4 Football Time

Here is a quick picture of the girls enjoying some daddy time during the football game today.
Doesn't Nate look young without the facial hair? It's been about 5 years since the last time he shaved. I have to do a double take every time I see him. He looks like the man I met nearly NINE years ago! No wonder I fell for him.

Disclaimer: I like the facial hair look, too.

3 Adventures in Recylcling

Yesterday we went for a drive in the country, but not just any leisurely drive. No, not us! We went to a farm in Richman & hooked up to an old swather to haul into the recycling yard. (yes, they asked us to) If you know nothing about old farm machinery, let me tell you a bit. A swather is used to cut hay before bailing it up. The heavy steal cutting bar & mechanism on these old machines rests on the ground and can be raised by hydrolics from the tractor pulling it. However, we were pulling this beauty with a truck, not a tractor. No hydrolics for us. Nate & I used our noodles, several tow straps, & two jacks to lift the mechanism and secure it as best we could. Then, after we inflated the flat mismatch tires, we were off. We couldn't go too fast, since any bumps bounced the swather, which only had 2 inches clearance. It took over an hour to drive the back roads (no more than 10 mph) to Nate's dad's Amalga farm where we parked it while we loaded pumpkins to deliver to a grocery store on Monday, before we finish hauling the swather in. What a way to spend a Saturday.

4 What's better than cake & ice cream?

Allie knows...Broccoli!
Last week, after Sunday dinner this silly girls went for the greens. The entire family got a kick as she chomped several florets before touching the sweets. She even dipped it into the ice cream. Too cute.

2 Apples, Apples, & more Apples

Last week, as the big storm was rolling in, we picked apples at Grandma & Grandpa Schwartz's home. There were red ones & yellow ones, Jonathan & Delicious. Allie tasted several of each. Between all those apples & some strawberries she foraged in the garden, there was no need for lunch. What a girl.

Then, during Saturday conference, Abby & I made applesauce. I started at 7am & we didn't finish cleaning the kitchen till 9pm, but we got all 88 jars filled & sealed. Ah, what a mess. I should have taken pictures, but I was too busy canning to think about that. Oh well, there is always next year.

0 Thank You!

I wanted to post a 'thank you' to Eldon & JoAnne for watching the girls so much the past few weeks. They have been so good to take them at a moment's notice, whether I was off to the dentist for that awful crown or to the farm to harvest pumpkins. The girls love to go to their home, and its no wonder since they are loved so much. Thank you so much!

Grandma JoAnne is feeding Kylie & Grandpa Eldon is reading Allie a story.

1 Entrepreneurial Spirit

Over the last few weeks, Nate has started a new business: "Schwartz Services". Basically he picks up & removes old cars, ect. to the recycling yard. Here is the new trailer hooked up to 'Old Green' the pumpkin truck, towing a beautiful junk car.

3 Surpize!

The other day I went looking for Allie, as is my habit when things are too quiet. This is what I found. Allie had gotten a bottle out of the diaper bag, climbed into Kylie's crib, & was force feeding her little sister. Good thing Kylie is so easy going.

2 A Gaggle of Girls @ Hogle Zoo

Last week, while our Stafford cousins were visiting (Bailey was out of school for 'Spud harvest'), we met up with our Beattie cousins in Salt Lake & went to Hogle Zoo. It was the perfect day! It was cool, but a jacket was almost to much. The animals must have loved it; they were all out for us to see. Since it was a Tuesday & the area school were in session, there was hardly anyone there. It was great to let the girls roam a little since there were no crowds to get lost in. I don't think we will ever try to go in the middle of the summer again. October is the time to visit the zoo!

(above L-R:Abby, Laura, Emma, Bailey, Eden, Kate, Maren, Sarah, Kylie & Allie)

It was really hard to get all the girls in one photo.
Maren ended up in this one trying to help.

This one was too cute not to share.
Maren caught Laura & Emma in a candid moment at the Elephant Encounter.

Kylie started off in the front pack, but couldn't sleep there so Allie got booted out of the stroller.

