Jessica's 1st Birthday

Well, I don't know where the time went....It seems to have flown by!! Here's an update on our family. I'll try to do better at keeping up with this.

Happy Birthday Jessica!

Our littlest sweetheart!

Jessica turned 1 on August 1st. She had a great party with lots of family & neighbors! Our neighbors are the Warners, who are also our babysitters who just so happen to be our Bishops family!! Anyway, we see them a lot & knew they'd want to be a part of Jessica's special day (they adore her!) So, we had dinner (Jessica's favorite-Chicken Alfredo -Adult "ified" macaroni & cheese really!) Then the Warners came over & we did gifts & cake.

I made a daisy cake for her. I thought it turned out cute.

She got a couple of pairs of shoes, clothes, a baby doll & a farm magnet set.

She had a great time! We just let her take her time & play & eat cake.

It was so cute to see her so excited over everything!

She is such a sweetie! We love her so much!!

Funny Face

Oh, I love those cheeks!!

Farm

We often tell the story how Katie used to cry every night. She'd cry when we tucked her in bed because she didn't live on a farm, she only lived on a garden!

On Labor Day we visited Tom's dad's cousin & his wife. They have a real farm. They have sheep, cows, llamas, and rabbits. We enjoyed an evening sitting out on the lawn. It was like having beautiful landscape paintings all around us, but it was real. Real rolling hills in the background of fields covered in wheat, barley, sagebrush and sheep.

Before, during and after the hamburgers, the kids chased the bunnies and rabbits. We were told that anyone who wanted one could take one home. We did have an empty hutch and a full bucket of food. So we decided to keep one. Katie chose the smallest. He was quiet and cuddly. He looks like a gray rock, the kids named him ROCKAFELLER. Then the next thing I heard was the farmer saying the bunny already looked scared and lonesome. He asked me what we could do about that. Well, I said, "we ought to leave him here then or take another so he won't be alone." Yep, he needs a brother or sister to go home with him. And we were promised they were exchangeable and completely returnable. So the kids chose a beautiful golden bunny with extra large ears that bounced when it moved. We named her GOLDILOCKS! And then planned on calling him Mr. Goldilocks if she turned out to be a boy. But she's a she.

They aren't Mini Rex's, like our first bunny. Or fancy Netherland Dwarfs, or English Lop Ears. They are FARM bunnies. REAL TORGERSEN FARM bunnies. We even buy their food at the FARM STORE. They are going to be big.

Two weeks later. My neighbor Karen, called and told me to come get some zucchini. She lives on a farm and grew a huge garden this year. After loading the car full of zucchini, her granddaughter handed me a kitten. Karen said, "Oh and the kitten too Amy, you have to take him home, he's yours." I looked down at his big blue eyes and said, "okay." He was cute. Earlier that day I had one of those moments where I realized that life is short. Do you have moments like that? I couldn't believe that in 4 years Kevin will be 19 and could be gone from home. My kids are growing up and I haven't done everything I planned, I never let them have a cat. Plus, he's a REAL FARM cat. Now our farm can be complete.

Katie doesn't just live on a garden.

That's Tristan getting a bunny out of the hutch!

At home with 3 farm animals

Out in the back yard, see the hutch in the background. Oh, and our red barn.

It's a farm.

Summer Fun!

Ok, when I got on here & saw that the last date that anything was posted was in April, I just had to post something!!

So, here's an update on us. WARNING: This may be REALLY long!!!!!

Well, we finally closed on our property down the road! It is 1.7 miles from our house now and it's 107 acres. We call it the "Hundred Acre Woods" (Get it? Like Winnie the Pooh!=)). Craig has been busy over there making a driveway/road so we can access it a little better. It was really soggy & muddy before. It looks great now. Not perfect, but getting there. Before, when I would ride back there with Craig on the 4-wheeler, I would lift my feet as high as I could so my shoes & legs didn't get muddy. I don't have to do that anymore. =) Anyway, we're still looking for that perfect house plan. Haven't found it yet. We thought we had, but it wasn't really what we wanted. So, every night we spend an hour or so looking through our many house plan books, trying to decide. I'll take a pic of the property so you can see it. It's pretty woodsy & overgrown right now, but it'll be nice & secluded!

Eric turned 12 in May & received the Aaronic Priesthood. He is now old enough to pass the sacrament, which seems really strange for some reason. Wasn't he just a baby a little while ago? Wow, time flies.......

The boys & Craig took their annual fishing trip to Michigan at the end of May. They always have a good time. I worry about them the whole time they're gone, but they always come back just fine. I don't hear about the bumps & scrapes until they get home, so that's just fine. I got a lot of things done while they were gone. I planted our whole garden, so Craig wouldn't have to when he got back. He was very surprised! I also painted our kitchen (just touch ups. Craig had 'touched it up' with the wrong paint color, so I fixed it). I also sanded the whole Mudroom, painted some curtain rods for Emily's room, painted a shelf & organized all of the kids clothes. I felt so accomplished!! I sure missed my boys though!

The Gang

Craig & the boys are on the right

Jeremy (friend) & his boys are on the left

with their grandpa (Ron)in the middle.

Doing what they do best!

