September

What to say about September? Well, Jess went back to work in September (may have been August, but oh well). This is her 6th year working in the library at the high school. She really enjoys her job, even though the administration and students can be frustrating at times. She really likes the head librarian and of course loves books! She also loved having a week off for potato harvest (which may have been during October, but I'm struggling to remember anything that happened in September). During homecoming week the school has theme days. Being the fun loving girl she is, Jess participated in a few of those days. Here she is on "Geezer Day."

I've been feeling terribly under-active lately. With being in Twin all day Monday and Tuesday and working full days (rare for social workers) the rest of the week, plus donating plasma on Wednesdays and Fridays which doesn't put me home until usually after 7pm, I just haven't had much time to be physically active or have any fun. In an effort to remedy this I've been taking four-wheeler rides in the evenings. It's a nice chance to get out of the house and enjoy the country-living Archer has to offer. Here are a couple shots I took one night while on a ride.

October

Things haven't slowed down any in October. Last week for my internship we held trainings for police officers to teach them more effective ways to work with people with mental illnesses. The trainings went well and hopefully will keep the officers and mentally ill safe (as well as out of jail). Here's a shot I took with my phone while driving to work on Friday.

Friday night we went to a magic show at BYU-Idaho. The magician was The Great Kaplan. It was a pretty good show, we enjoyed it. On Saturday we went to Idaho Falls for a concert with Jenny Oaks Baker (daughter of Elder Oaks and very talented violinist) and the Teton Chamber Orchestra, which Marinda, my sister-in-law, is in. This was also a great show.

Tonight, Sunday, we had a family Halloween party at Jess' grandma's. There is always a pumpkin carving contest at the party, but we didn't feel like carving today. Instead, Jess decided just to decorate a few of the mini-pumpkins that she and Lynne grew in the garden. I tried my hand at carving them.

Jess' spider web and ghost pumpkins

Who knew you could carve mini-pumpkins?

Reminds me of a character from Super Mario World

My beautiful Greek goddess

At the last minute we came up with a Jack the Ripper costume for me

Like she'd really go that easily!

Tough As Nails

On Wednesday, my nearly 85 year-old Grandfather fell and broke his neck. I went by on Thursday and we talked for a few minutes before he fell asleep and again on Friday, but he was asleep the whole time I was there. On Saturday Jess, Melissa and I visited and he seemed himself, cracking jokes and all. One of the nurses commented that he is the toughest man she'd ever seen, having the halo inserted without any pain killers or sedatives. Grandma Bruderer commented that his "halo" is a little tarnished, and anyone who knows him would probably have to agree! Also, when they brought him in they discovered he had the MRSA virus, but RaNea thinks its just a staph infection. For this reason, the hospital required us to wear gowns, masks and gloves. By Saturday they said as long as we didn't get too close, we'd be ok without. Here are some pics (taken Saturday) for the family to see just what's going on. The pics were also taken so that Grandpa could see, as there isn't a mirror in his room. He commented on how much facial hair he had growing and even asked RaNea to bring a razor!

During our Saturday visit I noticed how swollen his hands seemed.

I asked if he was able to pick up any radio stations with this gear.

Grandma commented that maybe the extra holes in his head would help him hear better!

I got a little expression in this picture, but unfortunately he blinked!

Kids Say...Part 2

While sitting on the couch with Jess and my 4 year-old niece Trinity, Trin looks at her mom (my sister Missy) and says "When are Uncle Dan and Aunt Jess going to have a baby?" We all smiled and chuckled a little, and Missy asked her "Why do you ask?" (Noting that Trin and Jess have been playing together for several hours, so clearly she had not been prompted) To this, Trin responded, "Cause her tummy is fat!" At this we all busted up laughing. Jess wasn't offended, because it was just the way she was sitting on the couch. They have had a great afternoon playing dress up and having tea parties. Trin loves her Aunt Jess!

Enjoying the fruits of our labor

I know not everyone gets as excited over a garden as I do, but that's okay. I am still going to tell about my garden.

One of the downers of renting is not being able to have our own yard or garden spot. My parents are very kind and let me share their garden spot. It is a great arrangement for the both of us, my mom gets help and I get to have a garden. My mom and I planted the garden ourselves and it took us 6 1/2 hours one day and about another 2 hours another day to fill the wall-of-waters around our tomatoes and peppers. The pictures aren't much to look at because you can't really see any of the plants.

We lay the black plastic down to help control the weeds and it really does a great job.

You can tell in the pictures we didn't fill all of the wall-of-waters. By the time we finished laying down the plastic, planting and watering the plants by hand, placing the cages and wall-of-waters around the peppers and tomatoes we were pretty tired. We spent 2 hours the following Monday to finish filling the wall-of-waters.

Here is what the garden looks like now. My mom and I are so excited over the garden because this is the first year, in many years, that we have had the whole garden grow. We got a new watering system, a tri-pod sprinkler, and it works great.

On the left side, what you can see is the pumpkins and behind the pumpkins are zucchini and cucumbers. In front of the pumpkins are the peppers. The main plant in the picture are the tomatoes.

In this pictures are the onions and the beans.

Here are the peas! This is what I am most excited for. For the past 5 to 7 years we have tried to grow peas but our watering system was not great and the peas never got enough water. Well, this year we will have peas and I am thrilled. I even got to pick about a dozen this past Saturday and they were delicious. On the right side of the peas are more tomatoes. We plant a lot of tomatoes because me and all of my siblings go through a lot for spaghetti and salsa.

This is another one I am excited for. Raspberries! My grandma and uncle used to have a huge raspberry patch that my siblings and I used to pick in. It was kind of side job for my uncle and we worked for him during the summer. One summer they decided they didn't want to take care of it anymore so they got rid of it. I was really sad because I loved those berries. So my mom got some starts and we started our own patch. If you look at the first picture behind the last row of wall-of-waters, that is were the raspberries are. They have grown a lot and have tons of berries on them. There is one problem however, the TURKEY'S. They eat everything before they are ripe enough for us to eat. So we will have to do our best at keeping the turkey's at bay.

I love summer, I love the green grass, the green trees, the beautiful flowers, and gardening. It is nice to actually have something to show for all of our hard work in the garden.

Nothing's Too Hard...

"I want, want want, what I want, want, want, and this is how I get it...I take, take take what I take, take, take...and I never let it!" I came across this link and it made me smile, I'm sure it will do the same for my siblings. http://www.scripturescouts.com/ssbom.html

Join the Club

Now, I never have been one to give into peer pressure often. This was especially helpful when attending Lorain Admiral King. But, apparently family has more sway on me. For the entire time I have known Jess, I have always felt a little out of place at her parent's house. It's not because I'm from a "real" city, but it's the fact that that city is located in Ford country. My Taurus has always been out of place in Jess' driveway filled with Toyota Camrys. And by saying filled, I mean FILLED! Her mother, father, brother, sister, brother-in-law and two of her aunts drive Camrys, not to mention SHE drives one as well! After four years of feeling out of place, I've finally let go of my Taurus...and purchased a Camry!

I'll miss my V-6, but not at the gas pump!

My 2005 Camry LE - Only 36,000 miles!

I've never been too into naming cars, but I'm considering it. Suggestions?