Nature's Bounty

Not very bountiful at our house! We tried our hands at gardening again this year. I don't think gardening in Flagstaff is very profitable. The garden was just starting to look promising when it froze! I figure we are getting some much needed practice and of course following the prophet. Tomatoes and Zucchini seem to do well, so I think those are in for next year. Drew loved having carrots too, even though they were very small. We may try corn next year. Some neighbors shared theirs with us and it was the best ever!!!!!

Bria loved arranging the food around on her high chair.

Homegrown tomatoes are the best!!!!

7-Day Challenge from Foodstoragemadeeasy.net

Mom mom told me about this great website foodstoragemadeeasy.net. I really enjoyed doing this 7-day challenge they put on. Check it out and see how prepared you are! I attempted to complete each task. Here are a few things I learned.

Day 1: Natural Disaster -”It’s a Flood”

Make sure your 72 hour kit is fresh enough to eat! We had to leave the house and could only eat this food while we were out. This challenge helped me focus on getting my emergency kit in an accessible location. Grab it and run!

Day 2: Pandemic -”Time for Quarantine”

This day was a good reminder to get stocked up on meds you may need in an emergency where you can't get to the store.

Day 3: Every Day Emergency -”Dinner Guests?!?!”

Normally, having unexpected company for dinner would stress me out, but since no one was actually coming to impress, it was a breeze. I had plenty of choices on hand. I think I will always keep stuff for a nice dinner on short notice around. My husband is good at pulling this one on me! =)

Day 4: Economic Crisis -”Money is TIGHT!”

For this challenge we had to pretend our water got shut off. How on earth do you manage with out water!!!! I have water storage, but running water is something I hope I never have to live without!!!! I could really use some more practice at this.

Day 5: Natural Disaster -”Earthquake!”

No water again! Cooking with out power is something I need to work on too. I don't have my pictures and other data backed up. Yikes!

Day 6: Diet Disaster -”Healthy lifestyle”

Since we often think about eating healthy around here this challenge was easy for me. It's not eating the good stuff that's hard, it's not eating the bad!

Day 7: Every Day Emergency -”Why Didn’t you Ask for this Sooner?”

This challenge required making a yummy dessert without fresh milk, eggs, or butter. I have often considered buying the cans of powdered butter and eggs. We already use powdered milk regularly. Since I didn't have the other stuff I made a dessert that didn't require it. And boy was it yummy!!!

Canada

It seems like Travis has been spending a lot of time in Canada lately. He just got back from a two week stint in Banff. He was one of two instructors teaching a kind of boot camp for aboriginal youth filmmakers. There was a group of 13 kids, (more like young adults 15-25.) He took them through the process of writing, producing, directing and editing a movie. Each person used the rest of the class to help make a 3-5 minute piece. It sounds like it was pretty hectic getting everyone's projects done, but they did it! They had a 3 day break in the middle. The other instructor, Greg, got vertigo really bad during the break, so Travis had the opportunity to help out. He drove 5 hours north to Edmonton to stay with Greg and his family. While there, Travis enjoyed some home cooked Canadian meals, ate some sakatoon berries and got to go to the Edmonton Temple.

This is the hotel where he stayed.

Here is the whole group. Travis said he learned a lot about skateboarding from this group. Apparently there were some avid skaters among them.

Grand Canyon

Our family got to speak in the Grand Canyon branch July 26th. We drove for about 1.5 hours, did some sight seeing and had a picnic. Then we headed to the small branch held in the Shrine of Ages Chapel. Spencer wanted to speak about King Benjamin. Here is his talk.

"My family is reading about King Benjamin in the scriptures. King Benjamin was a good king. When he got old he wanted to speak to the people. The people all came and set up their tents around the temple so they could listen.

King Benjamin told them to serve each other and keep the commandments. He taught then about Jesus. He told them to repent. He said parents should take care of their kids and not let them fight, but teach them to love each other. He told them to help others.

I think we should all listen to King Benjamin. Doing the things he said will help us be happy."

Then he bore his testimony. He did a great job. He told me he wasn't even scared because the congregation was so small!

I spoke on a conference talk entitled "His arm is sufficient" and Travis spoke about service.

After church we headed off to do a bit more sight-seeing. Isn't it beautiful?

This deer was having a snack on the side of the road as we drove by.

I'm not often thankful for the chance to speak in church, but I have to admit, this was a great experience!

Isn't Music Great?

On the way to school this morning the boys wanted to sing songs. First up was Star Wars. Duh duh, duh duh duh duh duh....Then came Indianna Jones. Da da da da, da da da....It was great. Then when I walked in the door from dropping Spencer off, dreading the chores waiting for me, Jaws was playing. Dun dun dun dun dun dun AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!

Idaho

We recently spent a week in Idaho. We had lots of adventures. The Kears came too, so of course our adventures were twice as fun! Memaw and Alice have both been working on getting names ready to have temple work done. One of the sweetest moments was when Grandma Ward was able to be sealed to her mom and dad.

