Basement Baseball

Watch out Basden Baseball...the Neymans are here!

Pre New Year Celebration

The day before New Year's we went with Menlove's and Nanna to Garden Valley to the Menlove family cabin.....Gorgeous and OH so fun!
We stayed up until the WEE hours of the morning playing games, eating a feast of good food, and enjoying the company of Good friends! The next day couldn't have been more beautiful. Everything in sight was covered with snow, yet the sun shone brightly. We sledded, made an igloo, and a bit of snow shoeing.

What a blast.

60+ more quarts of Applesauce

Yes, more beloved applesauce. We love this stuff! Menlove's brought half the apples from a pick your own farm (and the apples were free from an overproduction) and we supplemented the other half from a tree out on a mountain where Geoff and farm friends collected them on horseback. Applesauce is great, but FREE apple sauce is AWESOME.

Canning was never meant to do alone! We have LOVED doing many of our canning projects with the Menlove's. A very tedious process made absolutely entertaining. Too much fun and OH SO Productive.
Justin and Max LOVE playing with their daughter Catherine (Cat). They could play for DAYS without a complaint.

Pumpkin Patch

As I drove to DeMordaunts house to pick up a campaign call list from Reed, Gayann invited the boys to go with them on their annual Pumpkin Patch trip. So I stayed (gratefully) and made calls, while the boys had a HAY DAY (literally!) at Lindon farms.

Thanks DeMordaunts. We LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEE you guys!

Looking for Lomatium

This was the funnest morning ever. I wish every morning could start out this way. I have been taking an herbal class from Linda Bromgard (she's the BEST!).
A couple of us expressed a desire to scavenge our own herbs so we would be able to recognize, harvest and use herbs in the wild. So we began this morning looking for Lomatium.

We (Linda, Carrie Andelin and her 2 boys, and Tia Andelin--LOVE the Andelins!!!!) drove to the spot where normal vehicles go, and then all crammed in Linda's Italian mini truck to drive the off roads to the creek where the Lomatium grow. What a blast. I so want one of these little trucks!!!!
We could only go so far in little Italiano, and then we hiked the rest of the way. It was absolutely beautiful and smelled like freshly grated sage.

After a bit of hiking, we found our spot. This is what we found...

This is what it looks like when it flowers...
And here is a little about Lomatium
This is what the root (the part you use) looks like...
Justin digging it up like a pro!
And our return to base...

Tomato Soup

Up till 3am canning over 30 quarts of TOMATO/PEPPER SOUP...and I don't even like it. What a crazy mess!!! I must admit, however, that i LOVE canning because Geoff and I work together, and he makes it fun.

Weymouths and Shurtleff Vineyard

On Wednesday, I couldn't get Sister Weymouth and her newborn baby and 9 kids surrounded by mounds of unprocessed grapes--out of my mind. So boys and I went to her house for the day and helped her can over 100 quarts of grape juice. Wow! Quite a day!
Justin and Max had a ball playing in the canyon and tree house, and and and....the world is their backyard...so fun for kids!

I was so inspired by working with Tammy Weymouth, that the boys and I (and Becky Menlove) drove to Payette the very next day and picked over 6 bins of grapes.
That very night (thanks to the help of the Menloves & Weymouth's juicers) we canned 114 Quarts of grapejuice. We had 4 juicers going at once--two inside and two outside. It was gorgeous outside, and really quite fun to can.

Daniks-- Funnest place ever!!!

For Friday Morning fun, we went to a gymnasium called Daniks. For 3 solid hours we climbed, jumped, hooted, scooted, sailed, ran, bounced, swinged, and swam in a sea of foam. It was an absolute riot!! Justin and Max have voted Daniks their new FAVORITE place to go!!! See the video below.

I loved it because I could just let the kids roam and go to their hearts content...everything was very kid friendly and safe, yet they jumped higher and bounced stronger than ever before!

History Come Alive

Today we went to a Boise event called "History Come Alive." They divided the park into four sections... Early American (Civil War & Pioneer Era), Native American, WWII, and Medieval Times. We spent most of the day here and had a blast!!!!

Native American game where you flick a ring to each other with two sticks.

Early american game where you try to roll the circle around the posts.


Justin and Max's FAVORITE part of the entire day. They LOVED watching the dueling and checking out all the swords and fighting gear.


Native American game of throwing arrows through the hoops.


People were dressed up in costume all through out the park. It really made you feel as though you were living in the times!!

Spear throwing.

Bows and arrows!

Lasso the Cow

Thirsty???

Civil War Era...so COOL.

Abraham Lincoln

Mining for Gold

Bagpipes...My FAVORITE!!!!!!!

Early American Heros