a glimpse at our "nothing"

Annee requested a view into our world, even if we don't think we're doing anything exciting. So here's a little bit about our "nothing" lately.

First off, Huck is getting bigger, which is not OK with me. He's started growing out of his first round of clothes and diapers and his cheeks and legs are filling out. I think when you're raising your last child you should get to pick an age to prolong, and for me this would be it. He's made it abundantly clear that he's a stomach sleeper (gasp!), and he will not take a pacifier. Did you hear that? I've never had one of those and frankly thought people were making it up or not trying hard enough or not doing it right when they claimed such a thing. But I must repent.

June's come around and is becoming a nice, sweet big sister. She is attentive but not overly so (usually) and helpful and excited. She's learning to be soft, which is a new concept for a girl growing up with 2 big brothers. She likes to hold "baby Huck" and lets me know when he's sad and needs me.

Last weekend we went to Christine's horse show in Spanish. That really took me back to our California days when we got to watch her ride frequently and it was a big treat to take the kids to see her horses. She looked great and performed well and seemed so happy and graceful and just like she belonged (atop the horse, not necessarily in Spanish). And I got the pleasure of bragging about her to a guy in the audience who was impressed and asking around about her.

Then the next day we "celebrated" her 22nd birthday. I say "celebrated" in quotes because there weren't any presents and Mom & Dad weren't there, so there will be more real celebrating to come this weekend. I love you Christine! Thank you so much for all the service you do for me and our family. You are a joy to be around and I'm so lucky to get to live near you for a few years (or maybe longer?!).

*photo courtesy of Stephanie Wiley

We've been following the progress of the "Station Fire" closely (thanks for the hourly updates, LCF). Scott's parents and sister all got evacuated for a couple days, but thankfully there was no direct damage to their houses -- only to their views. Check out Stephanie's first-hand account.

*photo courtesy of Dorothy Zackrison

My parents have arrived from Germany - in Provo for good (well sort of) I spent the past month working with design/construction duo (and cousins) Katie & Larry Christensen helping to fix up their townhome and it looks great. It was a fun outlet for my late-pregnancy nesting needs (on someone else's dime!). They have been staying with us for a few days while the last details were finished which has been a huge blessing since, while jet-lagged Mom was nice enough to take the 5-7am shift with Huck.

Brenden's baseball team was invited to participate in an Orem Owlz game. The kids on the team got paired up with Owlz players and got to run out on the field and get announced with the guy playing their same position. Then they got to stand out on the field for the national anthem. That was pretty cool.





Here's a little series showing what the kids like to do while Mom is nursing the baby - build a huge pile of pillows and jump off the bed. It's one of those activities where you have to weigh the huge mess & chance for them to get hurt against the value of them having something to do & actually getting along for a while, and the latter wins every time.


In the ongoing saga of my lemon tree, check out the 11 beautiful healthy growing lemons which are getting pretty big and haven't fallen off, been eaten by deer, or turned yellow too soon. This is going to make one much appreciated and anticipated pitcher of lemonade one day (wonder when that'll be -- seems like they've been growing for a long time!).

We also have 3 apples growing on our baby apple tree,

a pumpkin that's grown completely wedged between the rocks (Scott and I both tried to get it out to no avail. It is totally stuck.)

And more tomatoes, peppers, giant zucchini, and herbs than we can possibly know what to do with. I've made salsa and a tomato/cucumber salad. Does anyone have a recipe they love for homemade tomato sauce?

Don't you love the harvest update? Sorry - this is rather boring. I told you we weren't doing anything good.

*photo taken by Jon Canlas

In other news, Scott finally got tired of being our family representative on Facebook and, unbeknown to me, went and signed me up. And so my addiction begins.