Memaw's got quite the collection of wasps at her house. Spencer got stung 4 times on our first day there. He wouldn't go outside for days after that. It was a little frustrating wanting the kids to get out and play. Carter wanted to hang out with Spencer so he ended up in the house more than he probably would have. Sorry Alice!

Carter was lots of fun to talk to. Smart and funny. We don't see each other very frequently, so I really enjoy catching up with the kids.

As usual Chloe was full of spunk and pizzaz. She was great at helper. I had a lot of fun talking to her too. What a beautiful girl she is!

Mason was a crack-up. He is just so darn cute. There is really no other way to say it!

Josie enjoyed hugging and hitting Bria. After getting after her so much I was glad to see she still liked me enough to give me hugs. What a doll with her sweet blond curls!

Mason did not want his picture taken!

Of course Bria and Chloe did. They know they are beautiful!

The kids had a marvelous time playing in the water.

After a few tries Spencer started to get the hang of the slip and slide.

Chloe made the best faces, her eyes usually closed and her neck stretched as long as it could go!

Bria just watched the kids play.

Drew played teeter-totter by himself. He had no interest in getting wet.

Bria had a thing for Memew's marigolds. She pulled them out whenever she got the chance. Sorry Memaw!

Travis worked on caulking the house with Matt and Alice When he wasn't doing that he was splitting and stacking wood or hunting down wasps.

As usual, we enjoyed a meal at Gertie's. They have lots of fun kinds of pizza. My favorites are the sauerkraut and Idaho special. For dessert I like the Reeses Pieces pizza. Yum!

One of the most exciting things that happened was Alice taught Spencer to ride his bike!

Of course I've tired for quite awhile. When I asked him what Alice said that helped him he said, "You have to pedal fast to get your balance easier." Yep, that's it. The magic answer!

Doesn't he look great?

Memaw had to work so we didn't get to have her around as much as we would have liked. Her honey Mark came over one evening for dinner and to help with the quilting machine. One evening we had a BBQ with Kim and Jess. It was fun to see them. I want to get the real story behind Jess and Bob's rustling experience! Memaw, maybe you should research that so we can get the scoop! Thanks to Matt and Alice, the day we left we had a birthday party for Travis. We all loved the ice cream cake. Thanks to Memaw for letting us come and to everyone for the fun!!

Back to School BBQ

I am the ward activities chair. Every year our ward has a BBQ when school starts. This year it started out with a bang. Thunder shook the house as my family loaded up the car with hamburgers and hot dogs. The last activity was cut short due to a storm, so I was a little worried about this one even getting started. Thankfully, by the time we got to the park the rain had stopped and the sun was peaking through. We ended up having a really good turn out. Here are some of my wonderful helpers.

We started out with a hot dog eating contest.

The winner is...Brent Jirsa.

Everyone seemed to have a good time visiting and eating all the yummy things people brought to share.

Some of the kids had a great time playing in the sand. They took cups full of water to bury in the sand. They were making a really neat lake. Carter, a boy in Spencer's primary class thought they were wasting the water his family had brought. He's a pretty rowdy kid and didn't waste words. He jumped into a fight, swinging and kicking. Spencer fought back, and ended up with a bloody nose, which made him cry. I asked him who won and he said Carter, because of the bloody nose. That pretty much ended the fight. I missed the whole thing, but was told that the boys dads took care of it. Spencer says he and Carter are still friends and so I guess every one is happy enough. This is where it all happened. Spencer's first fight!!! (and hopefully his last)

First Grade

I love this picture of my Spencer. He is a great kid and so excited to be in the 1st grade!

Spencer's 1st grade teachers are Mrs. Worcester (Wooster) and Miss Beth. Miss Beth was in his classroom last year. We are so excited for him to be attending a wonderful Montessori school. Travis interviewed Spencer on the way to school. Spencer is excited to have his own locker. What a great kid we have!!!

4th Festivities

After breakfast we went to the parade. We got the perfect spot- cool, shady and close to the beginning of the parade. Bria's favorite part were the people walking dogs behind us.

That afternoon we headed off to the park to meet some friends and PLAY! Soccer was a big hit. We left only after it started raining cold raindrops on us.

The boys had a great time with their lightsabers.

The battles were pretty fierce.

After some good laughs we headed home!

Later that day we grabbed some cotton candy and went for a hike. Watch out for mountain lions and rabid foxes!

What?!! Rabid foxes!!!

We decided to risk it to enjoy our treat outside.

The boys had a few races.

Bria just watched.

Yum, cotton candy!

Our next activity was putting Drew and Bria to sleep! Then Spencer and I drove down the road to where we could see fireworks. What fun! Happy 4th!

4th Breakfasts

We started out our 4th of July celebration right with a fun breakfast accompanied by some favorite patriotic tunes. The "American Toast" was a huge hit with the kids. They had so much fun decorating their flag and then eating it!