The Knopp Crew

Spring part II

2011-05-14T23:45:00.000-07:00

I just can't get enough of spring...and it changes so quickly one week there are buds then flowers then buds of another variety...This post of for you Donna...so you can enjoy our wonderful spring in case yours never gets there :) This one has a million pictures but oh well.


apple blossoms


honey bee mid flight in strawberry bed

The bee landed


Crimson Queen from the Japanese maple family


Dwarf Iris finally bloomed after 2 or 3 years of dormancy

Twin daffodils fading fast


Fringed tulip bud


Fringed tulip


I guess I really like these fringed tulips


My new fusia creeping flox


Budding Honey Locust tree

Hosta


Just seeing it I can almost smell the fragrance of lilac


Brandon's rhubarb


gonna be eatin' strawberries soon

No garden is complete without animals...or yard ornaments...I'll have to get me some gnomes

Bird Houses and Flower Pots

2011-05-14T22:26:00.000-07:00

For Easter we got the kids each a bird house and some paints...they had a ball painting them...Hannah's is out on the tree and it's raining so there is no picture of her birdhouse. The flower pots they each got to paint at Wal Mart for Mother's Day...They were so cute to watch while they were painting...so into what they were doing and nothing could rush them...I think Asher has 12 layers of paint on his...as soon as it dried he'd add another color he wanted to use each of the colors...didn't they do an amazing job? Sorry some of the pictures are blurry I don't know what happened.


This is Asher's house and pot


This is Emma's house and pot


This is Ben's house and pot


This is Hannah's Pot

More hats

2011-05-14T22:09:00.000-07:00

Well, I've made a few more hats...8 hats in all so far I think. I'm really liking making them...here's some new ones


A close up of the flowers I've been making for the hats

Almost 5 weeks old....

2011-05-14T21:53:00.000-07:00

Well, it's picture time for the chicks again...they are almost 5 weeks old...Maybe I'm a biased chick mom...but I think they are the cutest chicks ever...but look for yourself and decide.

Again, I just can't help mentioning I'm partial to this one...she's just so beautiful...and so mellow and cuddly for a chicken.

The rhode Island Red possibly partial frizzle...still trying to decide...I can't wait for all their feathers to come in to see what they turn out looking like.

I swear she wants to be a "show chicken" it looks like she's posing like a dog would at a dog show...maybe I'm crazy I don't know.

I just love her feather pattern...I can't wait till they are all grown in.

Isn't she just soooo cute?

Our First Fishing Trip of the summer...so FUN!

2011-05-14T21:12:00.000-07:00

So Brandon's cousin asked us if we wanted to go to fishing and then eat dinner with them...they were camping and we decided to go fishing and then have a hot dog and smores roast...well, fishing was fun...almost too fun...Brandon spent the large majority of his time getting the 2 new reels set up on the nice poles...so I got the kids started on the little Dora and Mikey poles...and instantly started catching fish....everytime I cast it out and handed the pole to a kid they started reeling it in and sure enough there was a fish...in all we caught somewhere around 24 fish...but only kept 15...the cool part is Hannah caught an albino trout...the first one I'd ever seen in person. Emma slid in the reservoir trying not to let the fish get away she got all wet up to the waist and was cold...after finishing up fishing I went down to the cleaning station with Hannah and Ben and cleaned all 15 fish myself...Then today I scraped the scales off and removed the heads so we can grill and fry the fish tomorrow for dinner...I fell like Henny Penny...and I don't even really like fish that much...but I did all the work, all by myself :) I really don't mind though cuz I love my family and I can do the dirty work if it makes them happy. Well, here are the pictures...proof of the fish we caught...oh and for the record...1 was a 9 inches, 1 was a 9 1/2 inches, 2 were 10 inches, 5 were 11 inches, and 6 were 12 inches long . Not too shabby for our first time out this year...it's going to be a fun summer...It's the first time Brandon and I have both got a license so I will actually get to fish this year and not just watch kids and chase them. It's fun that they are all of an age they can fish and have fun without me being so occupied with them.

Our catch of 15 trout...eat your heart out Grandma

Albino compared to regular rainbow trout

"Hello Grandma, I am a talking fish...there is such thing as an albino trout...note my pink eyes...a true albino. It was nice talking to you!"

I just had to take this picture...I don't really know why...it's just visually interesting I think...I even debated feeding the heads to the chickens...but in the end I couldn't bring myself to do it...just in case it gave a fishy taste to the eggs.

