Millions of Peaches..... Peaches for Me!

A few weeks ago we bought a box of peaches and made a bunch of peach jam. I thought I was done with peaches, until I got a phone call from my friend Michelle asking me if I wanted more because she bought too MANY boxes. So the sucker that I am said... Sure! However..... I think we are pretty stocked up on Peach Jam. So I went a different route this time.

6 Quarts of Peaches & 6 Quarts of Peach Pie Filling





6 Trays of Peach Leather (fruit roll-ups)




Haven't tried the peaches, but the peach pie filling and fruit leather is sooooo GOOD!


I also did 6 more quarts of tomatoes. (No pictures)


It was all so easy that I am keeping my eye out for another good deal on peaches. Next I would like to try Apple Pie Filling, Pinto Beans, and Chicken. :)

Harvest Time~

Our garden has given us much work. Over the last few weeks, we have blanched our hearts out. We did corn, carrots, tomatoes, salsa, sloppy joes, spaghetti sauce, peach jam & green chili. I just forgot to take pictures of the corn.

When my mom came up, she brought her steamer and sauce master. So she and I went to work and bottled up some tomato juice and tomato sauce. I have never seen fresh tomato juice, so I was surprised to see it sort of clear like.

The Steamer.........

Tomato Juice...........

The Sauce Master..........

Tomato Sauce......

Bottling tomatoes and green chili......

Green Chili.........

Tomatoes & Green chili

This weekend I blanched the tomatoes then made the spaghetti sauce, sloppy joe sauce and salsa. Then I canned it all. It took about 10 to 11 hours! But it all turned out well.

Salsa..........

Spaghetti Sauce............

Sloppy Joes..........

Here is all the jars. Notice the jar of salsa that isn't filled to the top.... Quinn got a hold of the salsa before it was processed!...........

About a month ago, we bought a BIG box of peaches and made peach jam. I did not get any pictures of that process, but it turned out yummy!

It has been a lot of hard work, but I can't wait to use it. :)

Good Reads......

So I have found a series of books that I just LOVE to read. Some of you have probably heard of them..... It is the "Love Comes Softly" series.

I started them this summer and have just finished book 3. My problem is that someone ELSE in St. Johns seems to like them as well. How do I know this? ..... First of all when I wanted to start them, the first 2 were checked out. Now... everytime I finish a book, I have to wait for the NEXT one to be turned in! DANG!!! Book 4 is out and due to be turned in on September 5th. So here I wait!!! If you have it..... PLEASE HURRY!!


I am excieted however that the ENTIRE series will be on the Hallmark Channel this weekend! I have my DVR set to record them all!....... Nerd? Maybe.... ???

Happy Birthday Levi~

It's so hard to believe that my Little Bug is 12 years old today. I have so many memories of the day he was born.

To start the day off, I had been to the doctors to have my monthly check up. Everything was fine. Apparently my blood pressure was a little high, but nothing to be worried about. Although I didn't find that out until after I had Levi.

On my way home I stopped off at Target to register for my Baby Shower. I went home, fixed dinner and waited for Quinn to get home from school and work. We had dinner and watched a little TV. My stomach was a little achy and itchy, so Quinn rubbed some Cocoa Butter Cream on it. Then Quinn needed a haircut and as I was cutting his hair, I kept feeling a wetness between my legs. Being 7 months pregnant I was thinking that the baby was pushing on my bladder. Gross I know, but those who have been pregnant, know the feeling. Anyway, I continued to cut his hair. When I was done, I went in to use the bathroom. That's when I discovered blood everywhere! I put in a call to my Doctor. After some questioning, I was told to head into the hospital. They hooked me up to monitors and kept coming in and out. Suddenly the nurse panicked and started running around and saying.... "We have to get this baby out NOW!" Within minutes I was being poked for an IV. My father-in-law and Quinn gave me a blessing and they whisked me off to surgery. Quinn was not able to go in because they thought we were both going to die. They put me completely out and went to work on getting Levi out. He was born at 32 weeks on August 26th, 1997. He weighed 3 pounds 3 oz and was 14 and 3/4 inches long.

