Farewell Summer

i am bittersweet about summer coming to an end.  the cooler mornings and evenings are much appreciated but the fact that time just flew by so quickly and i am getting older (and my kids too) is not!!

the end of august, the kids enjoyed the slip n slide quite a bit and we made a one day trip to visit gma and gpa moncur.  mom, the kids, and i ventured to the cassia county rodeo.  it was packed, but we were right above the shoots, so we didn't lose interest too bad.  of course, grandma had to buy them cotten candy and the sort of stuff mom never would.  they loved it!

the boys have been busy going with ben to irrigate and swath, fill pivot tracks, and disk.  the nite of this picture, we were all attacked by mosquitos again!  looks like uncle brian found a job for them to do, sweeping, while i was working in the office.  we go over and tear the place down the days i don't have a babysitter :).

emerson has been left behind many a time to help me can.  she loves to snap the beans and put them in the jars.  the rest of the stuff, she mainly plays in the water or makes messes :).  we've done salsa, pizza sauce, applesauce, peaches, fruit cocktail, green beans, pickled beets, blackberries, corn, and pickles so far.  i am ready to throw in the towel after another batch of tomatoes.  i've all ready let some of the garden go to pot...  bentley is actually a great helper with the tomatoes.  he does all the grinding.  it is great!  bridon washes all the produce for me.  he does pretty good too.  notice the mustache?  we've had a few runs lately to les schwab and they have mustaches in their vending machine for 25 cents.  bridon wore his to the ward bbq.  he was completely serious.  he also prayed for pres. monson and king benjamin the prophet last nite, as well as trying to not to cut your own hair with scissors like the crazy girl (a book we read).  instead of writing a letter to santa, he went and yelled off the porch to tell him he wanted a new corn header for his combine as loud as he could.  i asked if he said please?  he went back and yelled 'please'.  emerson calls him boy still.  her and boy love to go dig carrots and eat them out of the garden.

 

for a few weeks, we had mountains of sand right out the back door for filling all the pivot tracks.  the kids played on them all the time and came in covered in sand.  shera would run and jump with them, they would dig, throw sand, slide up and down, and even ride their bikes down.  i stripped them down on the grass after each episode and shook everything out!

bentley started school the last week of august.  he still rides the 86 (loves) with mr. jim and has the same teacher as last year.  he loves school and we are working on liking homework and reading.  i'm sure it will get better over time and when the time changes.  i always say, i am so glad ben's always gone when the light is long.  if i had to be here all the time by myself in the dark, i would go insane!  instead, the light and sun makes me feel good (but keeps us outside way too late at nite:)!

over labor day, our one activity was running in for a quick view of the hot air balloons at the spirit of boise.  we wanted to go in the morning and watch them lift off, but work didn't allow.  the kids still enjoyed watching them light up...maybe next year for the take off!