Landon and Peach Jam

So a week ago, my dad dropped off a box of peaches

that he had picked off of a neighbors tree.

I had been wanting to make some peach jam for the

last couple of years but never got around to it. So the

opportunity arised for me to be able to put some up.

Kimberly came up to help out and of course I had my

buddy who was all eager to help out also.

We put up the camp chef out on the deck to put the canner

on. The pot is bigger than the burners on my ceramic stove top

and it gave us more room on the stove to cook the peach jam.

The camp chef cooks alot hotter than the regular stove, so I didn't

want to burn the peach jam mixture.

We just followed the directions that came inside the pectin

box.

We just used 4 Cups peaches (processed by food processor)

5 1/2 Cups sugar

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

l box of pectin

Landon cooking on the camp chef

Landon helping put up peach jam



Landon picking up a lid with the jar picker up

tool (lol...can't think whats its called, brain cramp...)






Landon holding the lid with the sissor tool.

I tried to hold it like he did on the edge of the lid

and I couldn't do it, so how does a 2 1/2 yr old do it?






YUMMY !!! PEACH JAM



10 pints and 30 half pints



It always makes you feel good to make something

and see the reward that you can enjoy all year long.

Landon at the State Fair

So on Thursday me and Kimberly took Landon to the

Utah State Fair. The day was really nice, not windy,

not hot...just right..with lots of sunshine., couldn't have

asked for a better day.

So we started off by taking him to see all the animals.

First was the sheep, they were bathing and clipping them.

I started taking pictures of him watching them, of course he

wanted to take some of them himself. He is going through the

Mr. Independent stage right now, its been going on for a few

weeks but now its pretty well everything. Kimberly had an old

camera that he uses now (he has a play one that takes pictures

but its not cool like ours I guess).

We went on to see the cows, goats, then we seen the ponies.

He really liked them but wasn't sure of them until Kimberly took

him out of the stroller and put him on "Joe" He wasn't sure of it

but then seemed to started to like riding him which was a great

surprise considering he didn't like the Merry Go Round at the

company party earlier this summer.

Everytime I went to take the picture he would start
playing peek a boo, so I'm lucky to get this fuzzy picture..
smile...lol





We were almost finished with the fair when we seen
these seals that we're hanging out on the deck soaking
up the sun. They had a performance an hour earlier
(which we didn't know about). Landon loved watching
them swim around in the big pool beside the stage for
them to cool off.



It has been several years since I've been to the State Fair.
It seems we are always out of town that weekend or have
something going.

I really enjoyed observing the arts and
crafts. Quilts that look amazing that they would've taken
years to make or wood carvings that make your jaw drop.
There was a full canoe made of wood that I would never put
it in water that it was so gorgeous and beautiful.
I loved gazing at all the pictures that you could look at for
hours and never be without awh.... or make Kimberly
become teary with emotion when gazing upon a picture of
Santa Claus with a reindeer picking through a window.
(which she ended up purchasing).

I so enjoyed the "Old State Fair" thank heavens some old
traditions are still available for the young children to grow up
enjoying as we did when we were young.

Labor Day

It is so hard to believe that the summer is almost

over. They whole family was able to spend the

last summer holiday at our place in Island Park.

Kimberly, Landon and Jon came up to take their trailer

home for the winter. Shauna was also able to join us also.

It just seems like we just took our

trailers up for the summer....which I guess in a way it was.

There was lots of that cold wet white stuff in piles on our

lot June 14th, so we ending up

taking the trailer up the end of June and spending the week

up there through the 4th of July.....with all those Idaho state

birds also aka...Idaho BIG misquito's!! They were especially

bad this year due to all the rain and snow they got up there this

winter and spring.

So we all took an atv ride down to Mesa Falls Saturday morning,

the trail Scott discovered a few weeks ago.

We were excited to show them

the trail with the beautiful scenery along the way.

So we pulled up along side the road to take a

water break for a bit. While talking and snacking on

Pistachio's, we noticed alot of horse flies and yellow jackets

flying around. It was a bit before we all decided to leave

when we noticed the wasp nest up in the tree. It was a big

one. The unusual thing was the horse flies were all flying

around and going in it also. It was like they were sharing the

nest. I know that paper wasp nests are for hornets but there

were none around, so they must have abandoned it at one time

and the yellow jackets moved in and sharing it with the horse flies.

