Pickles, BBQ with Barb and Rick

Charo and her cousin, Isabelle, visit the baby calves on Wednesday before going home to Spain. Charo will return at the end of September but she wanted her cousin to see the chicks and calves before they left.


Saturday was spent cleaning up sawdust from the kitchen so Kyla and I could make dill pickles. We made 26 quarts that night before going to dinner and then I made another 24 Sunday morning. Those famous "Delpha's Dills".....they are the best. Then we all headed in to Aunt Barb and Uncle Rick's for a BBQ salmon. As usual, Barb outdid herself and we got to visit with Jason, Brita and Joe. Joe spent the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa (Barb and Rick) and he and Emma had a great time......sometimes playing......but mostly arguing. What a fun age!

Barb's back yard is like a hidden oasis. I could just sit out there all day.

MRI Results and Sparkling Stars

Kyla had her MRS scan yesterday in San Francisco and the area of concern last scan is fading away. She is feeling much more positive and we are all so thankful and happy for her. They will be keeping a close watch on this area still so she will be going back in a month for another. Thank you all for the prayers and support and a special thank you to Steve and Cindy for the donation of the airline tickets.

Emmy stayed with Dave and Vonda and we had a great time. She loves the glow in the dark stars in Jill's bedroom so Gram and Em had to make a trip to buy some for her bedroom. After sticking them up on the wall we lay in the dark last night and said our prayers and watched the "sparkly stars" as Emmy calls them until she fell asleep.

Off to San Francisco, Weird Mountain Sheep and Visit with Cousins

Kyla and Jed are flying to San Francisco today for her appointments tomorrow. Our prayers are for a good scan.

Dave's cousin Nate and his wife Leah arrived Friday evening. Dave, Kyla, Jed, Emma and I went to have pizza with them at Grandad Max and GG's. On Saturday Mark brought everyone out to the Funny Farm for a visit . We had a nice time catching up on everyone and looking at pictures of the new granddaughter. How time flies!

Brian and his friend Amy, made it back safe and sound from the Grand Canyon trip with lots of great pictures. He had a great time and only managed to come home with a bad cold. He is still telling us of his adventures like seeing Mountain Sheep (the picture below looks suspiciously like a stuffed animal on a store shelf).



Monday Kyla, Jed, Emma and Brian went to Alton Baker Park to play badminton with Charo and her cousin, Isabel, who is visiting from Spain. They had a good time and plan on going to see the animals at our house before going home.

The garden is producing tons of tomatoes and cucumbers and one giant flower got in the strawberries somehow. But it is really pretty, whatever it is! Emmy is coming to stay with us and we will have a great time feeding Oreo, Buster and Brutus along with all the chickens. More later!

Hair Cut, Scandinavian Festival, Hot Weather, Slow Floors

Kyla decided she has had enough of those hats. She had Jed cut her hair so that it is pretty much all one length now and it is very cute! I will put some pictures up soon. Kelli and cousin Eric watched "Big Brother" both Thursday and Friday nights with Kyla and Jed then Saturday morning Jed, Kyla and Emma went to the Scandinavian Festival. Emma came home with a Viking Hat that she just had to have after seeing the "big Viking" walking around at the festival. Wait until you see the picture of her in it. After the festival they came and had spaghetti dinner with us and to look at the progression of the maple floors.

Floors! Our kitchen, dining room and family room are all torn up, in a great mess with sawdust everywhere for the second week now. So the floors are a little slow but the work is beautiful. We are excited to see the final product. There are many stories about this that I won't put here on the site.....just too much!

The calves are doing a little too great. I finished giving the series of penicillin shots to Buster. He developed stress related pneumonia but is now doing much better. It is quite a trial trying to feed them all three at once. We have to try to keep Brutus occupied so Oreo can eat. He is so mean.....butts him out of the way. I will be so glad when this part of the calf raising is over.

The days are hot right now so we are just trying to keep everything watered in the garden....we are now getting great looking cucumbers! Tomatoes are just beginning to ripen.

Brian should now be in the Grand Canyon. He has taken some great pictures and we will post some when he returns in a couple of days......that is where our digital camera is!

Close to Home and the Next MRI Date

Kyla and Emma went with Kelli to have her senior pictures taken on July 31st. Emma was one of Kelli's props. We get the proofs back soon. They then all went to dinner at the Olive Garden....pay day is wonderful!

Kyla has been staying pretty close to home because they are potty training Emma. So far she is doing great....just a few minor accidents. She has been able to get out a little. On Friday, the 2nd Aunt Barb brought Joe and they all went to see the baby calves and chicks and had a picnic in the trees.

Brian left to go to the Grand Canyon for two weeks with a friend. He plans on taking many hikes and stops along the way. He will be taking lots of pictures so look for some of those coming up later. Sunday we went to cousin Greysons's birthday party and Emma had a lot of fun playing with all the little kids there. Then on Monday and Tuesday Kyla and Emma had lunch with Jed and Emma came to visit Gram in her office and got to draw on the chalkboard. The latest news is that Kyla finally has a date for her next MRI.....August 21st. So now we are sending many prayers that it will be good news.