Our Family Garden 2011

Our family garden seems to do a little better every year. At our old house we had 3, 4 foot square garden boxes that we attempted square foot gardening in. The wind was SO bad that hardly anything thrived. If a plant could survive the first few nights of wind, they would produce a little. But, in our new neighborhood, everything seems to do pretty well. This year we got two giant pumpkins (above with Kassi). I had to cut off a big part of the plant because it was crossing over into the cucumbers and other squash plants! I didn't remember that pumpkin plants get so HUGE!

Jesi was very proud of her section of the garden which included string beans, beets and carrots.

Drew helped plant the corn (his favorite -despite the fact that he can't actually eat it on the cob with his braces) and was in charge of watering it until it finally sprouted. We actually had to replant the corn because it either rotted the first time or was eaten by quail! Not quite sure which - but about half of the corn finally sprouted a couple weeks after the 2nd planting! The kids LOVED the trampoline this summer - definitely one of our best investments - I can say that until we have an emergency room visit, right!?!

Kassi LOVED helping me pick tomatoes - she was always begging me to come out and pick more tomatoes with her! We planted lots of different varieties. The kids always love the cherry tomatoes. We had cherry, yellow pear, some other kind of tiny tomato that was pinkish red and oval shaped, romas, early girl, and celebrity tomatoes. We love fresh salsa, pasta primavera, salads with fresh tomatoes, and just about anything with fresh tomatoes! The kids eat them like candy and love to have cherry tomatoes in their lunches the first couple months of school before the plants die!

We love the red cherry tomatoes best because they are a little sweeter, but the yellow pear tomatoes add some fun color to salads!

I'm really not sure what this picture was all about - I think Drew was picking out some tomatoes for his lunch, but I really don't remember!

This year we planted rhubarb (which was almost taken over by the pumpkin plant), zucchini, crook neck squash, butternut squash, cucumbers, 24 tomato plants, peppers (red & Anaheim), basil, corn, beans, carrots, & beets.

It was the first year that our peppers have actually produced. We got lots of semi-hot Anaheim peppers (some of which I chopped and froze) and quite a few red (or multi-color) peppers.

Jesi was very proud of the size of her carrots. I should get a picture of all the funny deformed carrots we grew - we have some that look like deformed hands that Andy thought might make good scarecrow hands for Halloween! Anyway, I should be peeling, slicing and freezing tons of beets and carrots right now, so I better get going! But, I wanted to document the family garden because some of my favorite childhood memories are from planting, weeding, and harvesting our garden growing up! My mom bought special gloves that had some sticky plastic stuff on the palms and told me they were that way to kill the "Daddy Long Legs" - which to this day are one of my least favorite spiders - and I don't have ANY favorites!!! I remember being hosed down all in a row when we got REALLY bad sunburns from working all Saturday morning in the garden. And, I remember learning to LOVE vegetables fresh from the garden. I actually never liked fresh tomatoes until after Andy and I got married, but now I love them. So far Drew just likes the corn and tomatoes, but the rest of the kids love just about any veggie I try to feed them. I also love blending up veggies and hiding them in sauces and recipes! I even grated a whole bunch of zucchini and crook neck squash and steamed it. Then I served it with marinara and homemade Alfredo sauce and the kids actually asked for seconds thinking it was a different kind of spaghetti noodle! I couldn't believe it worked! It is ironic that our garden did so well this year since we had such a busy summer and it has been greatly neglected! But, I'm hoping it will do even better next year! It is amazing the metaphors that come to me while gardening and I always feel close to my dad when I'm working in the yard! Nathan loved the garden too! He was always trying to eat the dirt and cherry tomatoes!

Our kiddos say the darndest things!

I was hoping to add a post or two today, but time did not allow. But, I am proud of myself for finally taking the time to add a text box to the sidebar with a couple of Kassi's funny recent conversations. I know I have a bunch more to add from all the kids, but I'll have to find my notes before I misquote them! I just can't paraphrase the funny things they say. It just isn't the same! So, if you are ever tired of my long, drawn-out, F-O-R-E-V-E-R journal entry blog posts, just peek over at the sidebar to get a good quick laugh! And, to my Mom who celebrated her 59th birthday today, thanks for all the laughs through the years! We have way too many fun memories from growing up (I guess we're still doing that - my Mom had the number candles - the 5 and the 9 and decided to keep them for when kids turn 5 and 9 years old - I told her she better also keep them for when she is 95 years old) and I am also grateful to you for encouraging me to keep a journal. It is much due to you that I keep this blog and take the time to write down these memories! And, thank you Kim for the fun shaped pancakes and Dairy Queen ice cream cake! So, happy b-day Mom and just for you I'm going to try to get this blog updated - to make up for all those empty journals!!!

