The Magical Pumpkin Puzzle

My kids know me so well! They gave me a few adorable puzzles for my birthday this year. Grammy’s Crocheting World (the name was adjusted to fit my sensibilities–more on that later) from Rhen and Jessica.  One was an Autumn Farmhouse–that I think I might just have given to myself…heh, heh.

And the other was Patchwork Pumpkins from April.

I love all puzzles…as you know…

but I swear there was something amazing about this one.

It went together so quickly that I was stunned.

I think the trick was that each of the pumpkins…

were so unique…

and so very different from each other…

that it was simple enough…

to separate all the pumpkins into piles…

and put them together one at a time.

I honestly think this was the fastest a 1000 piece puzzle has ever come together for me.

There must have been something about listening to The Night Circus as I toiled away on it.

The book is full of magic and before I knew what was happening— poof!

two and a half days later…

the book was finished…

and so was the puzzle.

“It was like magic!”

I agree Harry…

it certainly was.

 

 

Park City Road Trip…

…to see a couple of soccer games, with April, Hazel and Lily.

Always awesome fun!

We really do live in an incredibly beautiful place with all this lovely stuff right in our backyard.

We’re pretty lucky ducks, I’d say.

 

 

Brave Girl

Once upon a time, there was this cute girl who played soccer. She play so much soccer that one day, she totally tore her ACL.

Fast forward and here we are. She was called in much sooner than expected,  for repair surgery because someone else canceled and she got their spot. Brave girl, Lil!

Back at home now, she is loving fruit smoothies and sitting back in the recliner…exactly like she’s supposed to.

And her mom’s a pro at adjusting her brace…

and unwrapping…

and unwrapping…

and unwrapping her leg…

to see what a good job the doctor did! And what a great job Lily is doing too. Not much bruising, so far.

She’s even mastering crutches like a pro….something I never did figure out. 

We’re so proud of you honey!! Rest and keep healing. We love you!

 

My Sweet Advent Calendar

On the last day of November–alllll those weeks ago- haha– April and Lily came over and gave me an amazing surprise.

Ok, yes, they brought me a yummy cinnamon roll that Lily made and some hot chocolate, but the REAL surprise was…..

this beautiful box…

with all it’s mysterious littler boxes….

that April’s family filled up with…

all kinds of magical Christmasy things!

There were candy canes and water bottle stickers and brown sugar fudge…

yummy lip gloss…

a soft, fluffy wash cloth…

and even a ridiculous Perfect Man made of chocolate.

Ohhhhh Aprilllll. Hahaha.

One box held heavenly soft plaid socks…

another had a chocolate marshmallow Santa–that only April and I truly appreciate. Heh.

There were lovely ornaments…

chocolates and more ornaments…

and MORE chocolate!!!

I especially loved the teeny, tiny Mrs. Claus cup ornament.

You know, I always wanted to be Mrs Claus when I grew up.

I’m not even kidding.

Best of all–each of those different boxes came with a sweet little  note from Hazel, Lily, Beckham, Jacob or April that I will love and cherish forever.

Thank you so much my sweethearts.

You made it like Christmas every single day.

 

 

 

Grampa’s Honeycake by April

This, my friends is Honey cake. And to be honest, it’s still hard for me to see this dough…

and smell these spices…

and watch the process…

and see some of the old tools…

without looking around to see if my cute little Daddy isn’t somewhere close by.

April, probably more than anyone, watched and helped with the process right at grampa’s side. She knows all the little secrets to make the Honey cake now–so it’s wonderful to watch her do it.

It warms my heart and helps me when I’m missing him particularly at Christmastime.

When she’s finished, it looks the same. It smells the same. It tastes the same.

I get the feeling that he is very close with that twinkle in his eye…

smiling.

 

 

Thanks April for saving this for all of us.

I miss you Daddy.

Grampa Was the Gingerbread Man  lyrics by Light Shine University