Sunday, September 04, 2016

Sunday September 4

We went to church with Gramps today.
We also had a family fast for Cole and i was very proud of Elsie and Porter for choosing to fast along with us.
Fasting is a hard thing for these little ones to really understand.
I just tell them that we are showing Heavenly Father how bad we want these blessings for Cole, we are willing to give up eating for it.
And I talked about how hard Cole has it every day......and he is still always smiling.
So for us to fast, just for a little bit, shouldn't be too hard for us to do with a smile too.
I enjoyed church up until the point I felt like I should bare my testimony.
Ya, I know....crazy right.
I am not even in this ward!
But it kept going through my mind and I was missing all the other testimonies because I was having this inner battle with myself!
So I finally went up.
I am almost through the Book of Mormon again and I was reading in Moroni 5 this morning.
It was talking about when he started to lead the Nephi army again, and they wanted him to deliver them from their afflictions.
And how he was so sad for them, he was without hope, because he knew he was not the one who could deliver them.
They needed to repent.
They were struggling for their lives and forgot to call upon the Lord for help and strength.
Now I know we all have some sort of struggle.
Some really big....some not so big.
And it may not even have anything to do with needing to repent.
But the important thing I took away from the scriptures was....when you are struggling, big and little, turn to the Lord.
Pray often and always!
Anyway....that is basically what I wanted to share with them.
Not sure if it came out like that.
I also said how grateful I was for Gramps.
I said he was a very special grumpy old man :)
And he hasn't let me live that down all day!
Ha ha ha.....
We stopped to see Grandma before we went back home.
It is just the sweetest to be there with her.
Once we were back at Gramps house, we relaxed a little bit.
Then Gramps took us to a spaghetti dinner they had at the Catholic church in town.
At first he wasn't gonna let me eat, because I called him grumpy.....but eventually he gave in :)
Guess he;s not so grumpy!
Then we went on a little drive around town.
Dad showing the kids all the schools he went to.
When we got back to Gramps house, we went down by the river.
That was fun.
Catching frogs, skipping rocks, taking pictures, stacking rocks, hiking with walking sticks, picking flowers and then releasing frogs.
And of course a family picture to make mama happy :)
I am thankful for this bunch.



























Saturday, September 03, 2016

Saturday Sept. 3

Dad got home from work this morning and we got ready and left not too long after that.
Drive was not bad, considering all the driving we did jut s a month ago :)
We got to Evanston about 2:30 and stopped by to visit Grandma right away.
Then we got to work for Gramps.
He has been wanting the fence over the river fixed.
And since it was a pretty packed weekend, we wanted to make sure to get the fence done this trip.
I do enjoy watching my man work :)
I am helpful too......but I just love that he is able to do so many things.
You know I think about that a lot.
How things could have turned out so differently just a year and a half ago!
I am just Thankful.
Anyway.....
At one point a rain storm came in....so we hid in the willows for cover.
We got the fences done and then had time to showered before heading to the rodeo.
Dussy Boy asked us last week if we wanted to sign Port up for Muttin bustin'.
He was excited to do it :)
So tonight was the night.
He had never done it before and wasn't sure what to expect.He kept saying he was prepared because of trying to ride the goats :)
There was about 13 boys and girls that went.....and guess who won the boys ride??????
PORT!
It was just the cutest thing!
I was so happy for him and he was just the cutest little thing out there!
I am proud of him for giving it a try :)
He got a trophy and a shiny new belt buckle!
He can't wait to show his friends!
The rest of the rodeo was fun.
Rodeo's are just the greatest :)
We are happy to be here in Evanston to hang out with Gramps and have a little Matthews family reunion on Monday!




























Friday, September 02, 2016

Friday Sept 2 (add pictures)

I went to an art smart meeting this morning.
It will be another fun year of art at the school!
Then i went to a few thrift stores to try and find some cowboy boots for Port....
You can't be in a rodeo and not have cowboy boots!
Luckily I found some for $4!
They are a little on the smaller end of his size, but they will work :)
It has been awhile since he has worn boots!
Anyway....I did more laundry.
In between the things I did today, I started peeling more pears.
Oh the fun........
I was VB pickup so I got them.
Then Cass and I went to visit one of our new Beehives that has a birthday tomorrow.
After that, Cassi got to go to her friend, Sami's house.
Madi helped me out and mowed the lawn.
It looks so nice when it is all mowed up :)
She also helped with the little kids.
Elsie was kind of a stinker today.
She had a hard time at the end of school.
She was so tired and there was a lot of writing to do.
Anyway.....she ended coming home with some homework.....
Soooo........when it came time to get it done (cause I DO NOT want to take it with me because I KNOW it won't get done with all the stuff we will be doing....) She had a meltdown.
Like 45 minutes solid crying.
Once she calmed down and I was able to talk to her, it took maybe 10 minutes to finish.
Oh Elsie....why do you make things so much harder for yourself?!?!?!?!
Hopefully next time, it will go better.
Hopefully......
So I did another batch of pears.
I filled 5 bottles.
Guess what?
2 bottles busted!!!!!!!!
I wanted to cry :(
Why!?!?!?!?!
What am I doing wrong!
It really made me sad.
But at least I got 3 more good bottles.....

Thursday, September 01, 2016

Thursday September 1

I had a day today where I had NOTHING that needed to be done!
So I finally got some pears canned!!!!!!
BUT.......it took forever and I wish I had more than 5 bottles to show for it!
They aren't huge pears....and we never sprayed this year, so they were NOT bug free.
So it took some extra time and care to get them sliced up.
I actually had 6 bottles....but one bottle busted in the cooking process :(
They say it takes about 2-3 pounds of pears to fill one quart jar...
So it makes me feel better to say that I canned 12-18 pounds worth of pears today :)
Well, attempted to.
The bottle that broke, I am still counting that!
I also made (still making) some fruit leather.
I borrowed Bubble's dehydrator and food processor.
We will see how that works out.
I also pulled out some cherries we had in the freezer to see if we can dehydrate those......
We will see :)
I did get laundry done today too.
So it was a good day.
I just love when there is nothing I HAVE to do and I can CHOOSE!
Tomorrow I need to make sure and get everyone packed and ready to leave for Evanston on Saturday morning when dad gets home.
And hopefully get more pears canned........
Maybe.......
Madi had to work a few hours this evening.
Cass had VB practice, then came home and helped out and worked on getting her room clean.
I worked on reading and homework with the little ones and got them into bed BEFORE I went to get Madi!
Too bad neither of them were asleep when I got back home :(
Elsie is so worn out!
She had a rough night last night.
The weather is changing a bit, a little cooler, and that always seems to affect her.
But also the work and effort that goes into the whole school thing!
But she was a rock star and was great at school today.
Hopefully tomorrow will be the same.