Cousin fun at the luncheon after Esther's baby's blessing

Back in May was Matt's sister's baby's blessing. I took the camera but I didn't end up taking any pictures. But.... The kids took lots. They had a fun time with their cousins!

Jileigh's trek experience

Back view of the skirt

This is the skirt that I sewed.
I can't help it that this is sideways

This is the apron that goes over the skirt

Sewing day

The stake Trek experience was July 3-7th. Jileigh is on her way home right now. Back in June I sewed her the brown skirt. It was too tight at the bottom so I made a slit and added a triangle so she would have more walking room. Then I made the apron to go over it. It was a learning experience in sewing for me. I can hardly wait for her to get home and tell me all about it!

Jileigh and Angelique's bedroom wall

My girls have really gotten into drawing lately. Here are a couple of picture they took of their wall.

Breeja Larson my niece going to the Olympics!

My dear sweet niece Breeja Larson qualified to be an olympian! Her race it the 100m breaststroke in swimming. She took 1st place in the olympic trials. I can't seem to copy/paste any pictures from online, so here are some great links to learning about her:

The following link is the qualifying trials race:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0ncdwkeog8&feature=plcp

This is the interview after she won:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0sA26iM6Cs&feature=plcp

This is a highlight of her with her coach after she won:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-BmznfPmvU&feature=youtu.be

This is a great article of her from ESPN:
http://espn.go.com/blog/olympics/post/_/id/2798/say-hello-to-breeja-larson

This is an interview of her and her dad by Ch. 12 after she won:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6siwFMzzxuM&feature=plcp

This is of her receiving the first place medal:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTC6A2IDN1Y&feature=share

This is her being interviewed by Yahoo.com news:
http://news.yahoo.com/video/sports-15749645/who-is-breeja-larson-29821046.html

This is a great summary of Breeja and her family:
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/olympics/articles/2012/07/03/20120703breeja-larson-family-headed-olympics.html

AND, this is the interview by ch 12 news of my sister's family and my mom is there too!
http://www.azcentral.com/video/1721240411001

Here is an excellent "Bio" on Breeja Larson on MormonOlympians.org. This gives a very excellent summary of Breeja Larson's road to the Olympics. ENJOY!!!
http://mormonolympians.org/2012-london-olympics/breeja-larson-mormon-olympian

On the London 2012 Olympic Website, It looks like the Women's 100 Meter Breaststroke will be July 29th and July 30th.http://www.london2012.com/swimming/event/women-100m-breaststroke/index.html

The Exciting Women's 100 Medley Relay race, which Breeja will also be swimming in, will be August 3rd and August 4th!http://www.london2012.com/swimming/event/women-4x100m-medley-relay/index.html

Talon is on the city swim team

Talon has been enjoying being on the swim team this summer. He's 13 in the 13 and 14 year old boys group. He's learning and has room to grow and improve; but for the most part, he is doing pretty good. He wakes up at about 6:45, rides his bike almost 1 3/4 miles to the pool with the last 1/2 mile being uphill, swims for 1 1/2 hours and then rides home. It's a great way for him to start his day!

Introducing: Elfie, our new baby guinea pig

Elody and Elfie

Safia and Elfie

Oreo and Elfie together

My new sister-in-law Julie told me last week the her sister's guinea pigs babies were old enough to leave their momma and asked if we would take one. We couldn't resist! Elfie and Oreo have hit it off very well. Elfie follows Oreo around when we take them outside into the grass and doesn't like to be separated from her. They are so cute together! The girls named her Elfie because of her Elf-like ears.

Summer grilling / Anniversary

Heaton family grilled hamburgers

1/3 lb. ground beef with minced onions, mushrooms, and cheese

Then added sauteed  mushrooms and onions and sliced cheese

Anniversary dinner: grilled steaks, shrimp, scallops, and zucchini and yellow squash

We've come up with a fabulous way of making hamburgers! We add diced/minced mushrooms, onions, and cheese along with the regular seasoning of salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder and grill them. Most of us like them that way, but we still make regular one for the little kids.

The hamburgers were one night and the steaks were another. Our 16th wedding anniversary was June 28th, but this dinner was on the 30th. Matt has been having issues with his vertigo again. We planned on going out on the 27th because Matt was leaving to Talon's scout camp on the 28th. Unfortunately, Matt came home from work feeling wiped out and dizzy. After a good rest, he felt well enough to go ahead and go to Scout camp. Saturday after he got home, he went shopping and came up with this dinner. It was fabulous!!!

My summer garden 2012

My summer garden 2012

Elody, Beau, Safia, and Jaren

Baskets of tomatoes

Onions and carrots

Zucchini and yellow squash

Elody holding our hugest tomato!
We sliced this onto hamburgers.

My garden is flourishing beautifully! Everyday we go out and pick produce. We already bottled 7 quarts of tomatoes. We've had more zucchini and yellow summer squash than we can handle, so we've been giving quite a bit away. This is the first year I have been able to grow onions, cucumbers, and carrots so well. I am so pleased with it all!!!

