Project Pictures Coming!

The loft is finished. I will be posting some pictures soon. I am uploading them right now!

Vote for Becca and Beat Breast Cancer!

Please go to this website and vote for my sister-in-law, Rebecca's, breast cancer video. If she wins, some of her medical bills will be taken care of and this would really help her out. You have to register, but it doesn't take very long. You can vote once per day, so it is a little effort for big rewards. When you vote, it will show you an error page, but it is okay, you still voted. I would appreciate any efforts that you can give. Thanks so much!

http://kxly.upickem.net/engine/Details.aspx?p=A&c=18323&s=5361070&i=1&m=X#SD

The New Me

Here is the new me. Kendra cut my hair off and gave me a pixie cut like Carey Mulligan's. I really loved her hair cut and decided I was ready for a change. I am still getting the hang of it, but I really love it!

The Chicks

These are our newest babies. Let me start at the beginning and then you will understand. We went up on Saturday and purchased 3 tiny three day old chicks. The blond is Mrs. Buff, who is a Buff Orpington, Kelly who is the darker Americauna on the left, and Isa the other Americauna. The Americaunas lay blue and green eggs, while the Buff lays brown. I told the kids over and over what to do and what not to do. I specifically told them that if the birds got their wings out of their grip to put them down so that their delicate little wings wouldn't get broken. During lunch, Sarah was holding her chick Kelly and Kelly got her wings out. In her haste to not break Kelly's wings, she dropped her on her neck and broke it instead. However, much to my dismay, the neck broke, but didn't sever and so the chick remained alive and suffering. After severe trauma to all of us, 3.5 hours of hysterics and several calls later, Kelly passed away on the way to be euthanized. It was a small blessing for me. Thursday, we took Sarah up to pick out a new chick and she decided to get a Buff like Mommy. We now own Noodle and she is the cutest little thing! We are excited that they are getting their elder feathers and soon will be able to graduate from the bin in the laundry room to their coop outside. I will post a pic of Noodle soon. We had a funeral for Kelly in the backyard and hope that she is having better days.

Canning

I have been on a canning kick lately. I borrowed my sister-in-law, Sarah's, pressure canner and canned 17 quarts and 27 pints of pinto beans with yummy seasonings. I also helped a friend can beans and another can chicken. It is actually easier than I had thought, but kind of time consuming. For one batch of beans it takes the prep time, about 30-45 minutes, plus heating time which is about 20 minutes, then canning time, 90 minutes and cooling time which is about another hour. So between 3-4 hours depending on how organized and prepared I am. It makes me feel good to know that I have a good protein in my food storage! I also took a small foray into salsa and made 7 pints. There is a lot of vinegar in the recipe in order to make it safe, but both Brady and I like it, so it works. Sarah also will eat it with chips, which is pretty cute to watch.

Pinto Beans

The Pressure Canner

Salsa

Queen Creek High School Cheerleading Performance

The girls got to participate in a cheerleading camp held at a local high school at the beginning of the month. I know, I am just getting pictures up. They had a practice and then the game was the next weekend. They had a blast and were excited to go out and perform.

Catherine and Sarah

Cat and Sarah with Emily, their special helper

Dancing with Emily and Alejandra, a girl from our ward.

Cat and Sarah with Casey, a little friend from our ward.

The girls shaking it out on the field.

Catherine-ism #39

"I love pets!"
"When I grow up, I want to be a vegetarian"

While an appropriate statement, it was not the one she was going for.

Saturday is a special day

The day is ending; there are slowly dying embers in the fire pit. The hot dogs have all been eaten, the marshmellows are put away and sticky faces have been washed. It has been a great day. I am reminded of the words to a primary song, "where love is, there God is also". I can believe that heaven is close right now.

Looking out the Window

I am sitting in front of this computer in my loft with the shades open. I rarely open any of our shades because the burnt retinas aren't worth it. Today though, it is barely over 80 degrees, the sun is shining and I am looking out over our neighborhood to the distant peaks of South Mountain. I had never realized that I could even see them. Everything looks nice and clean from the HUGE hail storm we had the other night. It seems to have even blown away all the dust that has been plauging my allergies with it's 50 mile an hour winds. Thanks monsoon! I have finished my homework for the week and have none to do over the weekend (thanks honey). It is quite relaxing to just sit here with the sounds of Halo Reach in the background and Sarah making some weird noises down below in the living room. Tomorrow brings an 8am call to have the Primary kids clean the church for service...fun. Then, I have decided to begin tackling the project that is this loft. Sanding, staining/painting and all sorts of craftyness will ensue. For now, I am going to enjoy my view and then go get ready for a date with my sweetie.

Sarah-ism #204

Tonight the girls performed with the Queen Creek High School Pom and Cheer squads at halftime. They were very cute, but it was hot and we were all tired by halftime. When we got home, we were saying family prayer and Cat said that she had a headache. Que Sarah:
"Cat needs to go to the hospital, her head hurts."

Me: "No, you don't want to go to the hospital"

Sarah:"Yeah, they will give you shocks!"

Brady: "No Sarah, they give you shots, not shocks."