Happy Belated Pioneer Day!

Monique, Tom's sister, decided we should all celebrate Pioneer Day. It was a great idea. The kids husked corn and we made butter. We even had fish for lunch. Here are several pictures of us shaking our creme to make our butter. The kids loved it and so did Tom.

I love it too. The butter tasted so good. I think I might start making my butter now. There is not salt or any other stuff put in it. I don't know if it is healthier but it seems like it would be. Plus you get a good arm work out every time you need more butter. I may be crasy but I might keep making my own. If you haven't made homemade butter, all you do is get creme and shake for about 20 minutes. It was way cool. Thanks Monique!

Was everyone I know born in July?

I'm not even gonna try to list everyone I know born in July because I will definitely leave someone out and tick them off. Let me just say that like half of my family has July birthdays. So happy birthday to everyone born in July.

However, I can't just leave it at that, see, because Natalie's birthday was July 11th. Yes, I know that has come and gone, but we were camping that weekend, so lay off. Anyway, I just wanted to take a minute to wish Natalie a happy birthday and to tell her to just make up her mind as to what she wants already! Natalie is an awesome wife and an amazing mother. I've never met a more patient person in my life. Seriously, it drives me crazy at times. How can one person put up with so much crap from one guy for so long? Anyway, I love her and know you do too, so call her and wish her a happy birthday. She won't care that you're a week late (yeah, she's that patient).




Gosh, I used to be so good with words..... what the crap happened?

Oregon

We made it home from Oregon. We had a great time. Here is Tom being amazed at how berries grow wild on the side of the road! This is taken at a rest stop on our way to Oregon.

We got to go to an orchard a pick berries. This is one thing that I am jealous that we do not have in AZ. You can go pick fresh raspberries and for a bucket full pay only $5.
Brecken loved the berries but he would not eat any that we not the perfect shape.
Karsten kept eating the berries off the ground. A little dirt don't hurt!
We went to a fountain and let the kids play. This was a cool fountain because the water came in and out like waves.
We ventured up to the coast for the 4th of July. It was beautiful. The boys loved the ocean. They loved running away from the waves. They didn't realize that in Oregon there are "Sneaker Waves". You think that you are far away from the wave but it just sneaks up on you. First Karsten went in! (Here is my lovely boot protection!)Then Brecken! The water was cold. Luckily we brought another set of clothes to change into.We all loved the beach. We even got the fire some of our own fireworks out into the ocean after dark.

Here are a few fun and funny stories about our trip:

1. Tom got 2 speeding tickets. Therefore driving cost the same amount as flying.

2. We hiked 2 miles to get to the beach. We had no idea it took that long to get there. It was fun though.

3. We ventured to a new beach for our firework show and got our car stuck in the sand.

4. Tom learned that you can not put 3 morters (fireworks) in a shooter at the same time.

5. The Columbia river is about 100 miles and is beautiful to drive by.

6. Brecken learned the "Scare Crow" baseball throwing technique from his cousins and still sleeps with his mit that they gave him.

We had a great time on our trip.