Enjoying the harvest

Our peach tree produced lots of peaches this year.  I decided that I wanted to learn how to can them.  My sister-in-law Amy deserves a huge shout out for helping me can them.

I was happy to learn that my peaches are cling free which makes them easier for canning.  Amy has a nice big kitchen that we were able to work in.  The most tedious process was taking all the skins off and sanitizing all the jars.

We decided to cut the peaches into quarters and sprinkled them with fruit preservative.

The next step was pouring in the sugar water syrup that we made and making sure there were no air bubbles in the jar.

This was the exciting moment when we put them in the pot.  We did have one jar explode when we put it into the water.  We think that the jar wasn't warm enough when we put it into the boiling water.  We then started to heat the jars in the oven and that seemed to do the trick.

The hours just flew by as we canned.  Before I knew it, it was time to pick Parker up from school.  I enjoyed talking with Amy as we canned.  My cute niece Elle took this picture of us when she got home from school.  We canned 17 jars total. I can't wait to enjoy my peaches all winter long.  Canning was a lot more work than I thought.  It brought back all kinds of memories of my Grandma Rosen canning fruit when we were kids.  I will have to give it some time and see if I am up to canning again next year.

Back to school

In August the kids new school had a ribbon cutting ceremony. The new school is really nice and is also built in a way that is more secure than their last school.  Anyone entering the building has to go through the main office to access the rest of the school.

Since Mckenna is on student council at the high school she helped out that night.  She stood on the corner waving signs directing the parents where to go.  It was nice how they got our whole community involved.

Hayden was very happy when he found out that Brody is in his class this year.

Kev put Addy on his shoulders so she could see what was going on.

Halle really likes her teacher.  It is the second year in a row she has had a male teacher.  She was very excited to have Maddi, Avery, and Rachel in her class.  I can tell it's going to be a great year for all of them.

The kids all got school t-shirts to wear on spirit days.  They even saw a storm trooper in the media center.

I am glad that they are all excited about their new school.  I am very grateful that they still get to ride the bus!

The kids all started school on August 20th.  Mckenna was up bright and early for her first day of her junior year. She had to be at the school at 6:30.  The student council was there early to welcome everyone back to school and to hand out treats.

Parker is in eighth grade now which is still at the Junior High.  

We took his traditional jumping picture.  He is looking forward to being in band again this year.

Halle, Hayden, and Addy are my last shift to get off to school.

Halle is in sixth grade this year.  She is looking so grown up.  She picked out her black high tops to wear for her first day.

Hayden is in fourth grade this year.  He has a really great teacher and I hope he does well and enjoys the 4th grade.

 Addy is in first grade this year.  She goes to school all day now.  The first few days were an adjustment and she came home tired.  I miss having her home to eat lunch with me.  But I must admit that it is nice that for the first time in 16 years I don't have any kids home with me during the day.  I am enjoying my "vacation" now that school has started!

Supreme 16!!!

Mckenna had her birthday party with her friends on Saturday August 18th. We went up to Deer Creek Reservoir and played for the day. Her friends Tessa, Rylee, Macy, Emily, Maya, and Abby came to her party.

We brought our two waverunners for the girls to ride on.  Kev spent most of the party making sure everything was running right. 

We rented SUP boards for the girls to try out.  We also brought up the kayaks.  Mckenna was just chiling while Abby paddled her around.  It was hard to balance on the small board.  Abby was one of the few girls that could.

We also rented this giant SUP Board called the Megalodon.  It could support five girls standing up.  The picture doesn't do it justice.  It was a lot bigger in person.  

The girls had fun trying it out.  At one point they were out there just sunbathing on it.  

We had lunch while we were there.  We had sub sandwiches, chips and grapes.  We also had two of Mckenna's favorite things; Mountain Dew and Oreos.

We had what Mckenna refers to as "death by chocolate cake".  It has been her favorite since she was little.  She was one of the only girls to finish her huge piece of cake. 

