Sabbatical - Family Gatherings

Where do I even start? I should have updated this while I was on my sabbatical - much easier - especially with all the pictures. But I digress.

 The first part of my sabbatical was spent with family. My little sissy Caitilin came into town with her family. Loved having them here and spending time with them without having to worry about work.

I'll let the pictures tell the story...

...and sorry...not the best quality. Took these from my ipod.

Little boy Liam.

 I got sick my first day into my sabbatical. Here's Max stealing my spot on the couch.

 Sisters together getting frozen Yogurt.

 Went to Trafalga one day with the nephews and little neice, E.

 Love these cute kids! Little E makes me laugh so hard!

 Felt productive one day and changed the bedding in our guest room. Using the quilt my Mom got me while I was on my Mission. Now it's being used here. Good as new, and looks great!

 Had a big family dinner at 5Star BBQ in Orem. We could barely fit all of us in there, but it was fun.

Silly we didn't take a family picture.

 Home from BBQ, getting ready to start the Junior (nephews) Vs. Senior (Uncles) Real Soccer game

Let the games begin!

 Uncle Quinn started a trend of showing his chest after getting a goal. 

Nephews just HAD to follow his example.

 Quinn is a little crazy when they score

 Game over! Junior Real WINS!!

 So serious.

 Dorks

The next set of pictures make me laugh so hard!!!! The Uncles had such a bright idea. 

The pictures show what is about to happen as the Nephews pose for a team picture.

Hilarious!!!

 WATERRR!

 Soaking wet and showing off their muscles.

 Love this picture of all of them.

 The cheering section. No idea what we're all doing here.

 Caiti the Cheerleader

 Seesters (missing Megan)

 Seesters (missing Megan & Brianna)

 Yeah, we're a little weird when it's almost midnight and we've just had some frozen yogurt.

If you haven't had enough entertainment from the pictures...here's a video of the awards ceremony 

after the soccer game. It's hilarious!!!

Fiestaware

Back in 1988 (I think was the year) My mom, my sister Megan and I flew to Nebraska to visit my cousins, the Heitmans, my Mom's sisters family.

I remember one day we were eating breakfast in the kitchen and she told us about her Fiestaware dishes she has been collecting. She opened up a cabinet and it was full of beautiful colorful plates, bowls, and cups. I thought they were cool, but didn't really understand the big deal about them. 

Fast Forward to a few years ago when I began doing a little research about Fiestaware. I had no idea they came into production back in the 1930's, and have been making them ever since. However, the newer ones, from 1986 and up, are made lead free.

I told Ryan I wanted some Fiestaware, and began figuring out where I could buy them. I went to amazon and found what I thought was a place set for 4 people that included the plates, bowls, cups and saucers for $50. 

Ok, a little pricey, but not too bad I thought. 

I told Ryan about them and he looked surprised about the price. I said, Yeah, a little pricey. He said, umm no...that's cheap, and proceeded to tell me how expensive they are. 

He looked at it on Amazon and said...

"uh, honey, that's not a place setting for 4 people, that's 4 pieces for 1 person."

What?! $50 for 1 person? I thought that was insane. He then did the math and told me that in order to get a set for 8 people it would be  $400. 

I couldn't believe it was that much for new Fiestaware. Crazy!!

So, I started doing the next best thing a few weeks ago...

Antique shopping for Fiestaware. 

I have started my collection, and I am thrilled about it! Especially because I've gotten them for great deals! I've only gotten big plates and small plates so far. I'm not really interested in the little cups - I prefer big glass tumblers. But I would like to get bowls as well. 

Here's what I've gotten so far...

This was the start of my collection. Found 6 dinner plates, + 5 salad plates at an antique store in AF. 

Was thrilled when I saw them in this beautiful soft yellow color, and was even more thrilled when I talked them down $12 less than what they were asking. Got a great deal on them! 

Too bad there were only 5 of the smaller ones, oh well.  

These were made in 1998. I'll use them for everyday use. 

Went shopping today in Salt Lake and found a few Fiestaware in different colors. However, I'm really mostly interested in the soft yellow, turquoise, green...maybe purple. But the yellows and blues for sure.   

So, I found 2 of these smaller yellow plates that are an older Fiestaware, made between 1939 - 1969. The turquoise is newer, 1998.  

I probably won't use these smaller, older yellow ones for eating since they contain lead. They'll just be used as a collection. The tag on them said $9 for each little plate, but they were sitting on a shelf that said $2 for everything on the shelf...so they gave it to me at the $2 price. YAY! Saved $14.
That's my kind of shopping.

I'm so excited to find more Fiestaware treasures. Eventually I would like my collection to look like this...

So pretty!