They took me back to recovery while Levi was being prepared to be flown over to St. Joe's in Phoenix while I stayed at Chandler. They woke me up to let me tell him bye. I reached in and touched his tiny foot and then they whisked him off. I was still not stable at this point and my blood pressure was through the roof. Poor Quinn was torn.... stay with me or go with Levi? He chose to stay with me until my Mom got there. Then he went to be with Levi. Once my Mom got there my blood pressure went down. I stayed only 2 days in the hospital and then I was released so that I could go see Levi. They told us NOT to expect him home before his due date. Which would mean 2 months in the hospital. He was such a fighter and stayed in NICU for 2 weeks, then he was transported back to Chandler for 2 more weeks. I spent MANY long days there. I was there twice a day. He had to overcome many obstacles before he was able to come home...... He had to maintain his own body temperature, be eating on his own, and be 4 pounds. On the evening of September 25th we got a phone call from the hospital telling us that we could bring him home the next day. We were so excited that I don't think we hardly slept. We got up at the crack of dawn and went over to the hospital to pick him up. I think the nurses were a little annoyed with us but oh well! They were on a shift change so we had to wait a little and then we were able to bring him home. He was attached to an Apnea Monitor but were just happy to have him home..... Exactly ONE month after he was born! He wore the monitor for 2 months. He has made many leaps and bounds. He is a fighter that's for sure. It is a little sad to me to see him growing up so fast. But he has become a wonderful young man!

Here are some pictures............

Just hours after he was born..........

This was the day we brought him home... The preemie clothes are drowning him!.......

This was this morning.... LOVES his new iPod!.........

12 facts about Levi.........

1. He LOVES to sing.

2. He whistles all the time.

3. He loves to give hugs.

4. He loves to help others out.

5. He loves video games.

6. His favorite soda is Dr. Pepper.

7. He loves steak.

8. He likes to go fishing.

9. He loves to shoot his BB Gun.... He is quite good and even shot a butterfly in the air once.

10. He doesn't like loud noises.

11. He is a hard worker when he wants to be.

12. He likes to watch sports.

1st Day of School 2009

The 1st day of school has come and gone, but all has gone well. I got up and went running then came home to read scriptures and get ready for work. As I was getting ready the older kids came in and were ready to take off for school. I had to run out with a towel around my head and snap a few quick pictures. But dang if the battery wasn't dying and I didn't get very good pictures. Only a couple of them. I blame Brycie for taking out my camera every chance she gets to snap pictures of everything. Anyway here are they are......

Levi.....6th grade.......

Brycie......5th Grade........

Mimi.....2nd Grade.......

I can't believe my kids are growing up so fast. It is especially hard to have my baby in 2nd grade. It is a little sad to me.

Camping.....Again~

Last weekend we took off on another camping trip. The Whal's came along and it was a lot of fun. Too bad the wind had to be blowing. But at least we were able to have S'mores and Cobbler! Levi also brought along Jacob to keep him company.

Here are a few pictures from the fun weekend.....


Mimi and Brycie waiting for Chocolate Cherry Cobbler...



Levi and Jacob hunting squirrels......



Quinn and Kyle talking about....??? Hunting I am sure......



Brycie and Jacob off for a quick ride on the quad.........



Here I am getting Mimi some medicine........



Levi catching a nice pass from Jacob...........




Krystin and I were able to sneak away alone to RV for a little shopping and a nice cold drink from Sonic. Thanks Krystin! I owe you one! :)

Also Saturday evening, we were sitting around the campfire and along came some deer in the field next to us. But no one was able to get any good pictures.

It was nice to get away for one last time before school starts. Thanks Whal's for a fun time!

Last day of summer vacation~

On my last day of vacation I spent the day doing this......

Laundry......



AND.....


making cinnamon rolls......



Not really looking forward to going back, but at the same time I am. I really need a paycheck again. Plus I really LOVE this time of year....... Nice cool evenings, tailgate parties & football games!