Hiking the Y

2011-05-09T23:47:00.000-07:00

Ok so the last time I hiked the Y I was 19 and since then I've added 4 kids and 14 years to my life. I didn't remember it being so far up and definetly not a hard hike...let's just say when we were driving to the Y to head up as a family during spring break I thought it would be fun to hike it once a week for the whole summer...what a stupid idea...I value my life way too much for that :) And obviously the trail has increased in difficulty...over the years I guess they had to change the switchbacks due to fire damage or something...that's what I heard anyway it was nothing to do with me being older and more out of shape.

proof I actually made it to the Y with the family...a few times I thought I'd just wait on the trail for them to go up and come back.

View of BYU from the trail heading down from the Y. It was a beautiful view from up there.

Crocheted doll dresses

2011-05-09T23:27:00.000-07:00

I signed up for a class to learn how to crochet a doll dress...our ward is working on outfitting 250 dolls to give to girls that are taken from their homes and placed in foster care, or sick in the hospital, or whatever tramatic circumstances may arise...so I went one night to the church and figured out how to follow a crochet pattern...I went home and stayed up till midnight that night finishing my first dress...then Emma wanted one...so I made one for her doll, but it wasn't "right" she had a fit...so I put it on another doll for the church and made her a new one of her own design...it's really fun...then I got an idea to try a few hats...I have a neighbor that makes them and they are cute so I thought I'd make some for me and the girls.

This is the first doll I outfitted

This is the dress I made for Emma at first...so it ended up a little big for this doll but turned out okay...the had ended up really cute and I really liked it.

This was the dress for Emma's baby, but the arms and legs showed and so she had a royal fit...I ended up making bloomers for hers and longer sleeves and a had for the hairless head :)

This is the dress Emma designed for her doll...I drew a dress on a piece of paper and had her color the design she wanted.

The hat I made for Emma

whipped this one out in 1 1/2 hours before we took the kids out to get their free Del Taco kid meals...it was raining and I was cold...I made a flower for it tonight, but didn't get a picture of it.

I made this one for Hannah, but she decided she's not a hat wearer. And I should have had Hannah model the picture...close up my face is way too scary

Easter Eggs

2011-05-09T23:15:00.000-07:00

Easter was ...well, there's not much to say about it this year...I'm just glad it's over...it was a really bad 2 days...needless to say the bad moods and fighting ended up with me not caring to take pictures...so I only took a few pictures of the end product of dying our brown eggs fresh from our own chickens...I loved how they turned out...the speckled ones were my favorite.

Spring in the yard

2011-05-09T23:12:00.000-07:00

I just love spring...here are a few pictures of the yard a few weeks ago...I'm slow at getting things uploaded. I've been too into my reading and crocheting :)

Flowering Plum

A vine out front that will hopefully spread and be a ground cover

Front flower bed

Grape Hyacinth starting to bud out

Peach tree

Growing chicks

2011-05-09T23:06:00.000-07:00

The chicks are growing like weeds...everyday they look different. Here's a few pictures of the last few weeks.


Cloud and Cinnamon 1 week old


2 week old chicks out in the yard with Emma

Cinnamon (Ameracauna) 3 weeks old


Still got those adorable cheeks...I'm a little partial to Cinnamon and Sugar


Sugar (Ameracauna) 3 weeks old

Are you lookin' at me?

Cloud (Rhode Island Red) wondering if she is a partial frizzle...her feathers on her shoulders and tail curl up instead of lay down...that's what a frizzle is. 3 weeks old

Milkshake (Silverlaced Wyondotte) 3 weeks old

Brandon's latest creations

2011-04-13T19:16:00.000-07:00

Brandon has really enjoyed trying his hand at turning wood over the last few years...now a guy has him making really high-end Pens for him and he sells them for$110 to $150 per pen...if only we knew the right people to sell them to and make all the profit...as beautiful as they are I'd have a hard time spending that on one, but we are glad some people are willing to :)

From sprinklers to this?

2011-04-13T18:29:00.000-07:00

So on March 31, it was so warm the kids wanted to run through the sprinklers after school...Hannah informed me that it was 75...I informed her that 75 wasn't all that warm especially with the wind. But she was hard to convince...so I said ok, if you all do your homework, pick up the dog poop, and pick up the house...and in a flash it was all done...so out to the sprinklers they went...........................................then I went down to the computer to check the weather...it actuall read 57...that's close to 75 it was actually 64 but it "felt like" 57....Then we woke up on April 3 to 7 inches of snow then it just kept coming down...it was 8 or 9 inches when all was said and done...but luckily it warmed up and melted several inches off by the next day...now it's nice again and today (April 13) I mowed the lawn.

