thequiltthequiltthequiltthequilt!

Alrighty then...Tiffani Lyn (retired leader of the kids) came out of retirement to make this "more precious than rubies" quilt. You may recall that everyone gave me a quilt block for my bday. Tiffani, with all her talent, made this for me and I couldn't be happier. (I thought I had these pictures in some sort of order but not so much....onward). Tara and Darren have the green block. There name, etc. has been stitched as have all their kids. I think pretty much every medium was used by these creative kids/gkids...see following...
Bill Steele painted a stylized paint brush w white tip. Tiffani sewed this in another direction but it looks fine w all the guesses made by people trying to figure out what he painted...i.e. red chile pepper, rocket; Christmas light, thing that could blow up the world. It's vintage Bill.
The whole presh thing (should be at the top of this post).
I took shots at different angles. Some got a little coverage and some got a lot. Below "The Beatles" which was the theme was created by Tiffani from a shirt Kami wore...more detailed than it looks...just love it. Lexi executed the pink one which has a paint dot in each flower and her name is embroidered on. Cooper is the cute hand print and spiderman details. Rylie is the corner right. It's red hearts and her name in puff paint...she writes well for a 2 something. Sydney wrote happy birthday to me and decorated w lots of dots....kewl.

This is a pocket off a shirt Sherrie bought at a Paul McCartney concert we went too. It has Paul's name and the concert name.......yes, I still love Paul. (just soooos you know).
Madi's name is in glitzy letters ironed on. She remembered I love purple. Jack is the money block and you many notice Jacko gets a lot of camera time in different shots. Tiffani made the 40th anniversary block out of purple (our wedding color) and a ring from one of Lexi's princesses...very sweet. Lucy June had her parents make hers. Kami is currently into pink and green.
Logan, never to be outdone, has turned out the block of all quilt blocks for his ma. Puts a smile on my face every single time...really! Kami and Erik have made their block like cross stitch only w pen. Megan and Justin are the hearts and puff paint duo. Parker was kind enough to put his name on camo while Brookie stitched her name and mine and used paint to finish. Saigey girl did a cute layout w flowers and squiggles. Cade did lots of designs and great colors.

This is a rerun which I would delete but I don't know how. This is the 3rd time Jack's square has shown up in the shoot. Truman's is a background of soccer balls, a sport he excels in. Lincoln wanted his name just that size and in that spot (says his mom) and Reagan is a Dora girl all the way.
Macy's block says alot about love. She wrote it all those times across the fabric and then signed and glitzed her name...we joke about who loves who more. She's trying to win! Ty guy is the bottom left and told me I'm awesome w a heart.
It took 60 years to build this quilt--well maybe 40. It's one of the most meaningful treasures I own. Thank you precious kids and fabulous gkids! oxox

Cowboys and Indians!

This is a painting entitled ' the lone rider' by my boy Bill. He gave it to one of his clients to sell @ a charity auction Saturday. It sold for just under $3,000 smackeroos. He has gotten back into painting and is currently doing cowboys and Indians..........not even kidding! (he needs a rep to sell his paintings---any ideas)? I probably should post a few more-huh?

#17......................

Here's a picture of the masses with an addition, literally an addition. Rylie, Megan's youngest so doesn't like her picture taken...ya think? So Meg got in the picture to hold her and by so doing, I now have a picture of all 16 1/9 of my gkids. Yeah for Megan and Justin who are having #6 by the end of the year. (I hope it's a boy because the numbers are uneven currently and she has a GREAT name for a boy). Congrats to the Pima contingency.

Ty, Saige, Cade, Sydney and Rylie made the announcement Sunday at a bday party for Cade. (I hope I can do a decent job of being 'gg' to all my peeps at my tender age)!

SURPRISE-SURPRISE-SURPRISE (gomer pile)

This is the 30 days our kids just can't get enough of...our anniversary, my bday, Bill's bday and Mother's day! HOLA! This year it's two biggies--our 40th anniversary and my 60th bday. Sat. April 12 was the huge 40th. Bill and I were going to leave for several hours in the day and end w a nice romantic meal. Around 5ish we stopped by our house to get something and viola I walked in to a fabulous surprise 60th bday party! (1st picture of me inside the door after I had a split second look). MAJOR WOW BEATLES FACTOR HERE. If you've got an hour read the next 3 blogs for the weekend of my life. (these silly blogs took me 9 hours to put together-------so much happened)! Yeah for team Peterson-Steele! Thanks kids oxoxox (que the music)....

HUH? WHAT? YOU DID WHAT?

