Rainy Berry Picking

It is wxactly what it sounds like. I took the kids berry picking in the pouring rain. We went to Smith Berry Barn just past Groner Elementary. All of the berries are no spray. We got the meet the owner and take a tour of the property. He answered all of our silly questions. Then we got picking we thought the big rain storm had passed but we were wrong- it really poured once we got out there. We decided there were some positives to picking in the reain... 1. No Bugs 2. Our hands stayed clean because the rain washed it off, and 3. There was no one else there!

We kept Trent enterained my constantly feeding him. He thought he was so spoiled.

They had smiles on most of the time toward the end Brynn was cold. When we got home her and Ian got in a hot bath and played for 30 minutes. Trent took a nap and I got to read while the kids splashed my book. By the end each kid had filled their buckets about 1/2 way.

Brynn picking blackberries. I had to make a rule for Brynn, for every two berries she put in the bucket she could eat one. However I put most of the berries in her bucket and caught her eating out of the bucket because it was easier than picking.

As you can see we enountered a lot of mud, you should have seen our muddy pants .

Trust me, Trents stroller was not made for off roading or for mud of any kind.

Ian picking Cascade Delight Raspberries, they were as large as a blackberry.

Bald Eagle

Sorry, this post has no picture. Sometimes it is just enough to get all three kids out hte door with matching clothes and clean faces. Anyway, Thursday night our neighborhood had a presentation on birds sponsered by Jackson Bottom Wetlands. I took the kids down after dinner. I tried to bribe Trent to stay in his car/stroller by feeding him cookies but that did not work he wanted to sit with the big kids in the middle of the room and participate. He did good- and all the kids loved it when thye pulled out mounted birds to touch. The presenter walked around the room so that each kid and parent could touch. Trent followed her and gave a "Oooo" reaction each time. Brynn was super cute as well. She raised her hand to answer each question- even though she had no clue what the answer was. Ian was mister intelligent and really did nswer the quesition correct. After the presentation we took the kids down the the gazebo and Ian looked through binoculars ( I may have spelled that wrong) and spotted a Bald Eagle. I had thought that I was seeing an eagles nest on our walk of the wet lands however it is home to a very beautiful bald eagle. It was quite a treat for Ian.

If it's not one thing it's another...

Last week we had the flu, this week Brynn has pink eye. It is hard to tell from these pictures but she has it. We will be medicating her for the next 5 days. It started in her right eye and the next morning it was in both. She has a great calming method before she gets her drops. First she gets a blanky, then she counts she makes it to 7 and then the numbers come out of order and go up to eighty thirteen! That must be a really high number.

The Madness is Satrting

This week Ian was a very busy boy. He had soccer camp in the morning all week. He loved it and his comment was "I wish I could do this every day of the year instead of every day of the week." Lucky for him he is registered for soccer in the fall.

The top picture is of Ian's swim meet. He swam the 25 free and was 3 seconds off a "B" time, the 25 back and the 100 IM (which he got another best time in). It is possible for Ian to have some "B" times by the end of the summer. He had a great time at the meet and is getting to know his new team mates. The meet was Jason's first with his new team- THUNDERBOLT. It was a little weird having Jason coach one team and Ian swim on another. But hey to me it makes sense to have him on the team where I can walk him to practice:) The meet was a first for me. I hired a baby sitter to stay home with Brynn and Trent. Poor Cherice (our sitter) we left the house at 6 am. It was nice to have Ian and Mom time. Although at first he really wanted to assert his freedom and hang out with friends. However, mid way thorugh the meet he was sitting on my lap reading Encylopedia Brown mysteries.

Congrats Amy!

On Tuesday Ian broke out and was crying that he missed his friend Zachy (Zachary Warren). For those of you who don't know Zach moved last year so his mom (Amy- my good friend) could attend BYU- Provo. It was odd and I thought we would track down an address and send a letter. No joke 2 days later I got a call from a friend saying that Amy got married today and would be in town on Tuesday could a make it to a little girls get to gether. I had not plans to drop- but if I had I would have dropped them. I was there! Amy was so happy. I had not seen such a glow on her in a long time. The sad part of the story is that Amy and family will remain living in Provo, but hopefully they will make it back to visit more. LOVE YOU AMY CONGRATS!

Great Recipe- A Must Try

So I tied this recipe the other night and the entire family loved it. I will post the recipe but note that I doubled the lentils and the rice to make it thicker.

Hearty Lentil and Vegetable Soup
Ingredients
2 tbsp vegetable oil
3 leeks- green part included, sliced fine
3 carrots diced
2-3 celery stalks diced
1/2 cup brown or green lentils
1/2 cup long grain rice
4 cups chicken stalk
8X corn cob qurters
salt and pepper
4 tbsp chopped fresh chives
sour creat, to serve

Preperation
Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the leeks, carrots, and celery. Cover and cook dor 5-7 minutes or until just tender. Stir in the lentils and rice. Pour in the stock. Brign to boil, then cover and simmer over medium- low heat for 20 minutes. Add the corn. Simmer for 10 minutes more or until the rice and lentils are tender. Season with salt and pepper. In individual bowls top with chives and sour cream.

Jungle

Horray! My curtains are up! I went with a jungle theme in the downstaris bathroom. It is cute and fun for the kids. We have giraffe soap, a lion rug, a monkey tissue holder and we finally have jungle curtains. I found this shower curtain and my mother in law sewed it up for me- 'cause you all know how good I can sew. To keep it a simple project I left it like a shower curtain and hung it with shower hooks- that of course matched the theme.

Thanks Rosemary!!

Weekend

We had a pretty busy weekend. Saturday Ian got to go fishing with his Papa John. He caught 2 trout and had a great time. Following that Ian and Brynn headed off to a birthday party for Kira. It was at the gymnastics academy. They had a great time.

Sunday we got up and went to church. It is always my goal to make Sunday mornings smooth... it never happens. We all get in the car grouchy with each other. Then as soon as we walk into the building these smiles come over us and all is good again. Jason and I are co-teahing CTR 5 which is a little crazy when we have Trent in there with us. Lucky for us he gets to go to nurshery next month. We are struggling to keep their attention a little. 5 is a hard age. In the Farmington ward we had CTR 11, and for the last few weeks I had been teaching CTR 7. I think I was getting used to the older kids. I am off to learning ladder today to get a book of activities to keep the kids busy.

After church we headed out to Aurora to have lunch with Jason's Granparents. We had a great time. Being that we do not have a yard we have our garden at their home. I was hoping to weed or something, but no I just got to see how much everything hs grown.

On our way home we realized that Jason's parents will be in Florida for Father's Day so we invited themover for dinner and had a father's day celebration. Jason BBQ chicken and the trout that Ian had caught. I made Pat Seller's no bake chocolate cookies for dessert.

Brynn and Ian wanted to give Papa John a gift, so they made him cards with gift certificates inside. Brynn's was good for a board game date- Papa John cshed in righ away. Ian's was good for another fishing trip.

New Family Pics

Can you beleive how fast the kids are growing? The photographers worked hard to get these pictures of the kids, especially Trent.

Ian's Big Win

Ian swam his first 100 yard IM. It was short course meters nd he hd a time of 2:40, it is 30 seconds away from a B-time. He got first place and a BLUE ribbon. He is definately a distance swimmer.