This & That

Around Here This Week

So around here this week...

You can see what's been going on. This is is the time of year when I really start hating the canning process. It's temporary, and I know I'm going to be grateful when it's all said and done, but there are still boxes of peaches in my back hall.

I took a little break and wandered the yard a bit on the first day of fall this week. My miniature sunflowers are done and I wanted a look at the little seeds.

When I went over to the other variety, there wasn't a blossom to look at anywhere. The stalks looked like they were bitten or chewed off. My guess? It's the deer that have been appearing off and on.

I just needed to breathe as the sun came up over the trees. Just absorb this time of year.

My phone camera didn't seem to want to handle the intensity of the color on these shrub roses. The juxtaposition of the hot summer colors and the cool fall air, the spent flowers getting their seeds ready for winter, it's a happy time for me.

Sent to me from the kids and grandkids this week, the week has been full in more ways than just canning. Edward dislocated his kneecap during an apparently riotous game of ultimate Frisbee at school. That earned him a trip to the ER in an ambulance and his pants cut off his 15 year old self. It looks like he's going to be fine, but it was an adventurous morning.

Evan recently had a meat cutting room installed out in his barn and it had its inaugural run this week butchering a deer he got earlier in the month.

Later in the week, it was Levi's turn. He has a significant peanut allergy and bit into a donut that had peanut in it. He and his family are very careful, but this slipped by and he ended up with a rash and vomiting. His dad jabbed him with an EpiPen and off they went, poor boy.

Jude just chillin' it at one of Isaac's soccer games. He knows how to relax.

From Elise's house, Jack & Leo have figured out how to make this particular chair rock and they think it's hilarious. Leo took a header out on a recent walk and scraped his poor little face and Jack's been either cutting molars or coming down with something. It's been a tough week for some of the grands.

With whatever's going on with Jack, he's had some trouble sleeping and napping. He fell asleep on the couch one afternoon, burrowed under some of the pillows.

Nothing quite like the peace of a sleeping baby.

 

Around Here This Week

So around here this week.....

We've had some blissful lower temperatures. The happy dances have been plentiful, although I'm not sure where they were measuring the rain here in town. My back patio got spit on and that's about it. 

I've been keeping an eye on the peaches. We definitely lost some this spring in the surprise frost. Some of the branches only have one or two on them. Others though, look like this.

The last day or two I've noticed some peaches on the ground, so I went out yesterday to pick some. My husband always gets really worried about the peach quantity. He asked me the other day if he should go down to the farm stand and buy a box. I kept telling him to wait. We always get more off the tree than he thinks we will.

I stopped picking at 4 boxes, mostly because #1--I ran out of boxes I could carry when they're full of peaches, and #2--I couldn't reach any more. At least 1/3 of the fruit is still on the tree. I think it's safe to say we won't need any from the farm stand, despite my husband's anxiety.

"I'm gone" flowers arrived, and he is indeed...gone. So the sixth season of the year begins. 

The produce is still rolling in. Marc, Levi, and Jude came over to pick the garden and the boys had to come show me the zucchinis that were nearly as big as them.

We had a wonderful family event last weekend. It was Emmett's baptism.

It was great to get together and celebrate this special day.

Meanwhile up at the cabin, there's a guy who's doing some work up there, and he took this picture through the cabin window of this bull moose wandering right next to the house.

There was a church-wide young adult broadcast last Sunday, and one of the sister missionaries that served with Elise sent this screen shot to her. She was famous for a few seconds.

Jack and Leo had their 18 month physicals this week and were apparently traumatized by the event. Elise said they screamed almost the whole time. Good new....they've hit the charts in all areas. Later that day Elise asked Leo to smile and show her his teeth. This is the picture she caught.

She also sent this video of the two of them taking it easy reading some books.

They also love taking walks, and you know how I love that from-behind view.

 

Around Here This Week

So around here this week...

I have a few pictures from Grandpa's time back east meeting baby Sam. This is just pretty cute. My husband really loves being a grandpa. He was there not only to meet Sam, but to also participate in Sam's baby blessing.

