The Queen of Canning

Who is the queen of canning you ask? It is not me. My grandma Betty bottles the most delicious peaches and pears, not to mention her pickles and jams. This year is no exception, in fact this year is the marathon of the peaches. Thus far we have bottled 56 quarts and today Grandma informed me that we are not done yet. I guess when she bought 2 bushels of peaches from the fruit stand she did not realize how productive her 10 peach trees would be this year : ) It has been a fun experience. I don't think I have mentioned that my brother and his wife moved 12 hours closer to us this summer (which puts them only 45 minutes away!). So my sister-in-law Shar drove up one day to help bottle. She brought Curly's cousin Letty and they had a blast together, which allowed us to work hard helping Grandma.

The never ending peaches...the just keep going....and going...


Speaking of prize winning peaches, we also went the State Fair last Saturday (that's a nice segue, don't you think). Tim (my newly settled 45 minutes away brother), Shar, Letty, Gracie and my sister K-Rae came with us - YAY! The fair is the most amazing collection of people - the tough ranchers, the rowdy rodeo-ers, the quiet green thumbs, the sophisticated artists, the noisy families, the pushy salesman... such a hodge podge of people make it a fun outing (though a bit overpriced).

Curly had her first pony ride... I won't go into the details of how we got ripped off, but at least she enjoyed all 10 seconds of it.

The blue ribbon exhibit was the "Helping Hands Farm" sponsored by the FFA. Curly, Lou, and Letty put on little aprons and carried little buckets around as they worked their way through the processes of a farm. Feeding the cow, milking the cow, planting seeds and gathering the crops, driving the tractors (tricycles), and then selling their goods at a farmers market for "$1 Fair Buck" that they used at the "general store" to buy a treat. I think Curly has asked to go back to that farm no less than 4 times since the fair.

Curly and Letty our future FFA members. We all love having Letty and her family so close!!!

Happily Ever After...

You might think I haven't posted because after our action packed summer, our lives appear comparatively mundane. Quite on the contrary, the action never ends. We have been busily unpacking, re-organizing, and getting into our old groove. It is great to be home! Before making our final exodus back to Salt Lake (at least for a few weeks : ) I attended my friend Ashleigh's wedding. Hers was the finale of weddings among my closest high school friends. I was very happy to be there! Just for fun, here's a picture of some of our gang at Commencement dance Senior year. Ashleigh's on the left.

The night before Ash's wedding Jill, Margie, Ash, and I had a Girl's night. It was wonderful to be with friends I've known since elementary school. I think it is amazing that we have stayed in contact since we graduated eight years ago. Here's a picture from our GNO - Ashleigh, Jill, Margie, and I. (Margie isn't pictured above)

Curly loved the wedding reception, especially the beautiful dresses. Lou loved the food and swiped this little tart off her sister's plate while my back was turned.

Ashleigh is great and of course married an equally great guy! I approve!

Cute Ash!

Now that we are finally back in the mountains, we are trying to make up for the missed hiking opportunities this summer. We had a picnic and short hike in Millcreek a few weeks ago. Apparently, not everyone was in the hiking mood which is why both girls are being carried.

Labor Day weekend we had the annual Woodbury Family Reunion. Typically we convene at the LLL Ranch, but this year we had it in Salt Lake so that my grandparents (and the reason we have a wonderful Woodbury family) would be more comfortable. Events included hiking to and touring Timpanogas Cave (Curly hiked all the way up!), a picnic afterward, various activities at Thanksgiving point and our traditional Birthday dinner (Grandpa's treat) at Harvest restaurant. Sunday was more laid back - church, a short program, dinner, and games. The Woodbury family loves games! We played card games, strategy games, Wii games, children's games, we love games! Unfortunately, I was a camera bum and have no pictures to post! Fortunately, Fisher was uncharacteristically camera happy on his way up the mountain and snapped this cute picture.

Hooded Towels

This post is dedicated to my friend Lia who thinks that I am crafty. I wanted to make some big hooded toddler size towels and couldn't find a pattern that was simple and looked cute, so I combined several ideas and here they are complete with detailed instructions!

Supplies - two bath towels, one hand towel, 1" ribbon or wider (2 9ft rolls), thread, sewing machine

Cost - ~ $12 (depending on the towel quality, I got mine for 3.50 at Walmart)

Time - about 1 hour

Makes two hooded towels

Before starting wash and dry towels

Step 1 - Fold hand towel in half vertically (hot dog style). Cut along fold.


Step 2 - Stitch ribbon along long finished edge of towel. Use ribbon like binding tape, stitching one side on then turning towel over, folding ribbon around the edge and stitching other side. Be sure to fold ribbon under on the ends before stitching so that is doesn't fray.

