Focused on Preparedness-Weekend Goings On

We spent this last weekend at home and had Keaton with us for the first time in quite a while. Taron stayed in Pocatello so he could go to his football team's end of season party. We're looking forward to having them both for a long weekend this next one. On Saturday morning, Stephen worked on filling up our water storage barrels while the boys played around the yard and I finished the pears I had been canning...

Along this line, I've decided yet again that when I grow up I want to be my Mom. She came over last week for a day to help me with the pears and I ended up having to leave before we got very far. She did nine quarts in an hour and a half. I then spent the following two evenings and did only 13 quarts! Everything she does, she does well. Someday I hope I'm like that, or at least a little closer to it than I am now! I sure appreciate you Mom. :)

I've been really nervous about needing to be prepared for tough times- it's getting pretty clear that the need for home storage is imminent. I think it would be the worst feeling in the world to have the shelves at the stores be empty and look in my own pantry and know that I'm not prepared, or to look out across our property and not have planted a garden (that's our next big project to plan for), all when we had the time, the resources and the warning. So, at any rate, it felt good to get our water barrels ready and such.

Coop has been loving this little play mower lately- he pushes and pulls it all over the place. I love him in cute winter hats and it was just cool enough to need it during the morning. Also gotta laugh at the hat hair afterwards!

For the rest of the day Saturday, Stephen and Keaton went into the South Hills to do some sage grouse hunting, while Cooper and I stayed home and napped/ attempted to scrapbook/ made dinner. I love the feeling of days like that- I love being home. Hope all of our friends and family had a good weekend too!

Stephen at Castle Rocks State Park

This last weekend Stephen was asked to do a faclonry presentation as part of the Castle Rocks State Park anniversary celebration. He really enjoys stuff like this and is great at it. He said he teased a few people that would hold the bird by yelping just as they got thier hand in the glove- what a tease! A fellow falconer that was also there sent him these pics and I thought they turned out nice- I'm married to a pretty cool dude. :)

Little Moments that Make Me Smile

Just some pics of a few times this last week that I grabbed the camera because I thought "I want to capture this." Little moments that make me smile...

Pear Crumble

Made this yummy pear crumble last night and thought I would share the recipe this morning. I love baking stuff like this because it smells so good! Our awesome neighbors had given us a bowl full of pears that needed to be eaten, so I used those to whip this up quick. Then we took it to some friends that have been sick. (I tripled it and baked two 1.5 quart pans at once.)

INGREDIENTS
3 pears - peeled, cored and sliced
2 teaspoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons old-fashioned oats
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1 dash ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon cold butter
2 tablespoons chopped nuts

DIRECTIONS
Place pear slices in a greased 1-qt. baking dish. Sprinkle with lemon juice. In a bowl, combine the sugar, oats, flour, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. Cut in butter until crumbly; add nuts. Sprinkle over pears. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until bubbly.

P.S. I didn't have any ginger, so I left it out and it was fine. I also did warm up the butter- it wasn't very workable cold. :)

Bittersweet...

Took these pics of Cooper playing in the yard last night, trying to wring out the last of summer. It struck me how he looks so big! I have to think that it's kinda bittersweet to watch your kids grow up. Each new growth is welcome and endearing, but also heartwrenching. Remember when he fit on my chest and we slept like that on the couch? Remember when I set him up in the crook of the rocking chair or in the bouncy on the table and didn't worry about him falling off? Hardly a day goes by that I don't miss the Baby Bjorn and being able to carry him next to me like that while we were out and about. He is so much happier being able to be more independent and it is nice to have him be able to follow me from place to place, or just send him across the yard to meet up with Dad. It just makes me melt to watch him toddle around, exploring and coming to show me his finds. I hope he always does that. I suppose each new month and year will be bittersweet for the rest of our lives- looking back on how he was and treasuring how he is. Gosh we love this little guy...

Football and Family

Friday night we traveled to Pocatello- we do a lot of that obviously :)- to spend some time with the boys and watch Taron's football game on Saturday morning. While the boys have been in football, on the weekends we would have them, we spend in Pocatello with Stephen's family instead. We all had shirts to support Taron's team (Taron loaned his to Cooper) :) and took this fun family pic of us all in orange!

