The Puppy Report...

I thought a quick update on the puppies would be a good thing since a few of you have asked. The mamma dog gave birth on Friday night and Saturday. She had 13 pups which was just too much for her. We are left with seven and a very very sick mamma dog. We thought we were going to loose her yesterday in the morning but luckily the vet got to our house fast enough. She is resting, doing much better today, and our cousin dog who recently had puppies is now nursing the pups. PreShie was up every three hours last night making sure the pups were eating. She is on puppy duty since the boys are gone to scout camp, lucky girl! She is doing an awesome job. I hope to post some pictures later today....we will keep you posted!

It Is Way Too Quiet Around Here

Today, The Boy and Rooster, along with the other young men in the ward, left for scout camp in mountains of New Mexico. This is Roosters first time to go, he was a little nervous, a little worried, but I know he will have a great time. Next Wednesday The Farmer (and his Wife) are going to the scout camp to take over scout duty, well The Farmer is taking over scout duty and his Wife will be reading a couple of wonderful books under the pines! The Boy is nominated for Order of the Arrow and is quite excited about that, since he is already an Eagle Scout, he will be participating in a High Adventure program of mountain biking as well as earning a few more merit badges. It will be all fun and games for him.
Uncle Dave and Aunt Shauna saying goodbye to The Boy....
Aunt Wendy sharing a few last minute instructions with Uncle Clayt for the care and keeping of her fine young boy, I am sure Uncle Clayt didn't forget a thing....he is responsible that way!
Boys who are ready to hit the trail....BUT....
Aunt Mary has a few final words of advice, counsel....umm...tears...(hehe) before the car pulls away. Uncle Clayt has heard enough from the Mom's and is ready to go!

It will be a great week at scout camp!

Shhhh...Don't Tell Him I'm Blogging...

Our "season" has officially started. Thank goodness I got the kids rooms cleaned when I did. From here on out...you can find me roasting chile. Not too long ago the Pioneer Woman did a little "how to" about roasting green chile. WELCOME TO MY LIFE!!! Only multiply that by a few million pounds. I have been at the plant all day, I am grateful that at least it is close to our house. When I entered the house this evening I hoped to hear "Hi Mother Dear we love you so.." instead I was greeted with "hey, what's that smell??" To which I answered.."Darlings...that is the smell that makes our world go around...and also the smell of your Mother at the moment." Being in the plant all day left me smelling of roasted chile, which I might add is a wonderful smell in small doses. Oh and just between us friends...I now have to lock my office door so that I can blog. What is with that??? When I hear The Farmer's footsteps coming close to my door....I quickly pretend that I would never blog at such a busy time...NO NEVER... well....maybe....okay so I am addicted. I can admit it. The truth is, I really have missed you all over the last couple of days...so I now need to find a "creative" way to keep both ME and THE FARMER happy, so here is the deal, DON'T TELL ON ME, and we will all be happy!:)

*We are birthing puppies, even as I type, I will update later*

This Is What Summer Looks Like....

That is, if you are The Boy.
Oh....it has been a long and hard day. Hummmmmm, his life is hard,

it really is;)
Ride em' cowboy!

Cousins....

How great is it to have great friends...and have them be your cousins!

Cute girls!

Granola

The Farmer loves Granola! So early this week I made a batch that I thought would last awhile.....well this morning the jar was basically empty. Time for another batch! The great thing about granola is that you can basically put anything into that you like. I combined several recipes to come up with the one we like at our house.

GRANOLA

8 c. rolled oats

1/2 c. coconut (I used sweetened)

1/2 c. sliced almonds

1 c. pecans, roughly chopped

1/2 c. ground flax seed

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. real maple syrup

1 c. canola oil

1/2 t. salt

1 t. vanilla

1 T. cinnamon

1 T. nutmeg

Mix all dry ingredients in large bowl. In smaller bowl mix together oil syrup and vanilla. Add into dry mixture, stirring until combined. Bake at 200 degrees for 1 1/2 hours stirring every 15 minutes. When cool, add 2 c. rice krispie cereal and whatever dried fruit you like. We add dried cranberries, pineapple and dried apples. You can also add sunflower seeds which are great too. It is wonderful with milk, with yogurt or over ice cream. A family favorite for us, hope you enjoy too!