Summer swimming!

We set up the death trap aka backyard above ground pool. Candy's kids came over to play with my kids. We always spend some time with the little kids teaching them to swim. My two are soooooo cautious and really have a hard time letting go of the securities, but Candy's little Hannah was a fish! She wasn't one bit scared and practiced for about an hour until she was practically swimming. I had to catch it on video.  Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWibglNvvX8&feature=plcp
She's only 3 years old as of March. Go Hannah! Now if I can just get my two little kids to learn how to swim.

Trip to fossil springs and visit with my mom and sister

This is the first main pool.  Just 100 yards upstream there is only a dry, dusty, waterless stream bed.  Then suddenly all of this water comes gushing up out of the ground and you go from desert to oasis.  The water is a nice 74 deg. year-'round so you can even swim in the winter!  In the near end of the pool you can see a bunch of native fish swimming around.

This cave is very cool.  It is about 30 feet across and 30 feet  back.  The stream  runs into it  and is 8-10 feet deep.  That under-water log is nearly 2 feet in diameter to give you a perspective of the size.  The sun doesn't shine in since the overhang is fairly low, but the clear water conducts the light back inside so that it is lit with a beautiful turquiose light inside.

This is Jileigh in front of an 8-foot tall manzanita.  We call them bushes at home but this is more of a tree. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0wpxqeZIjQ  This is Talon Jumping down into what is called the Toilet Bowl at Fossil Springs.  There is a tunnel deep under water that you have to swim through to escape the violent whirlpool and enter the main pool.  A little scary but very cool.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76sM-xbP4ko&feature=plcp This link is Matt's turn into the Toilet Bowl.

This was the 2nd day. The kids played with the marble game.

Matt had the opportunity to go to a training for work on woodworking near where my mom lives. So we got to take a paid vacation to see my family. We went a day early so Matt could take our older kids down to fossil springs. I spent the day with my Mom helping her on her computer putting pictures in a document. The next two days Matt went to the training and I spent the days with the kids letting them swim and play with their cousins. The 3rd evening we were there, Matt was able to replace a couple of outlets and fans switches in my mom's house. We all had a great time!

Happy 3rd Birthday Elody!

For Elody's birthday, Matt made two boysenberry pies from the berries on our vines and he made homemade, custard-style vanilla ice cream. Truly divine!

Elody wrapped up in her favorite blanket

Elody in her new PJs and the mug from Beau.

I am glad I have sons

Talon and Jaren after beheading and plucking 4 chickens

My white chickens have a tendancy to peck at the eggs and eat them, so we decided their fate. We also haven't received any white eggs in a couple of months so we know they weren't laying. We finally gave the boys permission to take care of them. YUCK! There is no way I could go through that process alone. It makes me too sick. They had fun for the most part. By the end, they were tired of plucking them. They sure do make great soup!

Memorial Day weekend at the Ranch 2012

Matt on "The Blob"

 Dave and Jason brought up "The Blob" to the ranch for Memorial Day weekend. Matt and Talon each had the guts to get on it. They maneuver themselves down to the end and then two adults jump from a ladder and onto the other end of the blob. That shoots the person up into the air and into the cold water. NO THANKS!

Elody's mouth with Hand Food Mouth Disease

Elody's lips swollen with blisters

We spent Memorial Day weekend at the Ranch as usual. But something unusual happened. Elody got sick with hand, foot, mouth disease. It was so miserable for her and for me. She wouldn't eat hardly anything and I had to hold her almost all the time except when she was sleeping. It lasted 8 days. She would sip my homemade kefir and yogurt through a straw in the morning when she was hungry. She'd sip a little water sometimes. She wouldn't eat anything or hardly drink anything without me begging her. She went from 30 pounds down to 25 pounds. I took her to her doctor in the beginning and then again toward the end because I was afraid she was getting dehydrated and would need to be put into the hospital, but he said that it wasn't necessary. By the ninth day she was finally eating and drinking again. By the time two weeks was over, she was eating and eating all day long. It was like I couldn't feed her enough. She quickly gained her weight back and her eating normalized. That was one horrible sickness I wouldn't wish upon anyone.

Baby chicks graduate to the outside

Baby chicks last day in their chick habitat.
(That's my Beau's head)

I put up a fence to divide the chicken run for the baby chicks.

At about 2 months old, the baby chicks could no longer tolerate their little habitat. I wanted to move them outside, but they weren't ready to mix among the adult hens. So I put up this make-shift fence in the chicken run for the chicks. They also have to eat a growing mash while the adults eat a lay mash. It works for now.
Also, we discovered that they aren't all hens. We had ourselves a rooster. I am not accustomed to waking up at 6am so I found someone to give him to. They are the people we get our raw milk from and they have lots of property and they only had one hen left. They were happy to take him.

Jileigh's awards assembly May 2012

Jileigh receiving her awards

Jileigh receive 3 certificates at her awards assembly each with a pin. They were for 4.0 GPA, perfect attendance, and a presidential award. She's a good smart kid! :)