On Monday evening we were again in Pocatello for Keaton's flag football game. He does a great job playing hard- his team utilizes him a lot! I was bummed not to have gotten any pictures at Keaton's game, but he does have several more, so we'll get some sooner than later!

Truth be told, we'd probably rather be doing something of our own free will with the boys rather than tied to the schedule of a team sport, but we also have to admit that it's been pretty cool to see them enjoying being part of a team. Football and soccer games are obviously the heartbeat of Pocatello weekends, so they would feel left out if they weren't involved too. They both try hard and are grateful to the people that come to support them- they are such good dudes!

Listening to the coach before heading in to play.

I wanted to make sure and get some pics afterwards and Taron specifically requested one with just him and Dad. :)

Three of my favorite dudes ever!

Grandma Sally and Stephen's mom, Janie, watching from the sideline. Pretty cool of them to come support. Stephen trying to contain Cooper- the games are definitely a tag team event!

Fall is for the Birds

In our world, (well, Stephen's at least), Fall means falconry starts to become a bigger deal. We've been trying to spend time each evening in our yard before things get too cold to be able to. Cooper loves being outside and seems to love Stephen's birds too. He touches them hesitantly and points them out from across the lawn. The other day Stephen had a bird DVD on and Cooper watched it intently with him for several minutes- needless to say, Dad was pretty proud. And Mom's pretty sure there needs to be a girl around here... :)

Keaton's Baptism!

This past Saturday was Keaton's baptism! We traveled to Pocatello Saturday morning and spent most of the day there. Keaton was so excited and did a great job making everyone feel good for coming. What a blessing to be able to see things come full circle- watching Stephen baptize him was amazing! Keaton's uncle Russell Contreras did the confirmation and gave Keaton a really nice blessing. A special day- we are so proud of you Keaton!

Labor Day at Bruneau Dunes

We spent Labor Day weekend (and Keaton's eigth birthday!) at Bruneau Dunes State Park with our friends Jackson, Trish, Jax and Ceci Whitehurst. We had a great time getting to know them better and can hardly wait for more good times to come. We opened presents and ate brownies around camp for Keaton's birthday on Saturday.

The boys running down the sand- it got hot under thier feet!


Jax, Taron and Jolie (Ceci's friend) on top of the world for a moment!

Jax, Taron, Keaton, Jolie and Ceci...

Out shooting Keaton's new youth gun he got for his birthday. Interesting experience while we were there... Cooper and I were sitting in the truck out of the wind while the boyz were out shooting. I was letting Cooper play with the keys and explore around the cab. I stepped out and stood beside the window to take some pictures. While I was outside, Cooper managed to lock himself in! I was hysterical for a few minutes as we tried to talk him into pressing the right buttons to unlock the door. Finally Stephen was able to wedge his arm between the door and the frame on the passenger side that hadn't been closed tight. We talked Cooper in to putting the keys in Dad's hand and unlocked him! A scary moment and a lesson learned... Luckily he thought the whole thing was a game and was laughing and smiling the whole time!

We (heart) Sarah Palin!

At the risk of being cheesy, I just wanted to mention that Stephen and I are pretty stoked about the new Republican VP. Thought her speech at the RNC was strong and we loved when the camera showed her youngest daughter holding thier baby, licking her palm and combing his hair over with it! So cute and so real!

Just Us Recently

Been too long since I've posted. Haven't had too awful much to include, but here are few random pics of just us.

Cooper is into climbing into and lifting things lately. His favs are "his drawer" in the kitchen- the bottom drawer has random stuff in it that he rifles through while I'm cooking. He climbs into other big enough (or not quite) things too- like this roasting pan. He's a menace boy, but so fun- what did we ever do without him? :)


Recently all the boys were wearing white polo shirts to church and I turned it into a photo opportunity. So cute and so silly. Pretty good dudes.

I'm honestly suer which bird this is, but wanted to include a bird pic for Stephen's sake- he's getting pretty exciting about the weather cooling down cuz for him that means flying season!