cross stitch
My niece, Susan Griffith is a Client Development Executive by trade. She works for Blue Cross Blue Shield, but there is so much more to Susan than that. Like her mom, Debbie Cook, Susan likes to cross stitch. She is currently working on a special picture for a friend’s babies. Those baby cross stitch patters are so cute, and I just know it will be beautiful when it is finished.
Susan is an avid reader. She finds reading to be very relaxing and informative. As with most adults, there is likely not much time to read in her busy day, but because the family loves to go camping, I’m sure she finds a little bit of time to do more of that, while everyone is hanging out in camp. Nevertheless, reading isn’t all they do while camping. Susan and her husband, Josh own several horses, and they do a lot of riding. Their girls, Jala Satterwhite and Kaytlyn Griffith are excellent equestrians, as is Josh. Susan, being a city girl, is learning, and becoming more comfortable with each ride.
The Griffith family was able to get a lot of camping in this year, and that gave Susan time to do another of her favorite pastimes…rock collecting. I had no idea Susan loved rocks, but is is something a lot of people do. Susan tends to look for a specific rock, called a wishing rock. This was something I had never heard about, although I have seen them. When she told me about the wishing rock, Susan’s daughter, Katylyn encouraged me to look it up to see what it was exactly. I did, and I found that “a ‘wishing rock’ is a beach stone with a single perfectly unbroken stripe all the way around the circumference of the rock. For a rock to qualify as a true wishing rock, there can be no breaks in the white quartz circle. Most of us have seen striped rocks, but to find 
one with just a single perfect line is not easy.” So, I found out something new, thanks to Kaytlyn. The Idea is that if you find such a rock, your wish will come true. Of course, like wishing on a star, we all know that the “wishing rock” can’t grant wishes wither, but they are a very unique, and really very pretty stone, so I can see why they would capture Susan’s eye. They are truly beautiful. Today is Susan’s birthday. Happy birthday Susan!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
My sister-in-law, Debbie Cook loves all things grandchildren. Debbie has four grandchildren of her own…Weston Moore, Jala Satterwhite, Easton Moore, and Kaytlyn Griffith. The kids are involved in a variety of activities, from the little plays and programs that Kaytlyn is in, to the variety of sports the other children are in. Debbie tries not to miss out on these events, and can often be seen in the audience. It doesn’t matter what activity the kids are into this time, the grandma in Debbie can’t help but be there to watch. I can totally relate to that, because I went to everything my grandkids did too. It is simply the grandma thing to do. Those years go by so fast, so a person would be foolish to think there is always the next time.
Debbie loves to quilt and cross stitch, and makes these items for the craft fairs she has sold at. It’s a big job, and sometimes one is about all she can muster, but she really finds making the beautiful things she makes to be relaxing and enjoyable. Quilting, especially is a really big job, but all the grandchildren in the family have reaped the benefit of Debbie’s ability, when she made memory quilts from their grandparents clothing after her dad, Walt Schulenberg passed away. The ability to make quilts is an amazing one, and the recipients have 
something they will always treasure. I think Debbie got that ability from her grandma, Vina Hein, who made quilts over the years too…and maybe from her aunt, Esther Hein who got it from her mom too. However the ability came to her, it is a blessing to her family, and I believe she is trying to pass it along to her granddaughters, Jala and Kaytlyn.
Another activity that Debbie likes to share with her grandchildren is playing cards, and their favorite game right now is “Nuts.” I can’t say I have ever played that one, although, maybe I have. If I have, and I were to attempt it again, I would have to have it completely retaught to me, but Debbie’s grandkids know how and whenever their busy lives allow enough time to play, they go to their grandma’s house, and get a game going. I’m sure this activity, like all others that apply to grandchildren, will someday come to an end, for the most part, but maybe they will try to keep it alive, so that they have something they can share with the grandparents over the years.