Here he is with Collin and Sam for a 3-generation picture. Sam is wearing the same outfit Collin wore at his baby blessing 36 years ago. It's holding up pretty well.

There was ice cream, which is almost a requirement at Allan gatherings. Grandpa usually picks some disgusting nut-loaded  flavor.

It looks to me like David made a better choice.

Definitely a better choice.

Meanwhile, if you can see beyond my bug-spattered windshield, I was greeted by this mama and baby after an early morning grocery trip.

They sauntered across the driveway, where Mama jumped over the orchard fence like it was nothing. Junior had to circle around to find a place to crawl under to join her. They were after the apples that had fallen on the ground.

Sent to me from the kids and grandkids this week, I got this one from Evan. Edward helped Quincy put together some armor out of some Amazon boxes.

From Eric's family I got a slew of pictures of some late Sunday activities. School started.

They also went to the county fair. We took our kids to this same fair for a few years running, and then the older kids got old enough to start going with their friends, and Grandpa and I were ok avoiding all the crowds.

They checked out the ponies...

And they tried some pottery. They also tried the rides and it was Emmett's first year to be tall enough to ride the big rides.

There was also some peach picking.

and eating...

...lots of eating.

And finally, the running around everywhere, doing ALL the things ended with a day at the water park.

Big news on their little farm. The turkeys hatched out several baby chicks, and are also helping out with a couple of the baby chickens.

From Collin's family, our jet-loving John was fighting battles in the car with his toy jets.

And warming my heart one day was this video of baby Sam giggles.

Lastly, there was this picture of cute Miss Hazel.

Around Here This Week

So around here this week.....

First off, it's my daughter-in-law, Sarah's, birthday so happy birthday to her!

I'm sick and tired of temperatures that have a 9 in front of them. I thought we were on the way down when we had a fake-out day early in the week, but no.

I spent a little time here yesterday. It's a good way to start the day.

Grandpa has been back east for a few day meeting Sam. He was duty-bound to send me a nanny-boo picture. It's only fair since I did it to him when I was out there.

Marc pulled the garlic and it's been curing for a while now. The heads are smaller this year. It seems like most of the garden stuff is smaller this year except for the occasional sandwich tomato. I know you're looking at that and thinking that's a huge head of garlic, and if you compare it to grocery store garlic, it is. But let's compare it to a head we pulled a couple of years ago, shall we?

See what I mean?

Sent to me from the kids and grandkids this week, Evan's family has been picking blackberries off their bushes. They are enormous!

From back east, Sam is starting to tell some stories.

Levi's perfect imaginary place includes Star Wars, which makes his dad so proud. Marc said he teared up just a little.

From Elise, is seems the pantry door was left open and unattended. Hmmmm, don't mind if I do.

There was also this adorable picture of Jack when they tried swimming this week.

 

Around Here The Past Couple of Weeks

So around here the past couple of weeks......

I know. I've been absent lately. Lots going on and it's just really hard to stay on top of things. I should have taken a picture of the whole kitchen counter covered with produce. The garden is in full swing and there's always something to take care of. There will be more on that soon.

"I'm gone" flowers arrived even though my husband was in the kitchen helping me with all the produce. Really pretty though, with the gladiolus. 

In my own flower bed, the miniature sunflowers are starting to bloom.

These are the Teddy Bear variety I think, and I need to get out here earlier to get a better picture. I did catch this bee doing his thing though.

My husband took several of our local sons and a passel of grandchildren fishing on Strawberry Reservoir in Utah, one Monday before school started.

Nobody fell overboard and some nice trout were caught.

Some were released and some came home for our dinner. And some just needed to be petted.

Sent to me from the kids and grandkids this week, Eric's family did some kayaking one evening.

It was fun for them, but going upstream was a little harder than downstream.

Eric sent me this text one morning this week. Just nice.

From Collin's family, it was the first day of school for James.

David started kindergarten the next day.

For Air Force kids, the salute happens often.

John was pretty impressed by the size of a cucumber that was overlooked in the garden.

