How is it September already????

I love Fall and everything that it entails.

Cooler nights.

Veggies from the garden.

Canning. 

I made these Christmas Pickles.

They are a pain to make because they sit in water for 5 days that is drained off each night and new boiling water poured over the cukes.

Then on day 6 you make a syrup and boil that and pour it off every night for 9 days.

And boil it and pour it over the cukes again.

Not hard, just a pain.

But we love them.

And you can't buy them in the store.

The sunsets are stunning.

Between the grain dust in the air and fires somewhere the skies are beautiful.

My grandkids are growing up.

Locklyn heads off to preschool.

We had a youth group from our church over last Sunday. 

They listened to a couple of speakers and then played musical chairs.

It's been awhile since I have laughed so hard.

And this little sweetie is now 29 weeks.

We are all pretty excited about the impending birth!

How did my baby girl grow up so fast?

Drowning Worms

This afternoon we were visited by Cameron and his family.

The older two wanted to fish with grandpa.

So we drove a 1/2 mile to the South Fork of the Snake River
and drowned a few worms.

The boys were amazingly patient and thought it was pretty fun.

The best part though was seeing a water snake that was swallowing a leach.

Grandpa telling Timmy all of the secrets of fishing.

Teddy loved casting out and reeling it in and casting out and reeling it in.

Cameron helps Timmy hold on to the pole.

You can't see the water snake, but they were mesmerized by it. 

Later, when we were eating hot dogs they were asked what their favorite part of fishing was. 

It was the water snake.

Grandpa patiently putting on another worm.

And I held Toby. He's 6 months old and and his feet and hands are just rolls.

I love it. 

PEACEFUL

We have now lived in our house for 2 1/2 years.

There has been no regret.  I do miss the neighbors we left behind.

And I miss my dirt.

Here we live on a riverbed.

River rock is my dirt.

I had to buy dirt.

This year is my first year to do a garden. Howie built me 4 garden boxes and I put my paid for dirt and manure in it.

I long for loamy soil, but I know it will come.

You can't sink your shovel into this stuff.

But I am still thankful we moved here.

And in spite of the new garden, I'm not going to complain about it.

My tomatoes are gigantic and I've even enjoyed some grape tomatoes.

And I plant zucchini because it makes me feel like I'm a good gardener.

Even though you can't hardly kill the stuff. 

And I picked enough to make a double batch of spicy relish.

Which tastes delicious!

I know I have way too many things in a small space.

But I have also enjoyed basil and lots of cucumbers.

Lots and lots of cucumbers.

I had enough to start a batch of my Christmas Pickles.

And this! I love this squash. I planted four hills of it.

It stores well during the winter and they are just the right size for the two of us.

We also planted 9 different fruit trees. These were planted the first summer we were here.

This is my plum tree. Sorta sad looking.

We planted two peach trees and two pear trees.

Also an apricot tree and four apple trees.

So far the harvest has been minimal.

But it is fun to see things grow.

I also cleaned out the coop.

We moved it with us when we left Rexburg.

I still love having the chickens.

The eggs are a nice benefit.

Is there anything more peaceful than watching chickens roam the yard?

IT'S BEEN AWHILE

Many months in fact.

When I finally get on the blog I notice that there is some weird "photobucket" background.
And I don't like it.
I've done a little research, but can't figure it out.
Can't decide if it bugs me enough to keep working on it.

I still love going through blogs of people I've read for 10+ years.

I realize it would be hard to catch up and a few years ago it would have bugged me to be so behind.
I have made and printed blog books for each of my years for 10 years.
But no one looks at it, except me.

But I still like putting "pen to paper" and writing out what is going on in my head.
I also love going through the pictures and seeing how our family is growing.

Like this:

Locklyn loves selfies.

And she is adorable.

I'm not sure what Lilly was eating, but it looks like it was enjoyed. 

Lucy on the other hand, is a little bit more of a delicate eater.

Last month I had Lexi, Krew, Kendrix and the twins.

We took some time to go to Heise swimming.

Lexi is always full of smiles.

And this....My oldest two granddaughters,

holding my youngest two granddaughters.

And then there are these two beauties.

My youngest and my oldest.

The bookends.

Candice is 4 months pregnant here.

Her first.

I love how these two have become the best of friends.

Lucy isn't sure about the hat.

I can't believe how they have grown.

And speaking of growing.

How is it that I have another grandson graduating from high school?

Am I really that old?

As I go through pictures and write down my thoughts, I realize that I really do love blogging.

I guess I'll keep it up.

Unless my head gets empty.

CRUISE!

February being a pretty cold, snowy and miserable month...

a month to be endured.

Barely.

Nothing better for the winter blues than going on a cruise with great friends.

We flew from Salt Lake to North Carolina and then on to Puerto Rico

We loved touring around Puerto Rico

Nita, Jenna and I

LOVED the sun and the ocean and the beaches.

So did my shadow.

We went to St. Kitts

St Lucia

Barbados

St Maarten

Antigua

Each place we went to was beautiful.

Sunny and warm

It was so good to get away.

I love spending time with this man.

And considering what we went through 2 years ago...

I feel blessed to have him.

When can we go back?

ON BEING A GRANDMA

I have been a grandma for over 18 years.

It still blows my mind to hear me being called that.

I just don't feel like I should be old enough.

It happened way sooner than I thought it would.

But here is 8 month old Lilly. Sitting up by herself!

Such a mile stone for such a little princess. 

Born at 28 weeks.

2 pounds 3 ounces.

And big sissy Lexi loves to love on her twin baby sisters.

She was unsure about how it was going to be....since she was an only child for over 10 years.

But she has taken to it perfectly.

And these two big brothers, Krew and Kendrix, love their baby sister Leighton.

Leighton was born with Cerebral Palsy.

She's truly a miracle.

Sitting up alone.

Looking at her mom's scriptures.

My own children.

Nate and Candice.

Nate was in Idaho Falls for some police training.

So we met at Outback where Candice works as an assistant manager.

We enjoyed some delicious food.

And I enjoyed watching these two.

They are beautiful humans.

Teddy and Timmy build a gigantic snowman!

Good thing their dad is over 6 feet tall so he could help!

And Lucy and Lilly being held by daddy.

He loves all of his girls!

Lexi decided that a laundry basket filled with pillows was the perfect way to watch TV and keep the twins happy. 

Yes, becoming a grandma all those years ago was a shocker.

But wow, I love it.

It's amazing to watch your kids parenting.

It brings joy....and sometimes evil laughter.

It is the best.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2019

I pray that it is filled with joy and love.