Fall is coming!

And I am ready. School starts in two days and then life will be full of drop-offs, pick-ups, basket ball games, meetings with teachers and many other things. It will still be nice to get back in the swing of school and especially for our Emmy girl who needs something new to do. We woke up early this morning and got some much needed yard work done. Stacked a small pile of wood, watered the pine seedlings we planted last spring, they all look great. Hoping they make it over the summer and then they will be well on their way to being established. We cleaned up a junk pile and weedeat some weeds and dead dry grass. I canned 11 pints of salsa yesterday and two quarts of tomato juice earlier this week. I think that will make enough salsa for the year as we have about 10 jars left from last year so now need to make more tomato juice. I am hoping it cools off soon so I can do more yardwork than early in the morning and late at night. We are looking at cooler weather this upcoming week and for that I am grateful. We have two burn piles we have to get burned this fall. It is so dry and there are so many fires around us, it is scary. We should have burnt it last spring but we have to do it this fall. Just a sampling of what Dale pick one night this week -

2013 Garden Pics

It been a long time Baby!

The last post on here is more than half a year ago and while this blog stopped, life certainly didn't! Life as we knew it was almost changed instantly when Josh was in an automobile wreck on Sunday of Memorial Day week-end. He was taken by emergency Leer jet to Seattle's Harborview hospital. I flew with him at 28 weeks pregnant and Dale followed us by car. Josh's pelvis was broken it two places, he had internal bleeding and an injured bladder. We were very blessed that when they went in to operate the pelvis had stablized itself and no pins were needed. The internal bleeding stopped within the first day and his bladder healed itself. We serve a miracleous God!



Josh's wreck happened as the 2010-2011 school year was winding down and the other big event of the summer happened the week-end before school started. Our family grew by one and our hearts grew even more fuller.

Devinee LeeAn Wheeler joined our family on August 19th, 2011 at 1:39 am weighing 7 lbs half ounce and length unknown. They did measure her in the hospital but when she had shrunk considerably by her two week check it was discovered she had been measured wrong. In waiting attendance were her momma (of course), her daddy, her Nana, her Aunt Kelly and the most important of all - our Mariah. Mariah cut her cord and helped clean her up. My labor and delivery with her was the most painful yet and strong, can do anything woman here was known to say SEVERAL times, "I can't do this, I can't do this". Looking back I am not sure who took over my body and said that.






Devinee Leean name was chosen for very special reasons and her name ties these two events together. Her first name is after her daddy's real name Devin and her middle name is after the two women who held our lives together while we were in Seattle with Josh. Lee is after my mom who moved into our house and just took over running our lives which we will be forever thankful and An is after our dear friend Robin who goes by the artist name Anderson Moore. Robin lived in Seattle at the time and was there for us when we had nobody. She was a rock to Dale and I letting us take over her apartment, feeding us, loving us, helping us figure out legal mumble-jumble and just being a huge emotional support.

Geese Pics -

Tweedlely Dee and Tweedely Dum and their babies. They had 5 babies, two of which have went to a home new already.

Today was a PHEWY smelling day-

The old pig pen was a HUGE mess because we couldn't get into the butcher when we needed to (we have already reserved our spot for this coming fall) and so since it was so muddy last winter I threw down lots of hay. Well after the bacon went off to the butcher, that lovely pig pen just sat and got stinky. Then we had a huge compost pile full of chicken poo, old hay from the goat pen, grass clipping, and lots of other disgusting stuff. This pile had gotten out of hand and we were no longer able to turn it as Dale's back can not handle this and last time I worked on it I ended up on bedrest due to bleeding with my pregnancy.

Well along came my best friend to the rescue - she drove their tractor down here from her house which isn't very far in a car but quite a jaunt on a tractor I am sure.





After about an hour and a half of tractor work and then another hour of wheelbarrow work this is what we have now. We still have work to do but the pig pen can be put back together as it was or be expanded. I am happy with that accomplishment for the day.

1st Veggie Basket 2011

The garden is growing, it is all in. Pumpkins are the only thing left to plant and only because both older kids want to help but they are both never home at the same time. Lettuce, spinach and radishes went in the basket this morning with a bouquet of tulips. I hope people enjoy these baskets this year as much as they did last year.

Happy Mother's Day....

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mommies out there!! We have a new momma on the homestead. I wasn't even sure the eggs were fertile as they weren't last year but look what we found this morning.