Poor Sam got his 2 month shots. He was not pleased.

In the chaos after school though, he managed a nap.

While I was briefly out of town, Grandpa had dinner at Marc's house the night before school started. My daughter-in-law said they gave everyone crowns to be extra-fancy.

This was the first day of school portrait for that family.

Jude has been doing an awesome job potty training.

Both Isaac and Levi are in soccer this fall, and Hazel is apparently very patient during practice.

Around Here This Week

So around here this week...

There haven't been a lot of pictures taken because it's mostly this that's been going on. This, and cleaning for Elise and the twins to come visit for a week. In addition to my husband's favorite apricot/pineapple jam, I bottled some green beans and some pickle relish. Busy canning week.

So, sent to me from the kids and grandkids this week, you know Gwen and Caroline are all about the critters. They went on a hike in the local mountains and found this guy. He is apparently a horned lizard and his name is Burrito.

Collin's family sweltered at the county fair, taking in the animal sights. James imitated the chickens,

John was amazed by the sheer size of this rabbit,

and the turkeys were on display in the arena.

Sam's mama said this was as close as she could get to getting a picture of a good grin.

From Marc's family, Miss Hazel tried cereal for the first time. She was less than impressed.

And from Elise, the boys went to a splash pad and had a great time. There was such a cute video of the two of them, but it wouldn't upload to YouTube for me. Some of her videos won't and if anyone has suggestions, I'm all ears.

Around Here This Week

So around here this week....

"I'm gone" flowers tried to arrive last week....when neither of us were at home. My husband had set up a delivery early in the year knowing he'd be gone,  but not realizing that I'd be in Ohio. They brought them on Tuesday after we both got home, but it was interesting talking to the delivery person telling them I wasn't available until the following week.

We also spent some time up at the cabin. We'll go on another wander soon. While we were there, I got a special gift just for me.

Sent to me from the kids and grandkids.....one of the chickens died at Evan's house and Frederick was the lucky guy who got to dispose of it. Darn dead chicken pooped on him. Ah....farm life.

While the adventurers were in the Wind Rivers, Ephraim had some time at superhero soccer camp.

There was also some sleeping under sheet tents.

And after everyone got home it was Shark Week.

Eric sent this one out to the family. One of his patients gifted him with this belt buckle. 

Which prompted this reaction from the family.

From back east, Collin's family made a trip to Sam's club. John likes pickles, and he was pretty happy about the king-sized jar.

A really good picture of Sam stretching, and in this particular picture he looks a LOT like his daddy at this age....without the puff-ball red hair.

I got this one saying this was how sad he was that I left. :) In actuality, he's this close to giving interactive grins.

Marc's family was glad he was home after the trip into the mountains.

Hazel's milestone this week was laughing for the first time. Levi was the one who coaxed her into it.

And lastly, from Elise and the twins....They have these fuzzy blankets they just love to sleep with. Lately they've been wanting them out of the crib, too. She says right now they're either making each other giggle, or making each other scream.

 

Around Here This Week

So around here this week....

Lots of this going on. It's tough duty, but somehow I manage.

I have still been at Collin's house with Sam and 2 of his older brothers. In explanation, I always come to help for about a week when new babies are born, and that usually happens after my daughter-in-law's mothers go home. In this particular instance, Collin wanted to come west to take James on the annual horse pack trip to the Wind River mountains, but didn't want to leave his wife with a very active David and John, plus a newborn. I could see that, so I waited a bit longer than my usual and essentially he and I traded places. He's got James fishing with Grandpa, most of my boys, and a slew of cousins. I'm here doing what I can to fill the freezer and help with kids, during the 12 days Collin's gone.

You can see that sometimes David and John are just a little overly attentive with the baby.

Believe it or not, one of the boy's favorite places to go are to museums....most specifically airplane-related ones. Collin and Alison have taken them to various types of museums from the time they were very little, and since they live now where the National Air Force History Museum is, they go visit it often.

