Michelle Macphereson

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Originally uploaded by dnaprice66

my dd meeting Olympic Medalist Michelle Macphereson

Olympic Medalist

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Originally uploaded by dnaprice66

Olympic Bronze Medalist Michelle Macphereson came to swim team practice today. Sh along with some of the older swimmers from her club team ran mini clinics for my daughters city rec team. She gave a short motivational speech, showed the kids her medals and invited them to ask questions and look at the medals.
She was on the 1984 Canadian Swimm team and earned her medal in the Medley Relay. She also earned a 5th place in the butter fly at Olympics that year.

sorry for the abscence

Oye! This year has been busy, so busy that I haven't blogged since October I got my self involved up to my neck at the youngest childs school helping the noon aides during the kindergarten and first grade lunch time. Then in the classroom and did I mention PTO hospitality committee.

It was a good and busy school year. I was so glad to see Summer break come. I haven't done

anything wonderful or creative for the children to keep them busy. Aside from the Scout Camp, Irish Dance Camp and ceramics classes, their days are filled with reading, playing games (both board and video) and hanging out in the air conditioned home.

Here we are nearly a month into the Summer Break and only a month to go before school starts again. I'm going to find a better balance in my schedule this year. I've got to. Here are a couple of pics from the last several months.

We went to the Zoo a couple of times

Some dear friends came to visit

...and we played with mentos and diet coke (the closest to an explosion I will let my children get.

the dietsoda/mento explosions wasn't as spectacular as we wanted it to be. I think in this try we used a store brand soda. We also tried sierra Mist, Root Beer and Diet Coke.

Two faces of Arizona

View of the mountains just north of the valley

Last weekend my family went camping with a group of people from church. It was pretty warm in the Valley, even for Arizona it has been hot for this time of year. reaching degrees in the mid to high 90's. I was looking forward to getting into some cooler weather up on the Mogollon Rim. Well by the time we got there, just before the sun went down., it was a lot cooler. We were prepared with coats, my sleeping bag was rated for as low as the temperature got, and I was reminded that I really do like warmer weather. Saturday morning it was still cold but as soon as the sun came up it warmed up nicely. After breakfast, while we broke camp, the kids walked to the lake (with adult supervision of course). It was beautiful. I'm glad I went it had been a long time since I had been camping.

Woods Canyon Lake

Favorite

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Originally uploaded by dnaprice66

"question of the day" posted in the She knits podcast furm today on Ravelry by mountainpurl was "what is the thing or things that someone you know - friend or family has made that you think is just amazing? " There were several things I thought of. Some bookcases built by my husband and a needlepoint done by my grandmother were a couple of items that stood out. both were labor intensive in different ways.
Then I thought of my favorite object made by me. Its my first wall quilted wall hangingthat involved fabric transfers of family photos and creative use of fabric. I really had a lot of help from the teacher of the class I took in figuring out the square size and cutting of the fabric. The seams are a little wonky and there are loose threads all over the place. It was on of my first quilts and I really treasure this wall hanging.
The center photo is a picture of my Grandfather, grandmother and Uncle Jack. PIctures included on the quilt are of my parent's wedding day
my Uncle Jack in front of a Derigable that he flew in WWII
My dad when he was much younger and had hair ;).

I love this quilt because it is a daily reminder of my heritage and of the sacrifices my ancestors made to be together and build a family.
Is there something you have made that you love despoite its imperfections?

In honor of Labor Day ( a couple of days late)

Greyhound picket line 4/1990
Originally uploaded by dnaprice66

Ahh. To be young again. I always look forward to the long holiday weekend. I always forget to remeber what Labor day is about.

This pic was taken while my husband and I were visiting my dad who was on the picket line. Dad drove bus for Trailways for over 25 years, until Greyhound took over Trailways in 1987. BEcuase of some labor -law violations the union started a nation-wide strike in March 1990. It took 38 years for the labor dispute to be settled. During this time my dad worked night shift as a security guard at a local mall, got his realtors license, and tried a couple of other different jobs. All while spending some time each week on the picket line.
Driving was the career he loved. He was so happy to go back to work when the stike was finally settled and even happier when the union was able to restore his seniority and unpaid back wages.

I'm so proud of my dad and of how hard he worked to make a good life for me and my family.

I Won!

Everyday Hoodie Kit
Originally uploaded by dnaprice66

Earlier this month Blue Sky Alpacas had a sweater kit giveaway on their Facebook page. last week I rec'd a message from them that I had won the random number generated drawing. I was so excited
The kit came via fed ex this morning, it included the pattern for the Everyday Hoodie, enough yarn to knit the largest size of the pattern, and a "pretty cheep" project bag with a hummingbird on it.
Even-though I don't need to start another project as soon as I get off the computer I'm going to ball up a skein and get started.