The Midwestern look has arrived

Our home in Las Vegas is great. We love the layout and amount of room we have. Whisper seems to like it also. But, it has had a VERY Las Vegas look. It has blinds at all of the windows. Every house we looked at when buying, had the same look. So, we didn't expect anything more. But, we have been here almost two years now. It was time to make it a little more "US".

We have added drapes. It has turned our Vegas home into what I call our transplanted midwestern home. We really like the results. I started in the front room and added burnt orange drapes. It softened the look of room so much. I don't work with orange too much, but it seemed to be the right color to go with the walls and couch.

While in Utah, I bought another orange piece (guess I'm really into orange now) of fabric at Ikea. It captured me with the birds and tree limbs on the fabric, very endearing. But this is a bright orange and I just love it. The little birds remind me of my grandchildren. Really very cute. You will just have to come and visit to see this drape.

Next was the biggest project. Simply because of the length of the fabric. It is 95 inches from top to bottom. We have tall ceilings here. I had to measure it on the floor. This fabric I have had for about a year, just waiting to be made. I lined it and put two pleats at the top of each drape. There is a drape on each side of the bed. The fabric matches the light lavender walls. You say lavender walls, Yes!, but we aren't painting anytime soon. It is just going to stay that color. Some days I pull the drapes to the outside, and other days we gather the drape to the middle. Jeni made Dan a quilt for his birthday a few years ago. It matches the drapes and brings blue into play in the room. We have a blue lamp just to the side. That quilt has bounced around every room in the house, and now it brings everything together in the bedroom. Thanks Jeni.

The next project I'll make is a valence for the window by Dan's desk in our bedroom. Plus I'm anxious to make some drapes for my sewing room. I can picture yellow and blue in the room. They will be valences, just enough to filter the sun when it comes in the window and blinds me if I'm sewing in the late afternoon.

I'm glad I've gotten these drapes finished. Sometimes mid-project, I get discouraged and want to quit; but I kept going. It was the length of the bedroom drapes that was so discouraging. It seems there is something stopping us on many projects. Getting one drape finished, helped me to finish the other one. Plus I had someone cheering me on.

Grandma and Games

A week ago grandpa and I journeyed over hill and dale by plane and car to Spanish Fork, Utah for a very joyful occasion. Our 8 year old grandson, Cole Hansen, was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

This was a solemn (most of the time) experience for Cole. He did lapse a few times and some funny faces appeared. He can show so many expressions with his face. We noticed Alexis and Meagan did also the weekend they were baptized last year. I think it is the age. It was also a very fun time for me as their grandma. We had Suzanne's children, and our Michael and Jennifer also visiting. I had seven of our grandchildren to play with.

One evening I found myself playing scrabble with Clayton, Ellen, and Alexis. It was a fun game, but we all got tired of it before anyone won. The joy of just playing a game together was enough. I'm more determined to play games with my grandchildren when I'm visiting now. Usually I find myself reading books to them. Now their ages requires games and such. I've got to learn words bigger than 3 letters if we keep playing scrabble!! Family (grandchildren especially) are the most important thing when you reach a grandparent's age. They are a gift from Heavenly Father. If they read this blog many years from now, I want them to know how much they are loved by their grandpa and grandma McLean.