{my sweet earth}: The Weckesser Family goes to Anaheim,CA& CHA2014…

So this past CHA, I decided to take my whole family, minus Kurt who is serving a full-time mission in Japan, with me to the show. They had never been to California , Anaheim, or Disney Land, so I thought this could be fun because I could work the show during the day and they could play at Disney Land. I really thought my ‘Mom’s’ hat would be left in Canada when we boarded the Plane! Ya, I know…What on Earth was I thinking!? Anyone that has been to a CHA Show and has worked, taught, demoed, or done anything there know what I am talking about. It is a lot of work and when you have the rare quiet moment…. well it is good to recharge your batteries. I LOVE my family, but they tend to be kinda chatty like me and a bit of a 24 hour , 7 day a week job! *grin* However, I dug deep, found a little bit of extra energy, somewhere….I am not sure where, maybe the chocolate chip cookies that I bought and hoarded, and of course I bought extra Disney Land Day passes for them all! [insert tired but BIG smile]All in all it way a WONDERFUL and jam packed eight days in beautiful ANAHEIM!!

So as this adventures started, we had been stuck in an Alberta deep freeze for what had seemed weeks and this is what it looked like as we headed to the airport.

Jessica had never flown before so she was a little nervous but besides getting a wee bit airsick she did great!

There was a bit of waiting…

But ,waking up in Anaheim in the morning with no snow was all worth the wait!

We decided to rent a car for a day to the the beach before the show began. Now this family that is from rural Alberta is used to driving mini Vans got super excited when they told us all that they had available was a Mercedes Benz. I think we could have ended the trip after that. So, of course, everyone need a photo with it…even me!

We had such a fun time at the beach and we even saw a whale and a seal! I was SO excited!!!

The next day I got up early to head out to the show and Marcus and the kiddos headed out to Disney Land. First I went to drop of my Banner that I had made for the Banner od Hope booth. I also donated stamps so people could create their own banner at the show. What a neato program! Lorine Mason is one of the people that cam up with AWESOME idea and you can read more about it HERE. I then headed out and set up my Designer display after I moderated the Designer Round Table Discussions which was AWESOME fun! My display this year was really different then what I usually do.

It was a Celebration of Life using soft sculpture, paints, ink, resins, and anything else I could find. I altered an old suitcase of my Baba’s. I just had fun.

The lanterns were made out of Resin paper and had little batteries operated candles under them!

I loved running into people and chatting with everyone!

And…. I mean EVERYONE!!! Who knew that Rupert Boneham is such a chatty guy and he is pretty crafty, not just tie dye. He find rock and makes rings and does all kinds of neat things. I had a blast just shooting the breeze with him and my kiddos tell me that he has been on Survivor! Who Knew!? Drat…I should have had him sign something… a bottle of paint, a ribbon…something!

I LOVED demoing at the Ice Resin booth! If they would have let me…I would have just moved in and created and chatted there all day!

Teaching are Mixed Media: Using Supplies in Multiply Ways Class on Tuesday was a BLAST! A BIG thank-you to everyone that came and got colorful and creative in this workshop with Einat and I! We had SO much fun!