Packing It All In

Harvest Season is upon us in all of it's 'glory'. Our gardens' abundance is flowing over to all of our neighbors and they now barely crack their doors when they see us coming, so we can't fit the yellow squash through the opening:) The kids snack on cucumbers and tomatoes and beans and raspberries all afternoon, so there is no need to make a formal lunch. The older girls and I canned peaches and froze corn and pickles are calling. I don't love preserving food and have gotten out of it for years with the excuse of having little children. Unfortunately that excuse is becoming quickly outdated and I am having to farm girl up since others have been generous enough to bless us with the bounty of their crops. Mikayla is convinced that I must also do pears and applesauce. All I know is that I need better tools to be efficient and a nanny/maid would be nice because the house tends to "fall down" when I am focused so intently on other things. There is going to be true "Harvest' celebration at the house come October. I will be celebrating being done! :)

We were able to squeeze in a short camping trip this weekend. We promised our children because we haven't done anything vacation wise this summer and time was running out. It wasn't convenient (I had to pull some very late nights/ early mornings to finish putting up the corn and peaches before we left, but it was a great opportunity to relax with our children, something neither Fred or I have done much of this past month. We drove off planning on staying at Anderson Ranch (a barren desert with a big lake), but we met a very friendly outdoorsman at a gas station who steered us to a campground in Pine that was perfect for our short stay. It had hot springs that were definitely a big highlight for everyone.

School starts tomorrow and I don't feel ready. Just the thought of getting back into a rigourous routine makes me feel a little melancholy as the evening hours have really been our only family time. However, the necessity of order always seems to re-motivate all of us to be "up and doing", so I am sure it will be a positive change.

Jordan will be coming back home with one of his roomates this Saturday or Sunday and the anticipation in the air is tangible. We can hardly wait!

So many things to do today--so little time--I'm off to the trenches!

Sunday Cookies

Cousin Temple Trip ("clean")

Mud Volley ball after they were sprayed off many, many times(not even close to clean!)

Eden's shirt was bright white before they started.

Thank heaven for lots of children to husk (a job that we enjoyed together, but my thumb and first two fingers were numb for 3 days from cutting while Eden and Mikayla bagged)

(Sunrise--Sunset) -- I made it through a week of monotony because Mikayla was my constant companion

What happens when you are too busy canning to be an attentive mother (Eden practicing on Abe the week we let her wear makeup)

FAMILY CAMPTRIP:

breakfast

Early morning "bath" in the hot springs

Fishing

Napping

Soaking it in

Lily flossing with a tangle of fishing line she found on the rocks :( I took it away as soon as I took the picture;)

Sunshine!

Lily and Sophie climbed into the same shirt while we were taking down camp and were "stuck" together for a good 30 minutes (jockeying for leader position, sitting on each other, trying to kiss and not be kissed and giggling like crazy-- there's no personal 'bubble' here. (Abe trying to get in on some of the camera action with one of his famous 'GQ' poses.)

Nuts!!!

City of Rocks

"Hurrah for Israel!"

Exhausted on the way back home

The only one who was semi conscious (barely)