What we've been up to

We can finally plant our flowers!

The elevation here is 7000 ft. and we get frost until mid-June, but summer has arrived at last.

Our apple tree is LOADED with apples this year!

Last year we got 21 apples total. Yesterday I counted 49 apples on just one branch.

We got our garden planted...finally! Brayden and Caleb each have their own garden to take care of this year. (the little square patches below the family garden). I let them plant what they wanted and they had a great time. Caleb has two different tomatoes, a green pepper, a whole row of radishes (?), one potato plant, a few carrots, a row of beets, and a row of green beans (he hates green beans).

Brayden planted three different kinds of peas (all in one row), as well as lettuce, potatoes, a tomato, and more beets.

The grass in our backyard is finally starting to come up!
We made a fire pit and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows on Friday night.
There's nothing better than a good fire to keep 4 boys entertained :o)

The farm store had a screamin' hot deal on picnic tables (they got them at an auction and decided to pass the savings along) so we're going to be eating outside all summer!

(if you look at this picture close up...you can see Todd's tongue sticking out while he's trying to put the table together...and I thought that was just a Salisbury thing :o)
Todd finished building the window boxes that I've wanted ever since we moved here!!! Now I need to paint the braces, and the crown molding. Hopefully my plants will grow over the edge soon :o)

We're also planning to order new windows in the next few weeks. The last time Todd walked in to the farm store, they said, "You're working on another project?" and Todd replied, "As long as I have a wife..."

They understood completely.

A mini-vacation, and Father's Day

After school got out, the kids and I took a little vacation to Grandma and Grandpa's house. Charlotte patiently helped me attempt to learn Photoshop, while all six grandsons worked their magic on Grandma's house.

Left to right: Brayden, Caleb, Dillon, Joshua, Samuel, and Jacob

This is one of the pages I managed to make using Photoshop

Before leaving, the boys and I did a little father's day shopping. They could hardly wait to give Todd this Pokemon shirt that matched their own!

(It was at Kohl's on clearance for $3.60, and I couldn't tell them no :o)Dad also got a transformer logo for his truck...

...and a new grill.

(We've been using a table top grill for 10 years)

Here's a favorite grilling recipe:

I like to buy a ton of london broil when it's on sale, and cut it up into chunks for kabobs (use kitchen scissors--it's way easier). I put the meat in old cool whip containers (I wash and save them just for this purpose) with this marinade:

½ cup soy sauce

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

2 Tbsp. ketchup

1 tsp. dried oregano

½ tsp. pepper

Then I label the containers and stick them right in the freezer.All summer long, when we want to grill kabobs, I just pull the container out of the freezer in the morning, and the meat marinates while it thaws in the fridge. Afterwards, I just throw the container away.

Today, While the Sun Shines...

As Latter-day Saint women, we are practically obsessed with anxiously engaging ourselves in good causes. Maybe it's subliminal....Glancing through the hymnal last Sunday I noted that as sisters in Zion, we who are called to serve are all enlisted to go marching, marching forward because the world has need of willing men to all press on scattering sunshine. We wonder if we have done any good in the world today because we have been given much and want to do what is right, keep the commandments, press forward with the Saints, choose the right, and put our shoulders to the wheel going where He wants us to go. However, as the morning breaks high on the mountain top, truth reflects upon our senses, and while we still believe that sweet is the work, we also realize that we have work enough to do ere the sun goes down. And thus we ask Thee ere we part, where can we turn for peace?

-author unknown

hee, hee....I've felt like this a few times :o)

My dad's the best!

My dad and I have a few things in common. For one, we like to shop. I've been kicking myself all morning for spending yet another $25 on flowers for my yard, when I opened my e-mail and received this picture of my dad's new tie racks that he got for father's day. I can now see that my problem is genetic. I needed those flowers like my dad needs another tie.

Having a dad that likes to shop definitely has it's advantages. When our family used to go school shopping for our summer vacation (when you live on a farm your vacations can only be a day long), I learned quickly that it was far more advantageous to take Dad to my size clothing section, than Mom :o).

One time, when I was in 7th grade, I walked into Vanity and saw the most beautiful dress I'd ever seen. It was perfect in every way and I don't think I'd ever wanted anything so badly. I was SO disappointed when I saw the price tag and it said $70. I knew that there was absolutely no way I'd ever have that dress. I didn't even have to ask my mom, because I already knew the answer.

When I got home, I told my dad about the perfect dress, and subjected myself to lecture #348 about how money doesn't grow on trees, and how I should help around the house and yard more, or save my babysitting money, and......(I tuned out at this point).

