Millions of Peaches

So we canned peaches again this year. But it was less exciting and more of a hassle. I think this makes 3 years in a row. And each year we can more and more...I hope this trend doesn't keep happening. And it seems like the early alberta (a type of peach) is ready later and later in the year . . .or maybe this is just my skewed perception?

(Mom, thanks for letting me use the steamer)

We also had a few issues with a jar breaking and sugar getting cooked all over everything. And a REALLY smokey house. But boil some peroxide and it really helps (over time).

Does anyone know the physics behind this picture?


This is my take, (and could be completely wrong):
The air is getting pushed/sucked out because of the heat . . . if this is the case, then why does so much liquid come out too? Because the outside of the air bubbles are made of of the liquid? But still that seems like a lot . . .

We had a lot of jars come out with a less liquid than anticipated.



Jon was wonderful and we stayed up one night til 12:30 to finish the peaches as they were getting too ripe. . . we weren't exactly able to finish them . . .but we got them all in jars. Since it takes like 30-40 mins (from turning the burner on to turning it off) to steam each batch (8 jars). I did that the next day-this is not recommended as it leaves brown spots where air is touching the peaches. I really really really appreciate the help!

This year, I bought an extra box of jars and good thing-we got 30 jars. One broke during the steam, one didn't seal, and we were missing a jar to begin with.

This is the tutorial I follow. It is pretty simple-just time consuming. The first year I canned all by myself, the second year I canned half by myself, and this year I only canned one batch (8 jars) by myself. I watch Friends or Gilmore Girls when I can by myself. It can be done alone, but I prefer to have help.

Then I made sure we left some peaches out so I could make freezer jam. We got 2 batches of peach freezer jam.


We are excited to have this fruit during the cold winter months!

Random Stuff

A month ago or so we did some more stuff on the house. Jon painted the shutters on the outside of the house, and we painted the front door.

They used to be a forest green type color. We bought this paint about a year ago. I personally wish the color was a bit darker maybe more gray but it still looks nice and you can't beat a coat of fresh paint.



Painting the door was a HUGE hassle. Jon roughed it up with a wire brush, then started to paint it while it was still on the hinges. The first coat when on great. Then Jon painted the shutters and came back to the door. The paint was dry, so he started on the second coat. But it seemed like the second coat of wet paint "reactivated" the first coat, which started to sag under the second coat, as we tried to fix it and leave no brush strokes it was not successful. So we hurried and took the door off the hinges and scraped off all the wet paint and sanded it down so we could reapply the paint and get it on the hinges again before the end of the day, at this point it was already 4p. I called my dad for suggestions. He said there are roller sponges for smooth surfaces. So Jon went to get one of those, and it worked soooooo much better! He just did one coat and there was a fine grain on it. But it is much much much better. We were able to get the door up before the end of the day . . .but what an ordeal!

We also replaced a few more light fixtures.

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Zac started preschool and it really likes it.


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Max eating pudding. I can't remember if I have given an update on him lately, but here is a quick one. He has reflux but the medicine is working great and he is gaining weight. He is also making more sounds and can say some words/phrases, which for the most part only we can understand: ball, more, water, flower, bubbles, cheese, eat, where go, love you, amen, outside, cracker, cookies, car, book,...


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Jon taking his weekend nap, while Zac watches a movie


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On Memorial Day we went to the BYU Women Soccer game


It sure was hot! So Jon occasionally dumped water on the boys' heads.

Zac's 4th Birthday

Zac's birthday was a few weeks ago and we just wanted to do something simple this year. The last 2 years we did a party and with friends and all. But since I have been overloading myself lately, I tried to keep it more low key. We had family over and just did a fast BBQ with a simple funfetti cake, and chocolate cupcakes.



This year I had been thinking about Zac's birthday early, and buying a toy here and there. He has also been getting really bored of the toys he currently has so I was looking for different things. And it really added up and was more than I anticipated. But he loved what he got and plays with it all the time.

He had started to pretend he was a cook or a baker or a restaurant owner.


Rachel got him Wall-e stuff and he loves it. And Lexie and her BF got him Wall-e the movie and we watched it at least 7 times a week that first week ;)


Nani and Papi got him some Bob the Builder stuff to cuddle with.


These are all his goodies. We got him kitchen play pretend stuff. A microwave (there is one at the pediatricians office and he plays with it the whole time, every time we go.) And some Melissa and Doug brand food stuff. We were at a friend's house and they had a food chopping kit, and he really liked it, so we got one for him too. And a sandwich making kit, and a grocery register. He loves to ring people up . . . And a buzz light year, and buzz bubble blower, and soccer net.


