"My" last ACT

Lauren and I were up at 5:45am this morning and this was part of our reward.  A beautiful sunrise with amazing clouds!

This morning Lauren took her last ACT test in preparation for her college applications.  She did not use the same test preparation tutor, Dawn, that a few of other kids used, but we did use Dawn's test day secrets.  First secret, wake up at 5:45am and go for a mile run.  Then wear a business dress and then eat a very specific meal before and during the test break.

Lauren was very prepared for the test, unfortunatly, the testing center was not as prepared.  This is the first time the ACT was given in the shorter length.  Also, the Science section and writing portion are both optional.  This meant there were 3 groups of kids taking the test and the testing center them all mixed up.  So they had to rearrange kids accoridng to their needs.  This made the test start late and I’m sure make some kids more antsy.  Her friend, Elsa Nunley, brought her home after the test.  

Currently, the Honda Civic has been making some funny noises over the last few weeks and so we took it into the mechanic to see if they can figure out what is making all those noises.  

Chloë spent the morning with a new old friend. This is someone she has known for a while, but it’s never done anything with her on the weekend. It was fun to hear about Chloë‘s little adventure with her friend. They went to Ulta makeup store to find some concealer and contour make up. When Chloë got home we watched a 20 minute video on how to apply contour. It was very informative!

Later this afternoon, Tony and Christopher showed up. Christopher‘s dad is in a detox inpatient hospital. There was a little incident with him a few days ago and so I encouraged Daniel to reach out to Christopher‘s mom, Monika, to see if he and Tony would like to spend a few hours over here swimming. I figured Monika could use a little break. I hope she was able to do something for herself or get caught up at home.  She is such a kind, sweet lady. Currently she is a relief society president in the Camelback Branch.

Sam's college quilt

If you recall the lag time on baby quilts, the following story will make perfect sense.  My baby quilt post can be found on October 15, 2003

As Sam's senior year of high school was quickly passing me by I felt ZERO pressure to make Sam's quilt because I had 2 whole years while he was on his mission to work on it. Every now and again I would look at quilt patterns on Etsy until one day I saw the most adorable pattern! It was a mountain landscape. I fell in love with it and knew Sam would think it was pretty cool as well. Fast forward to April of 2025. Sam would be home from his mission in 4 months and I had not STARTED on his quilt. PANIC!  It took me four years and Daniel and Lauren's help to get Olivia's quilt ready for her to leave for college. At some people during Sam's mission I was thinking abotu his quilt because I had the genius idea to use his baby clothes to make up some on the squares of his quilt. After rummaging through baby clothes and a few visits to the fabric store here and in St. George, I had all my fabric picked out.  With  about 2 months to go I began to cut the fabric. Plus, to our great delight Seth and Katry were living with us for the month of July. Of course, during that time we had summer vacations, camps, and day to day comings and goings. Consequently, it was hard to make much progress. Fortunately, the quilt was coming together nicely, but by now I had less than 2 weeks till Sam was coming home.  Chloe and I mad a few more trips to the fabric store tweeking colors here and there. T-minus 2 days and the mountain scene of the quilt was finished thanks to a few late nights watching Crash Landing on You!  Now it was time to add the thick border that was make the quilt twin sized for his bed.  

I had worked so hard and spent a lot of emotional energy on it over the past few months, that as I pushed the fabric through the machine I began to consider whether Sam would love it as much as I did.  Then I began to look at the quilt from his perspective.  I knew he would love the symbolism in the baby clothing fabric and he would really love the math that went into creating the squares and triangles to make the mountain scene.  I had no doubt he would like it... but then I began to think about how it was coming together. The border was brightly colored and it started looking a bit juvenile. In a flash I knew I would not be giving Sam this quilt as his college quilt.  I would give it to him at a much more special time in his life. I felt really good about that choice. I am not very crafty and definitely not detail oriented which is a must when it comes to quilting. So this quilt is a gift of love more so than a gift of something to cover his bed. It has special meaning and I want the quilt to be given at the right time as well. 

A few days after Sam came home from his mission I told him about the process of making his quilt and told him I would give it to him down the road some day. And just like that we took a trip to Pottery Barn, where he could find the perfect quilt for his bed at this time in his life. 

Stay tuned to see the completed quilt. The picture below is not in its current condition.  You can't see the sky or border.