Anyway, to make a long story short, I got home from school the next day and there, hanging in my bedroom, was my dress. Dad went to the mall, and bought the right dress in my size, just by my description of it. Would your dad do that?? I don't think so. That's why mine is the best.

Then, there was the time in 3rd grade, when I was about to cover my valentine shoe box with aluminum foil and heart stickers like every other deprived kid out there, when my dad showed up and saved the day. He found a bigger box, some white wrapping paper (who else would have plain white wrapping paper laying around?), some white fabric with little pink hearts, lace, batting, and a hot glue gun. I watched with wide eyes, as my dad cut out a large heart from a piece of cardboard, then cut another heart out of the middle, and then proceeded to upholster that heart with batting, fabric, and a lace edge. Next, he attached it to the big box (which was PERFECTLY wrapped in shiny white paper) and sent me off to school in style. Would your dad do that?? I don't think so. That's why mine is the best.

Oh, and I can't forget about my prom dress. (Who could? I looked like a giant butterfly). I picked that horrible pattern, and my Dad sewed beads in a swirly design over the entire bodice. As much as I cringe at the thought of those puffy sleeves....I will always remember Dad sewing those beads. He did the same for my wedding dress. Would your dad do that?? I think not. That's why my dad's the best.

Then, there was the summer before college. Every night I stayed up late with dad, long after Mom had gone to bed, and watched M*A*S*H while we discussed important things like which silverware was my favorite in the Betty Crocker catalog (for my future wedding, of course) and what kind of China pattern I liked best. Would your dad do that?? I can pretty much guarantee not. That's why mine is the best.

When Todd met my dad for the first time, he was overwhelmed by how involved Dad was in our lives, and by the fact that he cared about the pillowcase I was busy embroidering for my college stitchery class. By this time I think Todd was pondering marriage related thoughts, but he truly doubted his ability to live up to this man who had an opinion about what color the center of my lazy daisy should be. And yet, he married me anyway, and has even learned what a bedskirt is for. Thank heaven's for my dad's example of a man who cares about decorating!! Does your dad do that? Probably not. That's why mine's the best.

Some valuable lessons I've learned from Dad:

-If you play the piano, recite a poem, or sing in public you'll get a quarter.
-If you're going on a six hour car ride...go to the bathroom before you leave home and don't drink any water.
-If you move sprinkler pipe in a wheat field in the middle of a lightning storm....run fast.
-Don't just sit there...get him a screwdriver.
-a bunch of jokes that I can't tell in public.
-Red and pink stink...and blue and green should never be seen.
-how to cook a turkey.
-You can never have too many flowers...or ties...or suits.
-put your saf-instant yeast in with the DRY ingredients.
-the chandelier in the celestial room at the Logan temple has 368 crystals. (actually, I don't remember the number...but I bet he does).
-when using spray paint, paint in short spurts...otherwise you'll run out of propellant before the paint's all gone.
-Don't cut a small leaf out of the center of the paper.
-Save your scabs for Sunday.
-It's better to grow zinnia's from seed than to transplant them.
-Be wary of too many poppyseed muffins.
-Cute is the white part of chicken manure.
-I'm actually thankful for those piano lessons.
-never buy cheap carpet, or flat paint.
-The DI is a wonderful place where you can find just about anything.
-YES, I can do that for you...
-A wonderful bird is a pelican...
-how to make browned butter icing.
-If you store something long enough, you're sure to need it again.
-With enough practice, you can get a score of over 8000 in solitaire.
-When people break out into song and dance in the middle of a musical--that's normal.
-to be careful when cutting the "corners" of my kid's heads during a haircut.
-And the most important, and this one he taught be example...Always go the extra mile.

Love you, dad! Happy father's day

**there are 84 ties in Dad's closet...well, 83 now, since Ben walked in and realized that one of them was his.

Thank heavens I only had one at a time!

This is what our summer has been like so far:
There are only 69 more days until school starts...

Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name

Last week, while we had the tiller that we rented for our garden, we decided to re-plant the grass in our backyard. We inadverantly killed it by not watering for a mere couple of months last summer...

We really don't have a clue what we're doing, so Todd went to the busy farm store, bought a couple bags of grass seed and a rake and came home.

Now, you have to know something about the difference between me and Todd. If we have to make a really important decision (for an example, we'll pretend that we have to choose what cereal to buy), we go about it in very different ways.

I will first get online and read reviews about the cereal. Then I will ask all my friends whether they've tried it, and what they thought. I'll look at the price, how healthy it is, and how much comes in a box. Then I'll call my family and get their opinions. Next, I'll probably say a prayer and then go with my gut feeling. After trying the cereal, I will most likely spend entirely too long examining my decision, and whether it was right, and deciding what I will do next time.

