Oh how I LOVE those twirly skirts!!!

Well, I made my final (at least for now) twirly skirts this past weekend. I had previously made them for all my granddaughters, my niece, and now for the darling little girls down the street.

I really hadn't wanted to be finished with them yet but now that I have made 12 of them I can put the pattern to rest and move on to something else.

Panguitch Lake

Ron went fishing this morning with a couple of guys that he works with(Casey and Bob). He had a great time despite leaving at 4:30a.m. He caught 3 Cutthroat about( 22-24) inches and 5 Rainbow about(16-20)inches. Now I say about because I was not there to witness -or- measure so...

...I was glad he snapped a couple of pictures to show me. He is getting primed for our annual trip to Yellowstone with Bryan, Abbey, Ayla, Griff, Clint, Lori and Bode. We are really excited for the trip. We are staying in West Yellowstone this year and not in Jackson like we have in the past. More about that trip later - stay tuned.

MOLT

intransitive verb

to cast off or shed the exoskeleton, hair, outer skin, horns, or feathers at cerain intervals prior to replacement of the castoff parts by a new growth: said of reptiles, birds, insects, etc.

Izzy is back! Looking suave and dapper in his new skin. After 6 days we were surprised this morning when he was back with just a little telltale peeling skin around his mouth. We were so happy that he was just off getting the spa treatment rather than being lunch for a hungry roadrunner. Ron fed him 3 cockroaches and Izzy looked happy to be back.

Dispose-some

Ron has been telling me forever that a sink disposal is not really a dispose-all but a dispose-some. I think it started in Sheridan when I was trying to shove a bunch of carrot peelings into the disposal and it plugged the sink up. Ron had to take a plunger to it and we ended up bursting a pipe in the laundry room (right next to the kitchen) and had pieces of carrot all over the place... ...the floors, the ceiling, the walls. It was such a mess and it took me forever to clean it all up. Well I tried it again today with the same result... what a mess. luckily the cupboard doors were closed when the pipe exploded so the carrot mess (and it was carrots again) at least were confined to the entire interior of the cabinet under the sink. The walls, doors, pipes - all covered in carrot.

When I thought of taking a picture of the mess I had already cleaned most of it up so it looks really nice compared to what it did look like.

LOST LIZARD

Description:

Not too friendly. Scaley, variegated brown in color, long toes, likes to eat bugs and roaches but will occasionally eat strawberries. Loves to hang out on the patio wall. Answers to the name "Izzy". Last seen eating a cricket on Sunday morning.

Possible suspect!!

Last seen lurking around the yard.

5th grade

Maia's first day of 5th grade. She was so excited to be back in school. I think she was bored to tears hanging out with me. She loves school and was anxious to meet her teacher and see all her friends again.

I remember being in 5th grade. My teacher was

Mr. Bay. I loved him. I have really clear memories of his class and the things we learned.

He was a health food nut and warned us alot about smoking. We joined classes around the United States and made posters about the dangers of smoking. I still remember what my

poster looked like. I thought it was really good.

We sent them to Washington D.C. and the next year the warning label on the side of a package of cigarettes was put on. He also warned us about

drinking chocolate milk. Well, I listened to him about smoking but the chocolate milk...

not.

Susan Payson - Me - Tinky Roney
Don't let the dress fool you. I was

sitting on my baseball mitt!!!

Izzy

Well Izzy finally did it! The crazy lizard is eating out of Ron's hand. He was a little nervous at first but hunger took over and the cockroach looked tooo tempting. I wonder how long it will be before Ron has Izzy on a leash - walking around the neighborhood or sitting on Ron's shoulder watching Animal Planet.

Oops!!!

I had previously posted that my brother in law - Bill - was going to Perth, Australia with Team USA in October but my sister told me that he is actually

going to Brisbane, Australia on the Gold Coast on September 15th. Sorry Bill!

Good luck and make the USA proud:)

Little Red Riding Hood - Logan 2010

My son Brandon (middle - in pic) just finished the "Spudman" triathlon in Burley,Idaho a few weeks ago. Way to go Brandon!!!

My niece Tenell (shown here in her wedding dress)

is doing a triathlon in Seattle next week. I really want

her arms.

My brother in law - Bill Billingsley - just finished a triathlon

last month in NewPort Beach and qualified to be on the

TEAM USA in Perth, Australia - October 25th. Woohoo!!!

Remember Angela - when we actually trained
and did the "BigHorn Mountain Run"?
Sherry and Cassidy have challenged us to get ready
to do the "Little Red Riding Hood" bike for breast
cancer in Logan next year.

Although my last biking experience with you resulted...

...in a sprained ankle that I am still recovering from -

I'm up for it. Are you?

Kindra's Wedding

Ron's youngest daughter Kindra, was married in the Logan temple on Saturday. Can't believe that she is all grown up and married.

Kindra with all the Romney grandkids.

Brendin, Grandpa Ron holding Darci, Randi and

Shanda. These are the outfits that I made for the
girls while I was in Missoula. I was worried not
having them there to try on - if they would fit but
they did and the girls loved them.

I have a great collection of antique children's sewing machines. The collection started with a German machine that Ron's mom Lou gave to me. It had been passed down to her and it started my search for more. I stopped at 7 because I ran out of places to put them. I used to have a huge sewing room/craft room but after moving to St. George my sewing room - is a sewing closet.

Just like her Grandma(s)

I took my first sewing class at Washington School in Missoula when I was in the 6th grade. During the class I sewed over my thumbnail and broke the needle off on the bone in my thumb. My home economics teacher actually passed out. I still loved sewing however and continued sewing my own clothes all through high school. I sewed most of my dresses and shirts to go with my beloved Levi 501 button fly jeans that I babysat to earn the $5.69 they cost.
I have owned many sewing machines. I used my mom's singerto sew until my mom and dad bought me a Pfaff when I was asenior in high school. That machine was so well built I think it would have sewn over rocks.

I have had a Pfaff, a White (that I won in a drawing),

a Juki, a Janomi Gem Gold (that I used in classes), a Janomi 4800, a Singer Featherweight, and 2 sergers. I sold my 2nd Pfaff & my Juki, gave my Janomi Gem and a serger to Jess, sold the other serger to Joan (who gave it to Carla) and I still have my Janomi 4800 and Singer Featherweight. I had given my original Pfaff to Angela and she just gave it back because she said she will never use it.

Maia spent a lot of time with me as I would sew. When she was about 4 I would let her use a little antique Singer that she would sew long strips of fabric with for hours. Grandma Becky gave her a Bernina last year and she took a couple of classes. We were at the fabric store yesterday and Maia decided that she wanted to make a bag with the cute new Halloween Fabric they had. She also made a Halloween cape for her dog Duke.

IZZY

You would think that this is one of the grandkids for how fascinated I am about taking Izzy's picture. If we walk by the window or door that goes out to the patio - Izzy runs up on the wall and waits for us to come out with dinner. I told Ron that he is losing his natural instinct to hunt his own crickets and cockroaches (yum). Ron took a cricket out yesterday and showed it to Izzy and then dropped it. Izzy didn't see where it went so ran over and actually got on Ron's foot and looked for it. I'm not that brave. I throw those little insects far from my feet - don't want Izzy crawling on me. Haven't let him in the house either.

Ron was so lonely while I was away in Montana that he made a new friend. He got this lizard to actually almost eat out of his hand. He thinks it will eventually. I reminded him of the "Tacoma the duck" incident in Boise but he is determined to have Izzy as a pet.