Vermont Day 2

We toured a maple farm and were able to sample many of the cheeses they make there as well as the different grades of maple syrup. We were also able to walk around the farm to see how they tapped the trees and to play with some of the animals.

This is some of what we came home with. Store-bought brands of maple syrup actually have 0% real maple in them, and now I know why! This stuff is expensive. This bottle of syrup is only a pint, but we plan on enjoying every delicious drop!!! We got extra sharp cheddar and Jack.

After the maple farm, we drove to a cute town called Sharon. This was the birthplace of the prophet, Joseph Smith. The monument is standing not far from where the house was that he was born in. The 38 1/2 foot monument was cut out of a single piece of granite and was erected in 1905. Imagine hauling that thing by horse! It was a very beautiful place kept up really well by the church.

The last thing we did that day was to tour the Ben & Jerry's factory. You can't go to Vermont and not go to Ben & Jerry's. The tour was quick, but fun, and most importantly, we got to have a sample of the flavor of the day--mint chocolate chunk. Delicious!! Here's a picture of me and Jason posing as Ben and Jerry.

Vermont Day 3

We went canoeing in a nearby lake for three hours. We were the only ones in the lake and saw some beautiful birds, including a bald eagle! Who knew they had those out here.

It was a challenge to steer a canoe by myself while my 8 year-old was steering against me! She did well overall.
Sara had her little hand in the water the entire time. She even fell asleep for a while in that position.

The last thing we did was pony rides. They each got a turn and had a great time, but of course now they all want a pony! This farm owns over 700 horses. It was beautiful.

Garden Creatures

I know, another post already? Weird. I guess that means life is getting back to normal. As I was weeding the sadly neglected garden, I found several surprises. This is one of two toads--the much bigger one. He was very fun and the girls really wanted to keep him. I told them we'd keep him in our garden.

These, however, are NOT going to live in my garden!! This is the second time we've found a rabbit nest in our garden. In this picture, you can see the pile of grass and hair that was the covering for the nest on the right, and the tiny babies buried on the left.After uncovering the nest a little more...

Then I picked up all five babies with a shovel and moved them to their new home, the bushes in my neighbor's yard!

I'm Back!

This has been one crazy, busy summer! I thought life was going to be so easy going after the girls got out of school, then I ended up going to six days of church Girl's Camp, and pretty much as soon as my laundry was done, I packed again for a weekend trip to Palmyra, NY with the youth in our stake. During girl's camp, my kids were lucky enough to have their aunt Krystal come and take care of them. They were very spoiled and had so much fun. I was a little spoiled, too. Even after I got home, she was still doing all the work. It was great! I was the lucky one the following weekend for the youth trip to have two very good friends who took care of the girls for me. Thank you all for helping us!!!

This is an egg (unfertilized) that our parakeet decided to lay this summer. She actually laid two, but the first one was broken. Pretty fun!
And this is what I call happiness!! I took several starts of these plants out of my neighbor's yard last year (with her permission) and planted them here in my side yard. No blooms last summer, but this year they took off! My plants are even bigger and prettier than my neighbor's!

A Birthday and a Baptism

Melissa was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints last Saturday!! She waited a long time for this and was very excited. It also brought a lot of family into town which made it that much more fun for her. It's a good thing we have the house we do now, because I'm pretty sure the 11 adults and 12 children would not have fit in our old place. It was wonderful to have everyone come.

Dad got to baptize her.

After, with dripping wet hair and a very happy heart.

Rachel benefited from all the family coming into town by conveniently having her sixth birthday the day before the baptism.

My Dream Garden

This was our pool. It cost so much more money to maintain than it was worth, so we sold it. I am so glad to be rid of it and now I don't have to fish dead animals out of it ever again!

This is what it looked like after we removed the pool. With a lot of help from my friend, Melanie, we removed all (well, most) of the rocks and raked it all so that it was level.
And with the profit from the pool, we were able to put in my dream garden! Salsa fresca, anyone? You'll have to wait two months or so. The two rows in the back are our 8 blueberry bushes. Well, right now they look more like blueberry sticks, but give them a few years.

Two Windows

This is the unfinished part of our basement that we hope will be a much needed third bedroom by the end of the summer. The old window pictured here was way too high and too small to be a legal egress, so we replaced it. Actually, we watched while a friend of ours from church replaced it. He had a jackhammer!!

Here's how the new window looks. Much prettier! Cutting through three layer of cinder block proved to be a huge challenge.
The second window project was my kitchen. This was a much easier project because all it needed was paint, new blinds, and a new treatment. This was how it looked when we moved in. It was dark and gloomy, and I was not a fan of the wallpaper trim.

Here's the new look.