Todd, on the other hand, will pick the one with the best prize inside, eat it, and have no clue what it cost, or how healthy it was, and in the future will not remember whether he liked it or not...so he'll most likely subject himself to the same cereal again.

It was the same with grass seed. He went in, picked the one with the pretty picture on the front, bought the manliest solid steel $40 rake he could find and went on his way.

Meanwhile I called my sis-in-law, Melece, who gave me enough information about planting a lawn to help me realize how much we don't know, and I questioned the pretty bag of grass seed.

So, I drove myself over to the farm store and asked for help. As soon as I did, the owner looked up and said, "Todd bought the wrong stuff this morning...I was going to say something, but sometimes I'm too opinionated so I thought it best to shut my mouth."

To which I replied, "We don't know anything, so please feel free to correct us if we're ever buying the wrong thing. What do we need?"

He then proceeded to tell me we'd need around 35 pounds of grass seed (Todd only bought 20) for our back yard. Since we were buying so much, he voluntarily gave it to us for $2 a pound, instead of $2.35. The grass seed came in 50 pound (ugly) bags, so he told us that we could use what we needed, and bring back the rest on Monday. We could "settle up" then.

Next he started to tell me what to fertilize it with, and when. I stared at him blankly, because I didn't have a pen to write down all the numbers he was rattling off, and I finally broke in with: "Could you just drive by my house occasionally in the summer and tell me what I need to do?"

He smiled and said, "Yeah, I can do that".

Then he told me I'd need peat moss to keep the ground moist. He recommended a tool they have that easily rolls the peat moss evenly over the newly planted grass. I asked how much it cost to rent, and he said, "Oh, you can just borrow it."

Then, he looked at the bales of peat moss, and at his watch. The store was closing in 10 minutes, and he wasn't sure how much peat moss we'd need. So naturally he said, "These bales are sitting outside the gate; If you need more, just come get them and let me know how many you used on Monday."

And off I went with a smile on my face, knowing that even though my dad, (who is armed with a tractor and much knowledge in the area of growing "stuff"), doesn't live nearby...I live in a small town, where everybody knows my name.

Oh, and I just wanted to clarify something: I do NOT pray over which cereal to buy, nor did I pray over the grass seed....but you get the idea about our differences.

Baby Shower

I co-hosted a baby shower yesterday for my friend, Andrea. Her husband is an avid fly-fisherman and she's having her first boy (after two girls) so we went with a fishing theme. Char helped me by coming up with these adorable invitations!! The bubble with the fish saying was " popped up" for dimension.



I tried making a diaper cake, for the first time, and it wasn't so bad--just make sure you have two people!

Before the shower, during the last minute "hustle and bustle" to get everything ready, I asked Todd to help me as I was making the boys' beds. Our conversation went something like this:

Me: (while making Brayden's bed) Todd, could you grab a yellow pillowcase out of the bathroom closet? Dillon's is all slobbered on.

Todd: The Curious George pillowcase is on top...can't we use that one?

Me: No, it doesn't match, and the pillow has to sit above the quilt

Todd: Who cares if it matches?

Me: I care. We just re-did this room and there's a chance that some of the ladies who come to the shower will want to come see it.

Todd: Why would they want to go into our kids' room?

Me: They may have to bring their children who will need a place to play, or they might just want to see what we've done in there. Besides, we're not going to just sit around farting and scratching...

Todd (bringing in the yellow pillowcase--in a grumble): I had to get this from the bottom of the stack.

Me (thinking): ...how hard is it to take a pillowcase off the bottom??

Todd: Hey! How come Caleb has my extra pillow on his bed?

Me: His new quilt came with a pillow sham, and he wanted to use it. You can use the one in your pillow sham as your second pillow.

Todd: Why does he need a pillow sham...his bunk is on the top. Nobody will see it.

Me: Because we have a pillowsham and an extra pillow. Why not?

Todd: (silently contemplating the female species)

Me: Caleb didn't understand why he couldn't use the pillow sham as his regular pillow, so I had to explain that it was just for show--not for slobbering on.

Todd (sarcastically): ...Why didn't you just cut off his balls?

Me: (laughing hysterically--secure in the knowledge that my boys understand the purpose for a pillow sham and a bedskirt and will be just fine when they marry a member of that female species).

By the way:

*I know "it's a lazy parent who makes their child's bed", but it was crunch time and having the boys help would've taken too long.

*the ladies did come see the bedroom, although by that time Dillon had already un-made his bed.