The Fruits of My Labors

We have this apricot tree on our back yard that I just love. I have watched over the years as it has grown and become one of the prettiest trees. I love the way that the branches twist and stretch. It truly is a work of art and it is beautiful. Every spring we watch as the blossoms start to appear. We literally look out the window of the house and can see the dainty white blossoms. It is so pretty! This year we had some crazy weather and it would get warm and then really cold, so we thought that there might not be any apricots this year. My dad (who also loves this tree) would go out at about 2:00 in the morning and light this little chimney to keep the tree warm. To our surprise the apricots were plentiful. We ended up having a lot of apricots.

We picked and picked. Rylan would go out and just find one he liked and would pluck it off the tree, just to eat it. He loved having it for a snack. After a while we could not pick them fast enough, and they started falling to the ground and rotting. I hate to see things go to waste, and so I decided I wanted to try a few new things out. Here is what I was able to do with all the apricots. The Fruits of my labors:
1. Fruit Leather

2. Dried Fruit (Didn't take a picture)
3. Apricot Jam
4. Apricot Popsicles

5. Baby food (I am freezing it)
The jam ended up being the best of the three and with a little help (thanks Jan) I was able to make and can apricot jam. We now have an ample supply of it. It was a lot of work, a lot of fun and now I know how to do it. I also have to thank my mother-in-law for the canner I got for my birthday! I am so excited to have yummy jam from a tree that has been a part of my life. (so funny that I am so attached to a tree huh?) We've all been able to enjoy!

Welcome Summer!

Today was the first day of summer! Yeah!!!!! We celebrated by going to a BBQ at our neighbors house. It was fun to see some of our old friends (Sam, Marcia, Paul (Guzel), Anna (Joe), Phil and Carla and Larraine) again and catch up on things. Thanks Marcia for the invite! We had a blast eating, talking and hanging out with everyone that was there. Everyone brought a dish and Sam and Marcia made Flank Steak-YUM! The kids had fun playing. Phil and Marcia even got down on the floor and played with the kids. It made my day to have someone play like that with my kids, because my mom used to do that and it's what I miss the most about her. (Thanks again Phil and Marcia for playing with them. It was just what I needed!) The adults played card games while Marcia entertained the kids. It just keeps getting better....we got to go to a movie with Joe and Anna. We saw Get Smart. It was a great movie and we laughed and laughed. It was a wonderful evening and an awesome way to Welcome Summer!

The fabulous food (the picture doesn't do it justice!)

Good friends and excellent company

Fun Stuff and Good Times!!!!

Only one bad thing.....our cooler has been broken and we have been dieing of heat! I hate being sweaty! YUCK! Just when it gets hot! HMPH! Still we are happy to have the nice weather. :)

Something Special

Last night the kids were thrilled to be going to Nana and Grandpa's house. We told them that they would get to see something special....a new baby horse. On Monday night Missy (the horse) gave birth to a foal . The kids were thrilled to see the filly (girl horse). All of Rylan and Alana's cousins came to Nana and Grandpa's to see the new addition. We spent a while looking and petting the horse, and then all of the kids ended up in the yard playing. Tony's parents have a great backyard for the kids to play in and they love spending time with their cousins. Nana and Grandpa took a little time to show each grandchild the new horse. Grandpa helped Rylan try to pet the filly, and he showed Alana some of the other horses too (since she loves animals so much). Alana espically loved looking at the horses and meeting the new baby horse. She was happy and both of my kids had a wonderful time. It was something special indeed!

Tony and the kids taking a peek at the new horse and it's mommy!

Rylan with the new addition.Alana wants to see too!

This is Nana trying to bring the filly closer so the kids could touch it.

Ryaln with cousin Savannah and Nana finding the best view of the horse. A few other pictures to look at...

For more pictures and a different view on the same evening visit Burrell's Blog.

Wet and Wild!

We bought the kids an inexpensive slip and slide today. (Good find daddy!) We set it up and they had a great time running, jumping and sliding in the water. Even daddy joined them in the fun! It was funny! Tony is such a good daddy and finds lots of fun things to do with the kids. I love that he is just a big kid himself. They jumped on the trampoline to get dry and then they would start over.On the trampoline we played Ring-around-the Rosie's. Alana's idea--when she wants to play she says "sashes" or "posies". How can you resist that?! So the whole family was on the trampoline jumping in circles and falling down. Alana was upset when it was time to go in. She threw a tantrum when I took off her swimming suit, and tried to put it back on herself. It was darling and funny. I laughed out loud! Sometimes it is just fun to get a little wet and be a little wild!