New/old Tahoe...

We purchased a blue Chevy Tahoe, with seating for 7, air conditioning in the back, brand new tires with eagle alloy wheels and low miles. It was a bit dirty but I've since detailed the interior. Now that the upholstery has been scrubbed, it looks pretty fantastic in there. We got a sweet deal because it's broken, of course. Broken transfer case. See Merril's legs under there?

These are the new Nitto Terra Grapplers. The old Tahoe had Nitto Dune Grapplers with flame tread on the side walls. These, unfortunately, only have lightning bolts down the side wall. (Not that any of you care and can't even tell in this picture but I just wanted it out there.)

The outside of the Tahoe has a couple paint flaws but the body is straight. It needs to be washed so bad! Currently, the Tahoe is on jack stands in my garage without a transfer case. Until the new one gets here Wednesday, I can't wash it. It's not as cherry as my previous Tahoe, but it was also $15,000 less. Besides, a great deal always makes something prettier in my opinion.

Week after the first day of school...

I'm not great getting pictures of the first day of school so this is a week after, when Kindergarten actually started.

Max and Jack are running to pick up neighbor kids for the bus.

Down at the bus stop: Jack always poses with these "I'm looking cool" faces lately. Half smile, no teeth, eyebrows raised a bit. Maxine...did we brush you hair at all?

Juliet brought down her baby doll named Suzie (the doll's name comes from the movie Elf). I have high hopes for her and the new baby. She LOVES babies! I might not have to do anything at all.

Here is Jack getting off the Kindergarten bus so fast that I really didn't get a good shot.

Jack is loving school and tested well during his Kindergarten testing. He's reading and knew most everything except math concepts. Woops, should've worked on those more. He's had his reading tested and is ready to start the reading library at school so I'm pleased.

Juliet and I have been having fun hanging out just the two of us! I'm glad to have these months with her before the baby arrives in February. :)

The Falls...

There's a set of waterfalls that I've wanted to go to since I was around 17. They're in a town next to mine and I've rarely known anyone who knew where they were. A kid from my ward knew and when I asked him for directions he replied, "No one can be told where the falls are, they must be shown." (I think he was trying to get a date but I was dating someone else at the time so it didn't happen.)

Flash forward 14 years: We found out our neighbors across the street know the way to the elusive falls! I was so excited when he agreed to take us. It's probably a 20-25 minute drive on a crappy dirt road but we made it and they were everything I thought they would be!

There's a large pool down at the bottom and Merril and Maxine spent a lot of time swimming under the falls. Unfortunately, we got there as the sun was going down and I was not about to get all wet at 8 p.m. I think this place would be great in the sunshine!

Juliet was saying in a sing-song voice, "We're at the FAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLSSS!"

The kids even found some adorable teeny frogs.

And we sold the Jeep (cue the sad music.) I worked hard on the Jeep. It's been my project for a year and a half. Unfortunately, the Jeep simply won't seat all the people in our family soon. Merril put it on KSL on a whim and it sold almost the next day. We have our eye on a 1999 Tahoe. It's broken, of course, so it's a really great deal. So I'm sad but it had to be. Maxine burst into tears when she found out. I guess we all loved it.

Having another kid...

Okay, I said I was done having kids. And I meant it. I still mean it. However, the powers that be decided that we should have another one. I ignored the prompting for quite some time but let's just say that the Lord has all the time in the world and I flinched first. So we decided to have another baby. I'm not necessarily wanting to have another one, but I have to. Otherwise the voice in my head will be nagging until I die. So it took us a while, 8 months of trying. I had the Mirena and it kept things uninhabitable for months after it was taken out. I've heard the heartbeat and I'm almost 14 weeks along. Feeling pretty good, tired mostly and having to eat constantly but good. I don't think we'll find out if it's a boy or a girl, anticipation is a wonderful thing.

And the voice? Has it gone away? Thankfully yes. I've been so less torn since we decided to have another kid. I feel peace about our decision, something that eluded me every time I wanted to stop at 3 kids. There's going to be a large space, 4 3/4 years between this one and Juliet. That bugs me a little but I'm hoping the Lord will just make it work. And I'm due in February on my birthday. (FYI, I already have a child born on my anniversary and we are NOT having one on my birthday as well. My doctor agrees.) So there it is. I'll be the mother of 4 kids. One day, I'll know why.

The fancy plates...

I have a china set that I received as a graduation gift. My Mom had a set that my Dad had given to her and then a partial set that she received when her Mother died. As a teen, I remember eating on the china almost every Sunday. Fancy cloth napkins were used and folded in neat patterns. (I used to have a thing for folding napkins. I quit because I don't have a set of cloth napkins. Hmmmm....Christmas idea.) Anyways, I have fond memories of spending a really nice Sunday dinner together with my family, something that usually didn't happen so much during the week.

Fast forward**I don't know how my Mom ever let us use her china. I try not to be overly crazy with the kids but I like my china. It was expensive. It can't easily be replaced and I'm always a little afraid that something will get broken. However, every now and again Maxine pleads with me to use the fancy dishes and stemware for a Sunday dinner and I agree. I hold my breath while the kids help me set the table. I try not to faint during dinner while the kids use the utensils. And generally, everything is fine. (One time, the lid to the teapot broke but it was my fault. Go figure.) But what cracks me up is the fact that eating on the plates made in China brings out the British accents.

Happy Sunday to ya!

Okay, now I'm sick of peaches...

So I planted a peach tree 3 springs ago. This was its 3rd summer in the ground and we finally received a decent crop (last year I got 1 peach).

So since I was jealousy guarding my substantial crop from the birds this year, I might have gone a little overboard. I started by putting tin foil in the tree to help frighten the birds. This seemed to help but not enough. Next I covered the whole tree with netting to keep the birds out.

This worked wonderfully but my neighbors might think I'm a little overprotective of my fruit. I had 84 peaches. Glorious, wonderfully sweet, deep red peaches.

We bottled peaches, of course.

I made a peaches and creme tart with vanilla ice cream.

I made peach/jalapeno jam which is wonderful on cream cheese with crackers.

Merril likes it on peanut butter sandwiches but whatever.

And now I'm kind of sick of peaches. We ate a lot of them with lunch or for snacks and with half and half for breakfast. It made me think of pioneers and how they must have gorged themselves when fresh fruits and veggies were plentiful during the summer. How during the bleak winter months, they would dream of fresh melons, fresh corn on the cob, fresh tomatoes, carrots, apples, etc.

I'm hoping that next year I won't be so protective of my fruit because there should be more of it. But this year I wanted it, all of it. I didn't want the birds to nibble one bite of those peaches that took 3 years to grow. Sorry birds. Better luck next year.