Yep, these are my chives before the snow...I can't believe how great they've come up.

Our poor flowering plumb was almost bent in half from the heavy snow...it stands taller than the deck normally.

Our New Addition

2011-04-13T15:07:00.000-07:00

Spring is in the air, and I was sad we didn't get to share in the first few weeks of our chickens last year cuz we didn't decide to get them till they were about 4 weeks old so I couldn't resist when I saw they were selling them at the farm and ranch store. I was excited to add some variety to our little flock. So when these get big enough to move out to the other coop we'll have fresh chicken...I guess the time has come to eat a few of the other birds...we have 3 Barred Rock so we'll eat a few of those and maybe Millie the Pecker.

This is Milkshake...Ben's new chick...he wanted to name her Bob II but I told him we've had enough Bob pets...a cat and a chicken...it was time for something different...she is a Silver Laced Wyandotte

This is Cloud Asher's new chick...She is a Rhode Island Red...he immediately picked her out cuz she looks like his other chicken Daisy...and she is soft like a cloud he said so that's her name. And if you look closely...you can still see her egg tooth on the end of her beak...

It was hard getting a good picture of Cinnamon...she is Hannah's new chick and very active...not to mention so fluffy that that she always looks like a blur. She is an Americauna or Araucana...we'll have to see what she turns out like...but she has the puffiest cheeks...I just love her...She'll lay blue/green eggs.

This is Sugar...Emma's new chick...also an Americauna or Araucana...The store didn't know which...

Sugar, Cinnamon, and Milkshake

Valentine's

2011-02-28T16:38:00.000-08:00

I was asked to help with Asher's class Valentine party...so we made cupcakes for a cake walk. It was fun.

This was the one Asher decorated...I did the frosting and he sprinkled the colored sugar on them all.

We decided to do a fun family Valentine celebration...so we ate heart-shaped pizza for dinner with sparkling beverage by candlelight...all the kids thought it was so fun...then we had leftover cupcakes for dessert. Then topped it off with a family home evening lesson on Love. It was a fun night.

Yep...She's 7

2011-02-28T14:48:00.000-08:00

This is Emma's dirt cake...it sure was good.

Isn't it cute.

Asher got Emma some earrings.

Emma just loves babies to death...it's all she ever asks for.

She bought herself a waterbaby...you fill it with warm water and it feels real...when we went to turn off her nightlight this is what we found.

Emma just asked for a dress and a new baby doll.

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Ben got Emma some paperdolls...they were way fun.

Also she wanted some cool slippers like Hannah.

The party

2011-02-25T19:58:00.000-08:00

The Big 3

2011-02-25T19:37:00.000-08:00

I put Kaden's presents on the piano a little before dinner...he didn't understand why he couldn't play with them and open them...I told him he had to wait for Brandon to get home from work and have dinner. Then we'd have his party.

No Kaden, not yet.....

He wanted Nachos and Mac and Cheese (which I think he'd eat every day of the week if we let him)

There are no words for this picture :)

Kaden...well, being Kaden.

Eatin' those nachos

Silly face

He's finally 3...he's been telling people he is 3 when they ask...now that he's 3 he told me he was 2...what a card.

He was really excited to see his Dragon Cake after he woke up from his nap.

Last night when he picked out the design online, he told the kids "I am having a dragon cake...but I do not think we can eat the fire"...I think he was testing it out to see if it was hot and if he could eat it.

The teeth and fire were edible...much to his delight.

Basement partial "Face-lift"

2011-02-07T09:01:00.000-08:00

Brandon decided it was time to mount the tv on the wall and built a shelf to put the dvd player and wii on...so this weekend that was our project...and I decided there was no way I was mounting stuff on the old white wall...and I had some paint left over from our upstairs living room paint job last year this time...so friday I decided to paint the wall for the tv...I'll get around to the rest of the room in the following weeks (hopefully, you know how motivation dies out...but we'll see)

Didn't Brandon do a great job...it only involved a "small" fit or two...overall it went well. And Yay it's up above kids reach for the most part...a little safer!

I can't wait till that white wall is no longer white...just give me a day or two :)

All cuddled up in what he calls his "Carebear" blanket...he earned some tv time and is chillin'

Someone has only been up 3 hours and already ready for his nap...too bad he's gotta wait 2 more hours till lunch and Asher gets to school.

Kaden playing "Thomas"

2011-02-06T16:18:00.000-08:00

Kaden asks every day if we can play trains...one day I helped him set up the tracks fililng the kitchen and we had a ball...he stayed busy literally hours playing with them. I know this is a long video...but it's mostly for his mom...

