The "Great" Salt Lake and "Great" Grandparents

A week ago we went to Midvale to visit Grandma and Grandpa Homer!  We had dinner and FHE with them.  It's always so fun to visit their house.  I have so many childhood memories of that backyard/house and of course my sweet Grandparents.  It was fun for my kids to get to know them a little bit better.  They are such great examples and have left an amazing legacy for us to follow.  They have 7 children and 38 grandchildren and I don't even know the number of Great-grandchildren.  Probably 60ish?  It was my Grandma's 78th birthday this week and she is the sweetest Grandma ever.  I love her so much! Hopefully we'll be able to make many more memories with G & G Homer!

All the kids waiting for Aunt Carly's lesson!

 Waiting for FHE.

We love Grandma & Grandpa Homer. 

The Great Salt Lake!  It was a beautiful night and the bugs weren't too bad!  The kids were brave enough to get in the water.  You had to run past where the water touches the shore (that's where all the brine flies were) and then the water was actually really clear and pretty warm.  It's very shallow, so we had to walk out a long ways to be able to see if you really can float in the salt water.

 Mason didn't like the water very much.  I think the bottom was too mucky for him.  He stayed close to me and the shore.

 Dallin was happy to sit in his stroller and watch!

 Heading out to deeper water.

 Jared testing out if he could float!!  It really does work.

 The kids loved pushing us around in the water while we floated on our backs

 Camille is saving Mason and carrying him back to shore.

 Garet and Camille even tried to float!

I even got in.  I don't have a picture to prove it, but you really can float in the GSL!  We had to head to the little shower on the beach to rinse off after because it leaves a salty film all over your skin.......ewwwwww!  It was an adventure, and as you can see from the pictures, not a soul to be found anywhere.

Honey Harvest & the new belt buckle

Garet is now the proud owner of his very own belt buckle!  He has worn that thing everyday since he got it!!  He says it makes him stronger and faster:) What a silly guy.  We sure love him!

 Saturday was the big Honey harvest day!  This is our first year having bees, so we've been learning a lot.  Good thing we have some friends help us out!  We rented the extractor together.  They used it on Friday night and then we used it early Saturday morning.  It went pretty smooth and we learned a few tips/tricks that will help us next year.  Jared only got stung twice removing the supers from the hive.  He is a trooper!First you have to cut the caps off with a hot knife.

 Then you put the frames in this extractor and spin until all the honey comes out.

 Then you open the valve and let the honey run out.  We filtered it througha wire/mesh strainer, into a five gallon bucket.  We ended up with about 5 gallons or 60 lbs. of honey!  Yummy!  Now I am going to try making chapstick and hand cream out of the beeswax. 

 The kids each got to pick out a honey bear from the bee store.  They love honey!

Here is a video of Jared getting the frames out of the hive.

Another honey extracting video.



First Day of Second Grade & Kindergarten!

I can hardly believe I have a second-grader and a kindergartener!  Wow, time flies.  Garet didn't actually start school until a week later, but he wanted to go so bad the day that Camille started.  I love the first month of school because the weather is usually so great!  The kids love riding their bikes to and from school everyday.  They both love their teachers and are having a great time.

 Garet on his official first day!  What a handsome boy.  (For some reason I forgot to take a picture of Camille by herself)

Garet sitting at his desk.  His best friend, Preston, happens to be in the same class, and they even sit on the same table.  I told his teacher they might be trouble:) 

 Dallin is growing so fast and getting so fun!  He is still my most happy, smiley baby!  I count my blessings everyday for this little bundle of joy!  I don't know what I'd do without him.  He makes me smile.

 Salsa making day!!  We've actually made salsa two times already and Jared has been so great to help me out.  It is an all day project.  Garet and Mason joined in on the fun this year. 

Squishing the "Matatoes", as Mason would call them.

 Hooper Tomato Days is over Labor Day weekend and they have a rodeo on Monday night.  This year Garet wanted to do the Mutton Bustin, so we signed him up!  I took a video of him, but was so nervous/excited for him that I moved the camera half-way through and missed most of it.  He was awesome though!  He kept hanging on even when he was being dragged in the dirt and finally the sheep went down with him.  He wasn't going to let go for anything.  He got 2nd place though.  Dad said he would buy him a belt buckle!  He can't wait.  This is him before his debut.  Both sets of Grandparents came to watch and even Aunt Collette and Uncle Bryan.  We sure love our Garet boy!

This is the video, it is really short and doesn't show much.  I'll do better next time, or hand off the camera to someone else!

Uinta Trip 2011

Once again it is time for the annual Uinta trip with Jared's family.  I wasn't able to go this year with a nursing baby, so Jared took Camille and Garet!  They had a great time and turned into quite the little fisherman this year.  The group included: Jared, Camille, Garet, Grandpa, Jason, Will, Scott, Steven, & Zac.  Camille was the only girl.  I guess she's getting used to it!

The pack train!

 Camille holding the fishing bag for Jared.

 Fish fry.

 Cute Garet boy!

 The expert fisherwoman!

 Of course eating fish is the best part!  Nothing tastes better than fish out of the river in the High Uintas.

 One of the days they took a little trip up to some lakes (Finney and Anderson).  Garet is the little speck over there.  It's so beautiful.

 Load em up, head on out!

 Say goodbye to the Gorge!

Until next year!  Hopefully I'll be joining them.  It is one of my favorite places to go.

Thanks for another great trip Grandpa!