Welcome Home Blaze!!

On Thursday we drove to SLC airport to welcome Blaze home from his mission that he served in South Africa. He flew in around 9pm and we were all there: siblings(and spouses), nieces, nephews, parents, and a few aunt/uncles. Jackson was so excited to see Blaze and yes he did remember who his uncle Blaze was. Makenna was born a week after Blaze left, so this was the first time he was able to see her in person. We have had some late nights visiting with Blaze and we have a few more before he starts school next week.

Welcome Home Blaze!!

Dill Pickles

I have wanted to learn how to make dill pickles, so today I had grandma Ludean show me how she does it. It was so easy and now I can do it all on my own. Makenna was very helpful with cleaning the cucumbers and bottles to get them all ready. Jackson and Makenna enjoyed watching some cartoons and eating apples at grandma Ludeans while we made the pickles.

Recipe for making Dill Pickles:

1 cup apple cider vinegar

3 cups water

2 TBsp salt(plain-don't use iodized salt)

1 TBsp sugar

Dill

1 Clove garlic

Be sure to wash cucumbers and get all pricklies off, wash bottles. Put a stalk of dill and 1 clove of garlic into each bottle.(Make sure to dip the dill stalk into boiling water to make sure there are no bugs on it) Heat vinegar, water, salt, and sugar on the stove in a pan. Bring to a boil and stir. Fill bottles as tight as possible with cucumbers(Don't let the cucmbers be taller than the neck of the bottle) Fill bottles with liquid up to the neck of the bottle. Process in water bath for 20 min. Start time as soon as you turn oven on and place bottles in water bath. Remove and let cool.

Happy Birthday JACKSON!!

Happy birthday Jackson!! Wow where have the years gone. My first little one is now 4 years old. He will be starting preschool this year. So he got a new backpack for school. He has been waiting patiently for this day to come and asking everyday if today is the day he turns 4. Now it is here and almost gone. We celebrated his birthday with my family in Ely and he loved opening all his gifts from us and my family.

I also decided to let Jackson have a friend birthday party on the 14th. He is really into pirates, so that was the theme for his party. The kids got to go on a treasure hunt, pin the eye patch and hook on the pirate, and what they really wanted to do was play on Jackson's new swingset. We got it up just in time for his party. The swingset is for both Jackson and Makenna's birthday(plus a few little things). They have had a fun time playing on it.

Week of the 24th Celebration

The cousins spent a lot of time together during the week of the 24th. Grandma Jeanne watched all of them on Tue. and Wed. while I worked. She took lots of pictures of them toghether, so I thought I would share some of them with you. In the background of some of the pictures you can see how our garden is doing.

On Sat. the 26th we celebrated the 24th in Lund. We had a parade, which we were in. I decorated my parents Rhino and trailer. Later that day we swam in the pool. We also went to the rodeo and watched the fireworks. I don't think Makenna enjoyed watching the fireworks, because she would jump at each boom and by the end she was hiding under the blanket. We had a fun time during the Pioneer celebration. We ended the celebration with Micah and I speaking in sacrament meeting on Sunday, which is the fullest chapel I have ever been in. People were sitting all the way to the back of the room and onto the stage. Boy was I glad when that was over with. :)