Canning

*Day 240*

Let canning season begin!
Finished 14 quarts of cherries today. (Thanks to help from Logan and Matt. It's awesome to have help with this. It makes it go by so much faster.) We also have beans and beets that are almost ready.


I'm not sure I'm ready for this. Canning takes a lot of time, and it can't wait. When the food is ready you have to do it or it will spoil. And it can make a huge mess. (It's my excuse for not mopping the floor. "It's just going to get dirty again, I'll wait until I'm done canning.") I have canning stuff all over my kitchen for months. But, I really like to be finished. The jars are pretty to look at. You have proof that you've done something. And, it's nice to have food to store. So, bring it on! I guess.

* Logan asked why it's called canning if we put the food in jars. He thinks it should be called "jarring".

Family Movie Night

*Day 239*

Family movie night. Logan picked Star Wars: Attack of the Clones. It's fun to watch him when it gets intense. He gets worried for the people. We're trying to teach him the difference between intense and scary. It's also fun to see him look away when they kiss.

Happy Birthday Yellie!

*Day 238*

We took this picture of Danielle when she went to the dinosaur park with us. She was such a sweet girl. She was so good for us. She even posed on this dinosaur for a picture. You can tell she really wanted to.

Happy birthday to a sweet little princess!

Happy Birthday Justin!

*Day 237*

Justin has been part of the family slightly longer than Logan. (About a month. You can tell in the wedding pictures.) In that time I've been several different places with him. It never fails that he will run into someone he knows. I don't know how he does it. I never see anyone I know when I'm out shopping. Maybe he gets out more often than I do. Lucky! While Justin always has a story about someone he ran into or something funny, the thing I really like about him is that he can talk to anyone. It doesn't matter who they are, or where he is, he can talk to them. And he treats them all the same. He'd talk to everyone the same comfortable way. It always impresses me because it's not that easy for me to talk to people.

Hello?

*Day 236*

The other day I left Logan with Matt because I had to go to work early. We made arrangements where and when we could meet so Logan could come over and play for a little while. It was library day. I was going to walk all the kids over to the library. Matt was going to walk Logan over, and then Logan could come play with us, and Matt could go home. When it was time for us to go to the library, there were some kids that still hadn't arrived at Lynn's house. So, we had to wait for them to come before we left. I figured that I had better call Matt and tell him that we weren't going to be able to leave yet, so they would know we were running behind. So, I dialed my number. It rang a couple of times. Then it stopped, but no one said anything. I waited a bit. Then I finally said, "Hello?". And Logan said, "Hi". At that point in time I realized that this was the first time in his life that Logan had ever answered the phone. Apparently, I didn't teach him how it is supposed to be done. So, we first had a little talk about what to do when you answer the phone. Like, he's supposed to say something if he picks up the phone. Then I gave him a message for his dad and told him how to hang up the phone. He's talked on the phone before. He always checks the caller ID for me and yells it out. ("It's just total free.") But, I had forgotten that he's never used to phone by himself. We might have to practice, so don't be surprised if you get a call from someone who doesn't say hello and then talks too quite to hear. Oh, yeah, he also nods his head a lot, so listen carefully for that. We'll work on it.

Apollo Burger

*Day 235*

*Warning*
The material contained in this my be found offensive by some. If you have a weak stomach, you may want to bypass this blog. Proceed with caution!

When my brother told us about a local restaurant that make some Greek food, Matt was immediately interested. So, we made plans to go. We went to Apollo Burger. It was delicious, so every now and then, we went back.


One day me and Matt and Logan went there with my brother Eric. We had our food and were sitting down to eat. Me and Matt were facing the counter where we ordered. Eric and Logan were facing us. We were just enjoying our meal, when all of the sudden this guy who had just ordered his food caught my eye. I had to look at Matt to see if he was seeing the same thing as me. And I could tell he was. This guy was standing there scratching his butt. OK, not just normally. He had his hand down his pants and everything. I about died. But, then it got worse. He finished. And he took his hand out..... and sniffed it! I don't remember if we said something, or if Eric just saw the looks on our faces. I just remember Eric saying, "He smelled it, huh?" I couldn't believe what I had just seen. Right there in a public place. Then they brought him his food, and he took it and sat down. Gross.

