Pork Chops and Applesauce

My nod to Peter Brady aside... this post is all about apples.  And country living.  And apples.  

Among many things that we have discovered on this piece of property, we found two apple trees.  I've never had an apple tree before.  Wasn't really sure what was going to come of it.  Turns out these two trees put on a TON of apples.  Seriously.  I'm not sure we're going to be able to use them all.  In fact I know we aren't.  Too many.

But I took my first stab at applesauce.  I discovered after taste testing a few different batches- I'm a big fan of chunky applesauce.  With cinnamon.  Ty agrees with me.  Ryan likes his smooth.  Kate doesn't seem to care.  So- we made lots of both.  But I told my kids if they had an opinion- they had to help put in some of the work.  I don't know why it continues to surprise me that they never balk at this.  All three of them are always happy to lend a hand in the kitchen.

There's a small chance that Kate ate as many apples as she put in the pot.

Ryan too.

Ty is a solid helper in the kitchen these days.  I'm always a little afraid to give him a knife- but he chopped his apples just beautifully.

We also ended up making apple pie filling and apple juice along with the sauce.  And we still had apples leftover.  Yowza.

I think my favorite part so far has been the picking.  I feel so "Little House on the Prairie" almost.  Kate never missed a chance to help me- in fact we did most of our picking in the afternoons before the boys came home from school.  Kate picked one particularly pretty apple and held it out for me to see and smell.  Then she said, "Mom- I bet the fruit from Lehi's tree was even more beautiful."  It took me a minute to get some context- but I was impressed that she would make the connection.

Tis the season for canning I guess.  And I am so grateful for it.  I love being able to stack my shelves full of the fruit of our labor.  It's a little like the grasshopper and the ant.  I just don't like to be caught without.

Schooool Days

Full disclosure:  I was more than ready to send my kids back to school this year.  Not usually my thing... but the fighting had to stop sometime right?  At least now I get a few hours of a break before they are home from school and at it again.  

It's still hard for me to believe that summer is over.  I feel like it just started.  I was just getting my groove on.  Now I have to switch it.  Groove in a different way I guess.  That's alright.  I'm super awesome and rolling with new things (if Shaun ever reads this he just rolled his eyes).  

I will also admit that I had an exceptionally hard time sending my BABY off to kindergarten.  It was another moment, much like Ryan's baptism, that makes me realize my kids are getting bigger and life is moving on- whether I'm ready for it to or not.  Kate was ridiculously excited though.  If there had been a way for her to go to school the night before- she would have been all over it.  

I had to laugh at her choice of profession- for all of my younger years, I said the same thing. Things changed for me- I guess only time will tell if it will for her.

Ryan was also excited to go back to school.  He told me when he got home on the first day that he was disappointed because they didn't do any math.  AT ALL.  Here I was thinking he was the social one and would be excited to get back to his buddies... but it turns out he's only there for the math.

And then there's Ty.  Ty is only 8 inches away from catching me.  Yeah- we measured... I walked away more than a little surprised.  Height aside- Ty was also excited for school to be back in session.  He was excited to see his friends.  He was excited about his new teacher.  He was excited about his new shoes.  Life really is coming up Ty this year.

As I drove away from the school on that first day, it occurred to me that this is the only year that my babies will all be in the same school.  Here in Declo- they put the 6th graders in with the middle school... so this is it!  One year of being able to make one phone call to the school for messages.  One year of being able to walk down the hall to pick them all up.  One year.  I guess we better make it a good one!

I Like to Look for Rainbows

This was a hard post for me.  Not because writing is hard- no that's the easy part.  But it's the subject matter.  It's these kind of posts and these kinds of moments that make me realize we aren't coasting anymore.  I'm not sitting at home watching Little Einsteins with my babies and rotating hot dogs and chicken nuggets for lunch any more.  My kids are just that... kids.  Ryan just turned 8 this summer and after much (MUCH) deliberation- he decided to be baptized.  

Ryan is not the kind of kid to do something just because everyone else is doing it.  Which is a blessing and a curse.  It's a blessing when it comes to poor decisions being made by other kids.  Kind of a curse when he refuses to go sing with the Primary on Sunday.  

I love that Ryan takes the time to think things out for himself though.  He has always been his own person.  A thinker.  A deliberater.  He wasn't sure that this baptism thing was for him.  He believed in Jesus Christ.  This was never the issue.  Ryan believed that Jesus was baptized.  But he wasn't sure why he had to do it too.  We talked about this for months.  Ryan had questions.  Good questions.  And I have to admit- I was more than a little relieved when he said this was what he wanted to.  

August 27th was a BEAUTIFUL Saturday, and little Ryan was surrounded by his whole family.  My parents came up, they brought my grandma.  Dave and Nat and their little ones.  Miss and Jer.  Shaun's family came out in force as well.  Jacki and Orllo.  Grandma Dorothy.  Chad and Jeni with their boys.  Chase and Dani and their babies.  Members from the ward.  The Bishop.  This little guy had a lot of people in his corner.  

I love how much these two LOVE having their picture taken!

Ryan seems older these days.  I can't quite put my finger on it.  I tried to get a picture of it the other Sunday morning.  The boys were dressed and waiting for Kate and I to finish in the bathroom and I came out and saw this.  Ryan received a set of scriptures of his very own for his birthday, and he has been very diligent in reading from it most days.  Always on Sunday though.  He started in the Old Testament and is slowly working his way through.

I pray that Ryan is always a thinker.  That he always questions.  I just hope that he puts his faith in Jesus Christ and does his best to stay on the straight and narrow path.  I believe he will do great things- he has an amazing spirit and a testimony that belies his youth.  I hope that he continues to grow it.  Love you, Bear.

On my Honor...

We celebrated a strange pack meeting... it was the boys' first and last pack meeting together.  And while I am relieved not to have two cub scouts that I'm trying to help... It's a little sad too.  I guess bittersweet is the best word to describe it.  

Ryan earned his Bobcat badge (seriously in a day... he has been carrying his Wolf book around trying to pass things off constantly)...

I got my new Bobcat pin... No blood spatter yet- I'm impressed boys!

This was also a BIG night for Ty.  He has put in so much work to earn his Arrow of Light...  I am so proud of him!  He was asked to put together a table with some of the things that he has worked on through the years- luckily the bird house he and Shaun build years ago is still in my living room.  I'm not going to lie though... most of those projects have been misplaced through the years and moves.  Whoops.  We still have our favorites though!

Love this picture.  Ryan was a little leery of a new experience (classic Ryan) and wasn't entirely sure where to be or what he should be doing.  So he stuck pretty close to Ty.  In fact at one point- he discreetly held onto a corner of Ty's shorts.  I love that Ty didn't bat him away or tell him to buzz off.  In fact- he put his arm around Ryan and led him up to the front to work on this project together.  

We took the boys out for ice cream afterward to celebrate.