A little catch up

2011-02-06T14:52:00.000-08:00

Ok Well, January went by in a blur...one of my good friends was having a birthday and I didn't know what to get her...I wanted it to be from the heart...so the morning of her birthday the idea came to me...(draw her a picture) so I got up and spent the morning drawing her a picture...also I was watching her little girl one day...she is a little older than Asher but has had a feeding tube her whole life and recently started eating by mouth...she was so cute with her messy face I couldn't pass up a photo op. Thanks Juliette for the fun afternoon. Pup was in heat and it got a little messy for a few days...so I took a pair of Asher's underoos and pup-ized them...she wasn't fond of her new assesory but handled it. And no post is complete without an egg picture or 2 or 3 or 4. Enjoy...we had a really cool speckled egg and while I was photographing it it fell so hence the broken shell picture...also we had a really rough white egg that skipped the pigment process.

Because she "loved" the undies so much we named them the "UNDIES OF SHAME"

A days worth of Eggs!

My new egg basket...I absolutely love it...and it was a killer deal too! (only a couple bucks, even better)

In comparison to a typical egg it's almost white...wierd huh...not to mention the rough shell.

Fun with Cousins

2011-02-06T14:41:00.000-08:00

Well, about a week ago we decided to head to Enoch and pick up my nephew that's been staying with my sister there and have hime come stay with us for awhile to get to know him and have some fun before his mom comes back to Utah to get him...so we all loaded up and headed there to get him...it's been lots of fun. Kaden loves trains and the dog and chickens...just wanted to share so my sister could see what he's been up to. Thanks Liz for sharing him...it's been a riot.

Our 4 cute girls...?

2011-01-13T08:50:00.000-08:00

Well, what can I say about these pictures? Some days kids get crazy and in the moment don't think about what they are doing...don't you wish we as adults had more days like these, just having fun cuz it is fun right now. I admit these are going to be great photos for when they are older...

I did just ask them to all get dressed so we could go...I guess I should me more specific next time.

good thing emma and asher are about the same size and hannah and ben are very close too.

One day the kids found the bag of left over fondant in the fridge and wanted to eat it plain...I said heck no...I'll make cupcakes tomorrow and you can decorate them...and here is the results...they had lots of fun.

A Farm in town...?

2011-01-13T08:25:00.000-08:00

So after having chickens and caring for them and gathering eggs every day, and deciding to see how well we can really live off our food storage without going to the store for little things just to make life easier, I've discovered something about myself. I would be completely content to be a farm wife taking care of animals and gardening and making everything from scratch. My happiest days are the days that I spend time at home, in the yard, cleaning the coop, caring for animals, starting dinner in the morning or afternoon and cooking and baking and cleaning house, and doing homework with kids. The last few days, for example, we decided to have vegi-pizza and greek chicken gyros...normally I'd run to the store and get a few cans of crescent roll dough for the pizza crust and some pita bread for the gyros. Instead I made crescent roll dough from scratch and the sauce and pita bread for the gyros from scratch too...it was so much fun, however a large portion of my day was spent in the kitchen...but I loved it. I've even started making most of my own pasta for chicken noodle soup and things like that....Maybe I was just born in the a few generations too late :) Well, enough said...I wanted to post some pictures of our recent eggs...we get about 6-8 eggs a day now...occassionally only 5 we only have 7 chickens and Olivia is still in the house at night and early in the mornings...so one of the chickens lays 2 eggs a day every once in a while.

This is Millie's double yolker...she's laid 2 of those and they were one day after another...it it next to a regular egg from one of the other chickens. The egg in the shell was bigger than a large egg from the store.

This was our first 7 egg day...I was so excited.

The egg on the left was Olivia's "big egg" the middle egg is Millie's double yolker and the white egg is a large store egg.

Yes, I'll admit I'm the crazy chicken or egg lady...it's like a crazy cat lady only I don't have tons of chickens and at least the chickens give us eggs...cats don't...but I just think the eggs are so beautiful and they are amazingly tasty and such higher quality that the eggs we get at the store...hope you enjoyed my obsession.

Christmas 2010

2011-01-10T20:51:00.000-08:00

Christmas was way too much excitement for Pup

Bob and Donna had to leave early cuz of a storm so we had a little family party for Ben and he got the Star Wars Wii game he's been eyeing for many many moons:) He wasn't very excited though...ha ha

Brandon made his mom and dad a nesting bowl set on the lathe...it was beautiful.

