Mike & Heather and Family

We have wonderful neighbors.  First they brought us a mulberry crumble with Australian mulberries from the trees in their backyard along with some fresh picked raspberries.  Then they brought us a raspberry pie because she said the mulberries were chewy, which they may have been but I didn’t notice anything but delicious.  So I made them a sour cream blueberry pie and took it over last night.  Today they invited us to pick raspberries in their backyard.  A deer had jumped their fence and crushed some plants.  They weren’t sure how long the rest would last.  So this is our hourd.  I am SO excited.  Plus they are older and getting tired of all the harvesting. I am always glad to help, especially with fruity “benefits.”

These are the berries in the freezer.

Plus the kids are loving all the lighting bugs and caught them on the walk home.  They tried to put them in a jar, but we can’t get a picture of them lighting up.

This is the Philadelphia, it was built and sunk in 1776.

The boys enjoyed playing with electricity in the activity center.

Mckenna created a marble path.

Truthiness

Stopped in at Gems and Rocks.  Mckenna missed it the first time, but LOVES it and never wants to leave it.

The touchy exhibits are the best.

Someday we’ll go up to the top.

Lincoln came to life in the new Night at the Museum movie, so I thought they would enjoy seeing the “real” thing.

Corbin ran into a door.  I believe it was the handle, but not being there to witness, I can’t guarantee.  It was a big bloody patch when I first saw it, so I’m glad it wasn’t worse.

We visited family in Utah and met baby Annie (with sister Mary)

And baby Oliver (with Grandpa)

Had a wedding (notice the fabulous orange shoes)

Enjoyed delicious food at the wedding brunch

Took in a lovely view

And dressed up (so adorable) for the reception.

Grandma and Kayla (Grandma sewed Kayla’s dress and had to alter hers with very little time)

Lookin’ so handsome (with Spencer and Jack)

Sugar and spice and everything nice (with Jaquelyn)

Taking full advantage of the ice cream bar (and the jelly beans)

Dancing the night away

Saying good bye

Change of clothes after returning the fancy ones (love the dress shoes and shorts)

Visiting the Oquirrh Temple open house

Blowing out birthday candles on a last minute cake

Spending the “real” birthday on airplanes

This room looks so much better now. Pardon the mess and the hideous chandelier.  It is still a work in progress.

Last minute Sunday night we decided to take a trip to the ocean.  Crazy as we are… We started packing all the food and clothes and chairs at 10:15 pm.  Mike tried to get an old lap top ready for playing movies for the kids on the way and ended up staying up until 3:30 am. We had to get up at 6 and wake the kids to leave by 6:30 am. It’s about a 3 hour drive.  It was all worth it in the end.  A fantastic day at the beach.  Traffic coming home was horrendous.  We left at 4pm and didn’t get home until 9.  We even had to let Ethan out to relieve himself on the side of the road.

When we first arrived it was chilly and very overcast.

One of the first finds was a fish that had been washed ashore and sadly no longer alive.

Corbin building.

Mckenna’s castle.

Ethan’s volcano.

Mckenna as a mermaid.

Another creature find but this one was alive.

Happy kids all around.

Party all the way home too.  They hardly minded the LONG drive.

We spent Saturday finishing up numerous projects.  Mike added an outlet to our garage so we could plug in our freezer.  He is so handy to have around.

If I could send a smell, this would be it.  There is no way to describe the fragrance of these peonies other than heavenly.  They are HUGE as well.

This is our one and only lonely pretty iris.  We have a large patch of them but the others look brownish.  They have a faint traces of lavender and pale yellow but mostly appear brown.

This photo actually shows it looking nicer than it does. They are too heavy as well and fall down when they bloom.  Probably good though so you don’t have to look at brown flowers, ugh.

Michael is our maker of shakes.  They are always fabulous.  Today we tried a new one, and suprisingly the kids all loved it.  Can you guess what it is?

AVOCADO!

I’ve been curious for years what it would taste like.  In Brazil the avocado is only used as a fruit in salads and dessert never as guacomole.  Very tasty.

Mckenna’s Crazy Color Carnations projects was beautiful.  The flowers themselves only colored a bit on the leaves, but it was still a fun project.

Ethan (and Michael) made a battery from lemons.  You can see the LED is glowing, if you look closely.

At the science fair they had and egg drop.  Each child tried to keep their egg from cracking when dropped by using a gallon ziplock bag and packing bubbles.  Mckenna was one of the ones who succeeded.  Notice Michael is the lovely assistant.