pieces that you trim off?  she saves them) and put in on the wood and then told him to light it.  I've been saving my scrap every since.  A great way to start fires!!

A friendship was born!!  Luckily for us, the Western WA quilt shop hop was the next weekend and we went.  We had a blast and it was so much fun getting to know each other.  The next year they came up again and we did the shop hop again.  Sadly, this year they couldn't come to us, so we went to visit them in OR on our way down to WA.

Connie has a quilt room that I totally envy.  I was afraid the girls would break something so I watched over them like hawks.  She has a GO cutter that Kevin just had to try out.  We hit some stores and I stocked up on some cool Halloween fabric and Kevin cut out tumbler blocks for me.  I may have to invest in one.  An entire top cut up in fifteen minutes!!  Awesome!!  And no mistakes at all, cause I ALWAYS cut the right size with my rotary cutter, yep, never made a mistake yet.  Who am I kidding?

She's such a dear!!  We took the girls and they picked out horse fabric and make pillow cases for themselves.  Then she used her embroidery machine and did the cutest hand towels with their names and horses on them.  They had a blast!!

We miss her already!

Connie and the girls at the quilt shop

Did I also mention that Connie, and her hubby Donald, took us to the Goody's store for a field trip and of course, we had to taste some samples!!  Yum!

Here's her hubby, Donald, checking out the treats.  He's such a sweetheart; my girls all love him.  They wouldn't leave him alone and followed him around the whole time we were there, "Mr. Donald!  Mr. Donald".  Poor guy was probably happy to see us go!!  lol Oh, and did I mention that he cooks?  He has more cookbooks than I do!!  He made us some absolutely delicious meals!! 

So, maybe next year I can head back again.  I know that the kids would enjoy going back.  We had a fantastic time!!  And they are so sweet!!  I'm so blessed to have met such wonderful people!

Organization

I've spent the last two weeks organizing the new fifth wheel.  I found out the first week of school that the school books were not going to work where I'd put them.  They were over the fridge, so I had to climb up and down a ladder  all day long.  Didn't work as well as I'd planned.

I haven't done any sewing.  Too busy organizing and getting the kids activities all set.  The three big girls are doing Awana and gymnastics.  TL is doing boy scouts and karate.  We tried three different schools until we found one we liked.  He was doing taekwondo and they don't have that here.

So here's some photos of our new home.  Enjoy!

The kitchen.  There's a couch to the right.  The door leads to the girls' bedroom.  The bunk over the door is TL's.

More kitchen.  The door on the left leads to our bedroom.  the door on the right is the bathroom.

TL enjoying the tv

The girls' room.  There's two queen bunks and the bottom bunk can be made into a u-shaped dinnette.  They are enjoying their space.

The girl's half bath.

And they're little tv.  There's hookups for a washer/dryer unit.  I'd love to get one!

I didn't show the master bedroom.  I need to find some fabric for a quilt, cause the ugly black comforter is driving me crazy!

Have a wonderful quilty day!

I'm baaaccckkkk!

Finally, we have reached our new home.  The only problem is that I don't have internet.  I feel extremely disconnected to everyone!

We arrived last weekend.  It was only 101 degrees at 5:30pm.  Ugh.  I think my eyeballs are sweating.

We left Mt. St. Helens and arrived in Washougal WA to visit some friends of ours that recently retired from the Navy.  What a gorgeous house they have!  And it on top of a mountain with a gorgeous view of Mt. Hood.  I'm jealous!!  I'll post pictures later.

While there we decided to upgrade our 34ft travel trailer to a 40 ft fifth wheel.  We've decided to live in it the next few years.  We have some bills to pay off and some money to save.  With the threat of military pay on the table several times the last few months, we've decided we need to grow our emergency fund.  We also have braces, college, and retirement looming in the next eight years.  I enjoy camper living, even with five kids.  It only takes a little to clean each day so it frees up  more time.  I'm hoping to have more sewing time!!

I'll post in the next few days pictures and details of our trip to OR.  We have so much fun visiting our friends there.  She's a quilter so we had a blast together!

Back to our fifth wheel.  Its a toy hauler with two queen sized bunks in the  back.  The bottom bunk is also a couch and can be turned in a U shaped dinette.  There's a half bath and plenty of room for all four girls.  TL has his own bunk over the main living area.  My kitchen is still pretty small but I don't have more space and double the refrigerator space that I had before.  My oven is also bigger so now I can actually use it.  The other one was so small and the rack was closer to flame and the bottom of everything was burned.  I'm happy to be able to cook again.  Of course, that will have to wait until it gets cooler.  Right now all I want is a salad and some iced tea!

I'm off for now.  I'll post pictures of our new home, although I still have to decorate, and our trip to OR.

Enjoy your week and happy sewing!