Unexpected trip~

Last Monday on the 19th of October my sweet Uncle Lavar passed away. He is my Mom's oldest brother and was very special to me. We shared a birthday along with my Uncle Bryce. I remember a few birthday parties we had together as a kid. He would have been 87 this November.

I was able to fly out to Oregon for the funeral. Unfortunately I went without Quinn and the kids. However, I was lucky enough to meet my parents and sister there. It was so beautiful in Oregon... I can't believe the colors. It rained all day long on the day of the funeral. But all in all it was a good trip despite the circumstances. I was able to see family I hadn't seen in YEARS!

We also had the opportunity to go see the Multnomah Falls. WOW! So pretty and green. Then we drove into Troutdale and ate lunch at the General Store. It was a cool store with everything from toys and crafts to food.

It was a long and busy weekend. I am very grateful to my wonderful husband for allowing me to go.

Here are some pictures I took while there....

The hotel made cookies every night for the guests. We were not going to be there the first night when they were to be put out so they promised us some when we got in. Here we are enjoying them......

These are some of the beautiful trees in the parking lot at the church...........

My cousins girls (so cute)............

The luncheon...............

My sister Sylvia, Me, my Mom & Dad........

My mom and her siblings...... Uncle Bryce, Aunt Helen, Aunt Leola and Aunt Lynn........

Multnomah Falls......

Sylvia and I.......

Headed up the trail........

These were in the parking lot at the falls....

On our way to Troutdale we stopped to take pictures of the Columbian River........

Main street in Troutdale.......

Troutdale General Store where we ate lunch.......



They had some ginormous hot dogs there. Aunt Leta loved them.....

This was a Santa deal that was for sale at the ridiculous amount of $2,295!!



Our last night in Oregon having a family dinner, looking at pictures and telling stories of Uncle Var.....

Plowing

Last weekend Quinn pulled out the tractor and turned under the garden. It's all plowed and waiting for next season.

While we were outside, Brycie was dressing up. She came out looking like she stepped right out of the late 80's or early 90's. She told me she had to get my yearbook out for reference!... The little stink!

Processing time~

We have been raising a steer with the Anderson's. The kids think it is the ugliest thing, and I have to admit that they are right. It has a wonky leg and one wonky horn. It did have two horns at one time, but was roped off once in attempt to get it back in the corral after escaping.

Well, today Quinn and I rode over with Josh and Annie to Snowflake where we dropped it off at Malipai's to be processed. The steer got right in the stall and let the other cows there, know who's boss.

We were all a little worried over the last few weeks, that it wasn't very big. However when it was next to the others at Malipai's, it was the biggest one! So that is good news. We look forward to getting it back in a couple of weeks.

See.... One missing horn and the one remaining is all wonky.......

He is pretty fired up and foaming at the mouth......

Josh and Quinn checking it out from above.....

Dentist gone wrong~~~

Sunday at church, Mimi had a filling fall out of her lower bottom tooth. She came to me holding the filling with blood all over her mouth! So first thing this morning, I called the dentist office to see about getting her in. They told me to bring her in right then. I get her down there and she is back there for about 45 minutes. When she comes out the opposite side is swollen!! I am thinking..... What the heck?!! So upon more investigation, I see that the bottom tooth is still NOT filled!!!! I take her up to the front desk, asking what in the HECK did they do?!! Well apparently they worked on some upper teeth on the other side of her mouth!! All the while saying..... "Oh my gosh! I am so sorry!".... "The "new" assistant marked the wrong teeth to be worked on." I am thinking.... Couldn't they see the BIG gaping HOLE on the bottom?!! ANYWAY... I have an appointment to take her back in the morning AGAIN to get the RIGHT tooth done! This is what she looks like almost 8 hours later.........

Still has a crooked smile and still a little swollen! Needless to say I am NOT a happy camper!

Fall~

I really love this time of year. The leaves on the trees are starting to change, the mornings are crisp and the evenings cool. The days are just perfect. But for some reason I find myself in a bit of a funk! I can't figure it out. I have started toying with the idea of a new hair cut to maybe bring me out of this slump. Give me a bit of a change, not to mention maybe the kids at school will stop calling me by another teachers name if I change my hair. ???? But I am not sure what to go with or even if I should do it.

I also feel like I need something to look forward to other than a Friday night football game to get me out of the house. But I don't want to spend money either. So what does one do to entertain themselves?

Ughhh...

I hate feeling like this.

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. :)