peach heaven

Fresh peaches. I love them best just as they are and have loaded up all the bins in the fridge with peaches, freshly picked from Ashlee & Paul's (thank you). If I could hoard them and have them last for months, I would, but I know that too soon the season will be over. So the making of peach freezer jam will begin and I will also cut up & freeze plenty for peach shakes and cobblers to be enjoyed year round.

-Brenda

A New School Year for Abby

Abby has started her Jr. year at Orem High. Her social circle is widening and her social calendar may be filling up, but still she... loves home & family, sister time, likes quiet 'down' time, curling up with a good book, playing the piano, watching movies, keeping a tidy room, cooking dinner with Katie, spending time with Conrad & Phoebe... our little girl is growing up quite lovely and is really not so little anymore :)
-Brenda

Dirty Happiness

Larry picked up a trailer load of rich, dark compost for me. Yes, that's love, because he thinks that more dirt is the last thing I need. I looked forward to getting my hands in it all week, but things kept coming up. I am thinking that working in the dark with my head light may be the way to go this week. So, Saturday was my day. I got up at 6:30am with my heart happy. Larry got a phone call at 6:30am and was called in to work a double shift at the hospital... something we are all still getting used to. I swore in my head, said a few sarcastic things to Larry and walked off, barely giving him a hug goodbye and went outside to shovel dirt. It didn't take me long to know I wasn't being supportive, that I wanted to give him a better hug and say how proud I was of him and how grateful I am that he is so reliable and such a hard worker. I text him right away and told him there would be a better hug for him when he got home. I played in the dirt for a couple of hours, then had to set it aside for the day... Costco with Abby, watching General Conference, laundry, a neighborhood fall picnic, making dinner with my girls. Spending time with Abby was wonderfully nice. When Conrad got here, it sure didn't take him long to find my dirt.
-Brenda

Life Lessons

A deep thought I woke up with. Sometimes the lessons life teaches all of us take time to learn... before we have an ah ha moment. I read somewhere that we waste up to 5 years of our life waiting... in store lines, traffic, appointments, for other people. I wonder how many years I have worried or spent time thinking about things that are beyond my control. Time wasted that I can't get back. I can only move forward, with a daily resolve to let some things go and focus on the little things each day that can bring peace. I am learning that hard times can either break us or make us stronger. We can lose faith or we can grow closer to the Lord. I think it is a daily process and we will all have moments or days of both. Each day is a choice.
-Brenda

Family History Trip

I can never thank Arlene enough. Tyler's Mom and Dad are helping me organize and document my family history and it has been a such a joyful experience. It's one of the many projects I have started and stopped through the years. They are on an LDS Family History Mission in Salt Lake and offered to help me. I know I will understand the programs more each time, but for now, I am so grateful for the help. I am amazed how quickly she knows how to search through things for documentation and how she double checks names and dates on census lists. We made such good headway today only because she worked on my family names long before I got up there. Thank you for the lunch and nice visit too... I am glad we are family :)

-Brenda

Welcome Home & Happy Birthday

Josh made it home from his month long visit to see his Dad in Michigan. Kelsie has not stopped smiling :) We celebrated his birthday with wings, coleslaw and his favorite funfetti cake. Welcome home Josh, we are sure glad to have you back!

-Brenda

Canned Tomatoes

I have been thinking a lot about tomatoes this summer which only means one thing... it's time to bottle! Spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, chili, soups and salsa.... nearly everything we make is made better with tomatoes. (I love the flavor... not the chunks) I stayed home from work one day, put on an apron and looked forward to my day of nesting and bottling. I opened up the front and back door and felt the canyon breeze go through the house and knew I was in heaven just being home. I bottled up three dozen quarts today and have another 5 dozen to go. Hopefully we will have a late cold spell this fall and get many more tomatoes from now until then.

-Brenda