Tiffani and her 5" heels and hair.
WHAT? They flew Logan down for the weekend. Big beach ball or exercise ball.
Here are my Darrens/Darens...............love Darren Burke's do.

Can you guess the theme? 'MEMORY LANE' with a major emphasis on THE BEATLES! Are you checkin out the beehive dos, the long false eyelashes, the light pink lips, the beatle T-shirts the girls are wearing, the head bands and scarves and bows.

Here's my guys w a different Beatle song on their shirt fronts (standing in the Logan pose).
Here you have the basic 6 Beatles....Ernesto, Paul (my boy Bill cause I love them both), John, Ringo, Roy and George****smokin!
The hot mammas showing off their huge eyelashes!
The Wall and the beauties

Personal favorite: "Lucy in the sky with diamonds". Darren (center)/Squiggy and Erik (w Lucy) wearing Kami's maternity jeans. LET'S HEAR IT FOR THE BOYS!

Let's begin with (drum roll) THE FAB FOUR, THE BEATLES, THE PAUL AND THE OTHER GUYS GROUP, and a whole lot of screamin going on!!!!!

Tiffani erecting THE BEATLES WALL.

you've got the megan and kami team who are working and the darren and logan team who are taking pictures. where's tiff? oh, she's up above.
megan, logan, tara group
logan went to massive amounts of trouble to put party hats on my much loved carousel.
The walllllllllllllll, i.e. gayle w friends and fam pictures, the trivia section, the BEATLES their very selves and a nice loud version of "HELP"! Right---we're all set up now......................GO!!!!!!!!!!

LET THE EATING BEGIN! I'm not a hard person to cook for, but I don't like beef and only the best cuts of chicken breasts and ham. Kami made shrimp scampi, baken ziti, margarita pizza and Logan made a spinach, mozarella, almond and something salad. These people are great cooks and everything was superb. Also Kami got some Italian sodas.

(cont. next blog)

SURPRISES AND CELEBRATIONS....(middle)

We played 'GG JEPORDY". A game devised by Darren, Tara and Logan (w thanks to Mads for creating the board). This game first became a huge hit when played at Bill's 60th, albeit w different categories. (the player must understand that any relationship between the cards and the category is purely coincidental). These were the categories: WAYS OPRAH HAS AFFECTED MOM'S LIFE; THINGS WE'RE PRETTY SURE WE SHOULDN'T SAY (but will anyway); WAYS WE'VE LOOKED RICH; ANNIVERSARIES ONLY MOM REMEMBERS; FAVORITE MEDICAL EMERGENCIES................any relationship between these categories and myself are non-existent but absolutely lol funny! (Tara is our own personal Vanna).


* a side note to the public.......kudos to Darren for best use of a cord on an ancient mic---plugging it into his pants!

The dessert bru-haha began right after dinner. A fondue pot of chocolate w strawberries, pound cake, potato chips, etc. to dip; See's chocolates; artichoke/spinach dip w chips; cheesecake, brownie bites, and nuts---------------OH MY! We had a sweets break every half hour! Brilliant!

GIFTS ARE HAPPENIN'! TA DAA! This is a gift from Logan. It is Tommy Lee Jones Oscar program and nestled inside is a piece of the red carpet that Logan cut, yes cut for me right where it was alllll going down. This March Logan stood just off stage at the Academy Awards. When the winners left the stage they walked to Logan and he offered them mints and water. It was a lot of one on one time w the celebs. (I'm amassing my own museum).

I opened this cute gumball machine. It stands on a post. It is etched w the first initial of all 27 employees of Steele Graphics. (an heirloom)

DRUMROLL PLEASE! The Big Gift.........after trying to figure out how I could possibly want a pressure cooker as my 40th anniversary gift, it was revealed that a fabulous ruby ring was hidden inside. Bill and Tiffani picked it out and had a high degree of success!!! I finally figured out how to post my fav picture of my boy Bill and me loving this great ring he surprised me with.

I LOVE PRESENTS.....I forgot. (ok, I have things to learn about pictures and posting)...a less than great picture with my new ruby ring which matches my eyes while you take a peek up my nose. Bill is back in the game with some great surprises. YES!

The kids then told me about the last two gifts. One that they had all made a quilt patch and Tiff (the gifted quilt maker) was going to make me a (much desired) quilt for my very own. It took my breath away! WOW!

Lastly, they were all going to church w us the next morning @ 9 am. The kids had gotten people to take over their jobs and we went early Sunday morning so we could sit together. I was blown away. What some precious kids we have. The whole weekend was customized for me and they didn't miss a step.

*cont.next post