A couple weeks ago, my grandfather was sealed in the temple to his sweet wife, Babette, who we have known and loved for more than 25 years. She was baptized into the church along with her daughter's family over a year ago and we were so excited when we heard that this day had finally come! Andy and I were actually suppose to be flying to Boston the same morning as the sealing, but things miraculously worked out so that we could fly to Boston out of Spokane instead of Salt Lake. A big thanks to Andy's family and a sweet neighbor who helped out with the kiddos, to Mom and Kim for letting us hitch a ride with them up to Washington, and to Steve and Barbara Jorgensen for giving us a ride from Richland to Spokane! And, thank you to Andy who understood my deep desire to be there and was willing to change the flights and help me with all of the last minute craziness in order to get there! The peace and joy we felt in the temple that day was so worth all the effort and we appreciate all of our family and friends' sacrifices for us to be able to be there!!! It was truly priceless!

It was a beautiful morning!!!

A picture really does say a thousand words!

Family and friends

I thought I would also include pictures from the Sparks Reunion this past summer. This is a group shot and sadly the only picture of my Mom, who was in charge of the festivities. It turned out great and it was so good to be together with almost all of our family! My mom's sweet cousin allowed us to camp on their property and provided a wonderful dinner for everyone when we got there. Then we enjoyed the Martin Harris Pageant that night and fun games and a potluck the next day. My mom knows how to plan a party :)!

The kids loved spending time with G-ma and G-pa Sparks and their fun dog, Licky Nicky!

One of the highlights of this fun place was the tire swing. The girls couldn't get enough of it along with their cute cousins!

Getting some grub with Grandpa Sanderson!

I really think I should invest in one of these for next summer - the kids had way too much fun filling up their little cups over and over and over again!

Nathan and I slept in the van - he actually slept through the night - that is until the sun came up a little too early. But, we had some fun times playing with the giant flashlight. It was fun to spend some time, just Nathan and I, before the rest of the world woke up!

Here are the other boys awake at last :) after spending the night in the tent.

Apparently the night was too short for Kassi :)!

Nathan had no hard feelings that he didn't get to sleep in the tent - but he sure loved playing in it after everyone else was awake! I almost forgot due to no pictures, but I have a new bug phobia after that camping trip! Since Nathan and I were sleeping in the van, we took out the car seats and put them by the tent. Andy warned me that bugs might like the crumbs in the car seats. I told him I wasn't worried about a few ants and thought it would be fine. The next day everyone was noticing earwigs crawling all over the ground, the tents, and just about everything touching the ground. As I went to put the car seat back in the van, I saw a couple ear wigs. Come to find out - they were crawling in and out and around the car seat - and I'm not joking when I say there were probably a hundred ear wigs on Kassi's car seat alone! It was so creepy crawly disgusting!!! Andy hosed it off and saved the day, but I think we still took a couple home with us and they are really now one of my greatest fears. It probably doesn't help that I remember hearing stories during my childhood about ear wigs crawling into ears?!?

Jesi with Nicky and G-pa!

Nathan loving Babette and Nicky loving G-pa! I wish I'd gotten a shot of G-pa holding Nathan when we first got the reunion. But, the camera wasn't unpacked yet :). Nathan sure loved all the attention!

Jesi doing the gunny sack race.

Andy was relieved that he just had to display the auction items at the reunion and not be the auctioneer - Alan did a great job of that! These awesome handmade flags provided a lot of the cash for next year's reunion.

Alan and Barb kept kidnapping our kiddos - this time I discovered them up at the park. Nathan and Kassi LOVED the swings almost as much as they loved Barb and Alan! And, Drew was ecstatic to find out that Alan owns a towing business and he is determined to get up there soon so that Alan can make good on his promise to let Drew drive his tow trucks!

Drew with the family tree. I love you too, buddy! And, I'm glad you're on my family tree!

And, we had to stop and take the scenic route when we saw the Brigham City temple not too far off the freeway. It was beautiful - although not finished! And, I'm kicking myself for somehow missing the super cute picture of Zach! It was so fun that Michelle traveled up for the reunion and stayed with us for a few days! Tami also traveled down last minute with her kiddos and exchange student. Dave had to work, but Sara was a trooper and came for the Saturday festivities. It was a wonderful reunion! We are so grateful to all of our family for all of their love, support, and examples!!! We love you all!

McCall 2011

We would like to dedicate this post to Mom and Dad Walker who, every year without fail, manage to get all of the family together and without fail we always have a wonderful time and make so many fun memories that it is hard to want to even attempt to document them all on the blog, in a scrapbook, or wherever! Can you tell how grateful I am by that run-on sentence?!? Despite the overwhelmingness (yes, I am ignoring spell check because overwhelmingness is definitely a word in my book) of it all, we will attempt to document some of the highlights of the annual trip to McCall. Last year I was too far along in my pregnancy to travel, so we were even more excited to be able to go this year! The family is outgrowing Andy's grandpa's little cabin and it is a tight squeeze when everyone is able to come, but we have so many wonderful memories from squeezing into that cabin and appreciate all the hard work and sacrifice (of time, money, and most of all - themselves) Mom and Dad always make for it to be such a great experience for everyone every year!!!

