My Wonderful Husband

My Zachary came home from work on Saturday with a big surprise for me.

He told me to look out by the garage doors and this is what I saw...

Four perfect apple trees!

We had to cut down a walnut tree to clear the shade for our orchard spot.

Then I hauled it up the road, which was just as much as fun as planting the tree,

as you can see by the smile on my face.

It was a family event and everyone wanted to help.

My little man and Zach were the diggers.

The girls helped to get the water.

The first apple tree in the ground...it's a Zestar. 

The other three trees are SnowSweet. 

My wonderful husband braving the heat to plant the trees.

He works just as hard as Zach does.

Yes, that's sweat pouring down his head.

The kids love the apple trees.

They help water them daily.

And I have to keep reminding them that the two apples we have on the trees,

 aren't ready to pick yet.

I can't wait to see how much they grow in the next few years...

and the trees too.

Her Big Day

The kids and I prepped pots earlier this year to put our plants we were growing from seed.

Unfortunately, the plants that they started with grandma as a craft project, all died.

So we went to a local store and bought some heirloom tomatoes.

My little princess has two tomatoes on  her plant so far

and my oldest aren't ready to be picked yet.

This was an exciting moment for my little one.

What a big girl!  I'm so proud of her. 

We've already saved the seeds from her tomato to start new plants next year!

A Day at the Fair and after

We decided to meet up with some dear friends of ours for a fun day at the fair.

Luckily, this was when it was still cool.

Evie was in love with all the animals and not that timid about it either.

She got a bit close a couple of times.

Although, all the kids were wanting ice cream,

we got a treat that was just as fun...honey sticks.

They had so many flavors, but we ended up with regular, blackberry, and peach.

The kids that were willing to take a picture got to in front of a big tractor!

 The "fair day" harvest from our garden.

At the end of the day,

I managed to do up a batch of mustard beans from the Ball Canning Book.

It smelled delicious and tasted just as good.

Couldn't be Happier...

with my Peaches!

Ok, Ok, I thought I was only getting two(1/2 bushels),

but then I remember the family will want to eat some fresh too.

The way my family eats...I thought it would be best to go back and get another one.

 So I ended up with 3(1/2 bushels) for a grand total of 167 peaches.

The only challenge now was keeping the kids away until they're ripe.

My kitchen during the canning process.

Peach halves waiting to be processed.

Peach halves waiting to be put in water bath.

Peach slices getting ready to be made into pie filling.

End of day one: 12 quarts peach halves

8 freezer peach pie filling

End of day two: 14 quarts peach halves

9 quarts of peach pie filling

While I was busy working, the kids keep their hands busy as well.

They had a great time shelling the peas.

While we didn't have enough for a meal,

there was still enough for a spoonful a person.

Beans, Beans, the magical fruit

Well, after stock piling for a few days,

I managed to get enough beans for a large batch of a much loved favorite in our house...

Dilly Beans!

 I planted three different kinds of fresh eating beans this year:

Black Valentine

Golden Wax

Kentucky Wonder Bush

My favorite is by far the Black Valentine...

the best part about these is after I finish using the fresh beans,

I can let the others mature until they dry out and I will have cooking beans!

Here is the finished product...I can't wait to add them to the shelves.

My plan is to try a couple different recipes and come up with a favorite.

What could be the downside of that?

Patience

is a virtue that I definitely need to work on.

I couldn't even wait to take the picture

before eating a piece of cherry pie with Zach.

It was as delicious as it looks. 

 Thanks to my gracious friend, Diane,

for the two gallons of cherries(enough cherries for two more pies).

Our Vacation

Our trip to Washington Island was filled with many things this year...

 not only taking a ferry ride, but being able to steer it too...

Enjoying time together on the way to and from...

 Catching up with each other and swaping stories...

 And once we arrived on Island, we still went out on the boat to do some fishing...

Zach definitely caught the biggest...

Whereas I was just as happy to be along for the ride,

OK...OK...maybe I am a bit competitive and would have LOVED to catch the biggest,

but you can't win them all:)

We also celebrated a special little girls' 2nd birthday!

The other two kids decorated the cake for her...

She couldn't have had a better birthday...

We spent alot of our time in the water...

 Trying to figure out how to swim...

 And trying to catch some minnows...

 We shared many hugs...

 made many memories...

 and even got a chance for a couple of date nights...

 we had a few adventures...

 and had a wonderful time...

 We even got to be in the 4th of July parade...

and each of the kids earned their dollar by riding there bikes in it...

after we finished the parade,

we got a chance to sit down relax, eat popcorn, and wait for the fireworks...

We all had a wonderful time together and enjoyed another year up at the Island.

Nana and Papa,

we thank you from the bottom of our hearts

for making this vacation so wonderful and relaxing.

We love you and miss you already.

Especially me, because this years nana detox is a hard one:)

I think I might know why...