Keeping With Tradition

Even though we weren't able to do anything last year with being so busy working on our house, this year we were finally able to carry on our tradition from Idaho to attend a farm that has a corn maze and all kinds of other activities. On Friday the 18th we went to a place called Middleton Farms, which is located in Pasco. This place is just like Lowe Family Farmstead in Kuna, ID. Some things were different, but some things were the same or just like it. We met a couple of friends from our ward out there so we could hang out together (just like in Idaho). The Wingerts (except the mom, who wasn't able to come) got there the same time we did. The McShane's didn't show up until about an hour before closing because they had been working on their big pool project all day (the kids didn't have school that day). 

There were so many things to do, it's hard to keep track of what all we did. There were some big slides that the girls and I went down. I only did it once because it was bumpy and hurt my rear end. I later learned there were some pillows I could have sat on instead of the potato sack that I had. There were rubber duck races, ball throwing games, ziplines, tractor train rides, potato gun shooting, paint ball shooting, corn pit, straw pyramid, straw maze, petting zoo (which we didn't get to do), trike racing, bubbles, and fake steer roping. I'm sure I missed something but like I said there are a lot of things to do and we didn't get to all of them. We really wanted to try the bigger slides that you slide down on a tube with, but the line was too long to wait for it. They also have flower picking, where you can purchase a vase and fill it with flowers you pick. I didn't do that but saw other people doing it.

The Curtis and Jack did the trike racing with the Wingerts.

The girls climbed to the top of the pyramid while the boys did the trikes.

Their straw maze was BIG (as in tall). They had a shorter sized one in Idaho. I like this one better!

Found a little nook to take a picture in the maze.

Going for a quick little ride.

Charlotte going down one of the slides. This is not the type I went down. They had two others by these ones.

Alice going down the slide.

It's hard to see him but there's Jack.

Jumping on the big pillows.

Jack, Charlotte and Alice taking a ride on the ziplines. (left to right) Garrett watched with us.

Jack and Connor

Playing a game called Gaga ball. I had never heard of it before.

Alice getting pictures with the pumpkins.

Me and the girls

The map of the corn maze. It was Lightning McQueen (Cars) themed this year.

Big swing time!

Brother Wingert giving them a big push, which he probably shouldn't have because it wasn't really built for that.

It was hard to get a picture of this guy, and he wanted to sit away from us on the hayride.

Us on the hayride.

Apparently, this was a new attraction this year. Rope climbing.

Alice really wanted ice cream and we barely got some before they closed.

Charlotte had wanted fries but because we waited too long, they were out, and she had to settle for a corn dog. I tried a couple bites, and it was good! I will have to get myself one next year.

Our girls finally got together with the McShane's girls after they showed up.

Garrett didn't really want to be there for the first little while, but he loosened up after we went in the corn maze. He took off in the maze on his own and would run past us sometimes, with a smile on his face. He got out of there right before we did. He seemed to have a little more fun after that. I am bummed that we didn't get a family picture, but that's what happens when at least one teenager takes off with his friends and we don't see them most of the night. I need to learn to get it done right when we get there. Maybe next year. I also wish that the farm stayed open at least another hour because 8:00 was too early, even after we got there around 4:20. There's so much to do but not enough time to do it all, and it's too expensive to come back another day. But it was worth it and fun! And keeping with another farm tradition, I had to get some donuts. They only had big ones here, but they were apple cider donuts and so yummy! Can't wait for next year!

Competitions and Activities

I'm so happy I was able to do apples this year! I finished up with what was given to me the first week of October. Our neighbors gave us around 10 grocery bags full of apples total. With the apples I was able to make applesauce, apple chips, and apple pie filling. I hadn't done pie filling since 2011! (I know because I pulled out an old jar that had the info written on it). We have given a couple more jars of apple pie filling away since taking the picture below, but I think they look so good on the shelf in our pantry.

I was able to get 11 jars of apple pie filling, (we gave one away at this point). There would have been one more but that jar broke. We got 14 jars of applesauce (one had been eaten by us already when the picture was taken).

We got lots of apple chips. This is when I was finished but we had been eating some while I was making them. I just finished off eating the last apple chip yesterday. I might just have to buy some apples just for making more chips. They're a good healthy snack.

