Life is never boring...

Dave hiked Mt. St. Helens on September 17, 2009. The dome that has started growing again.

A beautiful view front the top of Mt St. Helens looking at Mt. Hood.

I think this one is of Mt Rainer.

This one he caught a bird in flight but the slope is shown really well here. It is still all ash.

Just another really cool view.

This is looking Northeast from the summit of Mt. St. Helens at the crater it left after it erupted on May 18, 1980. (Dave's Birthday, it was a big event!)

Life is never boring... Let's see last week Dave climbed Mt St Helens. He had a great time and pushed himself farther than he should have but still really enjoyed it. He got some great pictures.

His car broke down when getting ready to come home, so he called me to come and help him out. He called from someone elses cell phone because he didn't have reception. I could barely hear him when he was telling me what car part he needed and where he was. I was given a lot of help from Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ that night...

So I made it to the store picked up the car part and drew myself a horrible map of where he was. He took all of the good ones. :) I left my kids at my sister in laws (prompting that I almost didn't listen to) and headed up to get him. I got about 1 1/2 miles from him and my car broke down. I sat there wondering what on earth I could learn at 11pm on the back side of Mt St Helens. I learned that I would do whatever the Lord would ask I just didn't want to do it alone. I prayed that I would not feel alone. As scared as I was of not finding my husband or anyone else for that matter again I was never alone. I felt like my dad and others were helping me the entire way. I got about 1/2 way to him and a car came and drove right around me screaming that I needed help. It was like she didn't even see me. I then got a little teary-eyed but kept on walking and calling out for help. I finally got to camp, unknowingly because it was so dark, there wasn't a moon out that night. I can't believe I made it up the dark road without getting lost. I called for help just outside of camp and a million (5 or 6) people came running. They helped me find Dave and we finally got his car started. We drove down to mine and couldn't get it started, so we left it there. Until the next day when Eric helped us get it. I have learned a lot from the experience. I won't ever leave home without a flashlight again! :)

Back to School

I can't believe summer is over and school has begun. It started a little late this year because Labor Day ended up later than usual. We always start school the Wednesday after Labor Day. This year was a big year for us, Kim started 2nd grade and our baby Ladybug started Kindergarten.

They were so excited for school that they packed their backpacks a week before school started. They had their outfit picked out 3 days before. Hadley set out outfits for the whole week on Monday (Labor Day). The girls are getting so big.

This year Kim had Mrs. Paveglio as a teacher. She really enjoys school so far (it has only been 3 days) Kim knows so many of the adults at school it is quite humorous. The first day all she did was say "Hi" to all of the staff. She enjoyed seeing her friends again but mostly the adults. She has already had homework! She got it the first day!

Hadley has Mrs. Bacon as her Kindergarten teacher. She is in the AM class so she walks to school with Kim and Dave. Hadley is adjusting really well to school. The other day she mentioned something to do with her folder that she had to take back and I gave her the strangest look. It hadn't really set in that she was in school. Which by the way is really difficult to get used to.

The first day I cried when Hadley had to go to class. She started crying then Mr. Howard (the Principle) had to come and get her because I was having such a hard time with it. (Mr. Howard is sticking his head in the classroom after sending Hadley in to make sure she was okay.) My baby started school. Sniff Sniff, they had tissues for all the parents who were cry babies like myself. Dave of course was very nonchalant about the whole thing. He didn't get why I was crying.

Hadley made it through her first day! She loved it and talks of nothing else.

It was really different this year verses Kim's Kindergarten year, because with Kim it was a new experience for her and me both. It was nostalgic because she was the oldest, but this time it was sad because I realized that we were done with kids at home during the day. The nap times, diapers, preschool, learning how to walk, talk, and play are all memories now. But now we have friends, after school activities, homework, summer time, teachers and most of all learning. I love to watch the girls learn to read.

After school we went hiking up to Angel's Rest by Multnomah Falls. It was a 5 mile hike round trip and the elevation change was pretty dramatic. The girls made it all the way to the top with only minimal whining. They did really well.

We had some great views.

Dave pointed out about where we live.

We had some fun snacks.

We found a great rock that looks like "Pride Rock" from Disney's the Lion King. Kim is our lion in this picture. It was really neat how the rock just landed almost level like a table.

The girls decided to take a little nap before heading back down. We had a great time but were really tired by the time we got back home.

Garden and Canning

We have been very busy this summer with gardening. Our stake president asked that all of us grow a garden if possible. They plowed up part of the stake center field to allow people to plant if they didn't have a yard or the ability to plant anywhere else. We joined the Hazel Dell Elementary School Garden Club and had already picked out a plot behind the school. Our house backs up to the school so it is really close. We planted carrots, onions, sugar peas, basil and lots of pole beans. So far we have had over 8 quarts of beans from the plant and 6 onions have been ready. The girls like the carrots the best, they always pick one when we go to harvest or weed. I know we have been blessed because we followed the stake president's instructions.

At our Back to School Night Garden Party, the big topic was my bean plants. I had Master Gardeners ask me what I did to get such a beautiful plant. I laughed because all I did was mix some sand into the compost that was already there and plant the beans. As you can see from the picture it is bigger than Hadley.The other day I went out and picked over 4 quarts in one day. I have been freezing them to preserve them but they are really good.

We have also taken the opportunity to can fruit. Jenn and I decided we were going to can fruits this summer so we started with peaches and pears. We had lots of little helpers enjoying the fruits of our labor. We canned about 24 quarts of peaches and 24 quarts of pears for each of us. Then Jenn canned apple pie filling with a friend from her ward. I will do mine in a week or two. (Their recipe is terrific!) I couldn't stop eating it. :)

Our latest canning experience was tomatoes. We canned over 160 pounds of tomatoes. I canned 40 pounds of stewed tomatoes, which only yielded 16 quarts. We canned the rest into salsa. Jenn talked me into canning "Thick and Chunky" salsa instead of the ever easy blender salsa. And I am very grateful she did. I love it! We took several recipes and made Kann Salsa (stands for Katie and Jenn) We ended up with 71 quarts of salsa. So needless to say both of us are exhausted!

If you are interested in recipes just let me know and I would love to send them to you. So all together this summer we have canned over 300 pounds of fruit! By the way tomatoes are considered a fruit.