First horseback ride

This is my first time on a horse (but not the last). The horse was an old sway-back mare with a gentle nature and we called her Old Nance.

Mary, Joyce and Ann

Here we are, posing with our favorite dolls. Mine and Joyce's were rubber dolls and I can remember the name of my doll--"Nancy".

Ann and Mary

This is me and my sister. I guess I was bigger than her, even as a child.

Rare picture

This picture was taken by Kirk Lundwall and he did it with a thing in his hand that he squeezed(Tall guy in the back) His wife is Lillian. You can see lots of fun things in this picture--the old outhouse on the right, the potato pit on the left, the woodpile and thrasher are being hidden by the people. Joyce was about 5, I was 7 and Ann was 9. The two girls on the front right are Barbara and Carol Stoddard. You can see my dad with his bib overalls and mother in her apron. This is basically how we looked every day. We always wore dresses, even for play. The dog is a stray that lived with us for a short while. We named him Jock.

Mother

This is how our kitchen looked until John remodeled the cupboards. I did a lot of dishes in this old sink and peeled lots of potatoes standing right where mother is standing. Over to the right is a double tub that served us on wash days.

Family

I think this picture was taken just before my mother went on her mission.

Huck Finn & pals

I love this picture of my boys on a raft. Ron & Richard are in the back. Russell, Gary and Steve are in the front.

?

Am I the only one who checks in every day hoping to see something new? We need to get this thing stoked up again. What say ye?

Crowd of people

Oops I got the bear picture twice. I really meant to post this one

No small stir

Joyce called me today wondering if I would like to go see the bear that Jeremy had just shot. He was parked in front of his office by the football field and there was a crowd of people. There was also a little football game going on but more people were coming to see the bear. Jeremy, Russell and Robbie were riding up Baker's Canyon this morning scouting for bear since Jeremy had a permit to shoot one. They heard the dogs barking but didn't pay any attention to it. Finally they went to see what all the fuss was about and, sure enough, they had a bear cornered. This bear was dark brown, not the cinnamon bear that has been sighted up the canyon, and pretty big. I wouldn't want to meet up with something like that up our canyon. Jeremy was pretty excited, but not nearly as much as his mother. I love that Fran!

Pretty big paws

Bear

Super Peppers and Super Heroes

We had a lot of red peppers this year. I love how they look just after I pick them. I roasted these and made a yummy sauce for some four cheese and chicken ravioli. It was really good and it didn't taste peppery in case you are wondering because you don't like peppers. My kids even liked it, if that tells you anything. The same time I was out picking these beauties, I noticed our one giant bean plant had some beans ripe for the picking. I had Jack help me and he even wanted to eat them after I cooked them. Amazing! I love eating the produce from our garden.

Kennedy and Tristan make me laugh. When Tristan and Jack wear matching clothes they run around like super heroes saying, "rescue power!" I guess Kennedy felt a little left out. She doesn't have anything or anyone to match to. She got this brilliant idea that if she wore her penguin pajamas and Tristan wore her other pair of penguin pajamas, that she could be a superhero with a somewhat matching uniform and play the game too. Here's what that looks like:

New School Year

Our ward goes through changes every summer. We watch families move out who are finished with school or who are leaving for the summer for internships. Our numbers go down and then gradually new families move in to replace the ones who left and then the summer interns return. This summer we had a much greater influx than usual. Since May we've had 30 new families move into our ward! Being gone the whole month of July put us behind on getting to know some of these people. Chris invited all the new families to our home for desserts and appetizers. I spent the whole week baking. When I finished what I originally planned, I decided that wasn't enough and baked some more. Of the 30 new families, 22 showed up! We had just enough food. I meant to take a picture of the spread but people were already starting to come before I had it all out. Here is what we had:

Peanut Butter Cookies
Glazed Lemon Bars
Pecan Pie Bars
White Chocolate Decadence Bars (these were my favorite)

Chocolate Dipped Sugar Cookies (from Our Best Bites Cookbook)
Chocolate Turtle Candies (from Our Best Bites Cookbook)
Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Cheesecake Pops
Cheesecake Filled Brownie Cups
Butterscotch Chocolate Chippers
Meatballs
Puff Pastry bites
Roasted Red Pepper Dip(from Our Best Bites Cookbook) and crackers
Homemade Salsa and chips

Fruit

Since I don't have pictures to show you of all the yummy food, here are some pictures of Kennedy's and Tristan's first day of school.

Brayden and Lillyan

This is Elaine Broniecki's new twin grandchildren. Aren't they cute?