Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope all by blogger friends have had a blessed Thanksgiving! I know I have lots to be thankful this year! I'm thankful for all the wonderful blog friends I've made since I started blogging, I'm thankful I have Jesus in my life and most of all I'm so thankful I still have my Mom! Our Thanksgiving was wonderful. I think it's safe to assume my Mom has fully recovered from her surgery. She has so much energy she doesn't know what to do with herself. She hasn't had that much energy in many years! She's looking so great!

I've got lots to catch everyone up with! Here's a few pics of the class projects I completed from the 2008 Pal's Fall Fling....Classes were taught by Jane with Fancy Work. Jane is a wonderful teacher, if you ever get a chance to go to one of her classes I would highly recommend it!

There were 2 classes; one for the sewing accessory set you see pictured below (instructions were provided in the class for the tote bag which I made when i got home - my first "major" sewing project! I'm very pleased with how it came out!) There was a needlecase, biscornu, scissor fob, and she included verbal instructions for the little brown Ort container you see on the left side of the pic).

I also attended the ornament finishing class which I thoroughly enjoyed. Like I said I learned so much on finishing in these classes and it was so easy once it was explained to me in terms I understood. Here's my ornament - Fancy Works' ornament from the 2008 JSC Ornament Issue.

Below is a picture of the ornaments I received in the Ornament Exchange

Next is a picture of the wonderfully stitched Christmas F&S squares I received from Diane M in California. She did great picking a design that suits me! I can't wait to finish these!

And I've been doing a lot of ornament finishing!

Now that it's getting chilly here I've been making my soups. I just love soups in the fall and winter. I've been getting real tired of the good old standby, Chicken noodle soup, so I've been trying to mix it up a bit. This soup was a twist of one of my favorites - Italian Wedding Soup! Instead of using meatballs, I used some left over Honey Baked Turkey. I chose a small round pasta and decided to add the spinach after I served it in the bowl and it's topped with fresh grated Parmesan cheese. It turned out wonderful and is probably going to be made throughout this winter. I just love this picture, you can see the steam rising off the bowl. I can practically smell the fresh veggies & turkey just looking at the picture!

Back to a good ol'favorite - my Daily Dose of Serenity! This is my furrbaby - Rollo. She just loves laying by the backdoor basking in the sunshine!

Yule Rejoice - Miracles Happen

I have got to thank all of my blogger friends for sending kind wishes and words of encouragement. Thank you for keeping my family in your prayers!

I stitched "Yule Rejoice" from the 2008 JCS Ornament issue for my Mom. It was going to be a Christmas gift, but I figured it was appropriate as a Birthday Gift! Did you know that when you have a heart transplant you get a new birthday? She gets to celebrate her birthday 2 months in a row now! As soon as I saw the design in the magazine I thought of my Mom. She used to figure skate when she was a little girl and has very fond memories of skating. (I'm hoping we'll get her on ice skates in the near future.) I decided to try my hand at making a flat fold - I think it came out great for a 1st try. I wanted something she could leave out throughout the winter so I think this was fitting. I used some antique beads for the pins which made it just pop. It looks like a snowflake :)

Keep reading if you want an update on Mom's progress !!!!

I can say things are starting to return to normal. Things will never been the same again; they'll be even better! Mom has been doing outstanding since her heart transplant. She's had 3 heart biopsies since October 19th (1 every week for the first 4 weeks) and the results have been great. No sign of rejection so that means with each good result they lower her dosage of Predisone. Each day she's getting stronger and doing more and more exercise. Bruce and I have been travelling a lot since October 19th. I think this weekend is the first we've actually taken for ourselves and have not had something we had to catch up on or get ready before we leave town again. I'm definitely not complaining - We have enjoyed all the time we get to spend with my family. It's a learning experience watching my folks go through this new routine with meds and blood sugar monitoring. Mom developed post-transplant diabetes which should go away with time (meds plays a big part in it).

Since things have been so busy, my blogging has been put on hold. I'm hoping to get back to it now. A lot has been done in the meantime which I plan to share in the next couple of posts. I think the easiest way to share everything is by creating separate posts - at least it will help me so I don't forget anything.

Thanks again for hanging in there with me! Keep checking back for updates :)

Hugs,

Malinda