4 Staffords pick Pumpkins

My sister Maren & her girls come up for a short visit earlier this week. We made a trip out to Uncle Nate's great Pumpkin Patch so the girls could choose their own for jack-o-lanterns. I grabbed some, too. Ironically enough, we are usually the last house in the neighborhood with pumpkins. We can never bring them in when we are loading, since they would be included in the weight for the grocery store.


Maren, showing off the haul.


Allie help Kate up; Cousin Katie kept tripping on the long vines.

6 The Harvest has begun!

This week we began the great pumpkin harvest. One load down, countless more to come. Here is our poor farm truck with 4,000 pounds between the bed & trailer. I hope she lasts.


This picture is of the pumpkins in the tailor. Aren't they great!

2 Nate returned with goodies for his girls.

Nate & his brother Troy had the chance of a lifetime this month. They toured southern Mexico & Guatemala with an expert BYU professor. They got to see many ruins. Nate brought home an outfit for each of the girls & a bag for me, among other things. We all enjoyed our week apart, but were very happy to be reunited back at home. Nothing makes the heart grow fonder!

1 Kylies is growing by leaps & bounds

Marble Cat has finally accepted that Kylie is here to stay.

Here they are taking an afternoon nap together.
This week we started Kylie on rice cereal.
She is also a jummn' gal.

Kylie also discovered her feet this week!

3 Nate had a Brithday, shout "Hurray"!

Nate turned 31!

Here he is with his traditional strawberry cake. I love making a pink cake for my husband every year. He is definitely man enough for it!

6 Sisters having Tummy Time

I have been so memorized by the bond Allie & Kylie have. It is so fun to watch them interact.

side note: Allie has chocolate brown eyes, so I've never had to red-eye correct any of her pics, but Kylie has blue eyes & they are red in about every shot. Thank goodness for red-eye correction in my photo program.

4 We are taking the plunge

After a few years of debate, Nate & I have decided to just do IT...drop our home phone line in favor of two cell phones & a family plan. So, if you need to get a hold of us, you will need our new cell numbers (both new) but I'm not going to post them here ;) The land line will disconnect at the end of the month. Hopefully I'll have my snazy new phone (see pic) figured out by then. It is soooooo cool. I can dial & answer, but there is so much more. Can you believe that it is the FREE phone now? We did have to pay $9 to upgrade Nate's to black, since he didn't want pink.

NOTE: if you call our old home phone number after it is disconnected, you will get a message that tells you my new phone number

4 Kylie's first jumps

We put Kylie in the jumper for the first time tonight & she figured it out FAST! She jumped around for over a half hour before she started to fall asleep. What a cutie! She is such a happy baby. I love it when she sings, too. Kylie we love you!

0 Trip to the Zoo for Grandpa's Birthday

Click to play | Make your own Smilebox

1 Allie-Cat & cousins

Here is Allie looking like a million bucks dressing up at her cousin's house. I think she has a flare for fashion...don't you? She is having the time of her life playing hard with her Stafford cousins.

5 Up too late!

5 What else would we do on Sunday evening?

Sunday wouldn't be complete without a trip out to check on the pumpkin patches. Here is Allie & I with one of the many orange ones. It seems the extremely hot summer has them changing early this year. Hopefully, not too early.


I absolutely love the view of the Bear River bottoms from the farm. Last week we saw a pair of deer here. There are always hawks. Truely beautiful.


I just had to stop on our way home to snap this shot (well a few). It didn't rain, but the clouds were pretty dark. I'm thinking I want to someday take a photography class. I'm starting to really enjoy taking 'nature' shots. Maybe when the girls are a little older.

3 Sunday with the Schwartz Clan

This evening we went to Paul (Nate's brother) & Maho's home to celebrate several birthdays. Koji is three & Mika is one.

The 9 (of 12) Schwartz cousins that live in the valley - - Koji & Allie will be in the same grade
The 'big' cousins were busy TEXTing - - Kylie got lots of attention from Jordyn & Kaity

4 Kylie is such a happy baby

Here is a clip I took tonight at a family B-day party at Paul & Maho's home.
Cousin Kaity is holding her & Aunt Julie is helping to entertain.
The little girl behind Kylie is cousin Mika, who just turned one.
They will be in school together - hard to imagine since the age gap seems much larger right now.

This was taken with my regular camera, not a camcorder!