Garden Goodness

I love to garden. I can't say that I know very much about it, but being able to see the fruits of ones labors is very rewarding. This is the first year we have actually planted an edible garden, but I am hooked. Our garden got started very late because we remodeled our yard, but we were still able to have a pretty good harvest. We just experimented and planted tomatoes, green bell peppers, yellow squash, basil, chive, and we even planted the bulb ends of our grocery store green onions and leeks. The squash and bell peppers were fantastic. I only discovered in the last couple of years that I absolutely love squash and since growing my own garden my vegetable horizon is steadily increasing (for those of you who might be astonished by the fact that I actually admit to liking something that isn't made purely out of sugar). We were afraid we might not be able to get any red tomatoes but we managed to get a couple dozen before it got too cold. Dallin just picked the remainder of what was in our garden two days ago and it's a good thing because today it is completely done for. Anybody have a good recipe for fried green tomatoes? I'm already excited about filling up our entire planter for next year's garden (now that I am a pro of course). Maybe we'll add some berries, zuchhini, lettuce, mushrooms......

Fall Fun

Although I am sad for summer to be over, I am enjoying the spectacular fall that Pennsylvania has to offer. Normally I dread fall because it just means that cold winter is right around the corner. I'm more of a spring person. However, given the opportunity to take it all in, I see why everyone around here absolutely loves the fall. There are trees everywhere you look and now each one is a different color. Animals are out and about preparing for winter, the air is crisp but sunny, and it is just a joy to be outside drinking in the last few beautiful days. Caramel apples, pumpkin bread and waffles, warm homemade soups, and hot chocolate are enough to get anyone settled down for the winter. Kaia is very optomistic about the weather ahead. This afternoon we were playing outside and we went over to look at our garden. Kaia looked at the plants and said, "Mama, they're sad." I explained that our garden was all done for this year because it was too cold (it was 20 degrees at 7:30 this morning!). To which she responded with an excited grin and both fists pumping, "Does that mean snow is coming soon to Kaia's house?!" Ah, to be as carefree as a child!

Two weeks ago we went to a local family farm that has animals to pet, corn and hay mazes, pig races, pick your own pumpkins, a kid's playground, and a giant jumping pillow. We spent several hours there and had a fun time.

Summer Smiles

We had so much fun this summer that I didn't even have time to post all of the things that we did. Here are some pictoral memories of the joys of summer. We only wish it didn't have to end.

My kids absolutely love the water and would stay out in it all day long if they could.


Talmage loves this firetruck that Dallin found on the side of the road.Kaia had a great time playing baseball with her dad at the church activity. (Yes, that is the ball that she is supposed to be hitting).After a few more great swings, Kaia was proud to be on first base.

Beautiful Ballerina

Kaia loves to dance. I don't think we ever really taught her how to dance except when she asks us to dance with her I end up doing something balletish and Dallin does some form of endzone dance. Thankfully she has picked up more from me and her Barbie movies than she has from Dallin. However, she did inherit her father's lack of inhibition so I have a feeling I'm going to be in trouble when she becomes a teenager. For now Kaia is be-you-te-ful as a ballerina. I'm not big on Halloween costumes, especially when it means spending money on them, so I decided to keep it simple. Kaia already had a bunch of leotards and ballet slippers that had been handed down to her so I figured I could just sew up a quick tu-tu and call it good. How hard could it be to sew a little tulle together and wrap it around a little girl? Well, nothing that seems so easy ever really is. I learned a few things from sewing this "simple" project: 1) never underestimate tulle (now I know why noone likes to use it) 2) I am never going to be a professional ballet or theater costume designer or sewer 3) ballerina's really are beautiful and 4) it's OK to live out your own dreams through your child, right? In the end I think it turned out pretty cute and Kaia can dance all she wants for years ahead.

