Canning, canning, canning

So it's the end of the growing season and I've started trying to can some things. I wish was better at it, but at least I'm trying. I got asked to teach a class on how to make Salsa for Relief Society, still not sure why. I tell them pretty up front, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Things thankfully turned out alright and I was able to bottle 12-15 bottles of Salsa, and deliver a bunch to neighbors and friends when I was too tired to can anymore. Sean and I made pepper jelly which is wonderful on grilled cheese or a cheese crisp...but it's best with some little cherry peppers we got out of Jay and Tami's garden and there weren't very many of them. I was amazed out how well it turned out. Then I tried to can a mint syrup from my mint that takes over everything. Sean loves an iced mint tea and I thought it would be fun to have some through the winter. That one still needs work, it didn't turn out as well as I hoped, but it's decent. Now the apples are ripe and I'm trying to keep up. I made homemade applesauce which I thought was amazing! (and so easy) but Lia informed me the store's is better....can't please them all. So I've got tons of empty jars waiting for applesauce, and apple pie filling...hopefully soon. And of course we never come home from Safford empty handed (thanks again Curtis') Sean brought home a huge grocery bag of habenero peppers. I'M NOT TOUCHING THEM!!!!! He loves drying the peppers and ginds them into this amazingly fresh powder. I can handle cayennes or some of the others, but not habenero's. I'll keep you posted on how they turn out! For now I'll stick to the apples.

Apache County Fair

We always end up going to two fairs, the one here in Apache County and the one in Safford. The one here is pretty small and not a lot to see, but the kids love going and seeing the animals, and know most of the kids that take care of them. The Hannah's always have a few animals and the boys show their goats. So it's fun for the kids. It never fails they want to ride the rides, which I think is a big fat waste of money. Especially when we will do it all again a few weeks later. So this year I came up with a plan. There was a guy selling pvc marshmellow shooters and cap guns. The kids of course wanted one. So I told them I would buy each of them a cork gun, if we didn't ride the rides....surprisingly they went for it! They have even behaved themselves with the cork guns. I'll have to admit they are pretty cool, I'll have to try to figure out how to make more as of course there is never enough to share on some days.

Things you find in the woods!

I couldn't help posting pictures from our drive. The mountains were so pretty. We didn't have to drive but 20-30 min. to be in the middle of it! Sam of course loves the pictures of the cows. He wanted them for his room...what a nut. I love seeing the clouds come in. Of course seeing a bunch of Elk is always exciting. Funny how I never have my camera ready when it's a herd of bull elk.

Winter is coming so fast! We've already had hail and some snow in the mountains. I have to close the windows at night, and Lia fusses that she's so cold in the morning that she wants a fire. Looks like it will be a long winter. So we headed to the woods to look for wood. It ended up being more like a picnic. It was fun. I love enjoying the beautiful mountains that we are blessed to live in. Sam loves just being in the woods where he can swordfight with big sticks, rolling and throwing rocks down hills and imagining about all the animals and what they are doing. On the way home there were big drifts of what looked like snow, we pulled over to scoop some into our ice chest for Lia (who says she misses all the fun stuff, because she has to go to school) and it turned out to be drifts of hail, which was even cooler (literally). She loved it! The next day Sean was able to get up and go get a load of wood. His truck only sustained minor damage from some tree, funny how that happens, and he was able to make it in the driveway before the battery on the truck got fried. Things that keep life interesting. A couple of more loads of wood and we should be set for winter!

Dustin and his little friend?

I have so many pictures from the funeral where so many family was gathered. It was truly and amazing oppotunity for our kids to have a blast with so many cousins and family around. I'll have to post a slide show to show all the fun! We ended the trip with a special treat from Dustin. That morning we were visiting with him. He simply asked "want to see what I have in my plastic tub?" with him that can never be good, because usually that means he's caught a rattlesnake. Of course he had a pretty nice sized snake in the tub which my kids were so eagar to look in. Did I mention I HATE snakes, I hate the way they move, the look of the them just causes too many flashbacks of time in a cotton field hoeing weeds and demolishing rows of cotton hoping to kill the snake in the row. Or time when they'd be in the yard, and especially when Kally got bit by one. I try however not to let my phobias (however valid) affect my kids. So I let them see the critter. It helps that I trust my brother completly. If he says it's okay, it's okay by me. That night after most of the family had left he got out his tub again on the grass and called all the kids over, who had heard about his "friend". He got the snake out and let it crawl around letting them get a good look. We all cautioned them about the danger of messing with any snake, especially this kind. I didn't get to stay to see if he finished his "job" with the snake. He was going to try to de fang it so that his brother in law could use it to train his hunting dogs about rattlesnakes. What a guy! The weekend definatly ended with a bang...or a fang? ha ha
Sorry the pictures are not the best, wrong time of day and I wasn't getting that close, if someone got better picts let me know and we'll swap them out!

Grandma Laurel's funeral

So much has happened and it's hard to go back over everything. I'll give it a try. This month our wonderful Grandmother passed away. I didn't think I would struggle with it like I did, she was and is an amazing example to our family and too all that new her. Poor Josh had hoped that she would still be around when he got off his mission. I am so grateful we had the opportunity to go see her before his mission. I loved that she watched the news and if something happened in Mexico City I would get the sweetest phone call making sure he was safe and doing well. What a woman! I am deeply grateful for the time we shared with her. We were definately spoiled growing up near her and it was such a blessing. I loved hearing her sweet testimony so many times throughout my life. I also loved that no matter what stage of life I was in, or what circumstance she supported me. I hope and pray I can live my life in such a way that I can make her proud of me.