Big paper wasp nest in the tree

The tree with the wasp nest in it.
It was also neat to see that the quakie tree
growing along side the pine tree, they interwine
all the way up to the top. It is one of those
unique things you find that mother nature has
provided us to enjoy.



Shauna and Kylie on the Mesa Falls trail.





Shauna and Landon at Mesa Falls









Jon, Landon and Kimberly at Warm Springs.


Another generation enjoying Island Park!!








Kylie cooling off in the water at Warm Springs

Landon playing in the water fountain....

posing like

"I wasn't doing anything"...

Other vacationers enjoying fishing off of

Buffalo bridge.

(In the background you can see Scott

letting Kylie cool off in the water)

A Bald Eagle nesting

I totally enjoying spending time with my family

but it is especially special when we're all at our place together,

we have made special with all the memories from the

past, present and all the new ones in the future.

We hope our children and grandchildren will keep building

this legacy of experiences and memories for future generations

to come.

Listening to the birds singing in the morning,





while having breakfast under the green pines,





while the squirrels climb the trees to gather their





winter harvest in the golden daylight,





wildflowers so colorful like an artist palet,





the sandhill cranes squaking as they fly over head,





while the mother moose with her calf walking down the





trail out front heading towards the slow moving crystal





clear river with the trophy fish swimming away from





the bald eagle in the bluest blue skies.

















These are a few things we take in while enjoying





God's country that we are blessed to have the





opportunity to enjoy.

Landon's new water table

So for Landon's 2nd birthday, Aunt Shauna

bought him this water table. We haven't put

it together until about a month ago when mommy

went out of town to enjoy the play "Grease" that

was playing down in southern Utah with some friends.

Jon was working nights

so Aunt Shauna came out for the weekend to help babysit

her special "man". Grandma and Grandpa also help babysit,

which is always a special pleasure.

So Aunt Shauna put it together and when he woke up from his

nap, his special surprise was waiting for him in the backyard.

So Landon is a fish inside and out, he LOVES bath time, playing

in the creek in Island Park for a few examples. So when presenting

this surprise we knew it was going to be the best babysitter we could

have. After 2 hours he was still playing, coming up with new games

and refilling the table with the hose when it got low.

So when it came time for dinner.....we'll lets just say......It wasn't

a happy experience pulling him away from it to go and eat dinner.

After dinner we let him play for a bit longer but then had to pull

him away again for of all things a "bath"....lol

Landon playing with his new water table

Kylie, Aunt Shauna and Landon

So the next morning, bright and early he was all intent

to go and play in the water. We finally talked him into

eating some breakfast but that was the fastest breakfast

he'd ever eaten.

He played for a few more hours content as a fish could be.

When mommy showed up later, the first thing he done

was to show her his new toy, he wasn't interested in giving

her hugs or kisses...he was all into playing with her in

the water.

So Monday morning came when she dropped him off at 8:00 am,

he was already focused on going outside that morning and playing

with his water table. I done what I could to entertain him to keep

his mind off of going outside and getting wet so early in the morning.

That lasted till about 9:30 am when I finally gave in and let him

play while I watered the plants in the yard and done a few other

things. He played for about an hour when I got him to come in and

lay on the couch and watch Mickey Mouse.

He is growing up so fast and watching him experiencing childhood

moments is the best and being a grandparents is the ultimate experience.

Island Park

So most of my posts lately are about Island Park.

It's where we love to spend our summers.

So much

of our family memories are from our summers and

winters spent in Island Park.

It is a place that gives you serinity and refreshes

your soul, at least for us it does.

So here are a few more pictures from the picture

album "Summer 2011"

Landon playing in the creek

"Breakfast under the Pines"

Landon and Shauna having breakfast on
his new picnic table that grandpa made for him.
Grandma and mom at the big picnic table.
Grandpa and Jon was working on the
"mancave"/ garage and joined us a few
minutes later.

Landon playing with his toys in the pine tree's

"The old shed"

Soon to be called the Grizzly Lodge

Already planning on extending it out to make

room for a bedroom. That seems to be our

story....we finish one project and think up a new one.

