I am so ready for fall!  I love the fall season.  I am about done with garden stuff.  The weather is changing, and I love the cool, crisp nights.  One thing I don't love though is the sinus and allergy stuff that comes with it.  I suffer from this year round, but spring and fall are worse times for me.  Even Jeff is having issues, and he doesn't usually.  Oh well, I guess we will keep pushing through it. 

I went to an apple orchard the other day, and while it was on the expensive side, it was so nice to go, and I am hoping to go back.  (Hopefully, with Caleb)  They had apples to purchase, as well as peaches, and other nice garden produce.  They allow you to pick the apples yourself on Saturdays and Sundays.  I think the price for that is $1.30/pound  Here is a link to their website: http://www.thierbachorchards.com/  The pre-picked ones are $18/peck.  I bought 3 pecks, and thought I spent enough!  On my way home, I stopped at another farm that had fruits and veggies for sale, and cleaned out their supply of apples and pears.  Yesterday, Caleb and I made applesauce.  (3 canners full!  2 were pints, and one was quarts)  Caleb tried it out and thought it was "awesome"!  He had 3 bowls of it!  I also made apple pie filling (like the kind that comes in a can).  I froze 9 containers of this to use as a filling for crepes, w/caramel sauce and nuts.  I also use this for a pork chop dish that I make.  It's very easy-just brown pork chops, and put into a 9 x 13 pan.   Spoon the apple filling over top.  Next spread stuffing mix, or I make my own.  Bake for about 30 minutes.  That's it.   

I also made another 14 quarts of veggie juice.  I had already made some, but a lot of it is gone.  I plan to use this for chili, and other soups.  I have discovered that it makes a pretty tasty Bloody Mary as well!  Some other things that I have canned this summer are: pepper jelly, salsa, garden relish, whole tomatoes, black bean and corn salsa.  I have also frozen corn, peas, zucchini, and have ready-made apple pie stuff frozen-I mix the apples, flour, sugar, and cinnamon.  Later, when we want pie, I thaw it out and pour it into a pie shell that I have made, and bake it.  It's pretty fast, and yummy!  Hopefully someone will enjoy the "fruits of my labor" this winter! 

Jeff and Jerry are getting things ready for harvest, that should be happening soon.  They took the truck that caught on fire last winter, and got parts from another one, and combined the two into a "new" truck.  They painted it red, and it should be about ready to roll soon.  Jeff is still working on detail stuff like seats, etc.

Summer is flying by!  I have only been on one float trip this summer.  :(  It was just a day trip, but it was fun.  There has just been too much going on to coordinate schedules.  I hope to get in at least one more before fall is here.  I just can't believe it's already August!  I have been busy canning and freezing garden goodies.  We had a pretty good potato and onion harvest this year.  I have already frozen corn and peppers.  I have also  canned pepper jelly, salsa, and whole tomatoes.  Hopefully soon, I will get enough green beans to can.  Today I hope to make more pepper jelly. 

We had a long vacation this summer.  It was exciting to see so many new things, but I was very homesick, and was very happy to get back home.  We put over 3,000 miles on my car in a week's time.  We started out very early in the morning, and drove through parts of Kansas, and on to South Dakota.  We spent our first night in Mitchell, SD.  We camped the first night, but it wasn't much fun b/c it was way too windy to have a campfire, and there were these little black bugs that bite.  We decided to go out to dinner, rather than fight them.  We came back to our tent, and went straight to bed, b/c standing around or doing anything outside of the tent was not a good idea due to these vicious bugs.  I don't know what they are, but I am very glad we don't have them here!  We did go to the corn palace before dinner.  It was pretty exciting for Jeff, but not so much for me.  It was neat to see the art work, but it seems like they really hyped it up.  The next day, we went to Wall Drug in Wall, SD.  Again, I wonder about all of the hype.  There were bunches and bunches of signs building it up, but we didn't get to see very much b/c it was too crowded.  We bought a few things and moved on.  We decided to go through the badlands, which took more time than Jeff wanted, but it was worth it.  We agreed that we were glad we went.  It was amazing to see, and left us both speechless.  We stayed outside of Hill City, SD.  The first night was in a cabin, and the second night was tent camping.  This city is close to Crazy Horse mountain, and also close to Mt. Rushmore.  We went to Crazy Horse the first night, and the next day went through Custer State Park, and then to Rushmore.  This area is so beautiful!!  We saw lots of wildlife on our trip, including pronghorns, mule deer, bison, elk, and even a bear.  We took the beartooth pass, which is a scenic highway.   We both loved it, although it was extremely curvy.  Jeff & I stayed across the border into Montana in a town called Silver Gate.  It seemed very isolated.  I thought there would be more to see and do there, but not so much.  We stayed in a cabin that was kind of unique.  Jeff & I decided it was one of the quirkiest places we had stayed.  You had to use the bathroom in a shared shower house.  The doorway was short enough that even I had to duck my head to go in.  It seemed like the whole building was leaning, which was pretty unsettling.  We headed into Yellowstone the next morning bright and early, hoping to see wildlife.  After spending most of the day there, we wandered into the Grand Teton Nat'l Park, and ended up in Jackson Hole, WY.  We noticed some places refer to it as Jackson, and others call it Jackson Hole.  We were confused about this, and still wonder what the difference is.  From here, we travelled to my sister's house in Ft. Collins, CO.  The next day, we went on to Kansas and stayed one last night there, before driving the rest of the way home.  We had originally planned this trip so we could see Lena, who was supposed to be working in Billings, MT for the summer.  Her plans fell through when her visa was denied, so we didn't get to do that, but thought we would go ahead and keep the other plans.  We are hopeful she will get to come next year, and will probably plan our vacation around wherever she ends up.  It should be interesting!

Jeff has big plans for two thresher's shows.  One is in Montgomery City, and the other is in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa.  He has joined the membership for the one in Montgomery City, and will be showing several of his toys.  For some unknown reason, he also signed me up for that membership.  Good grief....Megan, Josh, & Caleb will be joining us in Mt. Pleasant, so Caleb can explore all there is to see there.  I am very excited to show him!!

That is all for now.  :)

I haven't posted on here for a very long time.  I have been thinking about it lately, and thought I would pick it up again.  A lot has happened since last year.  I really haven't shared much what happened, except with close friends and family.  I will explain, and then it is my goal to try to move on, to the best of my ability.  So here goes:  at the end of June last year, my life changed.  I received a phone call from my brother.  I am not going to get into all of the details that led up to this, but I spent the next 3 weeks trying my best to help him.  My husband and I spent a lot of time talking to him, had him hospitalized, and just tried to help in too many ways to list here.  We were unsuccessful, and he ultimately succeeded in committing suicide in my house.  The last year has been spent trying to work through all of the emotions, guilt, shock, and trauma that Jeff and I experienced.  My brother was not a perfect person, and had a hard time handling things.  He didn't deserve the things that were done to him, and I wish he was still here to tell him personally.  He was loved, and I wish he were able to realize that.  I do not know what I would have done without my dear friends and family helping me through this.  I also know that the fact that I have been blessed in being able to help with caring for Caleb has helped tremendously!  That little boy has made me so happy, and is my sunshine.  I feel like I am at a turning point, and am doing much, much better dealing with this tragic event.  To our family & friends, I say thank you.  To those that didn't know about this, I am sorry I didn't take the time to tell all of you.  The one year anniversary of his death is coming up, and I have been thinking about things.  I have made a decision not to dwell on that date, and I will be very busy that day.  I will not be feeling sorry for myself, and I will not be focused on the way his life ended.  Instead, I am choosing to be happy, and try to remember the happy times we had with him.