Long Needed Cleaning!

Wow! That is word I am left with. Shame on me for waiting TOO long to do a deep cleaning in my kids rooms! SHAME!! I bought a new dresser for my boys room, which required re-arranging and moving the existing pieces. Before you judge...remember I live in a dusty farming town and I think those darling boys of mine brought most of the dirt from the farm, into the house. We do clean at our house...really we do! Our businesses have kept me very very busy for the last while and I have not given the time to the house that I should have....anyway....with cleaned carpets, sorted clothes, shoes and toys we have a fresh start.
NOW, for the darling girls' room.....

p.s. thanks Rae for the cute signature idea! I love it

God Bless America

God Bless America!!

Hope your day is filled with gratitude, family and lots of yummy food!

Happy 4th of July!

Co-Dependent......

He called....The Boy....and I shed a tear. I really did! He is having a wonderful time. Has made some new friends, met cousins he didn't know he had, and found a "really" cute girl...actually two, that he is enjoying. The food isn't too good...the classes are great, and Saturday is coming too fast. That is the EFY update. I miss him! The Farmer thinks I might need "help" with my co-dependency.....I have no idea what he is talking about!

We Are Free!

I love the Fourth of July! I have always loved it. I think I have developed a deeper appreciation for the celebration of Independence by living in a foreign country. It is easy to see the fault in systems that are not functioning as we might like them to and it is easy to blame those systems for some of the challenges that we may face today. But for me the bottom line is .....WE ARE FREE....to worship who and how we want. WE ARE FREE....to eat what we want, whenever we want, while the people of other countries are starving because of the oppression of their governments. WE ARE FREE....to vote for who we want to lead us. WE ARE FREE.... to be educated if that is our desire. We have so many FREEDOMS that we don't think twice about. Living where I live, and how I live has taught me a greater appreciation for these wonderful FREEDOMS that were a gift to me. I did nothing to earn them, I have not paid the price for them, as many have. But I do enjoy them and am very grateful for them. I do love the country in which I live. I love all the good that it has to offer me and my family. But nothing touches me to deeply as seeing the American Flag fly.


I hope that your celebration of the Fourth of July is full of gratitude for all the wonderful freedoms that we enjoy....I know mine will be!

Steady And Sure

We spent a few days in Mesa this past week, it was great to re-connect with family while The Farmer was off on a business trip. I always love a trip to Mesa, I guess because it is home to me. We had fun shopping and partying with the family. It was great! On the way home we dropped off The Boy at Especially For Youth, something he has never done before.
He seemed excited for the experience but it was sad for the Mom to leave him behind. The Farmer says that the Mom is very co-dependent with the Darlings...is that a bad thing?? I am sure he will have a great time and make a lot of great friends. Aunt Beth helped him get his "wardrobe" in order, which I might add, was a pretty funny experience. Thanks to Aunt Beth, he won't look like he just stepped off the farm:)
I love the theme this year "Steady and Sure." And I am really grateful that there are things like this that help to strengthen the youth of today...they face so many challenges. I hope that he will come home a little more prepared to face whatever he may encounter. I am sure he will.

This Is How It Went...

Little Rooster thought that one of these (above) would be a great addition to the family. So he approached The Farmer and this is what The Farmer said....
"Hey Little Rooster...why don't you plant some of these (above) water them, fertilize them, weed them, pick them and sell them...and after you have met all of your financial obligations (i.e. farm expenses, mission fund, tithing, etc.) then get back to me and we will see what we can do."
And so the Little Rooster set his plan in motion. He got the seed, got a contract to sell the pumpkins, and has been planning and dreaming for months. The time has arrived...the seed will be planted in the next week and the dream has been set into motion. We will keep you posted. This is when the Mom hopes that all the farming planets are in alignment so the little guy will succeed. Rooster's Pumpkin Patch...Now Open for Business!

