powell family: September 2009

Getting ready for Portland...

Bruce and Cody are hosting quite a party at their lovely home this weekend (Oct. 3) to view the paintings and celebrate the life of our wonderful grandfather who recently passed away. Bruce Eastman was a brilliant artist of Northern NM and Southern CO scenes, and I thought I would post some of the beautiful work that graces the Powell home, as I am getting ready to leave. I am SO EXCITED to travel by myself to Oregon (thank you, sweet brother and sister) and be a part of this honorary celebration. There will be fabulous New Mexican cuisine, live Spanish guitars, and the love of family and friends! I will have much to post when I return!

These have been gifts from Fauv over the years; they are some of my favorites.

Our most recent additions... how blessed we are!

San Lorenzo De Picuris

This is an altar at a catholic church in Santa Fe or Taos, NM. I especially love the hand-carved and painted frame.

When my grandparents lived in Salida, CO, I remember how warm and inviting their home was (and the aroma coming from the kitchen... nothing compared!). This picture of my Nonnie was taken for the newspaper, doing a story on how she loved to bake cakes and freeze them so they were ready any time family was coming for a visit. It even included some of her special recipes. (You can see where I got my love of baking!) As for this beautiful chest, I used to sit in their living room and just stare at it, I thought it was so beautiful! How does someone create and carve something like this from wood and tile? Fauv was one of a kind! Nonnie told me this would be mine one day, and now it is.

I've always loved my cedar chest. The intricate carvings are so amazing, and I keep special linens from Nonnie in there.

Ready for church

On Sunday, Sullivan loved the dress I picked out, and she seemed to admire the sweet little girl in the mirror.

"I've Moved" photo

We finally ordered cards to send to Grandma's friends, letting them know what her new address is. This picture turned out great!

Cookin' for G.G.

Not a day goes by that Sullivan doesn't play with her "chichen." Mom and Dad, that was the BEST 2nd birthday present ever! Every morning after breakfast, she takes G.G. by the hand from the table and leads her over to the leopard chair so Sulli can cook her delicious food and spoon-feed it to her. Grandma is the best playmate, and our Sullivan is in Heaven because even when Mama is busy cleaning the real kitchen, she has someone to play with.

During school

I just think these pics are cute of my girl with her "cullies."

New favorite food!

No kidding... she asks me for it at almost every meal, "Bockley?"

Pre-school FUN!

This month at our weekly co-op, the pre-schoolers have done a unit study on apples, thanks to Kristy Wood. This was mini-pie making day and Levi was VERY excited about it when I was making the dough at home. From what I hear, he was also very generous with the sugar and cinnamon. Like mother, like son. You can see he enjoyed rolling the crusts too. Could he be a famous pastry chef in the making??

Here, Kristy helps Libby and Levi put apples into their little crusts. Can you see why Levi loves co-op day so much??

Almost done... Boy, were these little pies delicious!

Even little Sulli got her hands dirty. ;) (Thanks for the photos, Kristy!!)

Girls' night out

One of the ways the Lord shows me He loves me is by blessing me with precious friends. Two of my nearest and dearest are Kimberlee and Julia. Both are beautiful inside and out. Last night we met for dinner and a movie and had such a wonderful time... as always.

You can see the title of our movie: "Julie and Julia." This is one of my all-time favorite movies ever. I loved the heartwarming story, the FOOD, and the romance. As my friend Julia told some strangers who took a picture of all three of us with her camera, "My name's Julia and we all love to cook!!" She's so funny.

Julia took this very flattering picture of us while we were sitting in the theatre. ;)

A brand new woman!

Today I took Grandma to get her hair cut. We took the beautiful drive through the wine country to get to Julie King's salon, and we had a great time. Julie did a beautiful job... just look how young Grandma looks now!

This was the "before."

The girls pose together.

Sullivan's little posed smile. ;)

A New Chapter...

We Powells are excited about this new chapter in all our lives. Will's sweet grandmother, Laurel, moved in with us on September 9th. We were so afraid she would be sad to leave her lovely home of 40 years in the San Francisco Bay area, but she really seems to love being with us. We certainly love having her! She brings a quiet grace to our home that is wonderful. She has loved Jesus for a very long time, and joy exudes from her. She is a blessing, and so far the transition has been easy for us all. Everything in her new room came from her house, and Will did a great job putting up her many family pictures, each one a fond memory for Grandma. She says she's never seen a more lovely little home (than her new room)!