Service Project

Since moving in to our new home there has been a section of our backyard that has been a huge eye sore!  There is several inches of gravel, lots of weeds, and old railroad ties.  The former owners used it as RV parking but since we don't have an RV we knew we wanted to turn this section into more lawn.  The only problem was that it is a HUGE job to move all the gravel and dig up those railroad ties.  If Mark attempted to do it on his own, it would take forever and it would kill him physically.  Luckily, my visiting teaching companion is the wife of our Elders Quorum President so we put our heads together and came up with the idea of having a service project at the house and getting some help.

We planned it for this weekend - we bought some donuts and juice to share and took some "before" pictures before a couple of guys showed up to help out.

We were expecting a few guys and to our delight we had about 14 show up!!  We couldn't believe it - the Bishop came, his counselor, our home teachers, one of the young men, elders, high priests, and even a couple of wives!  It was so wonderful!  They got right to work and within an hour they were completely done and we were looking for things for everyone to do!

They created our giant gravel pile and got the railroad ties in the trailer to head to the dump!

And stacked a bunch of rock that we want to save for a future project.

We couldn't be more grateful for the help we received and now we feel like we are on track for making the changes to the yard that we've wanted to.  It's such a blessing to see the way the Church works and to have willing hands to lighten the load.  We will do our best to find ways where we can serve and return the favor!

Making Applesauce!

Our family LOVES homemade applesauce so I always make sure to make a large amount each fall.  For several years I have been doing applesauce and borrowing an applesauce maker from a ward member but this year I had my OWN applesauce maker that Mark got me for our anniversary!  It sure worked great and the girls were anxious to help me!

We got our apples at the local farmers market and they were very large and beautiful!

Emma was the super helper and cut up all the apples into pieces to be cooked.....

Then she would crank while Samantha collected the hot applesauce.  It made me very happy to be canning with my girls!

On this day we made 13 quarts of sauce and they turned out beautifully.  The sauce will be a wonderful addition to our meals during the long winter months.

Sure love this season!

Pumpkin Patch

It wouldn't be the fall season without a visit to our local pumpkin patch!  The girls had a day off from school for Teacher Inservice a couple of weeks ago so we decided to take the girls and have a family activity.

You would think that as Clara gets older that it would get easier to take her picture but it hasn't.  She is still camera shy and it is rare that we actually get a photo of her looking at the camera.  Most of the time, if she is sitting with her sisters she will feel comfortable enough so I was glad to get this snapshot of the three of them!

Daddy is always a good sport when it comes to posing with his girls....

Happy Fall Y'all!

Conference Weekend!

Hooray that General Conference is here again!  We love Conference Weekend and look forward to it with great anticipation!  This time around we were lucky enough to have Jon and his family come up for the Saturday sessions to watch with us and enjoy some fall activities.  The pumpkin patch opened up for the season and the kiddos were anxious to check out all the different pumpkins.  We went there after the Saturday morning session.

Then we came back to the house for lunch and to watch the afternoon session.  Everyone was sprawled out over the living room doing various quiet activities.... Clara was really enjoying coloring, IJ was checking out a church activity book, and....

Hinkley did some file folder games with the help of Samantha.  He did great!  Jordan did some with his mommy, too.

Emma and Eliza were very engrossed in some fun coloring books!

So much going on in the house, but here lies Uncle Jon getting the MOST out of conference!

After the second session we headed over to Cove to an antique fair that members of our ward were putting on.  The kiddos went on a hay ride while the moms and dads did some looking around for treasures.

This was a great find for us - we love this beautiful desk.  Now we just need to find a place to put it!

I saw this adorable fall creation - I didn't buy it but I am hoping to recreate it someday with our own flower pots....

After the antique fair we came back to the house so the dads could watch Priesthood session which was being broadcast on TV for the first time.  I made a couple pots of soup and then us gals sat down to work on a fall craft while the boys stayed outside and got some energy out.

Emma and Eliza really had their creative juices flowing...

Jordan loves playing basketball so Samantha stayed outside with him and they bounced the ball around.

Hinkley found the chicken broom and thought it was great......

While Isaac played around with the bouncy balls - only one of the balls went over the fence. 

It was a great day and a wonderful way to spend conference weekend.  We were sad to see them leave! 

No Work.....No Play

I know I have inundated you with pictures of yard work, but I'm just so proud of my husband's efforts to turn our new yard into something really beautiful for us.  He works really hard and even sometimes he can get Emma and Samantha to help him, too.  A few weeks ago we tore out several large bushes that were growing into the fence, in order to make more room in our garden area.  Mark and I tore everything out but then we needed to put the girls to work in order to get all of the debris over to the other side of the property to get ready for a trip to the dump.

As you can see by their faces, Samantha was a little more willing to work than Emma was....

In the end.... we had a VERY large pile to take to the dump.  It took three loads to get it all hauled out of here!

Mark needed to make room for my new peach tree!!!  He planted it, cleared the area, and trimmed the big green bush way back.  We are definitely looking forward to having a harvest from this within a couple of years.

He also made a decorative flower bed to have near the garden - these flowers don't look so great now since it is fall, but in the spring it will be very lovely!

 He also dug a rock path that separates the lawn from our other vegetation - it looks so nice!

Maybe someday I will be able to post pictures of a completed yard but for now, this is a great start!