A New Experience For Logan

So I need to blog about this so that we dont forget it. On Saturday the 21st, we had a Jacobson Family Rafting trip down in Hagerman. We werent going to take Logan down in the raft, but after everyone got back from the first trip down I thought, why not. So I will tell you why we shouldnt have. He was terrified the entire time. Matthew and I thought that he would have handled it a lot better than he did. This kid loves water, but apparently not rafting (yet). It took about an hour to float from start to finish and the entire hour he cried "OH NO", "OH NO", OH NO"! while he clung to my leg. Talk about a long hour. Oh my gosh, I think that we will be taking him rafting again when he is 16. However, he did good considering he isnt quite 2 yet. I am sure we will try again in a couple years. But I guess it is good to know that water like that scares him a little right now. The poor kid and the things his parents put him through. HEHEHE!

Historical Sites and Things

So we were close to come cool sites while we were camping and while a few of the guys were fishing Flint took the rest of us to see the sites.

One of the buildings in the Bonanza City Ghost town.

It was cool to read where everyone was from and how they died.

The fences were around all the known graves.

One of a few head stones that actually had a name. There definitely werent as many head stones as people that they had said had died. But it was fun to walk around a look. 

The company that used this it says were able to recover over $1,200,000 in gold over about 6,000,000 cubic yards of gravel. And it was purchased in 1939 and shut down in 1952.

This is a pretty amazing machine. It is amazing how people can even come up with things like this.

There was another ghost town that we drove through called Custer but I didnt get any pictures. We also drove up a mountain part way, so that we could look across at a working mine. It is just amazing how much history is around us that we dont even know about. I always want to go see all these big National Historical Sites, but it is amazing how many different historical sites are around Idaho and even close to home that I have never seen. I guess the lesson for me is that there is history all around me and all I need to do is open my eyes. It was just pretty cool to see.

Jacobson Camping Trip 2010

Seeing as how we didnt do a Jacobson camping trip last year, this was Logans first official camping trip. Matt and I had been looking forward to it ever since we talked about having one, and Logan I dont think really understood when we told him that we were going camping. We were pretty sure that he was going to have a blast, seeing as how he could live outside everyday of his life and be okay. This was going to be an awesome experience. All Jacobson activities are fun so there was no doubt that we were all going to have a good time.

This was everyone hanging out after getting camp all set up. The red thing was water, which was way nice to have water right in our camp. And the wall tent was our kitchen. It was a really nice set up.

This was our tent that we slept in. I was hoping to get a picture of all of us laying on the bed, but it didnt happen.

All the kids loved the water and would wait until someone would come and crank on the handle so that they could play in the water.

Sittin around the fire on the chilly mornings.

Slavin away in the kitchen.

Logan wouldnt just sit still and warm up by the fire, he just wanted to be down and running around. His little hands and nose were freezing and he didnt care.

We had to take four-wheelers, so that we could enjoy the beautiful

scenery. And all the kids loved to sit and play on them as well as

go for rides.

My two wonderful boys. I sure LOVE 'em.

Our First Family Camping Picture

It sure was a lot of fun. I think everyone had a fun time, and I cant wait to see where we go next year. We went up past Stanley this year, and the guys were able to go fishing and they caught quite a few fish. We went on four-wheeler rides, played games, talked and hung out, ate tons of great food and just enjoyed being together as a family. I just love family adventures like this. Thanks Flint and Lisa for putting it together and thanks everyone for making it such an enjoyable experience.

Logans First Camping Experiences:

1. The first night was kind of a weird one for him. It was different for him to be sleeping in a tent and we had a slight breeze that kept blowing the tent and I think it kind of freaked him out a little. He just wouldnt go to sleep and he was overly tired, seeing as how he only got like a 30 min nap on the way up. I couldnt get him to calm down, even by laying by him, and he kept screaming "DADDY", so I got Matthew to come lay down by us and he still wouldnt stop screaming. So I know that he loves to say his prayers at night and get all exciting. So I said Logan lets say your prayers and he folded his arms and calmed down, so we said a little prayer and the minute I was done he started screaming again. So I had Matthew say a prayer for us (a really long prayer) and he finally allowed himself to fall asleep. Thank goodness for PRAYERS :)!
2. I didnt get a picture of this but Lisa did, so I am going to have to get it from her. Anyway the entire time we were there Logan had a piece of licorice in his hand. I mean pretty much about every minute of everyday. He LOVED it and I figured that we were camping so I didnt care. One morning he couldnt get the lid off because someone had put it on too tight (shame on whoever did it), so he came walking out of the kitchen tent with the big tub of licorice. It was pretty cute.
3. He wouldnt sit still, even in the mornings when it was cold. He just wanted to run and enjoy being outside. Although he fell quite a bit and all I thought I heard the entire time was him crying. He enjoyed it. I know that he would have loved to have stayed there forever. I sure have a Nature kid.
4. Matthew took him down to the water that was across the road and down a little slope. He kept throwing rocks in the water and when it was time to go he said BYE-BYE to the water. What a cute kid.
5. Poor Grandpa took him on a little four-wheeler ride, and at some point on the ride he fell asleep. All I can say is he is a pretty heavy kid when you have to hold all his dead weight.