Debbie and her husband, Lynn Cook, love to go camping, and now that both are retired, they spend a lot of time in the Big Horn Mountains. It is a way for them to unplug from everyday life. Telephone service up there is 
spotty, so they have time to get back to nature. In the summer, they might not come down from the mountain for a couple of weeks, and then after a few days, they are ready to head back up the mountain. It is really their place of solitude. Even though they don’t live in a big town, the busy activity in town can be overwhelming sometimes, and the mountains are a great place to unwind. Of course, they love having their girls, Machelle and Susan and their families come along. Seriously, why not make it a family affair. Today is Debbie’s birthday. Happy birthday Debbie!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
My sister-in-law, Debbie Schulenberg Cook, is a woman of many talents. Over the years she has made clothing for her girls, Machelle Cook Moore and Susan Cook Griffith, including Machelle’s wedding dress. She made lots of other clothes for them through the years too. One thing that I never really had the patience for, was sewing, but Debbie was quite good at it. She sewed most of her own clothes too. I always thought it would be nice to be able to do that, but it just wasn’t going to be something I would master, and my shoulders just couldn’t stand the aching I got when I sewed, so it was what it was.
Debbie took up cross stitch, and made many pretty things to give away and sell at the craft fairs that she, my sister-in-law, Brenda, and my parents-in-law used to participate in. Now cross stitch was something I could sink my teeth into, but I didn’t ever get involved in the craft fairs, because by then, Bob and I were bowling seven days a week…fanatical, absolutely. Nevertheless, they all did pretty well with the craft fairs, and very much anticipated each one with joy. I know that the people who bought the items they sold were very pleased with them, but I think the gifts she made especially for one family member or another were the very best, because of all the love that went into them. Something that is made with love is always a keepsake.
After her dad’s passing, almost three years ago, and after we had to place her mother in a nursing home due to Alzheimer’s Disease, we decided to take the clothes that didn’t go to the nursing home, and any material he mom had left, and make quilts for everyone. Debbie single handedly took on the task of making quilts for the grandchildren. It was a huge undertaking, because there are eight grandchildren, and ten great grandchildren. Debbie did a wonderful job on those quilts, and they are something the grandchildren and great grandchildren will treasure forever, because the are from their grandparents clothing, and made with love for them by Debbie. It just doesn’t get any better than that. Today is Debbie’s birthday. Happy birthday Debbie!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
Over the years, my sister-in-law, Debbie Cook has tried her hand at a variety of different crafts. Debbie had always done a lot of sewing, and had made her daughters clothing. Sewing was never really my thing, although I could sew if I wanted to. I just never really wanted to. Debbie enjoyed it though, and the clothes she made were very nice. It was something she shared with her mother…that ability to sew and to enjoy doing it.
Debbie also took up cross stitch and for years made pictures that she sold at the many craft fairs that she and several other family members had booths at over the years. For the most part, the cross stitch projects were done by Debbie and Brenda, but there were a few others in the family, myself included. Nevertheless, Debbie made a number of sweet pictures to give as gifts to many people in the family, and we who have received them, have cherished them ever since we got them.
More recently, Debbie got into quilting, and like most people who find that they like quilting, she found that it was maybe her calling. I’m not sure when she got started exactly, but I remember that while her dad, Walter 
Schulenberg was alive, she made a quilt for him. I don’t recall exactly if she made the original one for him, but I think she did, and then, because of how cold he always got, she actually took it apart and turned it into two lap quilts. Now that ability really impressed me. It is one thing to make a quilt, but then to alter the quilt in such a way…well, that takes a degree of talent, especially when the quilt had the frayed edges that are so popular these days.
After Dad’s passing, we, the kids and children-in-law, decided that since Mom was in a nursing home now, we wanted to turn their old clothes into quilts to be cherished memories for all of us. We weren’t sure how big they would be able to be, and we had asked a family friend, Linda Hall to make the ones for the five living children. Then Debbie approached me and said that she had really wanted to help with those, so it was decided that she would use part of the material to make memory quilts for the grandchildren. Those were exciting days of anticipation for the children and the grandchildren. It was such a great idea that my sister-in-law, Brenda Schulenberg had come up with.
All of the quilts were finished between Thanksgiving and mid-January. They were such a blessing to receive. 
Both of the girls did a wonderful job on them. Debbie has now decided that she wants to make a set for the great grandchildren, and we are all looking forward to seeing those too. What a blessing that will be for the great grandchildren, some of whom have never even met their great grandfather, or their great great grandparents, whose clothes will also be used in these, but will now have a memory of them anyway. We can’t wait. Today is Debbie’s birthday. Happy birthday Debbie!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
