I’m sure you recall all the fabulous bragging I did about my new beautifully painted kitchen and living/dining room.

my wonderful aunt Jacqlin and her daughter, Maija dropped everything to come up here from Hood River to paint for me. I didn’t even have to ask. they offered willingly and lovingly.

and because I was so grateful and so honored by their hard work, I just couldn’t leave it at “thank you”.
no. you sillies.
that’s not enough.
not for what they did, not for all the back-breaking, neck cricking hours (days) they spent just for me and my family.

I am not an emotional person.
ask anyone.
there are a small handful of times when I have cried in public. and almost every one of them included a funeral, wedding or the birth of my three children.
but when my aunt and cousin left my house, thank you seemed so achingly hard to say.
what I felt at that moment was so beyond anything “thank you” could ever mean.
so I did what my heart felt it must do.
and I proceeded to weep and sob like a newborn baby.

me.
yes, me.

so now my cousin, who is, by the way, a professional painter by trade, can tell all her perspective clientel, that one of her jobs moved a woman to tears!

I made a messenger bag for my aunt along with a handmade notebook that my hubbie handbound himself. (he was thankful too!)
my aunt often volunteers her time as a missionary. and she told me in the past she needed a good, strong bag for the fall. one that could get wet and not fall apart.

and the notebook holds a service record to keep track of her time in the ministry work.

for my cousin, Maija, I wanted to make her something to help her take care of her.
since she paints for a living with her husband, I know she must come home exhausted.

so, I made her a lavender and rice heat pack with a soft, fuzzy removable cover.

I hand embroidered a cute little deer on one side.

and “dear friend” on the other.

I hope they love their “thank you” gifts and that they also realize just how deeply they touched me.

every time I look at my lovely walls, I am happily reminded of two very lovely people.