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For our 10th anniversary Brandon started Our Adventure Book (from the movie UP) it's pictures of our adventures in life...and so for Christmas I got a code to get a bunch of pictures free from Shutterfly so I updated the Adventure Book...it's so fun to look through

Our VCR and DVD player all went kaput right before Christmas...so Grandma and Grandma spoiled Brandon with a new BluRay player...it's so fun to be able to watch the movies together again.

Brandon was pumped to get a Lava light from his mom and dad...he's wanted theirs for years.

Brandon's favorite present each year....NEW SOCKS!

Bob and Donna got me the cute cow slippers...I really love them. And I'm wearing a purple apron that Hannah hand sewed for me from fabric that she got for her Birthday and Ben made me the necklace and bracelet at scouts out of wooden beads and rolled up magazine pages cut in strips...it was so creative and he did such a good job.

My mom and dad gave us a copy of all our family videos growing up put on DVD...what a stroll down memory lane...Donna couldn't believe how many there were...I can't wait to finally get them all watched. But it will take some time.

This was another one of my killer deals...I got a code to get a free 20 photobook from Shutterfly too, it was so fun so I put together a book of our 2010 happenings.

Hannah got an art set from Ben.

Jammies from Grandma Gayle

A game from Grandpa and Grandma Knopp they really spoiled us all.

A whole bolt of fabric from Santa

Hannah asked for art stuff from Ben and boy did she get some

Also some cute slipper socks she liked that Ben got her.

Hannah only asked for books from Santa...she is our little book worm...she's always got her nose in a book...I just love that she loves to read.

We were very blessed this year...and what a blessing to be able to spend the season With Grandma and Grandpa we had a really good time while they were here.

Ben asked for a Blanket "like Dad's" for christmas from Hannah and she got him some Iron man legos too...he loved them as you can see. And from Santa he got Iron Man and G-Force Wii games, and somehow we didn't get a picture of that...so sad cuz he was unbelievably excited.

Emma just asked for a Blanket of Pooh Bear from Santa...she was ecstatic when she unwrapped it.


Jammies from Grandma Gayle

Emma wanted a babydoll, paper and crayons from Asher and he got her the biggest box of crayons he could find and a whole ream of paper...she is in artist heaven...what a great little brother.

Another game from Grandma and Grandpa Knopp...and the kids have played it almost every day since...even Asher is loving it and it's really good for his math skills.

Grandpa and Grandma surprised us with a visit for Christmas...we were all so excited...I was the only one that knew they were coming and the secret was killing me...I'm so glad they came early and didn't wait till Christmas to come.

I think this is Asher's favorite Christmas present...he has had so much fun making forts and having it in there, doing shadow puppets with his friend and using it at night before he falls asleep.

Jammies from Grandma Gayle

I love swagbucks...using the free gift cards from Amazon.com we were able to get 3 movies for the family completely for free...I love a good deal:)


Asher only asked for watercolors, a flashlight, and some m&m's from Ben and a bird hunt game and a skateboard from Santa...he was thrilled with everything he got...it was so much fun seeing his face.

Hannah's 10th Birthday

2011-01-08T17:04:00.000-08:00

On December 6th Hannah turned 10 and she had a little party with a few friends over and she had lots of fun with them. They made peanut butter cookies together and had a great time.

I think this was a self portrait after the cake had been eaten and all the friends had gone home.

Hannah has started to love sewing...for months she's been hand sewing anything she could get her hands on...so we got her lot of her own material to sew with so nothing had to be sacrificed and recycled:)

Hannah is turning in to quite the ham...I'm not sure what the fascination was with ripping things open with her teeth but it happened a few times.

Hannah wanted a Hot Fudge Pudding Cake for her birthday...it's one of our family's favorite...and very yummy.

Brandon's 35th Birthday

2011-01-08T16:54:00.000-08:00

Good friends of ours took us out to dinner for Brandon's birthday. We had such a great night, great company and great food.

This is Brandon and I at dinner with Chris and Kathy some of our Best Friends. Thanks guys it was an awesome night.


After dinner we headed to our cousin PJ's house, he and his wife watched the kids while we were at dinner...then we had a little party for Brandon and had dessert...Cheesecake Brandon's favorite.

Happy Birthday Honey! I love you!

Snow day continued

2011-01-08T09:46:00.000-08:00

Asher was waist deep in most spots and had a ball.

Hannah and Ben just had to make snow angels...you can see that our 24 inche chicken wire fence around the garden is completely burried.

Everywhere Emma goes so do her babies.

Pup had to wait for the kids to make her a trail...once she got brave and ventured out on her own...it looked like the butterfly stroke doggie style as she tried to bound through it over her back at times she dissappeared

Olivia's saga continues...

