We be Jammin or Not...

Last week I took the girls raspberry picking hoping to gather enough raspberries to try making a batch of raspberry jam. The girls started out strong and Kenzie is always game for anything that involves food. Of course getting her to actually pick the berries and put them in the basket and not her mouth was whole 'nother challenge.

Becca quickly lost interst in picking and didn't even want her picture taken. I used bribery to get her to continue picking and took her picture anyway. Such fine parenting skills, eh?

Back at home I attempted my first jam session .....

And failed. The jars look really pretty and all the lids sealed properly but the jam itself didn't set so what I have is raspberry sauce which, I quickly discovered, is a good thing. It is yummy over ice cream and we plan on trying it over pancakes and waffles next. I will attempt to make jam again but for now I will enjoy the fruits of my labor.

Lots of Visiting

This weekend was full of visits with family. Saturday evening was spent at a cookout at my uncles house where we got to visit with my cousin Tracey and her daughter Caitlin. Caitlin is the same age as Mackenzie and all three girls hit it off very well, diving right into making Fairy Houses together. Silly me though didn't get any pictures of the three of them.

Sunday my niece arrived with her husband Micah and their daughter Abby. We also got a visit from Mark and Ellen who were out house hunting and will soon be moving back to the area. Very exciting! It was of course Abby who stole everyone's attention without even trying but how can you resist this face?

Abby found Kenzie and Becca very entertaining.

Enjoying the swing.




Swinging with the big girls

Good friends, Good Fun

Earlier this week we had a great visit with our good friends the Child family from Colorado.

They were able to spend the night with us which gave us a great opportunity to catch-up and hang out since it has been awhile since our last visit. The sun actually came out on Monday so we were able to take them out on the boat and have a nice little cruise around the lake.

Back at the house we had homemade sausage and a campfire with s'mores and sparklers. Due to several Star Wars fans we even fit in a lightsaber fight, though I won't say wether it was the big kids or the little kids who enjoyed that more!