July Days

We got some cheap tomato plants a couple weeks ago and planted them in our small flower/garden bed. Then one day it was really warm so of course the swim suits come on and they play in the water and dirt. Ty and Bryn were pretending they were like Egyptian slaves (on the Prince of Egypt) making a big muddy mess.

This weekend we drove out to a lady's house in Big Lake to buy some local honey. YUM. And also some pollen. Everyone gets a pinch of pollen each day. On the way home, per my request, Kenny stopped on the side of the road a few times just so I could pick some wildflowers. I love them and they made a very beautiful bouquet for about 24-36 hours before they started looking really pathetic and shedding all over our kitchen table. Apparently wildflowers need to be in the wild! :) But it was very pretty and fragrant while it lasted.

 I tried my hand at homemade yogurt and I hate to brag but it turned out amazing! :) We all love it and will probably never buy yogurt again. It's way better, healthier, and cheaper. I also made some yummy blueberry jam this week. Normally we just stick to strawberry, so it was fun to branch out a bit. And the jam mixed in the yogurt is really good!

 Probably my most favorite note I've ever received from my sweet kids. Tyler was the scribe for all of them, obviously. Kenny said my new nickname will be "the Beast".

 Here the girls are helping me make bread, and then enjoy doing all the hand-washing dishes afterwards. I never complain that they want to wash the dishes. If only the sink were more accommodating for 3 of them at once.

Madison got a new bike now so she doesn't have to ride those tiny little trikes. She loves it and feels like quite the big girl. We were vacuuming out and washing cars. She got to go on a little daddy-daughter date to the store to pick it out. I've never seen her so happy--she was absolutely beaming. All that one-on-one time AND a new bike?! Life was just perfect in her little world.

A few other not-pictured things:
This past week Kenny and I got to go out to dinner with some other people from his work, on the company's tab. :) My favorite kind of meal. It was at the Brewhouse in Anchorage. We were so grateful to Andy and Shalee for watching our kids so we could go. It was with 2 other new(-ish) employees, a couple of the bosses, and all their spouses. We were by far the youngest couple there, and by far had the most children. Per usual. I often get asked if this is my first child (when I don't have my other 4 in tow) and I love people's reactions when they find out it's our 5th. It was a fun date night.

The past 2 weeks I've had to play the piano for sacrament meeting at church! If any of you are familiar with my piano skills (or the lack thereof) then you're probably laughing. Yes, obviously our ward was very desperate as the only other 2 capable people were out of town or had a baby or something. Anyway I was a nervous wreck the first week, and did a little better today. Hopefully that's all I'll have to do. The good news is they let me pick the hymns since I told them I wasn't good enough to just do any of them. The lady that substituted conducting today told me afterwards, "You play beautifully. You did a great job. I don't know about Utah standards, but for Alaska... *thumb's up*!" HAHA! I was laughing so hard. I know what she means, and I certainly wasn't offended.

TOMORROW the Webbs get here! My sister Steph and her family are coming for 10 days and we are ecstatic! We have the whole trip planned out with lots of fun things. I am so grateful for the distraction and something to keep me busy and preoccupied during the last 3 weeks of this pregnancy. As long as all this partying doesn't put me into early labor, we should be good :).