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!

Brigham City Temple

The kids and I made a trip to Brigham City for the Temple open house (unfortunately LeGrand had to work).  It's about an hour & half drive from grace.  We followed the Johnson's (our great neighbors) down & met up with other members of our ward & the YM/YW. 

I thought it would be a great opportunity for the kids to see the inside of the Temple, it's hard for them to understand at this age why they don't get to go inside.  They we're pretty much antsy to just get through & I had to keep bribing them with the cookie they'd get at the end :)  I'm glad we get to have experiences like this, but we sure missed LeGrand!

 {Sportin' their cute booties--I couldn't get Loa to look at the camera long enough to get a decent picture:)}

{It was a warm day & it was everything I could do to keep them from playing in the fountains!}

Bruin!

Laex started school, at the big kid school on August 22nd!  He was so excited to be in Kindergarten this year, he is officially a Grace Elementary Bruin!

{I made him re-create his pose from his first day of Pre-School, I'm sure he will love it when when he's 17 & I'm still making him do this on the first day of school, ha ha}

He was so ready & I was so ready for him to be in school (lets be honest, he's to the point where he needs the structure and to be kept busy, he was becoming so mischievous the last couple of weeks before school started!).  I know I'm a minority when I say this but I didn't shed a tear, in fact, it was a happy day with all smiles at our house!  I know he's growing up fast, but I love to see him so excited!  He is in afternoon kindergarten and it was so hard for him to wait alllllllllllll morning to finally be able to go to school.

He wouldn't let me take him to school because he was too excited to ride the school bus, so LeGrand & I got him on the bus then buzzed over to the school so we could take pictures!

Sure love this kid!  He also has such a Sweet teacher, Mrs. Wistisen - I'm sure he'll have a fantastic school year!

Here in Grace the school week is only Monday through Thursday so really it doesn't feel like he's gone much more than he was in Pre-School!

 {This was so cute, he ran off the school bus and gave is Sis a big hug!}

Of Course we had to have a little 'treat' for the Bus Drivers (he has two different ones) & his teacher!  The bus drivers got mixed berry freezer jam & his teacher got homemade caramel sauce.