More Catching Up!

Ok, for some reason I can only load so many pictures per post right now, so we'll have to continue catching up in yet another posting after this one, but for now, we'll catch up to the pumpkin patch....

Way back in 2006 I was called as the First Counselor in the Young Women organization. Then in March of 2007 I was called to be the Young Women's President. So for the last 3 1/2 years I've been able to pretend I was a teenager again and enjoy some pretty fun activities. It was a lot of responsibility, and work, but it was also a lot of fun and I got to work with some really amazing women, young women, and priesthood leaders. I was recently released, right before Breanne turned 12 and moved into young women herself, and then Brandon was called into young men to work with the 14-15 year old young men. Now he and Breanne can go and have some awesome adventures together. Anyway--this was a trip we took to the Ape Caves in September. The Ape Caves are lava tubes that were formed when Mt. St. Helens erupted. Pretty cool! I took my three oldest with me and we had a great time!



Sister Loomis, Brother Gage, Juan Carlos, Dallin and William strike a pose in the pitch black. These pictures were all pretty funny because it was so dark that when the camera flashed everyone was blinded by it. It's amazing that the camera could adjust so well.

Then for Labor Day Weekend, David and Sara decided last minute to bring their family from Utah and come and visit. We decided to all go to the beach and we lucked out. Anyone that lives in the Northwest knows that it's a total risk to ever go to the beach. Half the time it's so windy that you leave with an all-natural full-body exfoliation. There have been many times when we've had a beautiful sunny day in Portland and thought that we should go to the beach, only to get there and freeze and get back in the car with sand clinging to runny noses and tear stained cheeks (due to the icy wind). Not this time. It was gorgeous! The perfect day to be at the beach. We had blue skies and warm sunshine, little to no wind, and could play in the sand for hours without freezing and without it being blown into our eyes and up our noses. It was great! We were all sad when it was time to leave.



Breanne had fun turning Dallin into a mermaid...



and the little cousins all played together so nicely. The adults even got down and played in the sand, and Anton and David joined the volleyball game in the background of this photograph. It was a wonderful day. We finished it off with a ride on the carousel and some ice cream. Then we drove home, on Labor Day, without meeting very much traffic at all. I thought for a little while that maybe we were in The Twilight Zone. (For all of my young women friends that read this blog, The Twilight Zone is an old TV show that very seldom had stories about vampires. It doesn't have anything to do with Bella or the Cullens).

Another thing I learned this fall was how to can. My friend Monica has been saying to me for years now that she would teach me to can. One night when we were over visiting her I told her that I still wanted to learn to can to which she replied, "No you don't. You really don't, because if you did you would come over and learn, because I have offered to teach you how forever now, and you still haven't taken me up on the offer." Monica is spunky, that's why I like her. So I learned. This is the culmination of my food preservation efforts this year.



I got 5 quarts of canned pears, 6 quarts of canned peaches, 4 quarts of frozen peaches, 13 pints of canned peaches, and 7 quarts of frozen shredded zucchini. We're still eating it and I feel really good about learning a new skill that I can use to provide yummy fruit for my family all year. I'm sure I'll can more next year. Thanks, Monica. Oh and one more thing to Monica, "you don't really want your vinyl signs, because if you did you would come over and let me know what you want, because I have offered to make them for you forever now, and you still haven't taken me up on the offer."



I just love this picture. My little girls, they're so cute!

Dallin and Jerrin are both active in cubs and have a good time. We worked hard this summer and were able to get a lot of scouting requirements and arrow points completed. By the end of summer...



Dallin had earned his Bear and moved on to WeBeLos, and Jerrin...



earned his Wolf. He just turned 8 in June and so he earned his Wolf in record time. Now he has 9 whole months to work on arrow points. He's so jazzed about scouts that I wouldn't be surprised if he earns every arrow point there is to earn.

That brings us to pumpkin time!



We went with Daya and Kirk and their family to The Pumpkin Patch on Sauvie Island. We love going there and again we lucked out. It was a little chilly, just enough to feel like Fall, but we didn't get rained on at all. It was really nice and the kids had a good time.



Ok, so now we're almost caught back up. We have pumpkin carving, Halloween, Bre's birthday, and some random fun for next time. In the meantime we're enjoying this Fall season and the chill in the air. We're anxiously awaiting the arrival of Thanksgiving and can hardly believe that Christmas is almost here. One more week, Brandon, and you can finally put up the Christmas tree!