Category Archives: Family History

A Camping They Will Go

Quilt Therapy Posted on by

DD#2 and DD#3 were dumped on their heads at Camp Chrysalis yesterday – my baby is gone!  This is the second camp adventure for DD#2, but the first for DD#1.  The rule was always that they had to be 10 years-old before they could go off to camp … but, that youngest child of ours has three older siblings who have all been away at camp at some point, and she was just READY to go!  And admittedly, there are some hours of some days that WE were ready to send her off!  😉

DD#2 is doing the River Rider’s camp, where she’ll swim, canoe and even take a canoe trip and camp overnight under the stars.  She was very excited to go!

DD#1 is in the Extreme Adventures camp, and since she’s our most athletic, she’ll surely have an awesome time climbing up to the cross on the bluff and playing games. 

And I, for one, get very excited when they get home, because their faith is SO evident in everything they’ve done and (for a while) in what they do at home.

But, will I make it through the week without them?  I’m already missing them, and it hasn’t even been 24 hours!  It’s really HARD to leave your babies with someone else to care for!

A Camping She Will Go…

Quilt Therapy Posted on by

DD#1 is the first in our brood to get to escape the daily grind at the Harrison casa for a week of summer camp.  She’s been to this camp once before, and to their sister-camp the next summer.  The energy and enthusiasm for a Christ-centered week of exercise, devotions, prayers and learning more about life is unmatched, as far as we’re concerned!  Not to mention the opportunity to be with peers, form new relationships and enjoy having a college-aged student be her boss (instead of her parents). 

We dropped her off on Sunday and will return to pick her up on Friday:

Our Pastor and his wife accompanied us as they’ve never been to the camp before.

Standing outside her cabin.

LOOK, right over there is where I’ll be sweating sleeping!

What a Father’s Day gift – getting rid of HER!  🙂

Another Father’s Day for the Dad-ster

Quilt Therapy Posted on by

With a weekend packed full of family obligations, we fell into bed exhausted last night.  I’m not sure the father of the house had the Father’s Day that he would have chose, but there was no way around all of the things we had to do.

Luckily, we had the foresight to allow him to open his gifts on Saturday evening, because Sunday was overflowing!  First, he taught his Sunday school class then we went to church.  After that, we met our pastor and his wife for a picnic in a small park in town, because next on the list was dropping DD#1 off at church camp for the week!  After an hour in the heat, we were melting…and ready to head back to church for a “four hands and four feet” organ presentation that was spectacular!  Two more stops to pick up groceries and we finally made it home in time to relax while the kids watched a movie – and all of us were in the bed by 11 (usually, that is way too early for me to go to bed). 

Here are some pix of the dad-person and our offspring:


This was on the back of his card.


Third year in a row for him to wear his “Who are these kids and why do they keep calling me DAD?” tshirt.  Only way I can tell the difference in years is by his (increasing) gray hair!


His favorite gift – make your own beer kit (which our youngest children promptly announced to the entire church congregation during the children’s message on Sunday).


DD#3 decided to give the lemon/lime squeezer a test on her nose.


DD#1 thinks she’s well-suited to being a model for product marketing.  Can you say Drama Queen?!

Cathy, I’ve Fulfilled my Promises to You

Quilt Therapy Posted on by

My cousin Cathy asked three things of me before she passed away.   I have now fulfilled those promises:

1)  Make and give her third daughter, Toni, a baby quilt for the new baby who was due in April (but was born at the end of March):

2)  Give the tote bag that I started for Cathy to her oldest daughter Terra:

3)  Be there for her middle daughter Tiffany, which is near impossible, since I am 1000 miles away from her.  In lieu of that, I made her a lap quilt with all of the fabrics that her mom had chosen for her tote bag.  Be sure to click on the photo to see the quilting detail – each block is filled with hearts, and each juncture where the blocks come together contains entwined hearts:

It feels good to have completed what Cathy asked me to do.  It feels good to bring a little quilted love to her daughters.  And although I will miss Cathy, her daughters now have a little piece of her that they didn’t have before.  God’s Peace to Cathy and her family.

Chosen with Love, Made with Love, Gifted with Love

Quilt Therapy Posted on by

My first cousin Cathy passed away in February.  She was going in for a hip replacement and made it through the surgery, but her heart just couldn’t keep up with the recovery.  She’d already had bypass surgery and lived five years longer than predicted (even though she was in her 50’s), so although her family will mourn her for many years, they got more years with her than the doctors predicted.

When she was in the hospital and recovering, she had her laptop in front of her, chatting with me.  She asked me for a few things.  I didn’t think much about it at the time, except she had a new grandson coming in April and didn’t think she would be totally recovered from her surgery to enjoy his birth as much as she did her other grandchildren. 

In hindsight, I realize that I think she knew she wasn’t going to make it – she was getting her ducks in a row and asking me (someone who’s been outside of that side of the family loop for a VERY long time) to give her girls something tangible to remember her by…..as I think she knew she was going Home.

Anyway, I made the quilt she asked me to make for her soon-to-be fifth grandchild and third grandson, and her daughter received it this week.

Toni, Cooper and the rest of Cathy’s family – I assure you this quilt was chosen wiht love, made with love and gifted with love.  I hope you all will love it for many years to come.  Because that’s what your mom intended!