A trip to Prescott and a little bit of art

I'm really hoping someone can tell me what this "winged creature" is! It was about the size of a hummingbird and it's wings were similar when in flight... they moved very rapidly. However, This thing has a striped body! Is this some sort of fast flying insect or some weird species of hummingbird that I've never seen before?


Hard to believe I can drive just over an hour and be in the midst of tall pines like this!

The sky on my drive up to Prescott!
The evening sunset.
This little guy kept me company on my back patio for a couple of days. These are the most interesting insects. I love how they can turn their heads like humans!



The past week has been a whirlwind. I got to go out-of-town ALONE for 3 days! I drove up to Prescott, AZ, only about an hour and a half drive into the mountains. The weather was perfect. About 80 for a high and in the mid-50's at night! I stayed in a darling little loft that looks like Martha Stewart did the decorating! I had a deck that overlooked the whole little downtown area of Prescott. I just love it there. I did a TON of journaling, some reading, caught up on several episodes of Project Runway that I have missed over the past month, and did a little bit of painting. I only did one watercolor journal page but instead of making each page a single painting, for the first time, I tried combining several separate paintings on one page. Here's my first effort doing this:
This shows bits and pieces of things I enjoyed seeing, along with the photos, of course!.

I also completed a 12x12 quilt for the "With One Voice" exhibit, part of the Breaking Traditions Art Quilt exhibit raising money for cancer research. This exhibit focuses on people who do good. I chose to do my quilt about Kit Danley of Neighborhood Ministries.
Kit started this ministry in one of the poorest areas of Phoenix with a food bank being the first part of the ministry to start. It was soon followed by a clothing bank. Then, she started focusing on the kids. The ministry has grown over the past 25 years and now ministers to hundreds of kids each week through a variety of programs including tutoring, advocating in schools for children, back to school and holiday programs to help the children get things they need, ministering to families, a medical clinic, mentoring mom's program for unwed teenage moms, and this is just a short list. Personally, Kit has chosen to live and raise her family in the bario of Phoenix and is known as Mother Theresa of the Hood. She has advocated in prisons, court, schools... you name it. She has even taken children into her own home when they had no where to go. She's a power house and amazing woman who is 100%, Jesus with skin on. I titled my quilt "Reach into poverty". The background children are created with Spanish Bible text. I did an overlay of gold organza. Kit then stamped her handprint onto the quilt top. I did some beading in the center of her palm. It is because of the courage, vision, and obedience to God that one woman started a ministry that has literally touched thousands of lives and shown child after child, parent after parent, the true love of God. I'm honored to know her and to have worked along side her for a season. She's a woman I deeply admire.
The exhibit will be a traveling exhibit for at least the next year.

Also, my oldest son, Sam, turned 9 years old and we had his roller skating party this past weekend. The party was interesting, to say the least. But the kids seem to have fun and not mind the craziness.

Sam only went out on the floor a couple of times and when he did, this is where he was... hugging the wall! Truthfully, he was more interested in the arcade games.
He won all these tickets with ONE quarter! LOL!

Max, however, took to skating pretty quickly. It was only his second time on skates but look at him go!
Max takes to anything physical almost instantly. He's a naturally athletic little guy. His birthday is only 6 weeks away and wants a skating party too... but we will NOT being going back to this rink. Ya'll wouldn't believe how this party went if I told you. It was a fiasco. I'm just glad it's over!

Gotta' go check on dinner....