Step 3 - Fold towel in half horizontally (hot dog style) with wrong sides out. Serge or zig stitch along side opposite and running parallel to ribbon. If your hand towel has a stripe across it, be careful about matching stripes up.

Step 4 - Stitch a hood shaped curve along stiched edge. If you don't have a surger use a wide zig zag and then trim excess.
Pull right sides out and you can see your hood!

Step 5 - Now to measure for placement of the hood. Fold large bath towel in half horizontally (hamburger style). Lay flattened, hood along the top folded edges of towel with folded seams aligned and mark where hood ends with straight pin.
Step 6 - Stitch ribbon onto top edge of bath towel (just like you did with the hood) starting at end and working toward the pin. Make sure to stop and finish ribbon at the pin marking where the hood should be attached.
Step 7 - Lay towel out flat, with hood slightly overlapping in center of towel (matched up with the end of stiched on ribbon). Secure hood in place with straight pins.
Step 8 - Stitch hood on using a three stitch wide zig zag. Before completely stitching the hood slip ribbon under to match up with hood ribbon and continue stiching ribbon on. (See pictures above and below). As before, stitch one side then flip towel over, fold ribbon and stitch other side. Don't forget to fold under the ends of ribbon to finish.

And you are done! Was that clear as mud? You have an adorable toddler size hooded towel. Now just repeat all the steps with the remaing half of your hand towel and second bath towel and you have matching towels. My favorite combo is the white towel with red and white polka dot ribbon pictures at the top. You could also use more ribbon and trim the whole towel - which would be darling but require a bit more time and expense.

Can't Get Enough...

We are having a marathon month of play... what's new? I guess it has been a marathon summer, so why stop now? This past week was the official family reunion week. The first half spent at Lake Powell with my family and the second half spent in Rigby, Idaho with Fisher's family.

I started going to Lake Powell when I was six and while I was young it was tradition to go with my mom's family every year. Even though we were three years apart, my cousin Nicole and I were inseparable and everyday was spent making elaborate sand villages, swimming, boating, hiking, and generally being silly and carefree. I have so many fun memories that make Lake Powell one of my favorite places in the world. That nostalgia made seeing Curly and her cousin Letty play together at Lake Powell more enjoyable. Curly and Letty fearlessly swam around like fishes. It was a battle to get them to take a break to rest or eat. Lou was equally fond of the water and would charge in at a fast crawl until she was sputtering and coughing.

Here's Jeniel and Shar ready for a wild ride with the girls

We drove to Lake Powell on the date of our six year anniversary, I guess Fisher didn't feel that our anniversary date a few weeks ago was adequate because he gave me a present. I grabbed my cup to get a refreshing drink and found a small fish floating belly-up. Apparently the fish had been alive when Fisher caught him for me... what a thoughtful romantic I married.





You know how much we love crazy travel plans... We left Lake Powell Wednesday night, stopped at home to wash clothes and pack and then left early Thursday morning to meet the Lakes in Idaho. We enjoyed a well-planned reunion. Activities included swimming at Ribgy Lake (actually very little swimming as it was very cold) and a day at LLL Ranch where we golfed, zip lined, water-slid, and crafted. Oma and Fisher's sister-in-law Stacie planned an "unbirthday party" for the grand kids. A treasure hunt for several small gifts and making crowns were the highlights of the memorable party.


The grand finale event of the reunion was family pictures taken Saturday morning at BYU-Idaho. Who knew portraiture could be so entertaining. It's amazing to see the antics people will produce to elicit a smile. During the grandparent with grandchildren picture, Lou was attacked by her same-aged male cousin who pulled her hair- ribbon out and poked her cheeks (they are irresistible). It was hilarious!

Go West

Change of plans! We received a phone call from Fisher's dad on Thursday informing us that Grandma Lake has passed away. After discussion, we made the decision to go home for the funeral. By 4:00 the next day, we had packed up all of our things, given away our extra food, returned the library books, sold our extra toys and furniture, said goodbye to friends, cleaned the house, wrapped up things at the summer internship and we were in the car headed home. Whew! The rush of leaving was matched by our rush to get home which involved driving 34 hours in 48 hours with only 4 hours of solid sleep and random cat naps when possible. Thanks to Alli and Andy who let us crash at their house for a few hours at 4 a.m. We arrived in Idaho yesterday afternoon and were able to attend Grandma Lake's viewing last night and her funeral today. We feel it very fortuitous that everything worked out so well for us to leave and be here for her funeral.