CAMPING WAS A BLAST!!!!!

More Canning

I have to admit that I am not that thrilled to can this year. Not exactly sure why but I think it might have something to do with me being pregnant.Or the fact that the first things that I have canned have taken a lot of time and have pretty much exhausted me. The first being the 82 pints of beans and the second being a new project of canning potatoes. I ended up canning 35 quarts of potatoes which is quite a long process, and it sure better have been worth it or I wont repeat it again next year. But I dug up two rows of our potatoes (one red and one golden), and got 35 quarts, which wasnt too bad seeing as how we still have a row of reds left to enjoy the rest of the growing season. I was however glad that my sister was out here to help me with this long and drawn out process. So we had this huge pile of potatoes to scrape the skins off and then we had to pressure can them at a pressure of 12 for 40 minutes, which I thought that I was going to die through. 40 minutes was such a long time and I thought that 20 minutes with beans was long but it was nothing compared to the potatoes.

I am starting to hate this thing. But it sure is nice to have my

food storage starting to fill back up.

Potatoes: They turned out pretty good I think.

Almost all of the jars for us to enjoy this up coming year.

The 12 Quarts I canned for my mom.

She better appreciate all our hard work,

which I am sure she does. Love ya mom!

So I guess that I had better change my attitude soon, because canning has just started around here. I have tons left to do. Next will be 3 (22lb) boxes of peaches and 5 (22lb) boxes of pears. I am doing one box of each for my mom and for my dad and Cyndi and then the rest for us. Then hopefully we will get some tomatoes soonish so that I can can pizza sauce and tomatoes. Then I have carrots to pressure can (should be my last thing) and then I am going to freeze some of our corn. And hopefully I dont get talked into canning anything else this year, but you never know. So heres to hoping that my attitude changes soon, because it is going to be a long road ahead if I dont :)!

The Name Game

So I get the Parenting magazine at my house for free, or at least they keep saying finally notice, but i keep getting it. I havent subscribe to it so I just open it and read it. This months issue had this interesting little article called The Name Game. It tells some of the baby-naming customs from around the world and I thought that it was interesting. So I thought that I would share it.

Germany

You need government approval before naming a child, and officials can veto monikers that dont clearly indicate the baby's sex (like Riley) or that could possibly subject the child to teasing or harm.

Ukraine

Many leave the naming decision up to their priest. Although parents can suggest ideas, the priest gets the final say at a ceremony eight days after the birth.

Nigeria

Among the Ibo people, baby-naming is a group activity; At a feast, the father, mother and grandmother all take turns suggesting names. Guests contribute too; and afterward, the household debates the options.

Kenya

As newborns, babies are given a name that describes their appearance. They have to wait 40 more days for their "adult" name, which is chosen by their parents.

China

Traditionally, babies have to wait a month until the family hosts a naming ceremony. Instead of using their real name, parents often go with a "milk" name or an undesirable nickname to ward off evil spirits.

India

Parents dont choose a childs name before shes born, since what the stars say about the birth date is a big influence.

In my words:

U.S.A

The parents have every right to chose the babys name for themselves. The only problem being that one or both parents cant agree because one of them knew or knows of someone who has that name or has used that name. And it just cant be used again. So naming a child can definitely be a difficult task and can take until the baby is born or a few days after.

So glad that we are able to make simple choices like baby-naming for ourselves. I just think it would be weird to have someone else name my child or to have to have a big ceremony to decide on one. Glad that I live in a country where we still enjoy simple freedoms.

A Few Days of Big Projects.

