I finally did a wee bit of sewing the past couple of days..got two more blocks done for my 'x' & 'plus' quilt (the colorful quilt).  Will post a photo of those tomorrow.  But I just HAD to show you my beautiful moon flower plant.  The flowers open at night and I usually forget to check.  There were several buds today so I just remembered to go out and peek.  WOW, it is GORGEOUS!!

 

 

Father's Day

This is yet another first in the 10 months since my Frank passed away.  My first Father's Day without him and 24 years without my dad. 

 

Frank and my dad, two of the best men in my life.  Don't know where I would be without having had the two of them!!

I just realized I never posted a picture of the group present for the family reunion.  These were all decendants of my mom & her two brothers.  I THINK there were 47 of us in attendance with a few missing!!  WOW!

Just a quick post to show my first daylily of
the summer.  I know several species have
bloomed already but mine just today.  These
are my mom's daylilies and I must take some
with me when I leave this house.  They are so
beautiful!!

OK bombing memorial

While in OKC, my brother wanted to see the Oklahoma City bombing memorial.  I've been there once before and was so moved at how beautifully they'd constructed it.  We were talking yesterday with a National Park Service ranger and he was given us some really interesting facts about the symbolism involved in how it was laid out.  They have chairs for each adult and child killed in the bombing.  There are nine rows of chairs as there were nine floors in the bldg.  They have the chairs arranged as to which floor of the bldg. the people were (like Secret Service was 9th floor, the daycare was on the 2nd, etc.).  The bombing occurred at 9:02am so at one end of the reflecting pool is a wall with 9:01 am and the other end is 9:03 am.  So much symbolism....

 





This is the survivor tree.  My cousin was telling me that right after the blast, that tree was  pretty much like Charlie Brown's Christmas tree.  But it has survived and thrived.  The seeds have been gathered and sent to areas that have suffered their own disasters, one of them being NY after 9/11.  So I guess there are supposedly many offspring of the survivor tree around the country and/or world.

Twisters!!

I continue to pass the days doing a lot of stuff but nothing quilty.  :-((   Friday my brother, sister-in-law and I headed up to Oklahoma City for a family reunion yesterday.  YIKES!  We got more than we expected.  It was a beautiful day up until about 5pm as we were coming out of the bookstore at Oklahoma University (buying Boomer Sooner paraphernalia!! LOL).  I noticed a darkening sky and thought 'uh oh, we better get moving along'.  As we drove through Moore, the devastation was just unfathomable.

 

 

I've seen so much on the news but seeing it right there in front of me was just.....hard to describe.
As we neared our hotel, it was beginning to rain.  We made a run for cover and into the hotel.  There were SCORES of girls, softball players in town for the softball world series.  They were already beginning to let folks know where the evacuation locations were--WHAT?!  Not too long after, we ended up in one of the ballrooms after hearing the sirens blaring outside.  I wasn't terribly concerned but we waited and after some time decided to make our way to the lobby to watch the TV.   It was BAD!  My son and granddaughter were on the road somewhere between here and there.  Texts back and forth telling them to take cover somewhere and stay in a safe place.

Finally, evacuation was ended and we made it back to our room.  We were OK but many were not.  Three storm chasers with the Discovery Channel (I believe) lost their lives among 10 others.  There was a great deal of damage but not quite so much as in Moore.  The son and granddaughter made it in safely (albeit nearly midnight!!).  My cousin, who evaded any damage in the BIG tornado in Moore, received damage in this storm and was unable to make it to the reunion.  But physically she was OK.  Thank the Lord!

 

 

Since I'M not doing anything in the sewing room, thought I'd share of few of my favorite patriotic quilts that can be found out there in blogland.

Aren't they pretty? 

Just a reminder to remember our brave men and women who've served and are serving now to keep us ALL safe.  Our heroes!!