Bumber Crop

I started my day in the garden, thinking I'd just go out and check on things. Before long, I had a counter full of tomatoes and then plans to spend the day canning. I finished at 11:00 pm. I can't believe that at one time, people were actually dependant on preserving their own food for their survival.

26 quarts divided by 12 hours of my time equals some pretty valuable stewed tomatoes. I've ordered this book to make my efforts more rewarding. Every recipe uses a quart of home-canned tomatoes.

As for now, I'm just sitting here admiring them.

Together Again

Our weekend was bittersweet as we attended the funeral of my Grandma. She's the last of mine or Dans' grandparents which makes it especially hard to say goodbye.

My grandma was a generous, loving person. She was fiercely loyal and she didn't take crap off anyone. She was outspoken and said things as she saw them, but also had a soft, loving side.

Some of my best memories from childhood are of our snowmobiling adventures at my grandparents' cabin in the Uintahs. My grandpa and my dad would spend the day gasing up and fixing the snowmobiles while my sisters and cousins and I would drive and drive and drive. Looking back, I don't think the menfolk got a lot of peace because they spent a lot of time trying to find one of us after we got ourselves stuck in a snowbank. They'd pull us out and the adventure would continue. When the day was ending and they finally talked us into coming out of the cold, my grandma would have waiting for us her famous enchilladas or something else she'd made from scratch. Lisa and Shane and I (the eldest grandchildren) got to sleep in the bunkhouse which was another adventure. The best part was using the outhouse even though there was a bathroom with modern conveniences inside the cabin.

This weekend while I was helping my Dad and Nancy go through some things in my grandma's storage unit, I came across a bunch of pictures of the cabin. It was EXACTLY as I remember it: the design in the beadspread, the placement of the round kitchen table, the accordian-style closet door. These memories are from elementary school which shows how vividly I remember those times.

I've spent more time with my grandma and grown closer to her since my kids were born. After she stopped driving Dan would pick her up and bring her to our house for Sunday dinners. Sometimes I would take her to medical appointments or the two of us would take Gavin to McDonalds for lunch. She also loved to walk around Costco with me, sampling the food. She liked to be invited to the kids performances and birthday parties. I miss her but I know that she is happy now, reunited with my grandpa and my sister Joleen, both of whom she was unable to say goodbye to. I know she must be very happy there.

Big Yellow Friend

I've been meaning to post some photos of Gavin's first bus ride. We had some initial anxiety over the possibility of getting on the wrong one coming home (an idea that was put into our head by the same older brother that told us about the vampire that lives under our bed). Now the bus has become one of the highlights of kindergarten.

Mia and I were able to hitch a ride on the first day. My neighbor, Sarah, offered us a ride home from the school so we decided to ride along. I enjoyed watching Gavin and his friends bounce around in sheer excitement the whole way. When the bus pulled up to the school, Gavin walked ahead of me into class. I guess his anxiety was easily forgotten. I'm grateful to my friend Lara's kids who have taken care of Gavin on the ride home, since Tristan and Jolie aren't there to watch out for him and the ride home with the big kids is akin to throwing your barely-five year old to the sharks.

Our kindergarten routine includes eating lunch on the porch while we put on our shoes, comb our hair and sometimes brush our teeth while waiting for the bus. We like to push things to the limit around here, so this ensures it doesn't pass us by. Sarah and I established our own, unofficial bus stop directly across the street from my house and next door to hers. She's expecting a baby and I like convenience. The driver is new so we figured he wouldn't notice the change in address.

Mia LOVES the bus. She SCREAMS "gool bus!" whenever she sees one. I'm glad we took that ride the first day. She's a fan for life.