This month has been busy with band competitions. There was one every Saturday the first three weeks of October. The first one was here in Kennewick. The 2nd one was in Spokane and the third in Yakima. They did improve through the season, but Curtis and I felt that the show needed more to it to be able to get a higher score. They received 2nd place in Spokane in their division, but there were only two teams in that division. In Yakima they received 2nd place again in their division, but this time there were 4 teams. They also got best visual. It was fun to watch all of the bands perform, especially when we got to see Garrett's old high school band (Skyview) come to Spokane for that competition. We're glad the season is over this week, and we can relax a little more and get things done on Saturdays. 

As an added bonus, Jack was in a little side competition at the Cavalcade band festival in Kennewick. While the judges were tallying up scores, they did a little game where three people from each band came to march lines. They had to go from one white line to the next in the correct number of steps with their eyes closed or covered. Jack made it to the top three that won! It was fun to watch and I'm glad I got it on video.

He won some swag from the competition.

Beautiful sunset before a football game performance! The band was warming up.

Ready to perform in Spokane.

Our Aunt Vicki (Gaya's sister) and her husband Jeff came to watch with us in Spokane because they live there. It was so nice to have them there to support Jack. We hadn't seen them in a long time. They came and watched about 4 schools perform including ours before they had to leave for other family commitments. This is a big deal because they paid $40 to get into the competition. We're so grateful for them!

While we were in Spokane for the competition, the girls stayed home with Garrett, but then they had Sister Gale pick them up to attend a baptism for one of Alice's friends who is in our activity days group. I was so glad that Charlotte went along also. Alice is excited that it's almost her turn to get baptized.

Speaking of activity days. Our last activity was making fabric pumpkins. They turned out really cute! Sister Gale had sewed up the edges in a way that the girls just had to pull the threads together. They sewed one end and then stuffed it with a small bag of rice (for weight) and cotton. Then tied off the top around a stick and glued on some leaves and berries.

The girls with their pumpkins. I got a picture with them the next morning before they went to school.

Our ward had a fun activity that was family history related. Last Wednesday evening they did a chili cook off. Curtis signed up and he was so excited to do his smoked chili. They had 3 categories, "Mild", Medium" and "Wild" (spicy). His chili was a bit spicy, so we put it in the "Wild" category, and he won!  His chili got eaten so fast that he didn't get any of it. Next time we'll be making a double batch. I did get a small amount of it, and it was delicious! I also signed up to bring corn bread and I baked it into muffins so it would be easy to grab and go. My muffins were also one of the first corn breads to disappear. No awards were given for the cornbread though.

After we ate dinner, they had a small presentation where a few kids came up and talked about an ancestor and we all sang a song together. Then they had some activities. In the Young Women's room, there were a bunch of pumpkins that were donated by someone in the ward who has a farm. Everyone got to choose a pumpkin and draw something on it if they wanted. It was perfect timing because I was just telling Curtis that I wanted to make sure we got pumpkins this year. Then we got some for free at the activity! In the Relief Society room, they had a cardboard cutout of the Salt Lake Temple where you could get a picture with your face inside. They also had a family tree activity where they take a picture of themselves and see what relative or famous person they look like. I don't know if any of our kids did that activity. It was pretty popular, but I did get temple pics of 3 of them.

The people in charge of this activity sure had the right idea on how to get people to attend...food and activities! It was a hit!

Posing for a picture with our pumpkins from the activity.

Alice

Charlotte

Jack and his little buddy for the night, Walker.

And last but not least for this post, Garrett got to vote for the very first time! They do mail in ballots here in Washington instead of going in somewhere to vote. They do have specific drop boxes just for ballots, so we decided to drive our ballots over instead of chancing them in the mail system. Garrett was pretty happy to be able to vote. "Garrett Butterfield has voted" as they would say in Idaho. Let's pray the best people win for the positions voted on.

Birthday Weekend

Last weekend was busy with homecoming at the high school, working on the house (trim), watching the BSU game, and Garrett's birthday! While neither of the boys actually went to the homecoming dance, Garrett did dress up for black out Friday at school. He looked pretty snazzy!

He liked this outfit so much that he wore it to the football game that night when we went to go watch Jack perform with the band. We were sure we would leave early again because our team got creamed at the last home game, BUT our team played very well against Walla Walla, beating them 42-20! The band performed well also, having moved around on the field this time and playing their whole show for the first time for a crowd. They will have their first competition this coming Saturday right here in Kennewick.