We took out the big garage door and put it in

the new garage.

"The New Garage"

Also known as Scott's mancave

They look alot alike but the new one is alot bigger.

The New Mancave Garage

So this summer we have almost spend every weekend at our place

in Island Park. We decided that our 2 yr old shed wasn't big

enough to store our atv's including our newest addition ...our Razor.

So we planned to build a bigger shed/garage or what I call Scott's

mancave....lol.

Last fall Scott started getting a head start digging holes

for the foundation (the foundation is on cement filled sonatubes, because

it is going to be a wood floor, it would cost as much as the whole building to

truck in cement for a cement floor so we opt for a wood floor).

We also bought all the OSB

(plywood) and took them up and stored them in the shed up there over the

winter to lightened the load with all the materials to go up in the spring

or we'd have to make a couple of trips to get it all up there.

Then he also built the trusseswith the help from Jon (our son-in-law)

early in the spring and stored them in our garage here at home along

with the mandoor, felt paper, nails, metal roofing, 28 bags of cement, sonatubes

52-2x6's (can't use 2x4's because of all the weight of the snow during the winter).

You get the picture....our garage filled up with materials that our truck

sat outside until the BIG day when him and Jon hauled the load up to

Idaho.

Throughout the summer which has included 3 weeks of vacation

and many weekend trips up in Island Park, which I won't complain at all because we

have had fun riding our new razor, trips to West Yellowstone,

building flower beds and just enjoying the outdoors.....

We finally finshed it last week.

Putting felt paper on before putting on the siding

for extra protection from the winter snow.

Almost finished putting the siding on.


The finished project.

A better picture of our pride and joy,

or

Scott's new mancave.....lol

We still have a few minor things to do to it but

it seems so nice to see it done and looking so good.

Take The Time

This summer has went so fast this year. Every year

it seems to go alittle faster. Sometimes I have felt like

I've been swept up into a tornado.....which I have dreamed

this last week that a tornado was coming right for our house

but it passed us by but it got bigger as it went by. They say

dreams have meaning in how we feel about things...well I

guess I need to find peace and relaxation so I can dream of

me relaxing on a sandy beach with the ocean breeze comforting

my inner soul.

So my brother-in-law passed away a few weeks ago. It just

seems so unreal. Six weeks ago we were going about our daily

lives, when we received the news that he had cancer and it didn't

look good. We just take it that our lives each day will go on....

that we actually go on with our daily routines and complain about

the small things that don't go our way....the car that cut us off,

the groceries that keep climbing higher, gas prices, the stock market

that goes up and down like a roller coaster, the house is a mess and

no time to clean it....which I feel like my house has become so bad that

I feel like I am drowning in "the to do list" !!!

We get so busy that we miss the opportunities to get together with

our family, friends or neighbors, until reality hits you in the face.

You never know when the unexpected turn will come into our lives,

so we should make time to give each other a hug, kiss your children,

have a family bbq, make dinner for a friend/family member that could use a

home cooked meal, or to just give someone a call to just say HI!!.

So thank you for being a friend and taking the time to visit me:)

~~~~~~~~~~~~

So a week after my brother-in-law passed away, his daughter Staci

had a baby shower. It was one of the best baby showers I had been

to. She got some cute and beautiful items for the soon to be little girl

in our special family. Boys seem to out number the girls 7 to 2. She had

Ebony almost a week to the day after Conrad's passing. I am sure they

had their own special time in heaven before she came down to stay with us.

So I made a receiving blanklet to put with the items I had gathered

through the last few months. I made them bigger than the normal standard

receiving blanklets, which seems they outgrow and a foot keeps popping out

here and there. I started making them 28 yrs ago when I was about to have

Kimberly, then I made some for Shauna also. I have made a few here and there

for other members of the family. Usually I get carried away making them,

I see all the different cute designs. I probably made 5 or 6 for Landon.

So this is the one I made for Staci.

It has butterflies on it.

The cycle of life continues.....

Sometimes it is hard and sad but then there is the
times it is happy and joyous.

Just make each moment count
Be Happy not sad
Love one another