I've said it before -- I love summertime!!
Not that I don't love each season as it comes along, but there's a sense of freedom about summer that is especially nice. I've had Kenny Chesney's "Summertime" song running through my head almost daily lately:
Maybe you'll let it run in the background while you scroll through this post on June.
June specifically means that school's out! It means the relentless schedule finally lets up. Sleeping in can happen. Todd again hosted his Sunday School class for a pizza & movie party, and man -- those teenagers sure enjoy sleeping in, too!
If Excited-For-Summer were an Olympic event, these boys would have it NAILED.
Those kids love his pizza, because he cooks it out on the smoker. It gets a great crust on it, and the cheese & crust take on the smoke flavor really nicely. It's like having it cooked in a wood-fired pizza oven. SO good!!
For myself, I've turned down the "sleep-in" option this summer, and that's also been rewarding. As soon as Seminary let out, I started heading out each day for an early-morning walk, and documenting it with a daily Snapchat to my hubby & kids. You never know what you might see while you're out walking:
Pretty cool. Even though I was far from it, I could hear the propane burner firing in it.
That is definitely a bucket-list item!
Alyssa decided that Miss Emma needed a big hairbow for softball -- like all the big girls have. So when she packaged up & sent the personalized bow, she went a little crazy and sent a whole box of sunshine to go with it!
Emma was thrilled, to say the least!
(I think I need to kidnap those caramels. She'll never miss them!)
June also brought an early raspberry harvest, and Emma jumped right on that .....
(Pink gardening boots are the best!!)
Then she took the camera. Despite the headless Momma look .....
.... she got a good shot of the berry bushes:
... and some mud on her boots:
It was already hot, and even though we were out picking in the early evening, she slipped back inside (Um, what about those muddy boots??),
and fixed up a tray full of icy-cold water glasses for each of us to have.
My heart melts when my kids do stuff like that on their own!!
It was a good picking!
The next morning, Emma wanted to learn how to make raspberry jam.
When your kids ask for stuff like that --- like, teach me how to do useful things -- don't hesitate for a moment, -- DO IT!!
She participated in every part of jam-making.
(Blender, instead of just mashing the berries.)
Stirring, ladling ....
And lifting the hot jars out of the canner. Later, she labeled her jars, too. I think that merits an entry in the County Fair this fall!!
Softball continued...... now with the fashionable bow in her hair!!
But the weather wasn't always pretty. We came home from the game that day and had a bright double-rainbow out the back view:
Father's Day weekend was a lot of fun ..... Todd actually spent the week ahead of it smoking 12 pork shoulders!
Only 4 at a time fit on the smoker, so for three days straight, he drove the neighbors crazy with the smell of that deliciousness!! Mmmmmmm.
(That's a honey-raspberry rub on those, in case you're wondering!)
All that pulled pork went to a church picnic dinner at a nearby state park.
I think my stomach is growling, just thinking about it!!
Todd also got busy and made the BEST tire swing in the back yard:
I think some of the older kids are a bit jealous, because he we didn't put this up when they were young. Emma's sure enjoying it, though!!
Best part of Father's Day Weekend, was that these two came up for a long-deserved visit!!
We've sure missed Brandon and Cecilia and their TWO kiddos!! Wish we were a bit closer, but it makes the reunions all the sweeter!
Biased grandma here, but these two munchkins are SO adorable!!
Gathered the whole local family around for a barbecue on Father's Day .... more deliciousness, and the best company to share it with!
We also grabbed a four-generation Huffaker picture while we had the chance, too:
Later, we got the female version of it, too. Definitely an un-planned photo, as I'm wearing softball coaching stuff, and Giselle looks like she's in her jammies!
(Adding a couple more kiddos into this crazy shot:)
I love the sheer joy in Giselle's face:
Darius gives a stare-down to Uncle Wade:
One evening, while Brandon and Cecilia were here, we made some back yard s'mores:
And I discovered (after all these years) that I have NOT been doing s'mores right.
I've always thought that s'mores are kind of dry, and not very exciting. I didn't see the appeal. That night, I figured out what my problem was: my proportions were wrong!
Old recipe: 2 graham crackers 1 marshmallow, 1 square of regular Hershey bar.
No, no, no, no, no.n That's all wrong.
It should be:
New recipe: 2 graham crackers, TWO marshmallows, and 1 square of a mega-Hershey bar. (I'm not sure what they call that size..... like the 1-pound size bar)
Holy revelations!!
With the amounts of chocolate and marshmallow adjusted, suddenly this snack makes sense to me!! The graham cracker only needs to be there to hold it all together -- not to be the major component. The chocolate must [be adequate, no skimping here!] ---- not be cold, so it can properly begin melting when it meets the hot marshmallow. And the marshmallows go on each side of the chocolate, so there's never a cold side (refer to photo above!)
At last, I see the light!!
Maybe you already knew all that, but it was news to me!!
And, finally ..... there's this big guy:
I can't express enough how grateful I am for him, and for the immense amount of work, energy, and effort that he puts into our home, our yard, our family, our business ...... he is amazing!! I won the lottery when I made this catch, and I'm going to get mushy and say I love him so, SO much!!
HE'S THE BEST!!!
( Happy Father's Day, Sweetie!!!)
(again!)
MWAH!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment