Bottled Fruit

Today I have sitting on my counter 14 quarts of peaches and 13 quarts of pears. There is just something about seeing your finished product. In a couple days I'll have the kids put them downstairs in our storage room, but for now I'm just going to leave them there so we can look at it and know that all the hard work was worth it.
Jacob and I had a pretty good system with the pears. He was pealing them and I pitted and sliced and put them into the jars. I did break one jar thus the reason for only 13 quarts instead of 14, but I think that is the first time I've ever done that. I bought my own water bath caner this year. Kind of nice.
We still have quite a few peaches left and a few pears, but the kids are enjoying fresh fruit for now. Also this is the first year that our peach tree was loaded, which isn't enough to bottle, but maybe next year I'll be able to save $30 and just use our home grown ones. And they are delicious!
One of my favorite treats is peaches and cream. I've had this since I was little. Canned milk poured over sliced peaches with a little sugar on top. Yummy!!

Cake Sale

It that time of year again. . . no I'm not talking about bottled fruit or dried cornstalks, or even pumpkins sitting on the porch, I'm talking about the Scout Auction. Every year our local scout group puts together a friends of scouting auction to raise money. As is tradition, each scout bakes a cake with his dad to donate. This year we had two cakes to bake so . . . Dennis and I went with divide and conquer. The boys picked their theme and we did out best to make it happen. This is what we came up with. The boys were happy. . . mission accomplished.

Family Vacation

standing: Khora, Jacob, Luke, Isaac
sitting: Afton, Sariah, Karley, Walker

(Khora with her favorite rocks.)

We were finally able to take a little family vacation last weekend. We took 4 days off and went camping up our favorite canyon. We had a trailer, 4 wheelers and good friends. We had so much fun. The kids played so well together and the time went by so quickly. We went hiking, fishing, 4 wheeling, and on a fun drive to look for elk. So nice! We loved every minute of it. It was a little hard to come back home and get back into the routine though.

Four Months Old

*UPDATE: Bonnie now weighs 14lbs 2oz and is 25 inches long, and is a healthy and happy baby. The other day the kids timed her and she sat on her own for 12 seconds.

Bonnie rolled over last week. She has also been trying to grab everything she can reach and then of course everything goes in the mouth. She's gearing up for baby food soon. She's not quite sitting on her own though so it might be another month before we try anything. She loves it when we give her pony rides on our knee and her favorite book is about baby faces. She just gets so excited when she looks at all those cute babies! She still loves talking to us and lets herself be heard but she's always quick with the smiles! She has a Dr appointment in a couple weeks so we'll learn her stats then.

Feeling of Fall

"Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me want to buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly-sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address. On the other hand, this not knowing has its charms."

This line is from one of my all time favorite movies, You've Got Mail. I was thinking of the newly sharpened pencils as I started putting this post together. It just feels like fall. School is back in session, it's turning cool and the harvest is on.
We have been enjoying so many good things not only out of our garden but from my parents garden as well as farms and orchards around us. I made a batch of blackberry jam using aplums the boys picked at a neighbors house. It's really the first time I've succeeded on my own. Yippee!! We have also enjoyed some beautiful corn from our bigger garden. This year the children sold the corn door to door and earned over $28. It was kind of their end of the summer fund raiser. (We have such kind and generous neighbors.) And then there has been one of my favorites, watermelon, a first for us here. They are so juicy. I love them fresh from the vine. We have also been enjoying carrots, broccoli, peppers, cabbage and onions. We are waiting for what looks to be a great peach harvest this year as well. I love harvest season! I'm already making plans for next year. I love this time of year!

Bonnie at Three Months

It's taken me a while to get this out because I'm in complete denial. I wish she would stay little for a lot longer, but it's going by so fast. She's so stinkin' cute though and is becoming so much fun right now.

She is noticeably becoming a little social butterfly who loves any and all attention. She babbles with us all the time, smiles from ear to ear, has an even temperament, loves being outside, taking walks in the stroller, looking at books and sucking on her hands. Khora started calling her Bonnie May and it's kind of stuck. (Not sure where it came from though.)

I went out and bought a new swing. You don't wind it up or use batteries, it has a power cord. Nice!! It has saved me from holding her when she sleeps because she sleeps really well in it, which is about the only time she's in it. She has a nap in the morning, sometimes just cat napping though. then she likes to play. In the afternoon she usually gets in a nice long nap which is a nice break and helps when we're doing school. She often sneaks in another little cat nap sometime before betime. She must be in a growth spurt right now because she's been eating a couple times during the night. She certainly is getting bigger. I love her chunky little legs and could just eat those chubby cheeks!

Carnival Time

The carnival was in town again this year. I love small town things like this because I'm not freaking out the whole time that if my three year old runs off to get on a ride she'll be lost forever. The kids really seamed to have a great time! It was fun meeting friends there. Dennis got suckered into winning a stuffed dog for Khora. The kids went on the scary rides on a bet, and . We did get rained on but it made it fun when we got home and had hot chocolate!

(This is Khora showing off the puppy that her daddy got suckered into winning for her)

(Bonnie taking her a little cat nap.)

(Khora and Daddy on the Ferris Wheel)

(Kids going on ride. After they got going it blew off Isaac's hat so Jacob held onto his.)

Can you believe that is' hot cocoa season already. We've had it in the morning a couple times. It's nice. . . if it doesn't get colder. I hope we still get a nice Indian summer. It just seams unusually cool. Not that I'm complaining, 70's are so nice and I love the cool nights, just as long as we don't get. . . dare I say it . . .frost.