2011-01-08T09:35:00.000-08:00

This is Olivia's new home for now...she got feeling too good for the small box and kennel...she needed a perch so we installed one for her and her and pup are best of friends when I put Olivia outside put is her protector...when the other chidkens pick on her pup chases them away...it's quite fun to watch.

The saga of the twisted neck

2011-01-08T09:30:00.000-08:00

Right After Thanksgiving, Olivia, Emma's chicken got a weird condition that affected her neck control and she couldn't eat or drink on her own for weeks...she couldn't walk either so we had to bring her into the house and keep her in a dog kennel and hand feed and water her. As you can see she finally got better, but it has taken lots of work and crushing vitamins and hand feeding them to her...now as soon as it warms up hopefully we can get her back outside with the flock at night too. For now she sleeps inside and when it gets above 25 or so I put her out with the others to reintegrate her with them.

Let's play catch up...

2011-01-08T09:20:00.000-08:00

Asher and his Not-Halloween party cookie

I'm trying to remember when Asher lost his first tooth...I think it was the first part of December.

I let the kids stay home the day the school celebrated Halloween...and we had a not-Halloween party and decorated cookies and watched movies and had lots of fun without the scary gory stuff.

for Pack night in November we had an Honor the Veterans night and for some wierd reason I just up and volunteered to decorate 3 cakes for it before thinking how am I going to do that. It was lots of fun and I learned how to play with fondant...Marshmallow fondant that is...Now I'm hooked.

And I think they turned out Pretty good if I do say so myself. One of the veterans that came to talk to the boys was moved to tears that the boys would think to honor and thank them for their service. He said it was the first time in his whole life he had ever been honored like that.

Here's Emma with her cookie she decorated.

Hannah making more cookies.


Hannah's first cookie

My little sister Olivia was able to come visit for Thanksgiving...it was so much to see her again after more than a year.

Of course we were caught off guard by a storm rolling in and Olivia had to go home early and we realized we hadn't got any pictures of us together...so of course it had to be a no makeup just out of bed picture for me...oh well, it's all part of the memories, right?

Our Fresh eggs

2010-12-21T09:11:00.000-08:00

Our very first egg from Daisy...Asher's Rhode Island Red Chicken.

Our first Snow day in 11 years

2010-12-21T08:50:00.000-08:00

Well, I measured about2 hours ago and we were up to 20 inces...and it keeps coming down...with only a 4 hour bread forcasted then more snow the rest of the night and tomorrow...I guess it's a white christmas for us...unless it all melts in a few day (which could happen with warm weather and rain)

Brandon and Christine 2010

2010-10-22T16:03:00.000-07:00

Well, again...not quite what I was hoping for with me and Brandon...Last year turned out so good...but at least we have some fun poses...I guess it's impossible to expect Brandon to be serious ...we're just not meant to be a serious couple I guess.

Our FAMILY October 2010

2010-10-22T15:58:00.000-07:00

Well, we are in a quandry of which to print to put on our wall and to give out for Christmas...so I would like all to vote and leave your preference in the comment area...then I'll know what you all think

3 This is one we are considering

5 This is another we are strongly considering

11 This is another we like

The kids 2010

2010-10-22T15:37:00.000-07:00

Hannah October 2010 age 9 (almost 10)

2010-10-22T15:34:00.000-07:00

Hannah is growing up way too fast...as you can see...she's turning into quite a ham and lots of fun.

Benjamin October 2010 age 8 (almost 9)

2010-10-22T15:25:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how much Ben has grown this year...he's turning into quite the handsome young man...and such a gentleman.

Emma October 2010 age 6

2010-10-22T15:19:00.000-07:00

Emma was a great sport...she was all smiles and very cooperative...even quite a poser.

Asher October 2010 age 5

2010-10-22T15:14:00.000-07:00

Okay, so Family Pictures this year wasn't as fun as it has been in the past...at least I don't remember everyone fighting and crying and refusing to get dressed and smile...Asher was in the foulest of moods...it's a good thing he's cute regardless :)

How to give a chicken a bath...

2010-10-21T21:13:00.000-07:00

Yes sometimes even a chicken will need a bath...so first spot the chicken that is soiled...this one unfortunately slept under the pirch...big mistake...so to remove poop from a chicken follow these steps...

Fill the first garbage with dishsoap, warm water and a little borax...the 2nd tub with clear water...the 3rd tub with warm water and a little white vinegar...swish chicken in one tub at a time with hands firm over wings keeping head above water at all times.