Mom and Dad bought this kids' single ski for the younger kiddos to attempt skiing for the first time and it was a huge hit. First, we practiced pulling them along the beach and they thought that was pretty fun!

Then, to our great surprise and amazement, Jesi wanted to try skiing from the boat. She went first and there was a little miscommunication with the driver of the boat (possibly my fault for being an overly excited, encouraging mother) and she crashed and we had to remind her to let go of the rope. So that didn't start off well. But, then to our even greater amazement, Drew wanted to try it out! (After witnessing his sister crash and burn that was truly amazing!)

And off he went! He stayed up all the way around and we were so proud of him! He was pretty proud of himself too!

Then, miraculously, Jesi went for it again! She kept wanting to back out, but with a little encouragement, she did it! She couldn't quite decide if she liked it or not at first, but about half way through she decided it was fun!

This is a picture of her getting into the boat afterwards. She was pretty excited that she did it! Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of Andy skiing this year and fortunately, Andy didn't get any pictures of me wake boarding (wouldn't want to blind anyone), but that is always a highlight of the trip! Andy's brother always brings his boat and Drew has always LOVED helping him drive it. I'm always nervous since it has usually been 2 or 3 years since my last attempt at wake boarding (due to pregnancy or not being at McCall the year before), but it is always a blast and somehow we survive the cold mountain water!

Heather had a birthday and her husband, Jason rented a paddle board and everyone got to try it out. Kassi had fun going with Dad and Jesi went with me. We didn't try standing since the water was incredibly choppy, but sitting was fun!

Drew tried kayaking by himself for the first time this year as well. All kinds of firsts that are making me realize these kids are growing up WAY too fast!

Jesi & Nathan got to take turns riding with Grandma! Andy and I took the kiddos for rides as well. Kayaking is so relaxing and I love the fact that these kayaks are pretty hard to tip over!

Kassi started this water fight with Grandpa, but I think Grandpa won! The funny thing is I think she handed him the bucket full of water?!?

Nathan loved the water - as long as most of his body was warm and dry!

My tough, manly men :)!

It was a toss up whether I should post the picture of Kassi with the sunglasses or the goggles - they're both good for a laugh!

The "private property" sign in the background was a little bit of a nuisance for Nathan. He kept chasing his shadow past the sign and wanted to explore those plants a little more than was allowed.

Nathan has probably been our most anxious child to put everything in his mouth. The other day he got into a plant and had dirt all over in his mouth and all over the white carpet. He must be deficient of some mineral that is found in the soil?!? I definitely have to keep an eye on this boy at all times. The toilet is about as fun as the beach these days in his eyes!

The girlies beginning the sand castle!

Dad is a big golfer, so it is always a highlight of the trip for Drew to get to drive the golf cart with Grandpa! This year the first group of family to finish golfing watched the younger kiddos while Andy and I played a round with Chris and Heather. But, we had to take the carts out on a few test drives while we waited for them to finish! The kiddos loved it!

Another highlight of the trip was hiking up to a beautiful little lake with all of the family before we headed back home. We got to climb up and around some snow and once we reached the lake, Dad talked to us all about how Grandma and he trained for an 88 mile bike ride right after Grandma lost her Dad and how she said, "I can do hard things." It was a sweet, inspirational experience up in the mountain with the family. Mom and Dad are such great examples to us of hard work and endurance and we were all inspired to do a little better and try a little harder and realize that we too can "do hard things!"

Jesi with her cute cousin. They are like best friends whenever we get together. It is SO cute!

We took turns carrying the kiddos. They both zonked out before we reached the cars!

Drew was always wanting to hold his baby brother or his baby boy cousin, who is a tad younger than Nathan and absolutely adorable. He is going to make a good little babysitter and Daddy someday!

Another highlight this year was going to a restaurant after golfing to celebrate Heather's b-day! The outdoor band was so much fun and even sang "Happy Birthday" to Heather! Grandpa had no reservations about dancing a jig for the grand-kids. They loved it!

Nathan loved dancing with Grandma too!

Some of the girlies dancing together!

The whole gang after dinner and birthday festivities. You can see that Nathan had had enough fun for one day. Traveling with little ones can be quite exhausting and I know that all the prep and kiddos and clean-up and everything has got to be exhausting for Andy's parents and we can't thank them enough for all they do for our family. No one in the family ever wants to miss out on the fun that is sure to be had in McCall or wherever else we may gather and we owe more than we could ever repay to Mom and Dad for ALL that they do and are, and for their examples of Christlike service and love to their family and all around them. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for another amazing experience for all, Mom and Dad and G-ma and G-pa Walker!!! We love you!