another coat...

Bar stools for the booth are freshly coated every 6 months for the CHA Trade Show [Craft & Hobby Association]. Pink is our color of choice this time, covering up the red from last time... This next week everything will be put in the crates and shipped off for the Pebbles Inc. booth. The show is in Anaheim, end of January and for the first time, in a very long time, I am not going. Ashlee is due on the 24th... and until this baby comes, life is on hold and everything is subject to change.

-Brenda

branching out

Phoebe is branching out on her own and is no more a clinger to just her Mom [usually]. We are tickled that she shares her hugs & kisses with us. We love this little mighty one madly!

-Brenda

filled with hope

Paul finished the cherry bookcase he is making for Kelsie. He built it up at Brent and Carolyn's. I know he enjoys just spending time with Brent and will soon start another project... It is B R E A T H T A K I N G L Y B E A U T I F U L !!! They did the final fine sanding outside [hello spring weather in January?] and brought it in to stain. Kelsie asked Paul to sign and date the back and that he should also sign her hope chest that he had made. He said when it is empty sometime, he can turn it over and sign it. Kelsie just looked at him and softly said, "But it will never be empty Paul. It will always be filled with hope." Ashlee and I looked at each other and erupted in giggles. It really was so tenderly said. After all, hope is everything...

-Brenda

baby shower for ashlee

It is hard to think of this coming baby without thinking of our good friends and neighbors that we live near. We have fasted and prayed together through the years and now we are all gathering together for a baby shower and celebrating his upcoming birth. Ashlee glows and has had such a good pregnancy. I think she is just so full of thanksgiving that any aches and pains are just part of this miracle for her. She loves being pregnant and I catch her softly rubbing her tummy throughout the day. Thank you to everyone that came, so many of you. She felt so loved. We all did.

-Brenda