Maiden Voyage

Emma has been begging us to take her out in the kayak and teach her how to steer it by herself. She keeps asking for an account

of her siblings and how old they were when they learned to kayak by themselves. Since Sam was eight, she decided that seven was close enough and it was her time to learn. Rick finally gave in to her constant requests and spent an evening instructing her and we sent her off on her first solo voyage. She was all smiles upon her return and couldn't wait to tell all of her siblings that she is now the youngest Bryson to kayak solo... that's all it was really about, bragging rights.

It didn't take long and she was full of confidence and ready to paddle solo to the island in the middle of the lake.

Off she goes, with no fear. Yep, she is the tiny little dot in the pic next to the island. Don't worry, Rick and I were prepared to jump in at a moments notice and swim out to her (laugh if you must at the thought of us living through the swim to save our poor baby). As she took off, she did look back and yell, "Dad sure is a great teacher!". Who were we to deny such an endorsement?

Nothing feels better than accomplishing a goal... well, unless it includes bragging rights. Did I mention that she asked numerous times if we had sent a picture to her siblings yet?

We cheered from the dock, thankful that our little bundle of confidence made it there and back safely. We also said a silent prayer of thanks that neither of us had to jump in and make the rescue swim which probably would of required someone else jumping in to rescue us!

Now Emma has earned her bragging rights and so have we!
WAY TO GO EMMA!!!

Geography Club

Cooking Club

Back to school, back to fun!

Bribery and Black Mail

Who says it doesn't pay off to be a stay at home Mom? I figure I can make a fair chunk of money one day when the kids are offering me the big bucks to remove certain pictures from our family files. Until then, I will "invest" in every opportunity I can! Here is Sam getting bribed w/ some nominal amount of money to go under the porch and retrieve something important... like a ball? He suits up for the challenge and collects his whopping dollar. I bet I make more than that on the removal of this picture! ;)

HARVEST time, Ready or Not

We were fortunate enough to have a pretty long growing period this summer. It was questionable starting out since we had a pretty cool summer to begin with but ended up with an incredibly mild fall. The prolonged gardening weather made beautiful tomatoes,pumpkins, squash and corn but not too beautiful

kitchen. We had to work fast as the threat of freeze moved in quickly. I'm not sure what was worse, the mess in the kitchen or listening to the darling children (AKA... kitchen slaves) complain about canning and how hard their mother works them. Poor lil' darlings.

Fair Time

Fair Time included:

*Emma's first time wanting to go on any of the rides by herself!

*The boys SWEEPING the Lego competition with their mad skills in making barns, tractors and farm equipment. Including Best of Show, Best of Class and 1st place in their division. Who knew all those hours of Lego Play could pay off in such a big way? $15.00 each. Yes, the decimal is in the right place. Welcome to small town Idaho, Fair. Good job Boys.

*Emma's entry of pears. Good job on that white ribbon!

*Dee's entry of Jalapeno Plum Jam, Peach Jam, Apple Awesomeness Sauce, Blackberry Jam.

**Lots of laughter after realizing that the judges DON'T taste any of the canned entries just in case they weren't canned properly. One lady who won Best of Show admitted that her pickles were the worse she ever tasted but they looked pretty.

*Manda starting to have a crush on some cute country boy that she met who adores pigs.

Can't wait 'til next year!

Blackberry Jam Lessons

This is me teaching Steph the "tricks" to making blackberry jam.

1. Sit down and make yourself comfortable

2. Watch Rick and Darren work.

3. Throw out a few words of encouragement if they start to notice that they are doing all the work.

4. Praise them for the delicious jam that they just made as we quickly shove it in our mouths and enjoy the "fruits" of their

labor.

Boys and their Toys

Will my boys ever outgrow their toys? Nope, not as long as they have guns around. Happy Birthday Sammy, like father, like son. Enjoy.