We were grateful that her friend Emily is 18 and could help drive the waverunners.  I also had fun taking the girls out and teaching them to drive.  It was fun to see how their personalities affected their driving.  They usually started out slow until they got the hang of it.  Kenna drives fast just like her Dad!  Tessa was a wild driver and kept taking us in the big waves behind the boats.  Maya turned sharply and actually dumped both Tessa and I off the back.  We had a good laugh about that.

I got this great picture of Kenna jumping off the waverunner.  It was such a fun day with Kenna and her friends.  Macy told me it was the best way to end their Summer. The girls start school on Monday.  I can't believe Mckenna will be a Junior in High School this year! We love our Kenna!

Trial Lake

We went camping at Trial Lake August 12-15th!  It was fun having our friends and neighbor's the Baker's come with us. The girls definitely outnumbered the boys this time.

The Baker's got there that night after it was dark.  Hayden kept Jackson entertained in the tent trailer.  He built him this awesome fort.

The next morning we woke up to cows being herded by our camp.  This picture also shows how low the lake was this year.  Kev said he has never seen it this low in the thirty plus years he has been camping here.  Our neighbors thought it looked more like a puddle than a lake.

Halle was so happy to spend the next three days with her best friend Maddi.  The kids built awesome houses in the trees.  They each had their own pretend campfire and everything.

Even though the lake was small the fishing was still good.

I caught a tiger trout! It was little Jackson's first time fishing.  I always like to slap the fish before I release it back into the water.  I got this text from Kristen a few day's after we got back, "So I had to tell you yesterday Jackson was playing with a deflated balloon, hanging from a string and he was pretending it was a fish.  He runs up to me and Scott and says, "hey! Do you want to slap the fish?!"  I can see my crazy ways have rubbed off on little Jackson!

Addy and Paige always had their barbies with them.  At least it kept them happy while we were out fishing.

Kev even got a turn to fish this time.  He caught this good sized Tiger Trout on the little pole.

Parker was working on his fishing merit badge while we were there.  He caught this rainbow trout.

Kev showed him how to gut it and cut it up. 

I am a germaphobe and so is Kristen.  She had the great idea of wiping down and sanitizing the outhouse.  She did this every time she went to the bathroom.  It is nice to know that I am not the only germaphobe out there.

My favorite time of night is right before sunset.  Kev was getting the boat ready so the kids could go fishing.

Sydney, Paige, and Addy had the best time playing together.

Scott and Kristen taught us how to play their favorite card game called "Hand and Foot".  It was challenging and fun.  Mckenna and Parker also learned how to play.  It definitely brought out everyone's competitive side.

Halle and Maddi loved being out in the kayaks together. They even caught some fish.  They also found a minnow which they named Gerry.  They brought him home in a water bottle.  He has become their very own pet.  They both take turns taking care of him.

Our last night there we had raspberry cobbler. We introduced the Baker's to dutch oven desserts. We are glad the Baker's could come with us this year.  It was a great way to wrap up our Summer break!

The Mountains were calling

We went for a hike on Friday August 10th.  It was Kev's Friday off from work and we hiked to Silver Lake up AF canyon.

We left in the morning trying to beat the heat.  Addy did a good job hiking since it as a five mile hike total.

I wore my hair curly which ended up being a good choice.  When we came to a a waterfall or stream I would dip my hair in too cool off.  It was impressive how fast my hair dried in the heat.

You can tell how hot everyone was from this picture.  We just made several stops and stayed hydrated from our Camelbaks.

The hike was worth it when we made it to the lake.

Parker and Halle were quick to jump in the water for a swim.

We ate our picnic lunch while we enjoyed this beautiful view.

The kids wanted to pose for this picture on the way back down.  They did a lot better coming back.  We even talked about our upcoming Disney trip.  It was fun to hear how excited they are to go next month!