Then gently wrap your chicken in a towel and cuddle it for awhile till it starts to dry.

Put it in a box and allow it to shake off excess water...

Then blowdry on low to finish drying wings so it doesn't catch a chill and die.


now you have a happy clean chicken...Thank you for your time :)	It's really not as bad as you would think. We've had to bathe two chickens on two different occassions and the chicken stayed quite calm as long as I was calm and firm and gentle...and it beats handling a poopy chicken for days and risking it getting sick.

Pup and the Chickens!

2010-10-21T21:02:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally got brave enough to see what pup would do with the chickens...and to my surprise, as long as I'm there with her to keep her attention she's fine with them...she does like to chase them a bit...I think it's a fun game for her. But she's never harmed one so that's made life easier on us.

When I go out to give the chickens scraps...Pup likes to share in the spoils.

One evening right before dark one of the chickens came up on the deck and was pecking at the door. Too Funny!

And yet more yummy food

2010-10-21T20:39:00.000-07:00

So I have this dear friend who is like an adopted grandma to the kids...she was Ben's sunbeam teacher years ago and been like part of the family ever since. Her birthday was in Sept. and I wanted to do some thing special for her...and I found out her favorite dessert is Coconut Cream Pie...since it's one of Brandon's too, I made two pies...one for her and her hubby and one for us. It was sooooo delicious.

Then Asher and I set out to make some poppyseed muffins for the boys to take on their campout...since they had to provide their own breakfast. Asher has really turned into the little chef/baker...everyday he wants to help me make something...some mornings he won't even eat breakfast unless he can make his own "recipe" for breakfast...one morning it was rice chex with chocolate chips and sugar and milk all stirred togeter. and Yes I actually let him eat it. I'm turning into a softy. But most mornings we try to make a little more nutritious meals. I think all his cooking is helping him overcome his extreme pickiness...He's actually starting to get a lot more brave when it comes to trying new foods...at least he tastes them...and occassionally he even likes it...but I have to hand it to him for taking bites which is a huge step from where he was a year ago.

I know this is an odd picture...but there were only a couple nectarines on our tree this year...and I wanted to remember our first 3 juicy small nectarines...and I thought it would be a good contrast.

THE TEA PARTY!!!

2010-10-21T20:26:00.000-07:00

Back in September the Boys went on a Father Son Campout...so me and the girls had a girls night and my friend Julie came and talked us into having a Tea Party...which I've been meaning to do for like a year or so...My Aunt Norma gave us this adorable tea set and aside from the kids filling it with water, we'd never put it to good use...since we don't drink tea...we had a Tang Party...and boy was it a party. We had the time of our lives...I'll post some vidoes of what Tang will do late at night accompanied with sugar and candy...beware!!!

There's not much to say about the following videos...I think they speak for themselves...enjoy...we sure did!

Grandparent Day at Kindergarten!

2010-10-21T19:58:00.000-07:00

I videotaped most of Asher's program...I never went to the other 3 kids' programs...figured I'd better go get a look-see at the last one...glad I did...it was cute.

We were lucky to have Grandma Gayle some share a snack with Asher and see his program.

Grandma Gayle asked what Asher wanted for his snack he only asked for an apple and fruitsnack and chocolate milk. Grandma brought caramel too...she knew what he'd like...Thanks Grandma Gayle

Got Fiber?

2010-10-21T19:04:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite breakfasts...

Emma likes eating the shredded wheats too!

Apple Donut Muffins??????!!!!!!!

2010-10-21T17:00:00.000-07:00

Ok so awhile ago we made caramel apples and took some to a neighbors and it was delicious...but because we took it with us...I cut up way too many apples and put them in water...a few days later they apples had turned a little brown and the kids wouldn't eat them...but I didn't want to throw them out or put them out to the chickens so I told Asher he could help me make muffins out of them...he didn't want muffins...he wanted donuts like he had at the RED BARN...apple donuts...so I said, let's make apple donut muffins...he agreed...and here they are...No Apple Donut is complete without some sprinkles...and they were de-lish.

It's all Peary Beautiful

2010-10-21T16:55:00.000-07:00

Again sooooo sorry about the excessive number of photos...well, I guess I'm not too sorry or I wouldn't have put them in...and maybe I should start a blog just about food...it seems that's what interests me most :) ha ha ha...well, it is the staple of life and it is beautiful. This is the first year I ever canned pears or made pear jam or pearbutter...which is divine...I have to reccommend it to anyone...and it's great not wasting the peelings when you can the pears.

This is my Pearberry jam...it's raspberry/pear...sooooo yummy.


