Ladybugs

Before it gets too hot outside we spend lots of time in the backyard. A few days ago as we were watering the lawn Treyson found a new treasure, a ladybug. He was super excited to see one in real life. He loved having it crawl all over us, although she would fall back in to the grass every once in a while. He would find her and hold her and tell her what a beautiful ladybug she was. He can test me to no end one minute and the next he melts my heart with his sweet ways!

Legacy

I remember a sunny summer afternoon playing in Grandma Walters back yard while she, mom, and grams all shaved the kernels off corn cobs. I wanted to badly to help. So Grandma gave me a corn cob and a knife and I butchered the poor thing but I helped. That is my first memory of canning. I can also remember sitting on the back steps of our house in Riverside shelling peas from our garden for mom to can. That garden was HUGE and in retrospect I am in awe at the bottles and bottles of food we had stored down in our basement and the work that went into that labor of love. So now I am carrying on that legacy and canning too.

This week I did 21 quarts of chicken breast (that's about 50 pounds... good thing it was on sale LOL). I also did 24 pints of strawberry jam and 14 quarts of Idaho spuds. This is all added to the bottles of carrots, peaches, and pears from last year.



What you see here is three rows of chicken, two rows of potatoes, and two rows of strawberry jam.

I am loving it! As prices rise at the grocery store it is such a comfort to know I can watch for the sales and stock up when the price is good. Thanks Grandma, Grams, and mom for teaching me this valuable skill and for giving me a legacy I can be proud of.

~Nikki

Alli and her latest accomplishment!

Report cards just came out for the 3rd quarter of school and my Alli got straight A's…. again!!! Do you know that since she started going to school in kindergarten she has always had A's and B's. In Jr. High she started taking accelerated courses and I got a lil nervous, but she is such a smart young lady and does soooo awesome in school. Next year is 8th grade and we received a letter from the school that Alli has been asked to join National Jr. Honor Society! On Tuesday, April 29th she will be inducted! I just had to brag about our Fred for a bit! Scott and I are such pround parents!!!!!
Hope everyone is doing great! I love you all!!!

Alli is getting baptised!!!

HELLO ALL,
TIFF HERE. JUST WANTED TO MAKE AN ANNOUNCEMENT. ON SATURDAY, APRIL 26TH AT 10:00 A.M. ALLI WILL BE BAPTIZED. SHE MADE THIS DECISION ALL ON HER OWN, WE HAVE HAD THE MISSIONARIES AT OUR HOUSE BETWEEN 2 AND THREE TIMES A WEEK FOR THE PAST 2 MONTHS. IT HAS BEEN SUCH A NEAT EXPERIENCE. THE 3 OF US READING THE SCRIPTURES AND HAVING THE DISCUSSIONS. WE JUST LOVE OUR MISSIONARIES TOO. WE ARE SO SAD THAT 1 MIGHT BE TRANSFERRED TODAY. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN NICE IF HE COULD HAVE STAYED FOR HER BAPTISM, SINCE HE WAS WITH HER FROM THE BEGINNING. IT IS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO COOL!! ANYWAY, JUST WANTED TO LET YOU ALL KNOW!

LOVE YOU!

Aloha from Hawaii

We had a fun day 476.8lb blue marlin. It was a really fun fish it jumped so much and we got to see so much surface action that the fish tired out quickly and we got it to the boat in 45 minutes. I was really happy to because Amanda was with me on the trip, she is my good luck charm :)

I am living on the Island of Maui in Lahaina Town. I am Captain for a boat called the EXACT for Finestkind Sportfishing. It is a really fun job, were mechanics, plumbers, electricians and we get paid to go kill some fish I love it. My girlfriend Amanda and I own a hair salon called Salon Maikai, it's doing good we need more stylists and then we should be doing good. Amanda is really good and what she does everyone that leaves the place is smiling ear to ear. Well I have to work in the morning at 4am so maybe I will have more big fish pics tomarrow :) Take care hope everyone is doing good. My email is Mauimarlinslayer@yahoo.com

THANK YOU TJ ! FOR CREATING THIS WONDERFUL FAMILY BLOG. I CANT WAIT TO CATCH UP WITH EVERYONE.

Hello

So i must say that it is so exciting to hear how everyone is doing. i like this idea. As for me, I am lucky enough to have quite my job and stay home with my 8 month old baby, Hagen! He is amazing. I never would have guessed that a little miracle would bring so much joy and happiness into my life. Although, i am not going to be staying home much longer as i am almost done with school. I am currently doing some classes online to become a dental assistant. Spencer, my fiance, is getting really busy now that the weather is getting warm and that the bees are coming back from California. Thankfully we had a lot of snow this winter so it will be a good honey season for us. Well, that's me in a nut shell, and i look forward to hearing from everyone else.

Ashley