So last Friday, Aug 6th, my mom and I went and picked three 5 gallon buckets of garden beans. We were lucky to find a local farmer who was willing to let us go pick them for free. I was hoping to get some from my garden but after two failed attempts of planting them, they look pretty weak and I am not sure we will even get a single bean from the plants that remain. So we got up and headed out to pick them. It took about maybe an hour to an hour and a half to pick.

Then she had to leave and go to Boise so I was going to be on my own canning all these beans by myself. I was kind of depressed about doing all this work by myself. But luckily my sister said that she would come and help me, because she wanted to learn how to do it and she just wanted to hang out with me and Logan. I will say that I really appreciate all her hard work in helping me with the beans and with Logan :)! So we sat and snap beans for a while and then got them washed and put in the jars. We sure had a good little helper to help wash the beans and play in the water.

He loved it and for those of you who dont know, this kid loves the water, especially playing in the sink. He helps Grandma Jake with her dishes even when she really doesnt need or want his help. He always pushes a chair up to our sink and plays for a while just filling a cup and dumping it into another dirty dish. So this was the perfect job for our little helper.

Although there was two of us working on beans it sure took us forever. We started at 8:30 am and finished at 11:00 pm. So about 14 hours of nothing but straight canning beans. This sure was a long day. It took forever because we had only one pressure canner and it took about over an hour for the pressure to come down between each batch. YUCK!!! I will have to say that it was well worth it, but I had to convience myself that it was. I really over did it and it took me the next two days to recover from it. But I am glad to say that we were able to get 82 pints (of which I was able to bring home 60). I am so glad that I only have to can beans one day a year. So until next year :)!

Nothing better than home canned green beans!!!

The start of getting my food storage stocked for this year!

My next big project I did today. I had a few hours because both Matthew and Logan are asleep so I decided that I needed to weed my garden. It was starting to look like a weed patch and I wasnt sure what was growning in it any more. And I absolutely hate when my garden is weedy, so it was definitely time to do some well needed work. I enjoy weeding because it is really relaxing for me to be out in the garden. So here is our lovely garden:

Finally a garden and not a weed patch :)!

So we planted and replanted 8 cucumber plants and this is the only sad little guy that we have left. So I am sad to say that I will not be canning pickles this year. I guess I have a lot of learning on how to grow cucumbers to do. So I will try again next year.

Not sure what is going on with my carrots but hopefully we will get some to can this year.

Peppers

Potato Patch

Sad looking green beans. (Matt doesnt want me to pull them).

First patch of tomatoes.

Second patch of tomatoes.

Yummy Corn

So overall I cant complain about our garden. Most everything is looking great and we are going to hopefully have a good canning season. Some stuff will have to wait until next year. But thats okay.

Now I cant wait until next week. My sister will be here and I have several projects that she is going to help me with. So I will have more projects to report on. Loving that I am keeping myself busy but somedays it takes it toll on me. But the life of a wife and mother, theres nothing better :)!

Almost 2!

So Logan will officially be 2 on September 10th. I just cant believe how fast the time has gone. He sure is a joy to have around. I love that I am able to stay at home with him. I love all the fun times that we have together. He is just changing so much everyday. As I have gone through some of his pics I cant believe just how much he has changed.

6 Months

1 Year

18 Months

I have loved all the stages that we have gone through. I believe they are all helping me develop patience. I just cant see life without him. He is just so full of life and is truly ALL boy. He is just so active that I dont even come close to having enough energy to keep up with him. He is constantly climbing on things, throwing things, and he loves to wrestle (thanks to Daddy). He is talking up a storm. He can copy pretty much anything you say when he isnt being lazy. Although the words arent 100% clear, I can make out most of them. I have loved these past 23 months and I cant wait for all the months and milestones to come. We have truly been blessed with a wonderful little boy.

We love you Logan!!!!!!

Good Deals

So the other day I got to have a allowance to go to Once Upon a Child and look for some clothes for Ashlee. Seeing as how we have absolutely no clothes for a little girl, I think that I will get lots of trips to go find some good deals. Well last week they had a sale of 15 items for $10 or $1 and item. So I looked through everything and found some great items.

I got:

10 Onesies

3 pairs of shorts

2 T-shirts

1-Jacket

4- Little Dresses

1- Fancy Dress

2- Pairs of Pjs

1-Sweat Outfit

24 items for $29, I got all but three outfits on the clearance rack.

Just some of the other random things for Ashlee.

I promise that I wont blog about every shopping trip I have or all the outfits I get. I just needed something to blog about because I havent posted for a while. I am just excited to get good deals and cute clothes :)!