close up of finished quilt top

Unsewn - close up of placement

Piecing the hexagons

Kaleidoscope Quilt

Karen has been working on a Kaleidoscope Quilt over the last two months and finished the top of the quilt earlier this evening. The original quilt fabric came from an Asian theme collection. The fabric has a tan background with pink and red cherry blossoms. This version of kaleidoscope quilt is made with a technique using one piece of fabric and cutting triangles that are sewn into hexagons. These are pieced in such a way that the end result looks nothing like the original fabric. We hung the quilt top on the way to take pictures. We have a few we took along the way to give an idea of the process. We can't wait to see the finished usable product!

Volunteer of the year

Karen was awarded Army Family Team Building Volunteer of the year at the annual Presidio of Monterey Volunteer award ceremony. Of 4,000 volunteer hours recorded for this fiscal year, Karen donated over 700 hours and Jeff donated over 300.

Go team Doherty!

Viva Las Vegas

Jeff has got to be one of the most romantic guys out there! He planned a surprise trip for us to Las Vegas during the last week of June. He told me a few days before we left that he wanted to do something nice for us because we have been so busy. He coordinated the secret trip time off with my boss and did an awesome job!! He put so much thought into the details, it was amazing!!!

We spent the week at the MGM Grand which was absolutely beautiful! He picked out some incredible shows for us to see from Cirque du Soleil. It was over 100 each day, so we spent a lot of time relaxing by the pools at the hotel during the day. We read and talked and swam. We had some awesome dinners. And best of all, we were together all week away from home!

This was the first time either of us had gone to Las Vegas and we definitely want to go back!!!

Award Ceremony

Joint Service Achievement Medal

Friday, July 13th Jeff was awarded the Joint Service Achievement Medal for his role in Language Day. Jeff's award citation reads as follows:

For meritous achievement as Entertainment Representative, Language Day 2007, Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center from 1 March 2007 to 18 May 2007. First Lieutenant Doherty managed logistics and led personnel in the planning and execution of 30 performances. He delivered a quality and enjoyable entertainment production to over 5,000 civilian visitors, students and faculty. First Lieutenant Doherty's accomplishment reflects great credit on himself, the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center, the United States Army, and the Department of Defense.