2008 Princess Academy

This Year, Max and I hosted our annual Sister's week here in Idaho.
Last Year for Sisters Week, we had Boot Camp.
Our theme this year was "Princess Academy". Here is the sum up of a very memorable 4 days together...Wed Night... I Picked Char up from airport at 10pm. The rest of the princesses arrived an hour later. All were introduced to their sleeping quarters, but no one slept! Everyone put on their new PINK pajamas (since the color this year is PINK). As it usually goes, we stayed up until the wee hours of the morning talking, laughing, and laughing some more.

Thursday...
Each morning Jolynn lead our devotional and talked about "Protecting Our Castles." This is the notebook she gave to each of us to take notes and make our plans!
Paula Vanderhorst came to our home and taught us the basics of quilting.
We began the lofty project of making a "sisters" rag quilt. Paula was AWESOME, and we all loved learning this new technique, and especially loved being able to work on the project together. It's amazing what gets done with 7 pair of helpful hands, especially my sisters who are all incredibly creative. Mind you we also had 4 pairs of little mischievous hands undoing a lot of what we did...but it was fun.
The biggest set back was when my sewing machine EXPLODED! Char was sewing when the machine shot a spark and began smoking like a steam engine. She jumped away from the possessed machine, but it didn't stop sewing...it kept going and going and going. Finally, we unplugged it and prayed the smoke wouldn't set off the alarms and awake our sleeping children. It was pretty smoky! We had a big laugh of that episode. Paula graciously lent us her machine so we could continue the project. Thank you Paula!!!!

The quilt isn't finished yet (I still need to cut the hems into rag strips), but here are some pictures of our masterpiece.
Book Review:
That evening we had our book review for Princess Academy by Shannon Hale. I've read this book twice now, and was amazed at the many insights from my sisters--it's an amazing book with a great message... A perfect kick off for our week.

Char who was in charge of the Book review made us linder stones with the word "listen" embossed on it and gave each of us a ceramic Miri flower that she made before coming. It was a inspirational evening.

The Miri flower -
the flower that conquers the rock and climbs to face the sun!

Friday
Carrie shared her ideas about making a TREASURE BOX for posterity. After losing a special friend to cancer this year, she felt impressed to preserve personal treasures. She had some great ideas, and to get us each started she made us a personalized treasure box. They were ALL adorable, but I only have pictures of mine...

A special journal to write about experiences, favorites, goals, top 100 wishes, etc.

A special card to write a love note (why we love them, and how they are special to us) to each member of our family (husband & children).

a Photo book to put our favorite photos, memories, etc.

Then we were off to the Cheesecake Factory for Dinner. Yum! This is my favorite place to eat. Aside from chasing Max all over, trying to keep his food in close proximity, and cleaning the many food disasters, we had a great night out.

Saturday
Finsih Quilt (Carrie, Jo and I stayed up until 2:30am sewing, and we finished!) , Games by Larin. Movie Enchanted.

Sunday
Morning Fireside by Charlotte Howard, Princesses in our Castle--"It's hard being princess, but someday I'll be Queen!" Charlotte is one of my favorite people in the world. She shared some great insights from the scriptures about "becoming princesses" and preparing for the many blessings the Lord has instore for us. It was a special morning.