Little Musicians

Both Kaia and Talmage love music. The only way we could get Kaia to sleep when she was a baby was for Dallin to take her outside on our bench swing and sing to her. Singing is still a part of her bedtime routine. Talmage does the cutest little up down dance anytime he hears music and sometimes will even put his arms up and dance on his toes like a ballerina (that's what happens when you have an older sister). Although I'd be hard pressed to play even Happy Birthday fast enough for anyone to sing to, I still wanted to have a keyboard for me and the kids to practice on. They love it.
We also happen to have a ukulele (or as Kaia calls it- a cuntar) that was given to Dallin as a souvenir from one of his bosses. Needless to say the kids also love to pluck on the strings. Kaia is so cute when she plays because she actually holds it the right way.

Uncle Shane's Buddy

Kaia loves her Uncle Shane. She kept wanting to do things with him and when we were together she would follow him around like a puppy dog. I don't blame her, Shane is a fun and loving guy. We all had a good time being together.

She had a great time running around Shane's truck yard as well as helping him check what was wrong with one of his trailers.

Shane even let her climb up in his personal rig. He had her honk the horn, but she didn't realize that's what would happen when she pulled the string and since it was inside the workshop it was extra loud so she wasn't as excited about that part. She did like laying in the sleeper though. (Talmage wanted to push all the buttons and play with the gears.)

Oma's House

Everything is more fun at Oma's House. Although we didn't do anything particularly special in Bishop it's still always fun because there are so many new things to discover for the kids. Like ponds, grass, kitty cats and duckies that come around, the old toys that I played with when I was a kid, watching a leaf float down the creek, room to run, and all the other fun discoveries that Grandmas' Houses have.

We took the kids to the city park a couple of times where they enjoyed swimming in the pool and feeding the ducks.

There's nothing better than some good clean dirt.

These T-shirts are from Uncle Shane and they make great jammies.

Kaia discovered computer games and had a lot of fun being allowed to play with the computer.

Kaia loved running around Oma's big yard.

I loved having a babysitter (even though I was put to work tiling my mom's kitchen countertops- I felt it was a fair trade). Bishop is so beautiful that it is always relaxing to be there. No matter how much she changes it, or how old I get, my mom's house will always be home.

Las Vegas

Since we flew into Las Vegas we decided we would stay and play for a little while. We stayed at Circus Circus for two nights and had a great time watching the acts and playing a couple of the midway games. I wanted to play the racehorse game where you make your horse move by rolling a ball into the holes. I liked the prize that you got when there were only 2-4 players (a stuffed green starfish) so I made sure that we were there right when they opened and just Kaia and I played. I was happy with our little prize, but Kaia wanted to play again. So we went ahead for the fun of it, but by that time there were a bunch more people. Well, I managed to get my ball in the move-three-spaces hole a couple of times and just barely held on for the win! I was really excited and we got the coveted big white tiger. Do you think I'm competitive at all? :) So much for Circus Circus just being for kids!

Well, that was fun, but we had a real blast when we met my brother Shane and his family out at Lake Mead. We got to stay in his motor home, ride his boat, and hang out on the lake for four days straight! I'll tell you what, that is the life for me. I absolutely loved having a boat while growing up and I LOVE swimming. It was even more fun for me to see how much my kids enjoyed it. We were literally in the water for hours on end. I really needed that. Kaia also liked feeding bread to the fish. One morning we couldn't go out on the water because there was thunder, lightening, and rain, but we had a great view and just sat and watched the weather. Kaia still talks about it. Those are the kinds of memories I want to continue to provide for my kids- I just hope that in all the craziness I'm not missing all the opportunities around me.

Busy, Busy, Busy

I'm sure you are all wondering what happened to me. We left for California back in July and it has been nonstop since then. Traveling, someone being sick, new fall routines- nothing has been normal, so I am hoping that with the cool down in weather (not that I'm really looking forward to that) my crazy life will cool down a little too. I'll try my best to update you on what we've been doing. We had a great time going to California, but wouldn't you know it, the batteries for BOTH the camera and the video recorder died on me! I just got some pictures from my Mom so here goes.