Love this little RC Wall-e


And Grandma and Papa Munk got him a build-a-bear doggie. It was his first time going there. In fact, he didn't even know what that store was before. (It made going to the Mall easier for me :)

Happy Birthday Zac!

Meal Ideas

Calling all meal ideas!

My friend, Shelly, and I decided we would share our meal list to help making planning meals easier. Here's my list. I would love comments on what your families' favorites are too!

Spaghetti with spicy bacon marinara (I just put butter, salt, and parmesan on the noodles for the kids)
Tuna casserole
Hamburgers (Rachael Ray has tons of different recipes to make the meat tastier)
Potato bar
Honey BBQ chicken
Tacos-soft, hard, toastadas, soup
Parmesan crusted pork chops
Pot roast
BBQ pizzas
Hawaiian haystacks
Steaks
Chef Salad
Bowtie caesar salad with chicken (like the Pizza Factory)
Marinated grilled chicken
Stir fry
Shepherds pie (generally I hate this...but I really like our recipe)
Breakfast-eggs, hashbrowns, bacon, pancakes, french toast, waffles (any combination of this)
Lemon artichoke risotto
Sweet black bean and chicken burritos
Bean, cheese and beef burritos
Ham steaks and mashed potatoes
Lasagna (Thanks for the recipe Shelly, we love it and so easy!)
BBQ hot dogs/brats
Creamy ranch or italian chicken
Minestrone
Italian chicken stew
Garlic rosemary chicken
Turkey chili
Chicken continental
Nachos
Chicken Divan

I haven't been cooking regularly lately . . . but I think these were all of the dinners.

What do you make?

And so it Begins . . .

living in a household with boys . . .

(Again, posting out of chronological order. I have a few posts that will be back posts. But I wanted to share this with Jon in pictures, so I didn't want to wait . . .)

This darling little boy (pictured below) is sure going to be a handful. Zac is pretty good about not climbing all over things. But this little guy doesn't care or think about the consequences. While sitting in his booster seat Max likes to put his feet up on the table and push himself away. Yesterday, while sitting at the table he did the same thing, but pushed too hard. I couldn't grab the seat in time so it fell backward and Max hit the back of his head on the ground. Poor kid, but he recovers fast.


This morning about 15 mins before I needed to take Zac to preschool, I had to make a pit stop. I, like many, like my privacy. So the bathroom door was closed . . .which creates the problem of no bathroom cabinets for the boys to go through. They always have to wait for me as close as possible which was in the same room.

After 1.75 mins of them discovering me in the bathroom, and being told to not open the door, I hear a huge crash **thinking, ok there is a mirror behind the dresser, but they can't get to that . . . I bet my jewelry box fell off, not knowing specifically how that could have happened, I hesitated . . .no crying, good, no one is hurt** Then I hear Zac's elevating panic screech (when stressed he looses vocabulary) while he is banging on the door, and I didn't hear Max. . . Full panic mode hit me (my heart is just racing thinking about it) I did what I could to get out of the bathroom in 2 seconds. The dresser had fallen over forward; all the drawers had mostly slid out. I didn't see Max.

Adrenaline took over and I grabbed the side of the dresser and threw it off of the drawers. Then I looked for Max. He was under 2 drawers that were face down on him. He still didn't cry. I tossed the drawers off and picked him up. He was just fine. No bruises or scratches to be seen. He was a little scared . . .but recovered quickly . . .

(Cleaning up the jewelry was NOT fun!)

Luckily, the mirror didn't break . . .

But the bed did . . . .






Zac told me Max was opening and closing the drawers and that is why it fell . . .I have a hard time believing that alone would cause the whole thing to fall . . .

I've been wanting a NEW bedroom set!! ;)

Dave got his mission call!

Brazil Londrina, reporting to the Brazil MTC on Dec 30.
Congratulations Dave!

I still need to post about Zac's bday a couple weeks ago, and Jon's hike to King's Peak . . .

Back Posting

For those who actually come to the blog page. There are 4 + 3 new back posts before the "Wedding Pics?" post.

We've had a busy week and will try to get caught up next week, with a few more posts.

Elder Kolb, you will probably need to print them off to be able to read them all. . .sorry it took so long to post. I hope you are getting over the flu quickly! We love you!!