None of your beeswax

So me being the crazy person that I am have been contemplating being a beekeeper.

Everytime I drove past a hive this summer it would drive me crazy! So finaly I decided I was going to look into it. We have a Brother at our church that we have got to know more through housing his steer, he has several hives and has been doing this for years. I decided I was going to ask him, how I could get started. He invited me over to help "Extract honey".

This is called a super and in the super there are frames that the bees make the combs.

Most of the time when the bees are done with the frame they cap off the comb with wax. To extract we have to cut the caps off using a heated knife.

This is the extracter you place the frames in it and spin the honey out. The honey is filtered several different times before being packaged. It was a yummy expeince. There was a little more to it but this was the main process.

This next spring I might be bringing home a hive to experiment with, I am so excited.

Thanks Miller Family for letting us share this amazing experience!

No looking back

Well this year Joey started school and everything that goes along with it. Lunch lines, riding the bus, recess and sports which we will get to later on. At least it is only twice a week, for now.

He is really starting to grow up I can't believe how fast time flies. When school started we were still in the process of buying our home, so I would drive Joseph to our soon to be house every morning for him to take the bus to school. Dad said he couldn't make it for the first day, but when we pulled into the drive was SURPRISE! He was there how could he miss his first day?

Crazy Crazy Crazy!

We as you might have guessed for us summer has been crazy. Last year was my first attempt at making strawberry jam, and I'll just tell you that I still have a freezer full of it. The berries we picked were very bitter and I don't think any amount of sugar could have made them sweet. So this year I thought I would give it one more try and WOW we hit the JACKPOT! We ended up going back picking 2 more times. I canned several types of strawberry jam, Rhubarb jam, and then decided to go for peach jam. It was a crazy 2 weeks. Then while out at my Mom's house we decided to can some more peach jam and made a total of 63 pints! I love canning and can't wait until apple season. Oh and I forgot to mention the house we are buying has several fruit trees! I will be in heaven next year. So now for the rest.

This summer the kids have enjoyed going to a local zoo, not anything big but they love it. Their favorite part is the petting zoo. There they are able to hold bunnies and feed the calves and baby goats. We have also made it to the pool. Aubrey has always loved water and now Joseph is able to relax and play with everyone else. I mist say next summer will be real nice when all the kids can enjoy the water. Wyatt loves the water but wants to be on his own.

For the 4th of July weekend we went to a parade and rodeo later that evening with a couple of friends. For such a little parade the kids sure got a lot of candy. The Rodeo wasn't too bad either.

Quality Family Time

We so often find it hard to spend time together as a family, so we came to a conclusion. We are going to go camping. Kinda silly but we really enjoy the outdoors and all that comes with it, well okay there are a couple of things that we could live without. :) So Bryant decided we needed to get a camper, at first I was against it and still question the decision but we have really enjoyed the time together. We cook outside, roast marshmallows over a fire and just enjoy each other's company. So here was our favorite weekend so far.

Quality Family Time

Many first times