Our Red Ribbon

This is the ribbon we won for best family entry.

Pioneer float 1978

This was our Pioneer Day float in 1978 - - a long time ago. Mindy is about 2 and she is sitting in the back - Sorry about that Mindy. I remember we had to go out west of town to gather the sagebrush. The kids worked on making the covered wagon though. Do we look like real pioneers? Andy, do you remember Elise Harrison? It was her Dad that drove the truck for our float. (Dad remembered that part.)

APRICOT SATURDAY

Yesterday Erin bought Apricots for us to can today. Two boxes, one was ready for jam and the other was perfect for canning. We got started about noon because the Pioneer Celebration at the Stake Center was in the morning. We got 25 quarts, several containers of jam and 12 containers of puree for smoothies. What a great day it was visiting and canning together. The boys played while we canned. Can't beat that I guess. Some of our jam was just plain apricot and the other was an apricot/pineapple which we just loved and couldn't keep our fingers out of it. That's the best part of canning is the tasting. Thanks Erin for sharing the day with me. (and Av and Bobo)

Swimming with My Mom

The Condo where the reunion was held had this really nice swimming pool. This is Kris and Logan swimming. All was fine until one of the little kids contaminated the pool. That ended the swimming for the day.

Display Table at Johnson Reunion

This is the table display set with a hanky tree, pictures and jars with Grandma Wilma momentos in them.

WASTED FOOD

I just read a newspaper article on how several Spokane restaurants are now helping feed thousands of hungry people. Every week volunteers with Feed Spokane collect an average of 1,000 pounds of food from area restaurants and deliver it to meal sites and shelters. "Much of the food we receive is in perfectly good condition but sometimes the lack of coordination has led people to throw it away". The Davenport Hotel works hard to minimize waste but leftovers are inevitable after weddings and banquets where they never want to run short. Maurice Smith, executive director of Feed Spokane drove to two Arby's one morning and collected nearly 100 pounds of frozen prepared food - 50 roast beef sandwiches, about 40 pounds of breaded chicken fillets and another 40 pounds of chicken nuggets. Instead of tossing leftovers into the dumpsters, 22 restaurants and catering facilities in Spokane now freeze their unserved meals and save them for Feed Spokane. What a great way to help. Here is a couple of links listed in the article. http://www.wastedfood.com This can also be a good thing to incorporate within our own families - using leftovers. www.recipegoldmine.com/leftovers/leftovers.html

A FUN MUD PUDDLE DAY

Erin and the boys came over on Tuesday and this is how it turned out. While Erin and I were cutting, washing and spinning dry the lettuce from the garden, the two little boys were having "too" much fun too. How is it that boys can have so much fun with dirt? I just don't know the answer to that but they surely did. It started out just digging and playing trucks in the garden area but then water was added and one thing led to another and pretty soon they were jumping and sitting in the puddle. It just didn't matter where the dirt was - it was still a lot of fun. We quickly put a stop to it and Erin hosed them off and stripped them down and then put them in the bathtub. Two little boys having too much fun!! It all made for a good photo day at Nana's.

STRIPPED FROM HEAD TO TOE

This little boy had to be stripped outside - from head to toe. Then, into the tub he went for a bath and shampoo with Nana's help.

YEA - CLEAN AT LAST

This definitely called for a bath and shampoo with Mom's help. Yea, clean again!!

A Cheery, Cherry Saturday

After arriving home from a picnic at Round Lake today, Dad picked the rest of the cherries before the birds discovered them. This little tree is producing so well and these cherries are the best tasting. I think they are called Royal Anne. Anyway, here's a picture of them. Doesn't it make your mouth water????

Papa J's Birthday Pies

The only true way to celebrate a guy's birthday is with a favorite pie. Here are the ones that Dad gets this year - Cherry and Apple - mmmmmmm (my favorite is apple and his is Cherry) that's only fair isn't it????

The Concentrators

Erin and boys came over for Sunday dinner because Jeremy was out of town on a job. Afterwards we played games. One was Dominoes, and then Bodee played "scoop" for a games and then we did Bingo. All good for letters and numbers.

Sunday Afternoon Games

Bodee playing with Scoop.

My Friend - Charly

His name is Charly - and can you tell which one is the "real" Charly?????

PAPA'S RAISED GARDEN

This is Dad's raised bed - it's finally growing. Over to the right of this is the corn, beans and a row of Zinnias. To the left is squash, potatoes, sunflowers and he is planning to plant some more Swiss Chard. In the raised bed he has tomatoes, green peppers, swiss chard, carrots, onions, leaf lettuce.

Early Morning Friend

On this beautiful, sunny morning, I stopped a minute to look out my kitchen window at our back yard. There sitting under the bird feeder, was my friend, the squirrel. He was eagerly chomping down the birdseed that had fallen on the ground - probably the sunflower seeds. When he finished eating he ran over to the pond for a drink. I quickly grabbed my camera and poked it out the blinds and snapped him. That is a hard thing to do because they sense when you are doing something close to them and they run away. This is the picture I took. I think he had gotten a drink and he was scratching his side.

Sweet Smells of Rhubarb

Last night Dad got in the kitchen and wanted to make some small rhubarb pies. So he conned me into making the pastry and we made these cute little pies. Boy, did the house smell good. So, I have this handy little cutter that cuts and seals the pastry and does a marvelous job. Some of the pies he sprinkled brown sugar on top and others just white sugar. Dad took a container of pies to work this morning so I only have a few left - - just for me~ It was a fun, late-night activity and they were yummy. The cooked rhubarb that was left we put into a pie pan and froze for a pie later on.

Baby Finn with Nana

My Visit with Finn

I spent a week at Andy's helping her and getting acquainted with Finley Reese. Mercer has taken on the roll as watch-keeper, binky-getter, diaper-fetcher, and whatever is needed he will do. This was his watch-keeper time and he did it very well. As soon as Finn squirms just a little on the baby moniter, Mercer is right there to check him out. What a great big brother !!

All the Better to See You

Mercer looks good doesn't he. These are actually Andy's older glasses and he just thought he should wear them all day. I'm not sure how "good" they were but he sure had fun with them. I called him "Potter".