Friends of Giant Steps 4th Annual Auction

Its another year for FOGS (Friends of Giant Steps) to host their annual auction! I was in on it from the very beginning, and even though I haven't ran the whole show I have done my part to help out in this event.

The auction is changing slightly this year from just being a live and silent auction to also adding a nice meal to enjoy while you enjoy the auction!

4TH ANNUAL CHARITY DINNER AND AUCTION

Friday, Nov 16, 2012

6-9pm

Tickets 10$ or $15 at the door
purchase online at WWW.FRIENDSOFGIANTSTEPS.ORG

Foothill Elementary School 921 N 1240 E Orem, Utah

FRIENDS OF GIANT STEPS

We would love for all to attend! This year we are working really hard to try and get a van for the 3 classrooms. We use this on field trips and helping pick up children. So our goal is to try to earn $25,000. One thing we have learned that every penny counts! So if you are able to attend and help bid on the items (which are amazing!) or just buy tickets to help support Giant Steps anything is welcomed! 

Another way that we can get help is by donations. If there is any type of donation that you can contribute, it would be greatly appreciated!  We have had donations range from homemade products to hotel stays to lunch with local famous people. Anything is welcome! 

If you have any questions or wish to help support us, please let me know! I have been very fortunate to have all 3 of my boys attend this wonderful school that has helped teach them to better function in their little worlds. They have not only helped my boys but have helped me and Travis become better parents to them! Only with help from everyone can we keep this wonderful school going. There is now 1 in 55 kids with autism, and with programs like Giant Steps we can help these children function better in the world around them! 

 Nathan in Giant Steps in 2007-2009

 Brandon in Giant Steps in 2007-2008

Kimball in Giant Steps from 2011-2013

Thank you all! 

Kimball's First Day of School

Kimball started his second year of preschool at Giant Steps Autism Preschool. I am loving his new class. He has the teacher that Nathan had his first year at Giant Steps.

 He was very excited but very nervous as well....I didn't realize how much until later that night.

He didn't want to give me a hug or a kiss which is just not like him. Later that night he told me he was "embarrassed" that I was there. What??!! Is this what a "normal" child is like? It's kinda funny to see his different emotions are coming out.

Nate is in 3rd Grade

I can't believe my baby is in 3rd grade already! Some days it feels like they are going to be "like this" forever but then other times like now, I can't believe how fast it has gone!

 So far I am loving the school and the new grade teacher that Nathan has this year! She is on top of Nathan and wants to help him improve! It's actually really hard to find teachers like that....believe it or not!

Here's to another school year!

Piano Quilt

Back in August...

I have this awesome deal with a friend.....she gives my boys piano lessons and I make her quilts! Her first order was a green/red/brown quilt for her nephew's wedding.

I created this quilt and actually have a variation to it for the Moda Bakeshop that I am working on! I consider myself really grateful for this arrangement! I can't afford to give my sons piano lessons but I can do trade! She already has lots of other ideas for quilts so yeah....piano lessons will and could go on for years!

 Like my figure in the picture? I thought it "needed" that little extra touch! I just picked random fabric colors of stuff that I had and what I found at the store. I think overall it turned out rather well. But I would rather work with sets like Moda has.

 I did a wandering stitch.....and I actually got my Juki to work too! (Been having issues)

For the back I finished using all of the scraps and left over pieces. The back took almost as long as the front took! I think it turned out rather well too! Very nice!

Springville Quilt Show

Back in August....

I went with my Mother in law and Sister in law to the Springville quilt show again this year. It was fun to attend it with my Sister in law, April. I have never been before with her and it was fun because she is a fellow quilter as well!

 Here are some quilts that I really liked. There were a lot more traditional type of quilts there and just weren't my "favorite". I guess I like more of a modern/traditional type of quilts.

I really like the triangles, and am planning on making one like this later. Then the around the world quilt, it was made out of i spy blocks!

 I really liked the border of this top right quilt, it was a nice twist! Then I really liked these other blocks.

 The America quilt was made up from little tiny hexagons! They were about 1" big! Then the bottom quilt won an award for using the most tiniest pieces and were the most precise! I think the smallest she said were 1/2"!

 Here are some more blocks and more cool quilts!

Then afterwards we went downstairs were they had an art station for kids! They really liked it and it helped "relieve" the boredom a little bit.

I was going to enter a quilt this year, but didn't get it done in time! The story of my life! Although my Mother in law made a good point, they are interested a lot in technique. So I will need to take that into consideration for next year.

Cousin Sleep Over

Back in August....

After the family reunion Trav's sister stayed up here in Utah before going back go Vegas. Since school hadn't started yet I figured it was a perfect time to have one last cousin sleepover!

 We just had a simple night, we went to Mcdonalds to have dinner (best dinner ever....well for the kids). They had a lot of fun playing.

 This was a brand new location and building that we wen to. The boys would watch it being built as we passed it and would say that they wanted to go there every time! So needless to say they were pretty excited when we went!

