Dirty!

We did the dirty dash...again!

This time we did the 10k instead of the 5k.
I'll be honest, I'm a little sore, but we had a blast!

Thanks mom and DAD for watching our kidlets!

Peachy

When we came home from our long weekend at the cabin we found a bucket of peaches on our back patio table.  Neither Darin nor I knew where they had come from.  Later, we found out our neighbor saw some people in the field behind our house reaching over our fence and picking our peaches!  Luckily, our neighbor talked to them, and asked them to bring the peaches back.  (Yay for good neighbors). 

Sunday we were asked to bring dessert to our family dinner.

We used those peaches to make these two NUMMY pies.

A traditional peach pie (Recipe HERE).

And a Fresh Peach Dessert Pie (Recipe HERE).

Blackberries for Days

Our blackberries are starting to get out of control.  Out-of-control AWESOME!!

We picked SOOOOO many berries.  They are HUGE, beautiful, and delicious!!

The only problem is that if I leave the back door open, Andrew escapes and eats them and makes a MESS!!  Half way through the summer I just started taking his clothes off every time we went into the backyard.  No stained clothes, but MESSY Andrew!

One day I picked all these berries.

A few days later, I picked the same amount again!

We have been eating all things blackberry!

Blackberry Smoothies

Blackberry Clafoutis  (Recipe HERE).

Blackberry Salad

Blackberry Jam

Blackberry Ice-Cream (Recipe HERE)

And my favorite, 

Pecan Chicken with Blackberry Sauce (Recipe HERE).

Lagoon or Bust!

I grew up in a family that doesn't like Lagoon.

One of our neighbors felt the same way and we had a continuous joke going between our families.  One of our family vacations was during “Stake Lagoon Day,” so they sent a bunch of things to remind us of Lagoon while we were away, (an old hot dog, popcorn, gum to chew up and then walk in it, etc).

One year we took this family photo when we didn’t get our tickets:

Well, Darin knew about this, and ALMOST didn’t get the free tickets to go for a work party.  Luckily, he did, and we had a great time!  The last time I went was in 1999 for 9^th grade Lagoon Day!

I MIGHT even consider taking my kids there, one day.

Trip to the Cabin

Like father like son!

Lindsay struck this pose and said, "mom, take my picture."

Making s'mores.

I love the colors starting to change!

Francis Frontier Days

We went to Francis for Frontier Days on Labor Day.  We had so much fun!  

They do a bunch of races for the kids and divide them into age groups.

First was Lindsay’s group.  They did a practice round and the winner got a quarter…..and

LINDSAY WON!

Then, the second race was for a gift certificate to a local pizza shop….

LINDSAY WON AGAIN!!

The third race was for a pet bunny….

LINDSAY WON AGAIN!!

Unfortunately for my kids, they have a mean mom that wouldn't let them keep the bunny.  (I actually did consider it, but I really think I am allergic).  We gave the bunny to one of our neighbors, and they have graciously given us visiting privileges!

Here is a 12 second video of my little speedy-pants Lindsay!!

Matt and Eli got to race together.

The both won a drink.

Here is the little bunny Lindsay won.

A Day at the Cabin

We actually got to spend 4 days at the cabin.  We had a great time, and more to come on the blog soon, but for now, here is a little video of one day at the cabin!

1st Day of Kindergarten

Oh Matthew.  My sweet boy started Kindergarten.  

There were no tears, but my heart aches.  

I can’t believe how much I miss him even if it is just for a few hours.

So many thoughts.  All carefully recorded in my journal.

I love this boy!  And I love his dad.  And I love that Darin took the day off to see Matt go to school.  

(He actually took it off because I felt really sick that morning...not sure if I was really sick or just 1st day of school jitters).