What are the odds?

So last January I was in search of a saddle for Bryant and instead of finding a saddle I found an amazing friend. But wait it gets better this friend also has a large family that Bryant and I have become very good friends with and our kids are best friends as well. Dianne and I have spent a lot of time together at horse auctions and family activities, but this was amazing.

In October we went on a Woman's Trail ride for a whole week end. Because of the weather only 3 of us brought our horses, and boy were the other ladies sorry. Although the trails were slightly slippery it just added to the fun. I took Bryant's newly broke out horse Duke, we were a great team.

Most of these pictures were taken while riding. It was extreme, there were times when I wasn't sure if we could make it up the steep hills or down the slippery slopes. Especially when you are to take it slow and your horse wants to run down the wet hill. :} But we made it, me on Duke (QH), Dianne on Libby (fresian cross), and Shelly on Levi (arab cross). This was my first "official" trail ride and although it would have been nice to have done it with Bryant, I am so glad I shared it wish such a great friend. I learned a lot and it was nice to get away

Why should this move be any different?

In the almost 6 years that Bryant and I have been married, this is now our 6th house. And every time we have moved we have had my family to help my Dad and brother's muscles to move and my Mom's amazing talents for packing and organizing. Since we are min WI and my parents are in PA, we figured we would have to manage on our own. Let's just say that didn't work out to well, so SUPER MOM to the rescue! She is amazing, not only does she pack in record time but when she unpacks there is no mess left behind. For example after our move to New London we were completely moved in, unpacked, and decorated in 2 days. This was a slightly longer process due to the remodeling but she did wonders. Thanks Mom! So Wyatt was turning one in a couple of days and Mom only had a day left before she flew home, so we had Wyatt's party with my Mom and some close friends. It was supposed to start around 6 but we decided to move our horses over to the new property that night. Needless to say the party didn't start until 8:30.

He was a good sport all things considered. (the time)

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.