The weather was perfect also!

I got a picture this time before the performance.

Not only did our band play well and the football team win, but because it was the homecoming game, they had a fireworks show immediately after. We had no idea they were going to do that. It was a fun night!

A shot of the finale' 

Garrett chose not to go to the homecoming dance on Saturday, but he invited his friend Connor over to hang out for a few hours and Jack hung out with some friends before coming back to watch the BSU game with us. BSU had a great game as well. Then Sunday was Garrett's 18th birthday! I hung up some decorations after the game Saturday night. The next morning I made the kids some waffles and eggs for breakfast. As soon as the boys left for church, the girls and I went out to place a large Happy Birthday sign in the yard so he would be surprised when we got home from church. These worked so much better than the balloon ones we did two years ago. He was definitely surprised and loved it. The boys went to make a ministering visit to some people and I got busy baking Garrett's cake and French bread. He asked for the apple cider donut cake again since he really likes it. And he also requested to have Lasagna for his birthday dinner. I made some French bread to go with it and bought a salad. 

After eating and doing our family scripture reading, we finally did the celebrating. Charlotte and I had the clever idea to hide a few presents in one bigger box so it would seem like he's not getting very much. He only wished for two items for his birthday, and we decided to put both of those items in another box together to go in the bottom of the big box, so he would open it last. He was starting to look worried after he had opened several gifts and none of them were the two items he wanted. I loved his reaction when he discovered the two gifts together (see picture below). It was great!

Getting home from church to a surprise in the yard.

They make some pretty cool candles and candle holders nowadays. The "18" were flashing colors. The big one in the middle opens up after being lit and plays a song and turns. You have to cut the wire for it to stop playing though! LOL

I had to get a shot with some of the decorations that were hung. Charlotte picked out the disco ball balloon.

Opening his card from Grandma Vernie and Grandpa Tony.

Alice made him a card too.

Charlotte picked out this nice soft pillow for his bed.

His reaction when he found the video game under the book. Priceless. 

A new Zelda game and a new Percy Jackson book. Both were just released last week, in time for his birthday.

We're going back in time it seems and got him a small cd player and The Eagles greatest hits cds. He also got the videogame, the book, a phone holder for the card, and of course the Reese's for the snack. 

We had to make him lift his hat up so we could see his eyes.

Enjoying some delicious cake. 

Happy birthday Garrett! He's excited to be in his senior year and almost done with school. He's also excited that he'll get to vote in the upcoming election. I can't believe we have two adult children now!

Apples, Weeds and Bites

Now that that trip to Nampa was over, I could work on apples again! Our neighbors have given us lots of apples and I've been busy making apple chips, applesauce and apple pie filling. I haven't done pie filling in about 15 years I think, when my oldest child was in grade school. It took a little time to get going on figuring it out, but it has been satisfying to get it accomplished!

My set up for making applesauce. Thank goodness for this KitchenAid mixer (thanks Laverne!) and the attachments (thanks Gaya!).

Cooking the apples so they're good and soft.

I got 6 jars of applesauce out of my first batch.

Time for apple pie filling!

I had made 6 jars but one of them broke during processing. I was able to save most of the filling from it and put it in the fridge to eat later.

Yum!

I also got some yard work done. I pulled out a bunch of weeds in the back corner of our yard. I didn't get to do as much as I was hoping because of the sprinklers but I got quite a bit, plus some vines that were growing up into the tree again.

Before

After

Charlotte's wounds are healing very well from her dog bites. The doctor said it took longer than she expected but is happy that they are all scabbing up. We were able to stop wrapping her arm during our weekend to Nampa. It wasn't until last week after her last doctor appointment that Charlotte's fears of dogs seemed to be more prevalent than I had thought. She was afraid to walk near the back fence or near the neighbor's house. She also got scared when we took Milo to the park the other day and saw some other dogs. She's on high alert, and for good reason. It was sad but also relieving that the owners did have their dog euthanized last Friday morning. After attacking Charlotte and then even the mom owner, they decided that was the best course of action. We just wonder what was going on with that dog to make him act that way. The vet said he was healthy. We're just glad we don't have to worry about Hamer attacking anyone else.

This is what they looked like after 3 weeks.