Just For Fun!

Just a few fabulous finds! There is a great giveaway at the APrOnIsTA , this totally cute apron in a choice of two colors, check it out!
This is the greatest site Restyled Home, for decorating ideas. This particular post made me think of Rae, as she loves all things nautical. Check it out Rae, you will love it!
Restyled Home also did a little "bit" on pantries...what does yours look like? Mine does NOT look like this, although I wish it did! I love white ironstone, LOVE IT! This is a beautiful way to display it
And finally...I really do wish my pantry looked like this...

Award #2 - Horray!

Thanks to CJ, THE PURPLE DIVA, for my second, and much appreciated blog award! She gave me "Tami the Tourist" for the post about our recent trip to Mazatlan. Thanks!!! Check out the PURPLE DIVA HERE, her blog is so much fun and very uplifting! She will make you smile. She has a great outlook on life and I'll bet is an awesome friend! Thanks DIVA!!

Heavenly

Be still my heart! I came across a site with the most wonderful aprons! I have been dreaming and planning and plotting....they are a NEED not a want! HEAVENLY HOSTESS is worth a visit. Very unique and very fun aprons. This one above makes me think of a Mexican Fiesta, like 5 de Mayo, or for us the 16th of September is a big party day, hummmmm this one is a must for me.
This one I just love. It is happy, and reminds me of the Zinna's I grow every year.This one is classic and would be a great addition to any apron collection.
This is a gardening apron...again I love it! A large pocket on the front for all the squash or green beans that you might have just picked.

My First Blog Award!

While I was on vacation I didn't have the chance to blog....and so I didn't know that a darling blog friend Rae, gave me this award! Thanks! GO HERE to meet Rae and be inspired by her. She loves life, loves the Lord, loves her family, and is an inspiration. I love to check in on her and her great life back east. Hugs Rae, thanks again!

uP To oUR eYEbALLs In APriCoTS!

Just like everyone else in town! But I am loving it! I made 32 pints of jam yesterday and it is beautiful! Pretty tasty too! We planted 2 acres of APRICOTS a couple of years ago and this is the first year that we actually harvested enough to do anything with. We ate all we could...and that was alot...and froze some and made some yummy jam!
I finished up this morning, washing the bottles and threw a batch of CHERRY jam in too. That really is good too! The jars are so pretty, I think I will leave them out for a couple of days so The Farmer and the Darlings can admire, hopefully as they pass the jam they will oooooooooo and ahhhhhhhh...hehe...that would make me happy!Yummy! Fresh bread and jam, it just doesn't get better than that!

p.s. I added installment number 3 of "A Trip Into Mexico" you will need to scoll down, and there you will find it.

Mazatlan Fun!

A trip to the local aquarium was really fun!
Rooster looks a little worried with a parrot on his shoulder!
It was great to be together!

Beach Fun

We had a wonderful trip! But really....we were at the beach, could anything else have happened? Lots of "cousin fun" beautiful sunsets, great walks on the beach searching for the latest treasure, and great reading by the ocean and the pool. It was relaxing and restful. We had a few fun adventures too! Like Jellyfish...need I say more? Everyone was stung, mulitple times but after the 10th sting, we just went back to body surfing or whatever the given activity was at the moment. Really...it didn't slow us down too much.
This (above) was another adventure. Aunt Shauna made the grave mistake of suggesting that she would boil any crabs that the boys could catch....what was she thinking???....hehe...... 25 crabs and a few hours later we were not sure what to do. So the boys packed them all up in a bucket of sand and put them on our deck for the night. We woke up during the night to 25 crabs scratching on the windows looking for a way back to the beach. The next morning all were released when the boys decided that there really wasn't enough meat on the crabs to go to all the work of peeling them. Anyway....I was happy that they were released, but it was a funny experience.
The girls spent every waking moment playing in the sand, and searching for the ultimate sea shell. They had such a great time together, it is fun to have cousins so close in age. If they weren't in the pool together they were out on the beach "creating" in the sand.