Visiting my Sis

We took a trip to visit my sister in Nevada a couple weeks ago, and had such a good time. The weather was perfect, and the company was even better. 

The boys are learning about resources and agriculture, so it was a perfect time to visit the dairy farm where my BIL works. The kids LOVED it.

Stopping to check out some petroglyphs. I forget how big and blue the sky can be.

The boys loved playing outside with their cousin Annie, and wondered if we could trade Mary's house for ours. I would do the trade, but Mary would get totally jipped! Hopefully we'll get into a home soon that had some land. Living on a farm is the way to go.

Food Storage Goodness

This year I finally tackled building up our food storage. We don't have a mega awesome garden (yet), but we have some local farmers we get by with. We were able to visit a local raspberry patch for family night, and the summer sun setting-along with good times-turned out to be an amazing evening. 

I didn't get to bottle my ripe tomatoes because I was sick, by I did finish 49 quarts of peaches and pears. Not bad for a first try without my mom right near me :)

With our raspberries, and plums from ourneighbor's  trees, we made some raspberry-plum fruit leather. It was so yummy. You wash and cut the plums in half, cook for 15 minutes, then blend with the raspberries and a little sugar. I don't have a fruit dehydrator, so we just set the oven at a super low temp and cooked it for 10 hours. It was supposed to last a couple months, but was gone in a couple weeks!

One thing I've found is that there is almost always an abundance of zucchini during the summer form neighbor and friend gardens. We were given so much zucchini and will use every bit. Julian sat and shredded cups of zucchini, which we'll use in the winter for chocolate zucchini bread. Next year I hope to be more zealous and get tomatoes and jam made. Yum!

Eventful!

This summer has been eventful. We've been so grateful to get a lot of trips in. We've also had our share of hiccups along the way, but each time we're blessed to get throught it!

River started a few asthma episodes this summer. The first one we handled ok, the next two were an urgent care visit, then finally in July we took a scary trip to the E.R. We were out of town each asthma episode, and the last we were panicked to get her some help. 

When we finally got to the E.R. she was in such scary shape. I could tell the dr was nervous; he thought she might need a breathing tube. Gratefully she just stayed on oxygen at the i.c.u. for a few days, then she did much better. Now we just watch her closely and follow a regime to keep her breathing well. Anytime she wheezes I start getting panicked. She's done so good so far though.

A few weeks ago we took a trip back home to Missoula. Liam started feeling some intense pain in his molar, and the next day we were at the dentist giving him a root canal! It was actually good timing because our buddy Joe is a pediatric dentist that did an amazing job for us. Liam did awesome- considering it was his first trip ever to the dentist! 

The strangest thing that happened this summer was me getting bit by a dog. We were on this leisurely Sunday stroll when out of no where I felt this pain shoot up my leg and the kids start crying. This little dog had bolted across the street and clamped on my leg without warning. The good news? My leg has healed, and the dog attacked me instead of the kids :)

The latest string of events had me and Julian really sick for a couple weeks. We were traveling back from my sister's home in Nevada through Idaho, and after a few days we were tested for E. coli. The tests came back negative, so we just mucked through the rest of whatever we had. Julian was the best kid to go throught that experience. He's really tough at being sick, and even consoles me to feel better!

Lastly Tanner has also been experiencing some bad back pain. Like, stay on the couch to try and relieve some pain but it doesn't help type of pain. We're going to see some doctor's again next week to try and help him out.

I know these are small things, but just kind of crazy they all landed around the same time for us. I'm grateful to have my hubby's help and love as we figure out this year together!

Rivey Jean

River is so beloved at our home. She is such a smiley kid and so much fun to be around. One of her favorite things is to get on top of our table and dance all over the place. Gives me a heart attack each time!

The boys have been fun to watch with her. Liam takes on the oldest brother role well, and Julian wants to hold and help her all the time.

While catching up in some sewing projects, I spotted a little helper.

I feel so blessed to have my kids.

Family fun day

Right before school begins, Rexburg throws a big family get together. The kids enjoyed being with their cousins and seeing all the events.

People watching was my favorite activity. This poor kid looked 4 yrs old, an only child, and still on a leash during his family outing in the metropolis of Rexburg. I wanted to cut the chord and just let him play!