I loved the way Sherry laughed when I told her this. And then she used to pen to sign her receipt. She thought of that guy and had to pull out her hand sanitizer.

Sisters

*Day 234*

On Friday I went to a "family" funeral. I left Logan City with my sister Lynn. On our way I thought of my sister Sherry. I knew she was coming, but thought it wasn't worth it for her to go all by herself. I called to see if she wanted to go with us. She said my sister Renae was coming to get her, so we could all meet and go together. We climbed into Renae's mini van, and I started looking around. I realized that all of my sister's were together at one time..... without kids! (OK, Ty is a kid, but I'm not counting him. He's still nursing, so he had to be with his mom. But, he mostly slept, and never interrupted us.) I don't know when (if ever) was the last time this happened. So, it seemed like a special day. (Now, I have three wonderful sister-in-laws that I also love. I'm not trying to say that I'm glad they weren't there. But, this would probably have been one of those days when they feel like they don't fit in because we were sharing a lot of childhood memories about someone they have maybe never met. I love them and enjoy the time I have shared with each of them. And it would have been just as fun to have them there too.)

We went to the funeral. I won't bore you with too many details. Sometimes I feel bad after funerals. I sit there and I realize what neat people I'm privileged to be around. And I feel bad that I don't take full advantage of getting to know them better and learning more from them. I certainly learned a lot at this funeral. I'm still not sure how I feel about what I learned and the feelings the I had. But, I guess I knew that was an option going into it. But, like most funerals I've been to, it was a testimony building experience to think about life after death and the plan that our Heavenly Father has for us. And we got to visit with a couple of my cousins that I don't see very often. I hope they felt the love!

After the funeral, we went to the purple Turtle. It's a restaurant. It's sort of a landmark in Pleasant Grove. We used to always look for it on the way to my grandpa's house. I remember always wanting to go there when we went past. I'm not sure why it was so cool. It was just something different that we only saw when we went to grandpas. And it meant we were almost there. We got ice cream. I think that's all I've ever eaten at the Purple Turtle. It was delicious.


(I forgot to take my camera, of course. I really wanted a picture of the Purple Turtle. They had these pictures in the napkin holders at the restaurant. My sister's offered to take one for me. They're so sweet! I told them I was pretty sure I could find it online. I did! It's just really tiny.)

Then we drove back home. On the way we decided to go to Apollo Burger for lunch. (I know it seems a little backward, but that's what you can do when you don't have to be a good example to your kids!) On the drive we talked. Stay tuned for my Apollo Burger story that I had to share with my sisters. I have always loved watching my mom and her sisters. They are such neat people. I love their relationship. Sometimes we make fun of how crazy they can be together. But, it's fun to watch. They make jokes and laugh really hard, they relive childhood memories working out details between them, they discuss their kids and solve peoples problems, and anything else that comes up. But they have a good time together, and love each other. On the drive back, I felt like my mom and her sisters. And I was glad that we all had that example, and can giggle and be silly, and help each other with our parenting problems (or at least laugh at them), and love each other. I love my sisters. They each have taught me so many things and I know I can turn to them anytime and have their support and any help I need.


OK off that tangent. We went to lunch at Apollo Burger. Just being there brought on a whole bunch of giggles. (Stay tuned for the story of why.) We decided that we could share some fries and onion rings. I said I would order the onion rings with my sandwich. I felt bad for the guy at the counter. I really hope he didn't think we were laughing at him. It just sounded really funny when I ordered a philly cheese steak with no onions, and an order of onion rings.

Maybe it doesn't sound like a super exciting day, but I was glad to be able to spend time with sisters, and get ice cream. Oh, and talk about whatever. Going over bumps in the car, or what our kids are learning in school, or how they change when they start to get too old for mom, or anything else. I always have a good time talking with my sisters. I always leave feeling good and like trying to be a better person. I'm glad I got a day to spend to with my sisters. I'm glad that I have sisters (and sister-in-laws. I like to be with them too, and I learn a lot form them also. I'm not just saying that because I know some of you read this. I really mean it).