Evyn gets his braces

Open wide! Mouth is prepped so they can work on drying each tooth and applying the glue. The tube leads to a sucking device which removes his saliva.
Applying the glue.
The bottom brackets were placed in a tray made from the impressions taken the week prior. The technician prepped his teeth and then put the tray on and then sealed the brackets to his teeth. The top ones followed, and then a very thin wire.
Top 10 and bottom 10 teeth now have brackets. Next month he gets spacers and a week later he will get the new herpst appliance. Much smaller than the one Ian had to wear!

Cascade Raspberries - pickin' 'n' jammin'

We went to Good Shepherd Farms at the end of their season to pick their glorious Cascade Raspberries. These berries are huge, fantastically flavorful, and, here's the bonus ... THORNLESS!
Amber reaching into the middle of the thicket to get a clump of berries. I was on the other side!
Mom was filling up baskets pretty quickly. She also admitted to tasting a couple berries. Yum!
Evyn down the middle of a couple rows.
Grandpa was off by himself down a couple rows away from the family. I had to search for him to get his photo.
Ethan displays half of what we've picked.
Our total amount of berries. It only took us about 15 minutes (maybe less?) to pick all of these. We really weren't at the farm very long. Would have loved to have picked more. We didn't get any berries last year. Next year we hope to go earlier in the season, and then again at the end.
Ian and Grandma ... still picking! You can never have TOO many berries for jamming!
This is the size of these wonderful berries.
Ian begins the washing process ...

Then comes the crushing ...
Followed by the measuring ... meticulous measuring ... for jam the measurements have to be pretty darn close to exact. We measure out the first bowl of sugar very carefully, and then we weigh it. Every batch after that, we weigh the sugar to get the same amount. Much quicker.
Measuring out the crushed berries.
Daryn doing his jamming magic ... about to add the pectin.
Our final results! Yum!

Miracle Ranch Open House

Today Ethan, Amber, and I decided to pay a visit to Miracle Ranch here in Port Orchard. The Christian radio station, Spirit 105.3, was hosting a Family Fun day at the ranch and it was a free open house. Miracle Ranch is part of Crista Camps.

The biggest draw for Amber was finally being able to ride a horse, something she's wanted to do for a VERY long time. We stood in a non-moving line for quite a while, and then they brought in a couple more horses and things started to move along.


The young man with the horse was not a talker, so Amber just sat and enjoyed the ride. She was grinning from ear to ear. I think if she had the opportunity, she'd do it again in a heartbeat. Her horse's name was Virginia.

Ethan's ride was fun as the girl leading his horse was talkative. She even asked him my name so she could call for me to turn around and take a photo as she posed the horse for us!

And yes, I also rode a horse. Ethan was my photographer and I think we may need to do a photography class for him :) The hardest part, "You can get off now." Ummm, where's the step stool you let me use to get up on the beast? Nope, had to swing and slide. Let me say, it's a LONG way down from that saddle.
Then we headed down the trails and looked for the paintball site. We found it at Marksmans X.
These are some of the targets they were shooting. If you were REALLY good you could try for the stuffed duck. Let me say, I TRIED! I don't know as the sites were very well aligned. I could barely hit the tractor! I think I hit it once. Each person was given a paintball gun with 10 shots.
Here's Amber lining up her shots. She hit the tractor.
And here is Ethan. He hit the tractor, too.

The Boy Scouts are Back!

Upon arrival at Camp Parsons on the Hood Canal.

Ian on the obstacle course.

Mystery Beach? I don't know. Not sure who took the photo and no boys around to identify!

Daryn and two of the boys on their hike together.

Daryn and Evyn

Daryn and Ian

Wasp ... Antibiotics ... Jellyfish ... What do these have in common?

Ethan!

Poor little guy is not having a great time at boy scout camp.


He was attacked by a wasp during yesterday's hike. It started after Daryn, but couldn't get past his hair, and went at Ethan and into his ear. He reached up and smacked it and killed it ... thankfully before it stung him! Daryn reported that several of the kids were in similar situations (attacked) ... not sure if any were stung.



Ethan also has an ear infection. He went into the water the day they got there (Sunday) because he had to do a swim test. The person watching them didn't see Ethan do a certain requirement and Ethan asked if he could redo it. They wouldn't let him, but told him to return during free time and he could do it again. Between the two he acquired an ear infection and Daryn took him to a doctor and he is now on antibiotics. To top it off, doctor has told him absolutely no going into the water. Poor guy. No small boat sailing merit badge. He really wanted to do it, too!



Lastly, getting out of the water Sunday, he was stung by a jellyfish. There was no one there to pee on him, so he was told to smear katsup on it ... and that's what they did.

I asked Daryn to please take photos of all the wounds ... but apparently, when I asked Ian to make double sure (after I had already checked) the camera had a card, he didn't, and they don't, so no camera :(

Where's My Cow?

I lovingly call this little cow Elsie. This is a special garment by British designer Ann Kingstone. I made it during a KAL on Ravelry. It is being gifted to our friends Nate and Olivia Harrell for their new daughter, Ehlena.
We are going to also send along a little Webkinz cow for their first born, Brian, and a story by Terry Pratchett titled, "Where's My Cow?" to be shared with both children. Oh, and in case you didn't guess, the romper is based on the story :)

And, for any knitter out there who wants to know, the romper was knit entirely as one piece; there are no seams. The yarn is a cotton shine from Knit Picks and the colors were chosen when Daryn asked Olivia what her "colors" were going to be for the baby. The cow was applied using a Swiss darning technique and the flowers added for that extra special girl touch and splash of girlish whimsy and color.

Visiting Post Falls, Idaho

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbIzwACvqTY

Grandma Judy took this Flip video of the kids watching Post Falls.