Our Hair Raising Experience

Yesterday we went to BYU and the Eyring Science Center (thought of you Nacco!!)  For a physics demonstartion with the homeschooling group.  Louise loved it and the guy and girl who did it really did well with the kids.  They had the air blowing vaccum thing that made things "float" in the air.  They defied gravity with static electricity. ANd made a light turn on with magnetic fields.  They also had a magnetic something or other that threw metal rings into the air at a push of a button...  Plus they did this fun ball of static.  Here's louise and Her Hair Raising Experience!
This is the before pic which I thought I put before. But she's a cutie.  It was especially fun b/c they let all the kids try all of the experiments hands on.

Forget what this place is called

I went to west jordan last saturday and met Trudeen and Honey with the kids.  Trudeen wanted to show me this place and get louise dressed up and take some Halloween pics there.  It was fun to see all the displays but super, super, crowded.  The shops would've been alot of fun to look at but they're definitely not for children.  I wish I could've looked some more there was a lot of cute stuff.  ANYways... buddy was napping and didn't have  a costume so here's one of him.  He does have one now.  He's going to be a dragon.  
Louise my cute little Miss Witch.
Louise and Ansel in front of the Giant Pumpkin!!

Happy Halloweeen

Cornbelly's

louise riding the cow train
We went to Thanksgiving point last week with a homeschooling group and the kids had a ton of fun.  Nick came with and I got to meet some other homeschooling families.  I also ran into a friend from my Scene One Video pizza making days: Karen.  It was so fun to see her and her growing family!!  Anyway,  here are a few pics of all the fun.

Louise and Ansel all grown up!
Ansel and his cow
Ma and Pa on the farm
My how they are growing

Our Family preparations:

Mom stopped by and we put her to work helping us bottle our honey.  Here's a pic of some of the sticky mess.  I've never had such a sweet and sticky experience.  We started beekeeping this year with two hives and only had one do well enough to get honey from but it was a lot of honey.  I think we  harvested close to 100 lbs of honey!!!  It was alot more work than I had anticipated (plus I was pregnant and sick). But the rewards are SWEET!!
The CHICKENS!
So this was an adventure worth appreciating.  Thank You chicken processing plants!!  And THANKS to all those poor workers who cut up chickens for a living!  This thurs. we killed 15 roosters...and what can I say.  It was GROSSE.  From cutting off the heads to dipping them in hot water and plucking off the wet feathers....and then.... gutting them and trying not to cut into anything that would leak out fecal matter and then chopping them up.... OH Lordy!!!  I am not a pioneer woman.  BUT... I did bake bread, made dried fruit leather, and butchered chickens all in one day.  Thank goodness I didn't have to wash clothes by hand, grind my own wheat, and start a fire for a warm shower.  Those pioneer women are hard core Babes!!!
The guts, heart, liver, chicken necks, entrails, viscerals,fat chunks...  I food service cleaned the place after this mess.  
Here's the finished product. Cut and ready to eat, although, by the end ( we were up till 11pm working on these birds) I didn't think it looked very appetizing.

Here is Louise showing all her many faces.
And Buddy....Such a cutie!! Even when he's getting into trouble.
THese next two are the prop pics... Just cute. What more can I say?

Here's one of our family Standing Tall.  Just like the prophet asked us to.

Here's one of our family pictures.  

Piggyback rides are the kids' favorite!

family Picture Day

Well, we did it.  Another successful family picture day is over.  I'm fighting a cold and forgot how crazy pictures can get.  But, b/c of the cold, I tried not to stress to much and it was ok, in fact, it was quite enjoyable.  We decided on overalls for the kids and I couldn't find Ansel's anywhere.  So instead of stressing and running around trying to find them Nick suggested we just BUY some.  GREAT idea honey!!!  And I left my makeup at the house so we ended up buying some of that too.  I needed some anyway.  The kids are just CUTE anyway.  I'll post some pics as soon as I get them.  Next year though, I plan on having matching and/or coordinating outfits.  I didn't really think this one through very well.

Bee Buzz

Here are some pics of me and my bees.

Here I took of the lid and i'm smoking the inside.



Me checking out the bottom box and holding a frame full of my favorite insect.


This pic is of an emerging bee. The capped off wholes are new bees developing and you can just see one's head sticking out in this pic on the bottom, middle, and just to the left. I wanted more pics but Nick the photographer is a little scared of bees. He used to throw rocks at hives when he was little and get chased by them. I told him it served him right.


Me checking out the emerging bee. There was also another breaking out as well. It was so COOL to see!!! I love my bees!

Springville Fair

Ansel and Louise riding one of the rides. This one spun around and went up and down.


They loved it!! Especially Ansel.


Ansel and his dad on the Ferris Wheel. He loved riding the horse.


Louise also loved her horse. She did trick riding and stood up and even rode it sitting backwards.

Branding in Canda

Here's Louise and Justine watching the event.


Ups a daisy


Down a daisy

Nick was getting really tired ... this was one of the last ones.


rocky mountain oysters anyone. Just be glad you weren't thier. the guy who did the cutting also did alot of throwing at people.

The two men in my life...what hunks.







This was taken branding in Canada







The kids eating chips and drinking soda




Fruit punch, and minute maid lemonade. Ya, things don't change much whether it's rez in Az or rez in another country. LOL


Jessica the cow girl. She reminded me of Jo Gurl when she was little. She did a good job.

Our Little Boy!

Here's a funny one.. So our little Ansel is a growing adventurous boy. He loves 4 wheelers and anything with an engine. He'll be mesmerized at the leaf blower in the park and go "Whooah." Both Louise and Ansel have learned how to drive and push the gas on a quad. (They go fast!!! It's so scarry) We sit behind them but Ansel will tell you "No, no, no" When you grasp the steering handles and will push your hands off.
OK, now for a gross funny. We hatched out some baby chicks and they are just cute and a couple of weeks old now. Well little man helps us with putting them outside for the day and then bringing them back in. He really loves them but I don't let him hold them much b/c he's not very gentle and too young to understand how to care for such young animals. Well, yesterday he walked around the house and by the time he made it around I saw him holding something he had found. It looked small and black and he would hold and cuddle it, then put it down and pick it back up and stroke it a little. I had no idea what he had but I was worried and...... it was a dead bird! It was so gross! I felt bad b/c I made him put it down and our dog Coco picked it up and he was upset that the dog got his bird. I washed him up good and kept him in the house while I worked on the computer. After a while I couldn't hear him so I got up to find him and his Auntie Honey had let him out the door and said.."I think your son found a dead bird." And he was kissing it!!! Well, he got another washing and I took that smelly dead bird that he loved and put it out in the field so he wouldn't get it again.