Summer Update

We have had a fun filled summer so far.  Here is a brief summary of our mid-summer activities!  We forgot our camera for a few events, like visiting with our Pocatello cousins, which was a blast.  We just got back from Bear Lake with our Olsen cousins which was also fun!  I forgot the camera for that too!  Oh well....here are some things I did document.  Someday my kids will wonder why I have very little documentation about their childhood compared to most of the modern tech world. 

 

We had a bounteous pea harvest. I don't even like peas-- unless they are fresh out of the pod.  The kids picked over 5 gallons of unshelled peas.  We froze a lot.  I actually did like them when we made creamed new peas and potatoes for dinner.  Who doesn't like something smothered in cream?



SHO's best buddy and cousin.



Isn't that so pretty?  We caught a beautiful rainbow-- sadly it was not accompanied by much rain which we REALLY need right now out here in farm country.



The work party was at Lagoon this year! Hooray! 



If you can tell from this evening photo, we set up the tent in the back.  It has been up for over a month, and the kids have slept there quite a lot.  We made a fire pit in the back of it, and roasted marshmallows one night, hot dogs the next. 



SO has had a pet cricket named "Ron" for over two months now.  It sings her to sleep and also performs circus acts!! Wow! Who knew a cricket could be such a great pet!  If we lived in China, it would be good luck, but we live in the U.S. and it is still just a creepy bug to me! You can't see Ron unless you notice he is on the other side of the tight rope-- hanging on for dear life.

Our berry harvest was great this year.  We have had lots of Nanking and Hansen bush cherries, as well as lots of currants-- black and red.  We experimented and made a mix of them for some jelly.  It turned out pretty good!



Our Olsen grandparents are back from their mission in Kentucky-- so we visited them two weekends ago, as well as went to the Hokanson reunion from Rich's mom's side of the family.  The kids had fun climbing the giant hay bales and riding the horse, Myrl, again.  Myrl really needs to lose some of his weight! 



Some of their cute cousins that they got to hang out with. 

We finally bought our youngest child his own bed!  Poor neglected fourth child!!  We used the mattress cover to make the "water blob" from Pintrest, and it was TONS of fun. 



Just a few pics to document our work this summer-- and to compare how things have grown when we look at it again next year.  Every spring when I begin to plant, I can't imagine how that barren, blah looking dirt can ever turn out anything green and yummy.  It is always a miracle when things grow and actually produce something we can enjoy.  The more I garden, the more I have to learn, however.  There is always something to fight-- bugs, mold, drought...but it is always an adventure.  Here is LL with our Hansen bush cherries.

We are trying blackberries this year.

It's coming along....we always fight weeds, of course.



We used up some of our old carpet as weed cover.  It worked magnificently.  I wish we had more to use! 




Our grapes and currants.





These little ladies are getting bigger.  We expect eggs in a few weeks! Grandma Green gave me that sign a when we moved up here.  The girls found it the other day-- I forgot that I had it!





Squash, strawberries and sunflowers-- yeah, an interesting combo....oh and some cilantro!




New pear tree.   Let's see how much these two grow by next year!



One of our apple trees-- really has a lot of apples this year.



LL picking currants.



A random tractor picture.  This is what Rich does with the boys for fun!



The kids have loved going to the nearby creek and catching penny skippers, "crawfish", and leeches.  Today the leeches were subjected to various experiments with salt.  Ew.  

LL found a robin earlier this summer and fed it and cared for it.  It was a little noisy in the morning, however.  We let it go back inside the barn where it was found, and it learned to fly up to the rafters. 

Here is LO riding the horse on his own.