 The kids would try and touch the bubbles on this orange thing. They would jump and reach. They all thought it was a lot of fun.

After dinner, we went home played a little then laid down in the living room and had a nice movie night. Some kids went to bed a little late but most of them fell asleep at a good time.

Triathamom

Back in August....

I participated in my first triathlon! I was no the last person, but came really close! I stayed with a friend to help her finish and it turns out that a lot of people didn't do the full two laps for the bike ride. But I can say that I did it all and finished it!

It was a 300 meter swim, 12 mile bike ride and a 5k.

I think next year when I do it, I will have a better bike! Not one from the thrift store, but a street bike that will go fast!!

Here is my arm marking that I got the night before! It was mostly rubbed off the next morning, but that's okay.

I started my race at around 8:30 am and ended at 11:50am. I made my goal of finishing before Noon, but am not 100% sure as to actually how long it took me. Oh well, next year I will do better!

This is me after the race....I can wear my shirt now with pride! 

1930's Summer Perspective

 I'm pleased to share my first all solids quilt! Have you ever done that before? It has been on my list for a LONG time, and I finally did it!

 You can find it on the Moda Bake Shop on how to make it, which is rather simple!

 The back is almost just as good as the front in my opinion. I just love the hues of the colors! So soft and beautiful!

My sister-in-law April helped me with the name. I had a lot of help with the naming of this quilt which I am VERY grateful for! Naming this was a big stump for me! But I think in the future when I can't figure out a name for the quilt I know who I'm gonna ask!

Believe it or not this quilt was inspired by a picture I saw on pinterest. By this picture....

 I think it would be fun to make another quilt similar to this picture, so smaller lines and using these colors. What do you all think?

Family Reunion

Back in August....

We had a family reunion for Trav's siblings. All the siblings from Cindy (Grandma Walker) and Richard (Grandpa Walker) who could make it came to a camping trip to the Nephi area at Yuba lake. It was a big success!

 Had a big pavilion all together where we set up tents and trailers. There was a beach just down the side of the hill where we were at.

 There was a baby there, his cousin Preston, so Nathan was in 7th heaven! He was surprised to discover that baby's had personal bubbles too!

 We played at the beach, road a boat, played games and just relaxed!

 Uncle Wayne brought his fishing stuff with him and decided to help each of the kids (11) caught a fish. There were some good ones in the lake but the only thing that bit was carp.

 They took about 4 kids at a time and helped them each catch a fish! Everyone caught a fish too!

 We just made a pile on the beach that they threw back later. Trav wanted to use them to try and catch craw fish but no success! Some of the kids wanted to keep their fish as pets!

 All the kids had a a super fun time and it helped the Mom's relax for a bit! It was an awesome idea and I think everyone had  good time!

 Up there was such a beautiful view! We did have a few clouds that came our way but only got some drizzles. But it was all just really nice. If we got too hot we went down to the water.

 We were able to rent a boat (thanks to Grandma and Grandpa) and it was a big success!

 Everyone got a lot of turns and had even though some had to take turns it was worth it and fun!

 They had a dock that we used one day and then the next we just had people jump off closer to our beach! It became really crowded that following Saturday.

 Of course there can't be any family get together without having some injuries! So Uncle Wayne when trying to keep kids safe from the boat, jumped off he came down on his ankle wrong and he broke his ankle! Even in pain and not feeling the greatest, he was able to take Brandon's wonderful "suggestions" as to how he could have prevented it in the future!

 There were tons of lizards around and April caught this little tiny one that was by the bathrooms. We had to use several little comparisons!

 I was very impressed with all of the kids and how well they all played together! We brought our bikes to ride in our little area and the kids shared them. Brittney (my niece) did have a little tumble that scratched her up pretty good but that was on the only issue.

 The last night we finally lighted a fire and roasted hot dogs and had smores!

 We were able to use our tent camp trailer that my Mom gave us. I cleaned out it out and got it all ready for use to use. It was really nice and we were really grateful for it!

 At night due to the lights that we brought, there were tons of scary bugs that came out! The first night quite a few of us jumped up on the tables to stay away!

 So besides the boat, Uncle Derek brought his jet ski to play with. Unfortunately it got some engine troubles while up there.

 The kids really loved the boat. In fact that is when the only arguing occurred was who got to ride when!

 The boat had a inner tube on it, so we filled it and all took turns riding it! It was a LOT of fun! I rode with Michelle on the first ride and Derek gave us quite a ride! Man did it hurt!

 All the kids and adults that wanted to ride were able to take a turn. I really liked riding with the kids because we got to go really slow!

 I never managed to get the actual picture....but Dave and Michelle were quite hilarious trying to get up onto a one man jet ski!

 My body was so sore the next day from riding the inner tube! Although I found out that Travis was the most popular adult! All the kids wanted to ride with him! He claims that it was because he let them go as slow as they wanted.

I think we all decided that in the future we wanted to come back to the place again! We had so much fun! I can't wait for the coming years!