It's an enormous place that you can't even get close to seeing in the course of a day. It houses such historic planes as the Memphis Belle and the Bockscar, several Air Force One planes, a plane built by the Wright brothers, and so many others. I found it fascinating and know my husband could spend a whole day in the WWII section alone. John here is sitting in the cockpit of a T-38 they ave available there. John is a huge plan fanatic and literally knows the names and types of many different kinds of jets.

We also been to Carillon Historical Park, which is a large area that has a carillon bell tower, some of the original buildings in Dayton, as well as the Wright Brothers Museum. This is a picture of an actual Wright Brothers plane. Really interesting stuff, but the weather? Holy COW! The humidity was incredible. I'm not sure how people who live here full time can stand it. I've never, ever been so grateful for air conditioning. 

There really is a thing to the "dry heat" of Idaho, and I'm going to try really hard not to complain about the heat at home for the rest of the summer. I can't guarantee I'll be successful, but I'll try. One thing I will miss about this area of the country is the nightly firefly show. I tried to get a video of them, but it didn't work. There's something about those little whimsical flashes of light at dusk that's almost magical. There was also a carousel the boys rode while at the Park. John wasn't quite sure it was his thing, but he held on until the end.

My daughter-in-law had a birthday while I was there, so a birthday cake was in order. I'm not a fancy cake baker. My kids almost always had 9x13 sheet cakes, but Alison likes a chocolate-mint combo and I found one to try. It's not perfect, but it worked out ok. I'm not going to  do a post with the recipe, but I'll link you up.

Sent to me from the kids and grandkids this week, I got a few from Elisa and Ephraim. Ephraim was the only one at home with his mama while everyone else was in the hills, so he got to help in the kitchen. He decided he wanted to decorate the chocolate cherry ganache tart with flowers.

LOTS of flowers,

which Elisa said they would remove before eating. :)

And from Miss Hazel, there was this. :)

I'll be making my way back home on Monday. It will take all day to get from one regional airport to another, and my husband will beat me home by a couple of days. 

 

 

 

Around Here This Week

So around here this week...

It looks like I might actually see blooms on my hydrangea this year. That doesn't always happen since sometimes they get pruned back a little too much.

The fuzzy-headed Monarda have started blooming as well. This is how I know it's high summer. That, and I'm melting almost any time I step out of the house.

I mentioned an adventure for me. I'm back east with Baby Sam and his family. 

David asked to have his picture taken on the neighbor's climbing apparatus. 

The salute is required for all pictures, I think. :) His family is Air Force, after all.

Sent to me from the kids and grandkids this week, I got this picture of Eric & Elisa's zucchini/summer squash harvest. We unfortunately, have a massive squash bug infestation that has already started attacking plants. We've only gotten a very few small zucchinis so far. Since both my husband and I will be absent, it's up to Bryce to do battle for the next week.

We dropped James and Collin off at the airport for an adventure of their own, and James got to sit in the co-pilot's chair for a bit.

Miss Hazel has discovered her feet and has spent some time just chillin' with them.

Jack's stitches came out and he's none the worse for wear.

The boys have been a little under the weather this week and I got this picture from Elise of Leo all bundled up after a bath.

Around Here This Week

So around here this week....

My volunteer sweet pea has burst into bloom, and is slightly more fragrant this year.

I cut some more lettuce and was so excited to see little mini-heads of romaine growing, so I cut a couple. I was really sad when we had salad that night and we found out the romaine was bitter.

There was a hike on the 4th where an Independence Day lesson was delivered down by the river.

Sent to me from the kids and grandkids this week, Eric's family had a little Thai staycation.

The kids are getting pretty good at using chopsticks.

Pretty darn good.

From Collin's family, came a couple of baby Sam pictures.

He can pretty much go from zero to sixty in a few seconds.

The furrowed brow is genetic.

From Marc's family, Levi lost his first tooth.

And from my daughter, a couple of pictures of Jack and Leo. Jack got his stitches out this week, but they've both been a little under the weather. When Elise Face-Timed me one day this week, Jack threw up in the wading pool, poor boy.

This is Leo (no stitches). Their red hair is starting to come in more, which is pretty cute.