Bobby and Danny

Uncle Bob and Dena and Bobby and Danny are visiting us today. The boys are so cute. Bobby has brown hair and Danny has curly blonde hair.

Canning

I can't stand to let free food go to waste, so I have been canning like crazy. On Friday we went to Manti and got a large box of apples from Popi's tree and a large box of tomatoes from his garden. I spent most of the day yesterday making apple sauce and tomato sauce. I got 36 pints of applesauce and 14 quarts of tomato sauce. I had never made tomato sauce before-it is really a messy job.

Other stuff I've canned:

50 pints green beans

90 pints pickled beets (I know that sounds like a lot, but Tina and I LOVE them)

28 quarts peaches (so far-I plan to do more. The peaches are the only thing I didn't get from Popi)

9 half pints pickled jalapenos

5 half pints cucumber catsup

many jars of claussen-type pickles (I will do lots more. They are EASY to make and taste great. If anyone is interested I will copy the recipe.)

Lots of people were giving me zucchini and it drove me nuts to just throw it away, but there was just too much for me to use. Then I heard that I could dehydrate it. I did this with one very large zucchini. It dehydrated down to about 1/2 cup. To use it you just rehydrate it in boiling water and use it in breads, cookies, quiches, etc. It tastes great. The problem is I didn't get this hint until I had thrown most of the zucchini away, and no one has given me any more.

Anyway, I actually love canning-except for tomatoes-and I am truly thankful to my earthly father and to my Heavenly Father for all of this good food.

Maid Service

I have never had someone come clean my house before. It is not something I have ever wanted, but I was looking forward to having it done this week. The maid service was supposed to come on Monday at 4pm, but they cancelled and rescheduled for Tues at 9am. At 9:30 on Tues the manager of the service called and said the maid was lost. My house is not that hard to find, but I gave her directions-and waited. At 12 no one had showed up yet so I called the manager. She was surprised, but said she would call back in a few minutes. She called back and said the maid had been lost, but was close to my house so would be there soon. I waited. Around 1:30 someone called who didn't speak english. I asked if she spoke spanish and she said "yes, please." So I put Julianna on the phone. It was the maid, she was in Orem and she was lost. Julianna gave her directions. An hour later the maid called again. Julianna gave her directions again and I waited some more. At about 4 the manager of the maid service showed up with the maid in her car. The maid came in and spent 2 hours cleaning the new (clean) bathroom and the bedroom. At 6 the manager came back to pick the maid up and she said I still had 2 hours of cleaning, so I scheduled for 10am today. This morning I waited until 11am and then I just gave up and went to the MTC. I have spent many more hours waiting than it actually took me to clean the house myself today. So, I am NOT thankful for maid service.

I AM thankful for the MTC, 2 daughters who speak spanish, rainbows (again-there is one on the mountain in front of our house right now), paint and windows.

A Rainbow In Our Backyard

Today it was raining really hard at our house. While it was still raining the sun began to shine. I said to Annemarie that there was probably a rainbow somewhere. It was about noon here so the sun was high in the sky. Annie looked out the window and said "It's in our backyard." I looked and sure enough there was a rainbow right in our backyard. It was the size of rainbows you see in sprinklers. It only lasted a few seconds so we couldn't take a picture, but it made me happy.

Today I am thankful for rainbows, a new bathroom, maids (I think-I have NEVER had maids clean my house before and it might be a little akward), peaches and mainly I am thankful that Christina is learning to love life and Snow College.

My New Bathroom

I have lived in this house for over a year. I LOVE this house, but the biggest problem with it was there were only 2 bathrooms and there was no master bathroom. So we added one. The workers started on Tuesday and on Friday we had a beautiful new master bath. It was added into an alcove in the biggest bedroom. It fits perfectly. As part of the contract for building the bathroom, a maid service will come on Monday and clean our house from top to bottom. So, of course, I have been busy cleaning up for the maid.

Now we will also have a nice guest bedroom-so you all have to come visit us. (There is a bathroom that has two doors-one to the guest bedroom-one to the hall. So it makes a perfect guest suite.)

So come see us soon!!!

By the way I LOVE reading everyone's blogs. It makes me feel so connected to my nieces, especially. And I do feel guilty when I go weeks or months at a time without posting. But at least I am better about blogging than I have ever been about keeping a journal. I love you all.