Bearing Fruit!!!!

So, remember a few months back, I said we had planted some fruit salad trees? One has nectarines and apricots and the other tree is a peach and plum tree. Well, we haven't killed them yet! They are growing little baby fruit.

We have a nectarine on the top and a plum on the bottom.

For some people, this would not be a big deal, but since we planted them  I was convinced they were dying. But maybe they will pull through after all. Keep your fingers crossed!

4th of July Weekend

For the 4th of July weekend, I had a few projects that kept me busy. My friend Chaley is getting married in September and has been running like a mad woman. She is dropping weight like crazy so we thought we ought to get her bridal pics done while the dress still fits. What a terrible problem to have, right? Below is one of my favorite photo blends of Chaley.

Logan and I had a couple of days off to hang out before he left for Steamboat Springs, Colorado, for a week of work. We did a little shopping but tried to stay close to home and get some quality together time in. As soon as he gets back this weekend, he has to turn around to get straight back on the road to go to another sale in Reno for the week. Luckily it is close, so I get to go for a few days for work as well.

Later in the weekend, after Logan had left, I went to Fallon, Nevada, to watch Utah cowgirl Carlie Brotherson compete at the Silver State Queen contest. Carlie won 1st runner up at the Utah High School Rodeo Queen contest, so she got to go to Silver State International Rodeo to compete against the other state 1st runners up for the Silver State title. Silver State is a very competitive rodeo where contestants placing 6th through 10th at their state finals are invited to compete (1st to 5th place in each at state go to nationals, but only the state queen gets to compete in the national queen contest). Team Utah is always a force to be reckoned with in Fallon.

Carlie is a good friend from home and her family was always supportive of me and my sister when we were competing. So, since Fallon is not to far from Sacramento, I went to watch her and took a few photos. I made a collage of her and her horse Burnie below. They make such a cute team.

After a long weekend, it was hard to get back to work, but I guess that is the price I pay for growing up. Not much else new around here. We have been keeping busy as usual and trying to stay out of the heat. So goes summer in Sacramento I guess.

Tutus

So, I know these real cute little girls and I was in the mood to do some crafting, so I made some patriotic tutus. They turned out pretty cute. Unfortunately, I needed to visualize one on something and I don't have any little girls near by.

I think Reno was kind of fond of it. Hopefully Sydney doesn't mind sharing her pink tutu.

The patriotic ones aren't nearly as large, but are still pretty dang cute. 

A Steal of a Deal

When I started this blog, my intent was to record things we have done to the house. Until the last couple of weeks, work kept us busy outside the house and the yard was a nice break from work. Well, now it is too hot to be outside (it is 7:30 p.m now and 106 outside), so we are spending more time inside. So, we have been doing some deep cleaning and decorating.

We have had an empty loft since we moved in. It has just had a chair and a magazine rack in it with a clock and a painting on the wall. And it is a pretty big room so it needed something else. Last weekend, we went to the Bob Feist Invitational Team Roping in Reno and did some browsing at the tradeshow. I bought a shirt and Logan got a new hat, but what we really had our eye on was this beautiful piece of furniture.

We were driving the car and it was way over-priced anyways so Logan said after he came home working in Oregon all week we would go back at the end of the tradeshow and see if they would come down on the price. I didn't think for a minute he would still be interested in going back to Reno after driving all the way back from Oregon. But on his way home from Oregon, he called the guy at the tradeshow who said he was willing to come way down on the price rather than haul it back to Texas.

So, the loft now has this in it:

Pictures don't do it justice. I love it.

Transformation

I came home from work the other day to a new formal living room. Logan had talked about putting up some leather wall paneling in the room since he got a gift card to Lowe's from his mom this past Christmas.

Unfortunately, when he finally had a couple of days earlier this week, but the leather paneling was discontinued. Instead, he found a wall paper that looked similar and put it up. Pretty good look I think. He started it one morning and had it all finished that afternoon. When he sets out to do something, it usually gets done ultra fast, so I really wasn't surprised.

Just to refresh your memories, I have put up a before picture of the room when we bought the house. We painted it before we ever moved it, but I think the new look gives it a lot of dimension. Thanks for the gift card, Debi!

Original Look

New Look

Baby Harley

Even though I don't have much time for this blog post, I figure the next few weeks won't slow down much, so I guess now is better than later.

After some business meetings in Denver last week, I was able to go home for a couple of days to deliver birthday presents, Father's Days gifts, attend a baby shower and take some photos. It was a whirlwind of a few days but at least Logan was already in Utah for work and was able to meet me at the airport for the quick trip.

The highlight of the weekend was getting to see Jim and Alesia's new baby, Harley James, and take pictures of their family. Although Harley is precious, I think a newborn is a little too much work. I would however be willing to take Sydney home with me for a while. She is a handful, but is oh so cute! Below are a few pictures of their cute family.

But my all-time favorite photo...

Is this one of Harley grinning. Why do you suppose he is so happy? Maybe it is because I caught him in the act of PEEING...on my camera. Yes, folks, that is urine on my lens. No worries though, it is a cute photo and the camera is fine. I guess that is one of the potential hazards of naked baby photography.

Memorial Day Weekend Projects

The weather in California has been great lately. We've had a little rain, but at least it will hold off the rotten summer heat for a little longer. This is a picture of a sunset we had in our backyard earlier this week. I swear the clouds in California look different. Maybe because we are at sea level, I don't know.

It has been a busy couple weeks at the Ipsen residence. I have had a lot of events to attend for work, Logan has been traveling - as usual. After being apart all weekend, we got to have dinner together tonight and then he is off tomorrow morning to work in Missouri for the week. Luckily, I have got more than enough on my plate to get caught up on while he is away. Between sewing some blankets and taking photos here and there, I have a trip to Denver next week for work, going home to Utah for three days and then back to California for an annual meeting at work. July should slow down some, but Logan won't be here much to enjoy it....maybe in August.

This week, I was working on a blessing blanket for my good friend Kristan's baby, Macy Jo. I was glad Kristan asked me to do it because quilt bindings are not my specialty so I could always use the practice. Macy's blanket is the one in the middle below. The blanket on the right is also for Macy just because I like her. The yellow and pink blanket on the left is for one of my mom's waitresses at the cafe who is due in July.

Today, I went up north to Gridley to take pictures of my friend Melanie's large family of 10. Holy cow, she has her hands full. Getting eight children to all look in the same direction is a little challenging, but it was a great experience and we got so many fun shots. Below are just a couple  of my favorites.

I hate to play favorites (but this little guy is probably my favorite.)