More Pictures from vacation

Ok, here's the last of the pictures from our vacation. These first ones are from the tea party, the next ones are from the 4th of July at the ranch, and the last ones are from the family reunion.

The afternoon of the tea party was a great time to just sit outside and relax. The food was great! And so was the company!
Gabe and Jonas really enjoyed playing together that week. Especially with the water guns.
It was great having Madi and Arden together for a few weeks.


Isn't Maren a cutie?

Gabe and Hannah were trying to play pool. Kind of hard with Maren sitting on the table! And then there's Gabe doing his impression of a thoughtful boy. Yeah.....right.

The family reunion was great, too. I think Miranda was a little out-numbered in this game, though.

As far as the kitchen and bathroom goes -- it goes. And goes. And goes. The man we hired to do the tough stuff only shows up once a week! Well, at least until this week. Finally he showed up for a few hours each day! The bathroom is now tiled in, and the moldings are on the cabinets. I will take more pictures soon and post them. Sara -- I found some old pictures (well, only 7 years ago). But, in order to post them, I need to scan them. When you have some time, will you let me come and scan them in? They are some great pictures of Madi, Arden and Les.

One more question. John is thinking of getting me a serger. We found some at Direct Buy, but we want your opinion of Singer and Brother machines. Also, what do sergers usually sell for?

It has been crazy around here. Madi has moved in to the "other" side with a bigger room and a little more feeling of her own space. Otherwise, we still have the refrigerator in our living room, and the stove is still in Gabe's room. But that's ok. He's still sleeping downstairs in the soon-to-be tv/computer room on the sleep sac. He's been down there since Arden got here. (Arden left us on the 18th of July -- we miss her.)

Well, I will do more catching up soon. I'll get some pictures of the garden as well as the remodeling updates. I have frozen 4 quart bags of green beans, bottles 4 pints of pickled green beans, and I still have 3 bags to go. I will be spending most of tomorrow morning blanching and freezing more beans. After last year's disappointing crop, we have really made a haul this year. There will still be more beans to pick soon. Gabe's sunflowers are well over 10 feet tall, and the potatoes are doing great. I can't wait for those! I love home grown reds.