Bottling up our Harvest Goodies.

One of Jeremy's favorite parts of going to Grandma & Pa Greenhalgh's house, is getting to have some of their yummy sweet pickles. So since this is the last year my grandparents will be having a garden, I thought I better learn how to make the yummy relish. I went to Nephi for a weekend to get the process down, since it is a two day process. A few weeks later my sister and I decided to give it a try.

First Day: Cutting all the veggies & adding them to the salt brine
(The pearl onions give your hands a great smell for days.
My husband wouldn't come close til the smell was gone).



Second day: adding the dry mustard and other savory ingredients



Heather and I with our finished product.
We were so proud that we did it on our own & only had to call Grandpa two times.

Now I have got the bragging rights with these in my pantry, or at least when it comes to Jolyn & Todd (cousins who love this delicious treat & have yet to learn how to make it) I guess I will share a bottle.

It's Raining Trees!

Yesterday was a sad day at our house. The neigborhood climbing tree, which happens to be in our front yard, was cut down! It has been dying over the last few years and with much sadness we decided it was time for it to come out. During the last big wind storm, we had about a month ago, the top half of the tree broke and fell into the street. I woke up from a Sunday nap & found 1/2 my tree in my driveway. Jeremy was gone hunting so the neighbors kindly moved it out of the road for us. Once the top half was gone and we noticed the split up the trunk, we decided the rest was going to have to come down. But silly boys decided yesterday had to be the day. Why silly you ask? Because it was pouring rain!! 


Before: View from our front porch

After: New view from our front porch



In Between: The first cut
Even the neighbors stopped to watch







Before cutting the rest, we had to let Trigger in the tree one last time.

Yes, we have a tree climbing dog. Too bad he isn't the dog that chases cats.



Savoring the moment



About to take the trunk down



Grandpa Stilson working on the limbs



Our neighbor Bob always lends a helping hand.

Jeremy cutting into the trunk.

Grandma Stilson & Brielle watching from the porch

We tied the tree to the truck & let it do the work.

TIMBER! (& barely missed Bob's mailbox)

More sawing, cutting & axing (in the rain)

Our new bare yard.

Oh & did I mention it was raining? Yes pouring!!!

Silly boys!

End of Summer catch up

We have had a fun-filled summer. I am actually really sad to see it go. My favorite season is fall, but I have really enjoyed our summer! Being barefoot, eating breakfast & BBQ's outside, cooling off at the pool, picnics at the park & weenie roasts in the canyons, camping, fishing, hot days and warm nights. I am starting to think my favorite season is going to change to summer. Don't get me wrong, not all our days have been bliss. Summer in Utah without an AC is almost unbearable! Yes, that is right, we don't have an AC; not central air or a swamp cooler. But since that is how my life here in this house has always been I have gotten pretty used to it. Though it will definitely be on our list of purchases next spring!

One of the last times I posted I said that it was almost hunting season, well now it is in full swing. Jeremy is up the canyon every spare night & weekend morning he can go. No luck yet, but we are crossing our fingers he will get one soon! Brielle and I in the meantime have been spending lots of time together figuring out extra things to do while daddy is gone. We went over to the Jordan River Parkway fishing pond and park a few weekends ago. It was a really windy day, but a beautiful morning and a lot of fun! We brought home a cattail to show daddy too. I also posted a while back about my 10 yr high school reunion. I took Brielle with me which was fun and tiring! Next time I think I will go without the kids. It was held at the Skybox Sports Grille at the Gateway. There were only about 60 classmates there which isn't a very good turnout considering we had a class of around 500! It was still fun to see old friends and acquaintances and what everyone is up to. During the night they had a trivia game where we learned 75% of our class is pregnant! Maybe that is why people didn't come!! We also learned that 90% still live in UT. Kind of some fun facts. We also got to see the plans for the rebuilding of our school. They are planning on tearing down the old one and building a new one where the Granger park is now. It looked like a really nice school, but I will be sad to see the old one torn down with all the good memories there.I love how Brielle is smiling behind her binkie!

Rhianna, Kelsey, Brynley & and I

I hate my double chin in this pic, but I love my friend Christina.

She was one of my best friends through school. Love her!!

Stephanie, Jill & I

We went through all of school together, all the way from Kindergarten to High School.

Last Monday Heather & I volunteered our time at the Shirley J booth at the Utah State Fair. It was a really long day (13 hrs) but it turned out really good and we had some fun during the day too. Last I heard we were 2nd place in sales! If you haven't heard yet about Shirley J yet, check out my website at www.shirleyj.com/4438. It will change the way you cook!

Our family went to the fair on Wednesday night. There was a really cool Sea Lion show that I was so impressed and entertained with! We also loved the giant robot man and the fried pickles. Brielle had a fun time on all the rides! She is actually a little more daring than I would have thought! She wanted to go on all the rides that mommy and daddy were going on without her! Maybe next year or 3! Sorry I forgot my camera so no pics of the fair.