No Excuses

In June I received a Jury Duty letter for the end of July. I kinda laughed, "Of all times to get the order." I was mixed on the "hmm, interesting" feeling and the "oh boy" feeling. It's one thing to do it for a day... another if it turns out to be a week or a month long! Yikes. That was the scariest about it. Regardless of my preferences, I knew that I shouldn't--I don't think they'd give the jury a break every two hours for me to take a nice nap. No problem getting out of it... brain surgery. Who turns that down?
Apparently, the jury dept. turns excuse of brain surgery down. I contacted my doctor for a letter of excusal from him. A week later, I got a letter of denial from the Dept. office. Ouch. Talk about "come rain or shine!" With all of the department's contact info. there was no one I could chat with. Being a proud American citizen, I went. I had grabbed anything that could prove my surgery (aside from the nice gash on the side of my head-- actually, my inch long hair covers it and the scar is quite smooth). Needless to say, I spoke with them and they informed me that they hadn't received my doctor's fax and had sent me the denial only because I had inquired about it over the phone. So, I called my doctor and was sent home... I took a good nap.
Learned: Interacting with a computer over the phone isn't perfect.

Memories

I got this from a friend's blog and thought it could be fun! I've enjoyed putting memories on other's and then seeing ones that I relate to which others have written.
You can play along... be nice. :)

Here are the directions:
1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you.

It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments

The Little Blonde Hen

Well I guess this doesn't have much to do with the Red Hen story, no one refused to help (it was actually David who has mostly done the "farming" of it), but the process made me think of it. Starting from the beginning and then finishing with something delicious. David does a lot of gardening. The garden area is about 50'x 25' and the apples were just one of the delicious results!

1st= you plant
This was when the apple tree was first planted (on the far left). The big bunch of green stuff in the middle of the garden was LOTS of watermelons. Middle tree is peach (it turned out way better than I thought it could-- blows away store bought). The far right tree is apricot (birds got them fast this year).

2nd: you water


3rd= ENJOY!
This apple pie was DELICIOUS. The apples were perfect and I used a pretty simple recipe. We shared it with some in David's family and they at least told me it was one of the best they'd had. Well done, farmer, the apples were just right. (the crust was store bought--picked out by Suzie and Jason. I played with it like pictures show. And I copied a show on cutting pie toppers on own. I got a kick out of how that turned out!)


We used the apples a lot; more than I thought we would on our own. Gidget really likes to chew on the whole apples and likes bits mixed with her food. It is also perfect for salad-- the right tartness and not mushy.

This other one is just cute of Gidget. She is practicing standing up more and more. Pretty ready to walk (almost a bit too confident). :)

Yum, Yum, Yummmm

Just made me laugh. Turns out our little one is like the cookie monster with spaghetti-- and most other meals she eats on her own. We are now practicing table manners. :)

"A messy eater? Who, me?"

Fun in St. George for the 4th

Celebrate!

The Fourth of July came very quickly and I was delighted. David and I arrived in St. George late Wednesday night so that we would be ready for all the action. We were all excited to have a good excuse to see the family that was able to come (only 4 of the 8 available). Jason got some time off from his Natl. Guard training in Az. and we all welcomed this. We hit the lake on Thursday worried that the small lake would be packed... were delighted to see only about 4-5 other boats there!! We all had a blast on the boat. I was actually able to ride the raft. Joe drove very smoothly for David and I. Grandma McKe taught the grandkids how to make a yarn octopus and snake-- which she learned as a little girl. Cute.

On Thursday, we had a Flag ceremony with our Scouts including singing, reciting, and a little honoring discussion. Soon after our Flapjack breakfast we hit the park with plenty of games planned: egg toss, gum bubble contest, pie eating contest, and then an adult vs. kids waterballoon war! Gidget absolutely LOVED the water area at the park. We returned to my mom's and had a good ol' American burgers and hot dogs meal with American sides, which was prepped while the kids swam. Soon after, the whole crew headed to the movie (the robot one-- wasn't a hit for them) while David and I visited his mom. Our Gidget had fun with her Starling grandparents. To top off the 4th, we did fireworks and ate ice cream cones (in memory of my pops- some in McKeon fam may remember Baskin-Robbins on the 4th).

Friday was so fun and the chilluns will remember it for along time, I'm sure. David said that his family would play at the Virgin River a lot-- it gave us the idea for ourselves. The kids found little frogs (a 1st for some), played with the mud and water, and checked everything out. Gidget was delighted and couldn't stop playing. She was beyond worn out and fell asleep after just 2 minutes in her daddy's arms on the way to the car. After just a bit of hanging out at Grandma's the crew headed out- each needing to be to church the next day. Gidget had tons of fun with everyone! None of us were anxious to leave the family, but are glad we had the time together. It is fun to make memories. :)

And the winner is....

Goin' For a Ride

For Father's Day, our little one gave her daddy a bicycle cart-- connects to the back of a regular bike to carry babies. It was so cute goin' out for our little ride... we got more Hello's from neighbors while riding along than normal. I guess it showed them that we are sweet. :) Gidget's daddy was happy to take her for a ride! (I just had to include that last picture of her clapping. I thought it was so cute!)