Expert Craftswoman

My sister-in-law, Debbie Cook is an expert craftswoman. In her lifetime, she has made many, various gifts and items to sell, that she handmade with love. Many a baby has a sampler with their name and date of birth on it in cross stitch that is cherished by the child and its parents. Many is the person who owns a quilt made by Debbie’s hands. She has also done sewing through the years, making clothes for her girls, Machelle and Susan. Debbie, along with her parents, Walt and Joann Schulenberg and her sister, Brenda Schulenberg, had booths in many craft fairs over the years, though in recent years craft fairs have somewhat dwindled…a sad thing really, because they provided awesome, and sometimes one-of-a-kind, gifts for many people to give to loved ones.

In the years since she quit participating in craft fairs, Debbie has enjoyed camping a lot. Since her husband, LJ Cook retired, they have been able to go camping a lot more than they could before. In fact, they would probably live in the Big Horn Mountains all summer, if not year round. Of course, their girls, Machelle and Susan probably wouldn’t like that much, because they wouldn’t get to see them as often as they do now. Not that life doesn’t make it difficult, because everyone is busy, but if their parents lived in the mountains, it would be harder to go visit. For Debbie, living in the mountains wouldn’t hinder her hobbies much, because much of it can be done anywhere.

Debbie loves being a grandma, and enjoys spending time with grandsons, Weston and Easton Moore, and granddaughters, Jala Satterwhite and Kaytlyn Griffith. These days, since the kids are all getting grown up, they are a big help to her and LJ too. She used to spend more time with the kids, of course, because when they were in school they often came to her house after school, but now the older three are driving, so there is no need to pick them up or babysit them. It is always sad when the active grandparent days are behind us, then we must wait for the great grandchildren to begin to come. Of course, we still have our grandchildren, but we don’t have the babies, and I think that makes every grandparent a little bit sad.

As life goes on, Debbie and LJ are looking forward to many more years of camping in the Big Horns with their family. They all love to camp as a group, sitting around the campfire at night just enjoying the warmth and !!comradery, as well as the occasional moose that strolls through the camp. They used to go hunting, and liked getting the wild meat, but they haven’t really done that in a number of years. Now they hunt with their eyes, looking for the best specimens, but not shooting them. In that, they have had great success. Today is Debbie’s 68th birthday. Happy birthday Debbie!! Have a great day!! We love you!!