Full hearts and a (sort of) Full Fridge...

My friend Elizabeth (Carolyn's 9 year old daughter) and I joined friends from Church at the Fishfest2009! 8 hours of concerts from some of the top Contemporary Christian Groups.

We had seats on the lawn. It was a HOT day and we loved laying out on a blanket and relaxing listening to many of our favorite songs. It was fun to sing along!

Red faced and glistening!

Frozen Lemonade ... the perfect anecdote for sweet rehydration!

A bunch of peeps from FUEL, my Church's venue for "young adults" ages 20s and 30s. Gotta' love it....

Brandon Muchow was pretty awesome... and I know that we'll be hearing more of him soon...

Elizabeth is chillaxin'!

Hawk Nelson were who we were waiting to see! High energy and loud and funky enough to impress a 9 year old! Live Life Loud! Even after a full day of sun and sitting we jumped and jammed and... (I tried not to embarrass Elizabeth...)

What a great day!

Seeing as how I had a house guest, I broke out the piggy bank and purchased a few groceries, with Elizabeth's help, of course... (2 year old) Coors lite, syrup, cream cheese, brown sugar, Parmesan cheese and expired applesauce just wouldn't do!

String cheese, Powerade Zero, Key Lime Yogurt, Oreos, Apples and Cereal. I'll be good for a while!

We spent the rest of the weekend scrapbooking and watching chick flicks! I love you, sweet Elizabeth... and am looking forward to our next bonding time! :O)

My RWANDA Montage

FINALLY!

Here is my Rwanda montage. The photos are set to songs sung my Rwandan kids! ENJOY!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I heart Keith Urban ~ Escape Tour 2009 Concert

I'm a huge Keith Urban Fan. Love him. Maybe even a little bit obsessed with him. I've always loved his music ~ his hopelessly romantic lyrics, dreamy voice and musical talent. So when his Escape Together 2009 Concert Tour Tickets went on sale, I snagged 2 of them ASAP and counted down the days to SEE KEITH! So how cool is it that my favorite Country Singer is a HUGE supporter of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital? I thought he was a good guy, now I KNOW he is! :O) Together with other country music stars, Keith has helped to raise over $354 MILLION!

Isn't he dreamy???? I think he needs a female backup singer. Don't you?

Carolyn and I in front of Keith's tour bus. I'd sure like to ESCAPE and be a groupie!

#1 Fan FAN!

Keith played to a sold out crowd.

Being crazy country chicks. SO fun to sing out the lyrics!

So close to Mr. Urban!

"Sweet thing the moon is high and the night is young. Come on and meet me in the backyard under the cottonwood tree. It's a good thing and I'm wishin'. C'mon sweet thing won't you climb on out of your window while the world is sleepin'. Cause you know I need you. And there's no way I'll be leavin' 'til we're kissing on the porch swing. Oh my little sweet thing!"

"...And I'm gonna love you like nobody loves you. And I'll earn your trust making memories of us. I wanna honor your mother and I wanna learn from your pa. I wanna steal your attention like a bad outlaw. And I wanna stand out in a crowd for you. A man among men. I wanna make your world better than it's ever been..."

"...And silently I say a little prayer, yes I do. But for the grace of God I must've been born a lucky guy. Heaven only knows how I've been blessed with the gift of your love. And I look around and all I see is your happiness embracing me. Oh Lord I'd be lost but for the grace of God.."

What a great night!

Sonia's Bride-to-be Bridal Shower

Today Sonia's sister and mom hosted her bridal shower outside of Portland. It was great to meet many of Sonia's family and friends ~ many who will be joining in the festivities of their destination wedding in Maui this September!

Of course you know that I was downstairs playing with her little cousins. We were having gymnastics lessons and having a good old time while the women upstairs gabbed about the rainy Portland weather and the upcoming wedding in paradise.

These are Sonia's cousins and her baby nephew, Elias.

I love this classic pose of my mom. It's as if we're Italian with her hand gestures and expressions!

Sonia's mom cooked amazing Lebanese cuisine.

We're missing Janice and Julie... but here are 4:6 of the Hughie women!

With Sonia's sister Nicole and Mom.

Look at this amazing cake! It was inspired by the Shower invitation. Inside was chocolate and strawberries. What a great idea.

Pretty Sonia and the dessert table

Nicole, Maria, (who I've decided will be my date to the wedding!), Elias and Ashton. I asked Maria if she is excited for the wedding and she told me, "I'm get to go because Sonia is special to me." How sweet! What a beautiful family!

Sonia (and Ken) scored with a lot of gifts from their registry. Now they'll have to do some entertaining to put all of their china to use!

So happy for you, Sonia! Welcome to the family!

The Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show

Today was the 34th Annual Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show. It was a beautiful and sunny day (although threatened with rain showers) and the town came alive with dazzling quilts! Consider this quilt to be a tribute to all things quilty. I went a little crazy with shots of my favorites... but couldn't help myself. My mom is an incredible quilter/crafter/artist/sewer and I regrettably did not inherit her skill. BUT I am so fortunate to receive several of her works of arts and they are my most treasured heirlooms.

This one is by Valori Wells and I LOVE the bright colors and the design of the fabrics. She has the cutest fabrics and is an amazing artist. Check her out!!!!

The Stitchin' Post and their employee featured quilts.

I'm in love with this folksy felt quilt. The quilter is Sue Spargo and her folk art is unique ~ I think that this one would be really cute in a nursery with aqua walls. What do you think?

Mother / daughter bonding. (And dad came along too!)

Mom's making a mad dash to the, "teacher tent." The quilt show teachers had featured quilts and they were pretty sweet!

I heart Sue Spargo! My mom has me collecting wool clothing while on my Thrift Store explorations!

Sorry, I can't help it! Had to include this one too!

What a fun quilt! A great way to use your scraps and make a masterpiece. (Sounds like I actually know what I'm talking about... I can talk the talk but DON'T walk the walk...)

I like this Paris photo quilt. The photos are scanned onto fabrics. I bought my mom a bunch of fabric in Rwanda. Hint, hint...

I hear that stars are a nightmare to quilt... but isn't this one awesome too?

Folk art

My parents and I escaped Sisters and headed up to The Lodge at Suttle Lake. We ate a fantabulous lunch at The Boathouse.

My family spent several summers with a permanent camp site at Suttle Lake. Jet skiing, sunning and boating on our ancient Green Machine ski boat. I learned who to slalom (sp?) ski and enjoyed the carefree days of summer minus electricity! I miss those days!

Amanda, a friend from my Oregon State Days met me at the Quilt Show. Her and her husband were recently married in Playa del Carmen, Mexico and I got to see some of her amazing photos! Hurry up and post the rest, Amanda! Amanda's pretty crafty herself. She bought a cool skirt pattern and is going to whip out a skirt or too. I'm super jealous! I actually brought my "clothes to be mended" pile to my mom (packed it in my suitcase!) so that she could fix them!

The Snevas came over for dinner. Bella and I had some bonding time while making a (from a box) lemon cake. It looked so easy at the time... I promised I greased the pans before baking... but... one would never know!

Despite it's crumble-li-ness... it was delectable and there wasn't a trace of it left! :) Bella decorated the top of it. Creative, eh? A yellow smiley face!

And that concludes my weekend in Sisters. Tomorrow we'll head to Portland via Mt. Hood. Fun times to be at my future sister-in-law Sonia's Bridal Shower.