Still working...

Photo one: Monica's felled tree... mid-fall; this tree was right next to the firepit so we thought that probably wasn't the safest location for a dead pine tree. She actually made the tree fall uphill which was a huge relief as we watched from the kitchen window of the cabin located downhill from the firepit.

Photo two: Never too early to get the next generation trained. Uncle Mark is showing Collin the intricacy's of plumbing.

Photo three: I guess you do get to sit a spell with a refreshing beverage and supervise when you are 88 years old!

First we WORK...

Yesterday was the "Wallin Family Annual Cabin Cleaning Party". This is a highly anticipated occasion (mostly by Grandpa). This tradition has been going on for 47 years since the cabin was built in 1960. Every spring the cabin needs to be "opened" for the coming summer season. We have found that if the cabin is given an in depth cleaning to begin with, the rest of the time it is easy to keep it in order as it is used. Back in the "Olden Days", when it was just Mom and Dad and us 8 children, the working crew was still living at home and it didn't seem so festive but as the years have progressed and the original 8 now have our own kids and grandkids, it really is more of a party atmosphere. Early on in our childhood, Grandpa came up with our family motto: 'First we work... then we play." Ask anyone in the family, no matter their age, and they can quote this and give many specific examples of it's implimentation. This year there were 4 generations represented!!! Aspen was the youngest at 14 months up to Grandpa who is now 88 years old. He hasn't slowed down much. You'll notice in the wood spliting photo that he is front and center on the spliting machine! He just loves a highly stacked woodpile. The work party consisted of Paul, Sherrie, Cam, LaRane, Collin, Clark, Aspen, Kent, Kory, Kassidy, Mark, Karen, TJ, Monica, Courtney, Lacey, Tyler, Mindy, Zack and his friend, Billy (who probably had no idea what he was in for when he thought a day at a cabin sounded fun). The cabin was thoroughly cleaned inside -- everything from light fixtures to under the kitchen sink. Outside was even more intense. Besides all the wood splitting (thanks to TJ for bringing up the mega-sized splitter) there were more tree fellings (3) under the direction of Monica who is uniquely qualified at cutting down huge dead pine trees with a chain saw because she graduated from Southern Utah Unviersity with a degree in agricultural science and is employed by the Forest Service as a sawyer (she fights fires too). Only one tree actually hit the cabin (Uncle Kent maybe needs a degree before felling anymore trees) -- no damage to human or property! Paul was in charge of painting wooden weather-exposed benches, tables, swings and Uncle Mark repaired some leaking water lines. Whew.... that's alot of work!!! When do we get to play?

Got Quilts?

That is the question that Kalita asked me a few weeks ago. She is on a committee that is putting together some kind of event for Holladay (I think it is called "Holladaze") and part of that event is a quilt show. The answer to her question is YES, I've got quilts; how many do you want?! We settled on these two. The first one is one of my most recently finished quilts. I began it as a class last September to learn a new technique for machine applique. I have to say that I really love the technique. Any kind of applique, whether hand or machine is time consuming but once the individual pieces were prepared, it was super fast to sew them to the background. All the fan shapes with the flowers were appliqued; the stars were pieced (by machine). It was quilted by machine by a friend of mine. I still need to come up with a title for it. The second quilt is called "Think of the Pioneers". I made this quilt in 2001. It is from a quilt pattern designed by Jodi Warner. It was a lot of fun to do because of all the different blocks and techniques. There is hand applique, machine piecing, paper foundation piecing and it is dimentional (the butterfly wings are not stitched down). I did hand quilt this one. I love all the symbols that represent Brigham Young and the pioneers and their trek into the Salt Lake valley in July 1847 -- the sego lily, the beehive, the honey bee, the covered wagons, the log cabin blocks and of course, Brigham Young proclaiming "This is the Place". When I was growing up and my dad would give us children some kind of chore to do like load the dishwasher or mow the lawn or clean the bathroom and when we would complain he would always answer with ... "think of the pioneers; they would loved to have had a dishwasher or a lawn mower ..." So if you are in the area, stop by the former Holladay Elementary school on about 4600 S 2300 E (where, by the way, I did attend from K-6th grades) on Saturday, June 9th from noon to 4 or 5 pm. Karol Jean and Kalita will have quilts in the show as well.

Remembering

Today is Memorial Day... when I was growning up we used to call it "Decoration Day" becuase everyone would go to the cemetaries to decorate the graves of their loved ones with flowers to remember them. Paul & I have enjoyed this tradition for the past 23 years since Quinn died and we have a special gravesite to visit and then more recently we added the gravesites of Paul's parents and grandmother. Cemetaries always seem so quiet and solitary. Usually when we go to visit and take flowers on birthdays or Christmas, there is never anyone else around but yesterday when we took our bouquets the cemetaries were packed with visitors. It was quite a sight to see. There were flowers everywhere. Seriously, it looked like every grave had a floral arrangement in place. There were small American flags posted at the gravesites of those who had served their country and as the breezes blew the flags waved proudly. There were children running and families arranging flowers and cleaning up their loved ones headstones and sitting in groups clustered in tight circles visiting and reminicing. It was a joyous scene. I'm sure there was lots of pondering and even sorrow and grief but for the most part what I took in was how much life really is at the cemetary. Yes cemetaries are where we place the mortal remains of our dearly departed but who are they really for... for each of us who are still breathing and living to keep connected with those who have gone on -- to visit, to remember, to appreciate, to love, to grieve, to contemplate their lives and ours. Hopefully you will get an opportunity to spend a few minutes with someone who is no longer here and you too will feel how alive you really are. Make the most of today.... and everyday!