Learn how to can friut for food storage......check.

Don't these pears just look beautiful????!!??

It only took about six hours to get them done. I decided to get domestic this year. Normally I stock up on cases of peaches and pears at Costco but inspired by friends and mother-in-law, I decided to take on the task of canning them myself. It was a long and messy job but well worth it. I just attended the Women's Relief Society Conference where we were encouraged to go out and create. The talk was so inspiring. It made me think of this canning experience we had last week. While I do not create many things, I felt a wonderful sense of satisfaction and accomplishment as I lined up my little jars of pears on the counter for these pictures. My very CREATIVE friend came over to help/teach. Even the husbands pitched in. We all had so much fun. When our husbands got home we put them to work but they mostly just cheered us on (I think there were a few comments on cheaper canned goods at the near by Costco though........hmmmm). The most important part is that We created something beautiful and DELICIOUS!! Our kids got to have so much fun playing together and hopefully they'll tuck this day away in their little memories and Autumn will remind them of Mommy canning pears.

My wonderful hubby peeling the pears.

Karin did an awesome job at manning the cutting station. Thank you!!!!

Uhhhhh......are there supposed to be pears and glass chunks floating around in the water? Hey, we're rookies. with Jim's engineering expertise we were able to alter our strategy. Don't put cold jars in boiling water.




Our children ate well!! Jim was kind enough to order some pizzas and whip up some tasty root beer floats.

After we were all done my wonderful husband stayed up with me and scrubbed the cabinets and cook top. What a man!!!!!!

The bulk of this blog is dedicated to the triumphs, silliness, accomplishments, and day-to-day of my children. They are glorious moments. I love all the little, and big, moments that make up the day to day, but at the end of the day, (and by that I mean the end of my official work day, 5pm), a feeling of relief comes over me when I hear the garage door open and I know that "Daddy" is home for the night. I have the strength and the energy to love my life because I know I have that to look forward to every day. Scott brings the perfect balance of fun that our family needs. Now, all sappiness aside, here are some thank yous Scott.

Thank you for building those shelves in the closet the day I asked for them, and then cleaning up the mess.

Thank you for doing the bulk of dinner clean up almost every night so I can spend time with the kids.

Thank you for folding all the laundry for me when the piles get so high.

Thank you for always listening to my craziness!!!!!

Thank you for making me a root beer float almost every single night!

But most importantly, thanks for being my friend, the greatest dad, and making me feel like I can accomplish anything.

I love you.

Randoms

I thought I'd add a few pics taken in the last few weks of the fun times the kids have had with friends and other random events.

Play mates

Hannah is just getting so big! Sarah has a new little play mate now and it is so nice. Hannah is getting to the point where she can play with Sarah. this is their new favorite thing to do. Sarah puts her baby in the font and Hannah sits in the back and she takes them for walks. Hannah just absolutely loves it and Sarah feels so grown up. Fun times. I love it.

We love you Grandma Smith

Happy Birthday!!!!!

Thank you for all you do. We love you so much and hope that you are having a ton of fun on your romantic bike ride with Grandpa. Thank you for teaching m the secrets to being more domestic and bringing me the pears and jars. I will give ou an update on how that turns out.

We love you!!!!!!

Strike a pose

I coppied this from Dawn's BOLG. I just thought it was so cute. Sarah loves it when Dawn takes pictures of her. Since Dawn has a nice camara, I always have her take pictures of big events. In Sarah's opinio, any time is a good time to strike a pose for Dawn.





Take a picture of this aunt Dawn.....

Sarah: I'll sit here, you sit here, Jenna in my lap and Hannah here.
Dawn: Okay honey, who will take the picture?
Sarah: Me
Dawn: Ummm who will hold Jenna?
Sarah: Oh.. me. Okay there take a picture now. Cheeeeeessssseeee!
Dawn: Smile...click...click...
Sarah: Now with Hannah
Sarah: Now with Daniel, Jenna, Hannah and me
Sarah: wait we need one of me like this...........now here....like this..ummm here (on and on around the front yard snapping away)

Is my child trying to tell me somethig?

So Sarah has started preschool. She goes once a week to different friends houses. This week she went to her friend Jenna's. She asked me what I was going to do when she was at school. I told her that I would probably just go home and clean up a bit. She asked me
"why don't you go to the gym.......Jenna's mom goes to the gym......I think you should go to the gym."
Okay, why is she telling me this.
Same day, several hours later I was taking the girls on a bike ride, hauling them around in the trailer mind you, and as we were riding on the path, a runner passes us. I hear Sarah's voice in the back, maybe talking to herself, but certainly loud enough so that I could hear.
"Why is that mommy running? Only Daddies go for runs and Mommies stay home with the kids".
I do exercise, I really do....or maybe I did a lot more before I felt like my life got so incredibly busy. Hey, I do take the kids on a bike ride daily. does that count?

Grandma and Grandpa Waggoner

It's a great day for a BSU game!!!

Caden had his second game today. It also happened to be a BSU game day, so we had fun getting the kids all decked out in their blue and orange. It was a beautiful day. After Caden's game we went out for the kids fave-TCBY!!! or as Sarah would say, ECETY, or Whatever letters pop out of her mouth at the tme.


Sarah had fun holding Jenna durung the game.

Grandma and Grandpa S came to see Caden at his game. Go Sand Sharks

Friends

Is it possible to pause time......?

Our attempt to create the letter F for letter F day.

Sarah's motherly/teacher instincts kicked in and she spent almost the entire time pushing the girls on the swing.

Fruit for snack time.

Amigos, amigos.....circle time.
Sarah spent almost the wole time carrying this clip board around and asking people questions then jotting down there answers on her paper. Way cute!

Story time.

Music and movement, Twinkle, Twinkle.

We started a little rotaton preschool to do with our little 3 year olds. Sarah started on thursday. We had it at our house first. where is all the time going? didn't I just bring Sarah home yesterday? My little ones are growing right before my eyes. They amaze me. Preschool was awesome. Sarah is becoming such a good little friend. She is developing such good little nurturing skills. I love her sweetness. I want to freeze these moments in time.

How do we spend those days we don't have to go anywhere and CADEN IS GONE!!

One day, there was a "terrible wind storm", (in Sarah's pretend world), so we had to put a tent up and take the babies in with us and all sorts of other misc. things that

sarah felt were necessary to survive such a storm. We laid in the tent and had to "sleep" while the wind blew on the tent, then we read books with the babies.

Hannah Spends a lot of time giving me kisses. She is in a kissing phase right now and ANYONE that says bye to her gets a big pucker lip kiss.

What a busy little mom. This new discovery has kept the girls entertained for long stretches of time while Caden is gone. Sarah is always taking her "babies" out on little outings, but now that she has discovered that Hannah is like a really big live doll, she has moved to the stroller and she had to get a backpack for her other baby. Too cute.



Painting is always a favorite.

Sarah has always loved salsa, but with all the tomatoes we are getting from our garden, Hannah has discovered her love for salsa. In fact, the chips just weren't doing it for her anymore so she picked up the spoon and shoveled it in.

Look at me mom. I'm wearing sister's shoes.

Mommy mopping the floor turns into a train for Sarah to take Hannah and all "her kids" on.