Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Happenings...

We took the kids to the Utah State Fair this year for the first time and of course Nick's favorite area was the animals. This is a picture of the next animal he would like to put in our backyard...for real. Brian agrees with him. I am very relieved we don't have a backyard large enough to accommodate this request!!! :) So we've discovered over the last year that our dog is not the "usual" dog in many ways. One way in particular is his dislike of being walked. Whenever he sees the leash out, he flops down on the ground and pretends he's lost all control of his body. It's hilarious to watch the kids try to put his harness on and them lifting him up but he won't lock his legs in the standing position. When they let go he flops back down to the ground. :) He'll also snuggle up to Hailey and put his little head on her shoulder in hopes that she'll save him. :)
Hailey had her rocket launch last week at school and this is always a fun day for the sixth graders. They build these rockets from a kit (Hailey used Nick's from last year) then add a motor to it. This is Hailey getting the motor all ready to go for her launch.

Then they load about 8 at a time...

...and each person gets to push the button to launch their rockets. Some go sailing up into the air never to be seen again; some go straight up, the parachute pops out great, and they float back down good as new; and some turn end over end right out off the launch and the kids scream and jump out of the way. We were a little nervous about how Hailey's would do since Nick used it last year as well and even though they told us they were reusable I was worried it might not work as well. Luckily it worked like a charm! Hurray. This is Hailey pushing the button to launch!!

The chicken eggs are getting bigger. We've actually had 5 eggs with double yolks...interesting. We're averaging about 8 per day now and Nick has 3 steady customers set up. :)

Nick hanging with his buddy before school one morning.

My big accomplishment last week was bottling peaches from our tree. I have never done this before and was a little worried that I was going to poison my family but they actually TURNED OUT...who would've thought it!!! :) Below is a little sampling of this accomplishment. :)









Tuesday, September 14, 2010

It's Been Awhile...

Life has been a little busy lately and I realized today that it's been a couple weeks since I've posted anything. :) I do want do a quick "Thankful Thursday" bit because I am very thankful for everyone who is helping Nick with his Eagle Project!!! He's decided to do a Safety Fair and is partnering with the Lehi City Police, Utah Highway Safety Patrol , Farmers Insurance along with the Lehi Fire Department. One of the Sgt's with the Lehi Police has been AWESOME in helping Nick get a hold of the right people and giving him suggestions on how to make it successful. When we went to meet with him he told Nick he is an Eagle Scout as well and gave him advice on how to make this project his and not let adults take over. He told Nick that the feeling of receiving his Eagle will mean so much more if he knows he put in the work and effort to receive it!!! I really appreciated everything he said to Nick. I've also appreciated every person that has returned a phone call or a text to either commit to helping, provide handouts or fingerprinting kits, or offer suggestions!!!!!

This has been a couple weeks now, but below is a picture of Nick eating the first egg (that didn't splat on the ground) from the chickens. You can definitely see and taste the difference in a farm fresh egg. :)

We also had a "family reunion" or sorts in our backyard. My sister and all six of her kids (who have not been together in one place in over 6 years) and two of the spouses all came to Utah and we had a fun brunch together. It was really neat to get to know my nieces and nephews as adults or soon-to-be adults and I was really impressed with the people they are becoming. It's sad that we don't get to see each other more often but I really appreciated the time we spent that day eating, talking, and laughing.
All the grandkids that were there that day. We were missing my other sister's 3 kids. Their ages range from 30 yrs old down to 8 years old.

The whole gang!

Then of course I have to add a picture of our sweet little baby friend Ellie!!! :)