Never forget!

September 11th has become quite the date around our house.  Not only is it a day that we remember those who sacrificed all, but it was also the date we packed up and moved to Grace! 
I was living in NJ during 9/11 and like most people will never foreget the things I saw, felt, heard & experienced during the tragic events and weeks to follow but I am truley grateful for the experiences that helped me gain a stronger appreciation for our service people!  My experiences were 1st hand, and I'm so grateful that I was there to see New York City following those events but also to visit the majestic twin towers before they fell.

 (All of these photos are taken in Hoboken park across the Hudson from NYC, if it were day time in the last photo you could see the same view as the top two, in place of the towers was a large amount of smoke)

 (Ground Zero)

On this September 11th I'm celebrating as we have officially survived a year in Grace, ID! :)  The things I have learned and continue to learn from being here are experiences I know I will always cherish.  I thought I'd never make it this long, ha ha!  I know our time here isn't forever and I'm learning to love this place because when the day does come to leave, I know I'll miss it!

Vernal Visit & Family Reunion 2012

 My Little Sis left August 30th for NYC to be a nanny for a year --it brings back such strong feelings & memories for me as it was 11 years ago that I was headed to do the same thing, this will be such a great adventure for her!  We were already heading Vernal way for the family reunion that weekend so we extended a couple days to show up in time to see her before she left. (of course I didn't get any pic's) 

 The kids love Grammie & Papa's -- they could live on the swingset!  

They had a blast playing with cousins and enjoying Papa's new 'Toy'

Labor Day weekend always brings great fun at the Hoopes Family reunion.  Once again the reunion was held in Whiterocks, UT at the old 'homestead'.  We had a Sports theme and Dad's family was assigned 'Basketball'- we had a great time crafting, eating, laughing, playing, swinging & bonding.  LeGrand, the kids & I bunked with Trev & Ramey in their new camper- it was a fun time!

 (see those fun 'Hoopes' basketball jerseys!)

 (Once again the kids couldn't get enough of Uncle Stan's Horse Walker turned Ultimate Swing!)

 (The second day we sported these halarious t-shirts that read, 'Stop Staring at my Balls'- ha ha)

(These two are such 'Frienemies'!)

(Wild game of Flag Football!)

Uncle Stan's Buffalo visited us a few times in camp!

The Joy's of Farming Country

Grace isn't always the easiest place for me to be BUT I have been determined to find & enjoy all of the things that are great about Grace!  Probably my favorite thing is to enjoy the views each day.  The fields are constantly changing depending on the season, once in a while we get a good rain & enjoy a good rainbow and the sunsets can even be spectacular :)

{Potatoes in blossom}

{Straw}

One evening our Neighbor Nick Johnson called and said to bring the kids over for a ride in the combine, Loa didn't want anything to do with it but Laex loved his few minutes of 'farming'! 

 {Here they are, harvesting the wheat...next up, baling the straw}

One thing I'm sure I won't miss --6 am wake-up by the crop duster that sounds like it's gonna land on my roof.  At least 4 times this summer I've gotten awakened by this guy, I falsely thought maybe it would just fly by a couple of times then move on...an hour later I realized I wasn't winning the battle for a little more sleep cause he wasn't going away! :)

Gardening

I love fresh veggies from the garden!  I'm not the best grower but I do like to try :)
I started by tilling up a plot of grass to make into my garden area, it was a lot of tilling and pulling out grass and tilling and pulling out grass and tilling.....

Then the kids helped me plant and we all just prayed something would grow!  The growing seasons are different here in grace, I didn't plant my peas until the first part of June, and in Saratoga I think we were almost picking peas by then :)  In fact, we are still picking peas & it's the first of September --it's crazy!

So far we've enjoyed lots of zucchini, peas, cucumbers, carrots & beats. Our corn and tomatoes are loaded, we've enjoyed a couple of young cobs of corn & two tomatoes I'm just hoping the tomatoes ripen before it starts freezing again!  I also have tons of gourds, tiny pumpkins & large pumpkins growing, I'm not sure how many will get mature though.

Water Babies

I've looked out the window countless times this summer to see Laex & Loa soaked!  Their all time favorite thing is to play in the water, especially when I tell them they can't ;)

 The water is irrigation water & I get grossed out when I look out and see Loa drinking it, but I grew up floating the canal with my cousins & I'm sure we drank our share of the nasty stuff so I figure it can't hurt too much!