The First Time Ever We Saw Her Face.........

This little face captured our hearts.

After many years of praying

for our new baby,

we received her referral

on June 27th, 2005!

Isn't she the most yummy thing!!

(not a question really, as I know the answer!)

This picture made us laugh!

These toys were on her lap,

but she was so stuffed into that sweater,

that she couldn't move!

And the expression on her face

is pure Ahnalin!

I   was  so, so, scared.

(Ahnalin typed this.)

Isn't this face so precious and sweet?

I just wanted to hop on a plane

that day and get my baby!!!

We had to wait 10 more weeks to finally 

have her in our arms

and it was torture!

She was in China and was 

too young to understand that we 

were coming for her.

But this little baby was

now mine and I knew

her face in my heart. 

Happy Referral Day 

my darling Ahnalin!

Our Lives have never been the same!

Love Mommy

Summer Day Trips and Bloomer Skirts

Summer is finally here!

And Ahnalin has been keeping me

so busy that I have not had time 

to post!

As a treat, Don bought us season passes
this year, to Discover Kingdom in Vallejo.
It used to be called "Marine World, Africa USA"
and we went there on our honeymoon 23 years ago.


Ahnalin is not super keen on all the rides,
but she is CRAZY about all the animals!
She got to pet an elephant there!

They have an indoor butterfly habitat that
is just amazing!

I love the killer whale show.

Her favorite show there is the dolphin show.


In fact, she managed to find some fabric
in my stash with dolphins, killer whales,
and fish printed on it.
Of course, she insisted that she NEEDED
a bloomer skirt out of this fabric!

So, of course I sewed one right up. 
She still LOVES her bloomer skirts!

Bloomer Skirts are great for twirling!

Running through splash zones...

And of course, for hanging upside down,
which is what Monkey Girl does best!
I sewed this up using my pattern,

(which you can purchase, by clicking on the link)

but instead of adding the band at the bottom,

I trimmed the hem with ribbon and rick rack.

 I didn't have much of the fabric, so 

I did this treatment so she could 

have as much length as possible. 

She prefers her skirts at the knee or longer.

She loves this little spot.

This window overlooks the giant walrus tank

and he often swims up to her.

I don't think we made it on to one ride this trip!

I wonder if we will go on any rides

or if we will just hang out with the animals all Summer.

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Thank you all for your prayers for Don!

He is FINALLY well.

When he started to get his strength back,
I begged suggested that we drive

back to Bodega Bay for some fresh ocean air,

and seafood.

So on Saturday, we did!

We ate crab cakes and chowder

at Spud Point Crab Company

and then parked at Doran Beach

for a frolic on the beach.

Do you see the clear ball in this picture?

This is a jellyfish egg!

There were THOUSANDS of them all 

over the beach! 

The kept getting stuck in my toes 

as I walked barefoot on the sand.

When we looked at them closely, 

we could see the tiny baby jellyfish inside!

While Don rested, breathing in that

healing ocean air,

Ahnalin and I walked up and down the beach,

talking about miracles and God's creation.

We looked for shells and sand dollars.

And somehow, we found two!

It was a wonderful gift of a day.

Summer continues to be busy,

with a fabulous week of 

Vacation Bible School.

(photo by Tina Kammerer-Wells)

Yes, these two are both the same age!

(photo by Tina Kammerer-Wells)

Yes, this is me, leading music for the preschool 

aged children at VBS.

What a bizarre look on my face!

But VBS was great!

-------------------------------------------------

So, I am FINALLY getting 

caught up on sewing and blogging.

Yes, I am making more 

Monkey Girl Bloomer Skirts

because they are so fun and practical

and Ahnalin loves them.

You can purchase the pattern

at my Etsy store

or You Can Make This.com

or at Fairytale Frocks and Lollipops.

I am also working on some new patterns!

Hopefully between trips to 

the library, beach, Discovery Kingdom

and all the Ahnalin's sewing, 

I will have some time to finish!

Happy Summer and
Happy Sewing!

Happy Father's Day to the Best Fathers!

Ahnalin made this pillow for her Daddy 

for Father's Day.
She did it all herself,

except for the ironing, 

because I still won't let her do that.

She even did a pretty great job matching

the plaid on the seams!

Don's other Father's Day present

won't be here for a few days.

India sent a box of goodies 

that will be here Tuesday.

But his BIG PRESENT

is that India will be coming home for 

a few days next week!!!! 

WAHOOOOOO!!!!!

This is my Daddy and me from 

a photo taken when I visiting home

in January, 1988, 

just 7 months before Don and I got married.

This is Don's Dad and Mom with 

Ahnalin, who is in motion as usual!

I love all the wonderful Father's in my life

and am so very blessed to have them!

Happy Father's Day!

Ahnalin's First Summer Sewing Project

School's out for the Summer!

Ahnalin was sad to say goodbye to First Grade.

But there is cause for celebration,
because the public

library Summer Reading Program

is up and running!

Ahnalin LOVES reading.

And she had a darling book bag

that she bought a few months ago.

Alas, it was too small to contain 

the amount of books

necessary to satisfy her voracious appetite!

She asked me if she could sew herself 

a new book bag and I thought it was a

great idea!

 So she went stash diving and found one of 

my beloved hoarded Mary Engelbreit fabrics

and started cutting.

Fortunately, the print was made up of

squares, so she just cut along the edges.

She asked me if she could do it all on her own

and I told her that I would do the ironing

and supervise. 

But she did the rest all by herself!

The bag is pretty big so it was hard
for her to hold it up.
Oh, and she is squinting because
we FINALLY have SUN!!!
This is the first REAL SUMMER day we have had
since school got out!!

We just love this print.
Ahnalin thought it was a good
choice because the letters spell out
"LOVE" and she loves to read so much.

She wanted me
to record her talking about it.
The first attempt was just so giggly!

This time she was much more "professional".
She cracks me up!

I am so proud of her!
I am seriously wondering how much sewing
I am going to get done this summer,
but at least she sews on her own
machine.

Now, to make her a new Bloomer Skirt
to wear to Discovery Kingdom this week.......

Oh, and please pray for my Don.
He is trying hard to get over this horrid
sinus infection and flu that has
harassed him for the last 3 weeks.
We so appreciate any prayer you can spare.

Thank you so much.
Happy Sewing and Happy Summer!