My Triathlon training is going well. I'm feeling more like I can actually do this!! I did a Mini-Tri yesterday. Which wasn't really mini. It was more like the real thing minus a 2 mile run. We did a 1/2 mile swim, 13 mile bike & 1 mile run. It was really HARD!! I only had to stop 2 times on the bike ride (because I thought I was going to puke!) So, I thought that was pretty good. I was so tired afterwards! I got home & took a nap. When I woke up I thought "there's no way I could have done what I just did, 3-4 months ago". So, then I felt better about how I did. I've lost about 20 lbs since starting the training in April. I still have 20 to go.


Summer is in full swing & we've done a bunch of fun activities as a family. I love the flexibility of Craig's work. He's been able to come with us to just about everything!


Last week we went to Roseland Waterpark. It's a park with waterslides, lazy river, wave pool & a splash park (like a playground with water). The waterpark is right in Canandaigua (15 min) & we've never been there! It was so much fun! Some friends of ours were in the Hill Cumorah Pageant as a family & they had the day off of Pageant stuff, so they came with us. The week they were practicing for pageant it was like 95 degrees out with 95% humidity. It was smoltering!!!

Craig going down the crazy slide

Adam going down the crazy slide

Wave Pool

Matt by the splash park

Me & Jess waiting for everyone to get off the waterslides

We also went to a Civil War Re-enactment last weekend. Again it was 95 degrees & 95% humidity!! The boys loved it! They thought it was pretty cool! It was actually so hot there that we went & sat in the a/c car & cooled off before we went back in to finish looking around. We got some pretty good pics of the soldiers, fighting, cannons & the wounded.

A soldier asked the kids if they wanted to wear a uniform for the pic.

It was so hot, but they really wanted to.

SOoooooo HOT!!

Watergirls

The Hill Cumorah Pageant just got over with last weekend. We were able to go 2 times this year. We actually brought a non-member the first time we went & the boys each brought a non-member friend the second time. I think they had a great time. I didn't get too many pics. It was getting dark out.

Christ coming down to the children

Last week we also had a hot-air balloon land in our backyard. It was pretty exciting. At first we thought they were going to hit the cell phone tower. It was pretty scary! Then, they ended up landing in our backyard. We got to watch them deflate it & pack it up. It was quite an ordeal!! The kids thought it was pretty cool too. We took video of it landing. We didn't have the other camera out then. So, we got pics of them deflating it.

deflating the balloon

deflating it

packing it up

waiting for them to load it up

The Basket

Loading the basket

Sparkling Cider for everyone

Well, I guess we're considered farmers now....We have chickens. Does that mean we're farmers? We call Matthew the chicken farmer. He's in charge of making sure they have food, water & hay. We got the chicks when they were 3 weeks old & have raised them on our own. They aren't dead yet, so that's a plus...lol We won't get eggs from them for another couple of months though. So, we're just waiting.......

Chicks

They're much bigger now

(stinkier and not as cute)

Trip to Hurricane

We sorted in Mamaw's sewing room.

Aunt Jenny made this ceramic pot in high school. What an artist! It's broken now so we took a picture so she could throw it away.

Mamaw holding up the train to her wedding dress. After stirring up the boxes, the dust made her cough. Here she is rolling her eyes at us because we are laughing that she keeps coughing with her tongue sticking out every time I take a picture.

Hey Jenny could use this train to construct her next wedding dress! BEAUTIFUL!

This was picture worthy too. Loved the fabric of this old nighty. Notice Grandma Hansen's pinkies? She's such a lady.

A picture of felt booties inside Mamaw's cedar chest. I want to make some like the cream pair.

Aunt Jenny & Katie read their books together. It was Katie's first time reading a Nancy Drew. She loved it! She told us she used to be on page 4 and now she is on page 44. Then she told us all about the ghost and the rest of the details of the mystery!

Banagrams!
More pictures of them reading together.

Snails in the yard, the kids were hoping they would still be there! It's one of the memories they have of going to Hurricane.

On our way home we stopped at Cove Fort. This summer Kevin, Tristan, Tom & I are going to re enact the pioneers traveling with hand carts. We have to dress like them and walk in the same dusty trails they walked. Cove Fort got us in the Pioneer mood!

It is a place travelers could rest on their way while traveling between St. George and Salt Lake.

This fort was built instead of a town because of scarcity of water.

Walls are 18 feet tall and 4 feet thick, they didn't know the Native Indian tribes were friendly.

Katie tries to look out the look out hole.

View from the top of the wall, the rooms are built around the square yard.
Russell looks out the gun hole. It was never used. The Indians were nice. The only gun shot was between two little brothers. It was an accident and the little boy recovered, to brag he was the only one ever shot at Cove Fort.

Inside the heart of the home- the Kitchen! The Hinckley family served meals to all who stayed a night. They did this for 10 years. They wanted the wood furniture to have a red finish. They did it by rubbing first with Ox blood then with buttermilk. (Hmmm... An idea for my cabinets!)

A shelter from physical fatigue or a place of protection from the elements. Today it serves as a spiritual way station where we can be reminded of the faith of our forefathers, where we can refresh our sense of sacrifice and obedience and our dedication to duty, where we can be reminded of the values of work, provident living, self sufficiency and family unity.(- Stephen Nadauld.)

Wow, it did just that. I came right home and baked some bread. I sat with my kids and discussed how we can help each other.

I love to learn about the mormon pioneers!