I couldn't decide if I wanted to have Pear Butter, Pearberry/berry blue or Pearberry/raspberry...so I had all 3:)


My first year for making Pearbutter...it's made out of the skins that I peeled off the pears when I canned the fruit...it was awesome not wasting anything...the cores I was able to feed to the chickens...I just love it.


I ended up making more Pearberry Jam the next day...but forgot to get a picture...I ended up with 14 quarts of pears and 30 or more pints of pearberry jam and pearbutter. I really loved doing pears.

Peaches and more peaches

2010-10-21T15:49:00.000-07:00

Okay so I have to admit...I'm really having fun playing with my camera...it makes some of the most tedious and boring things seem like beautiful works of art...I know I get a little obsessive over things...and I couldn't pick a few favorites...so I put in a bunch...sorry for the large quantities of pictures.

What a Honey of a Honey...Brandon is so great...he just jumped right in helping me can peaches...I think he had fun...if not...at least he pretended...

You Will See

2010-09-09T12:55:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I know this is hard to believe and very weird...I've blogged more in the last 2 or 3 days than over the past year...but the canning is caught up for now, and I can't do a thing outside due to the wind and rain...and let's face it...there will always be laundry...the kids are ALL at school for another hour so I have peace and quiet...so I'm catching up.
Well, last night at the Relief Society Spiritual Mall, all went very well, there were many good messages and several touched me and I really felt the spirit and was able to reflect on things in my life that I could take to a new level and see through a different perspective to be more positive...and my friend Jacqui was kind enough to record my newest song for me...but as you listen focus on the message and not the delivery...I don't know why, but I still get such stage fright and my voice gets bad and my tempo isn't very steady...but regardless everyone seemed to enjoy the entertainment. And you all should know that I had been sitting at the table right under the air conditioning vent so my hands were FREEZING which makes it hard to play the guitar...not to mention the newly formed blisters causing pain (due to my over practicing, and not playing much over the last few months till last week) Ok enough disclaimer...on with the show! Enjoy!

The name of my song is "Your Will See"

Put to the music by Taylor Swift "You belong with me"

Takin' scraps to the girls!

2010-09-09T12:28:00.000-07:00

Chickens never seice to amaze me...I'm actually excited anytime I have extra scraps to go through to them...I love watching them run over to it and start pecking away. It's amazing how cuious they are, and somewhat smart as I am learning the more I watch them. This post is dedicated to our little flock. Which I will be sad in a way to move outside permanently in a week or so when they are 8 weeks old. We only bring them in at night and put them in a big box in the kitchen, but I love hearing them chrip when the sun comes up and we start bustling about in the kitchen in the morning getting ready for our day...plus loading them up in a little box to take them out to the coop gives us hands on interraction each day which will be harder to get when it's not a necessity. Oh, and the video that I uploaded is kinda long...sorry about that, but I was wathching them and they were doing their little run super fast and flap their wings like they were going to take off on a flight...until I turned on the camera...so I was waiting for another show and it never happened...but they are fun to watch. ENOUGH SAID...

I know this last picture is not a picture of a chicken...but it looked cool...I'm calling it our "Hole in the Wall" The chickens love to peek through and grab bits of asparagus from the neighbors...the leafy stuff that's gone to seed sticks through and they peck it off.

Tomatoes, Tomatoes, Tomatoes/A REALLY RED Post

2010-09-09T11:43:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been picking tomatoes from the garden, and being that I'm the only one in the family that really likes tomatoes I decided I should can some...It's been years since I've done that cuz again....I'm the only one that really likes them...but I had fun canning up a few bottle from the two big bowels of tomatoes I'd collected last week. I also had alot of fun playing with my camera again throughout the canning process...It's so much fun turning work into art...maybe I'm probably a little crazy and it just looks like tomatoes but to me it's ART !!! :)

Well, it's a very messy job, but SOMEONE'S gotta do it...and I always say, you might as well have fun while your'e at it...so I did my best at having fun! Oh, and by the way, They chickens absolutely loved the left over skins and cores...so it's a win/win, and I love not wasting what is waste to us anymore.

Playing with the camera

2010-09-09T10:27:00.000-07:00

I was melting down some honey because it had crystalized and as I was drizzling it I thought it would make a nice picture...doesn't it make you want to taste? Also I discovered our camera allows you to change settings so I was trying to do some close up picture things...

The final product!

2010-09-08T08:16:00.000-07:00

Here's the final product with the run attatched. The chickens love being out...and they especially love getting out to free roam the yard...On Labor Day one of them even got brave enough to come up on the deck however finding her way down took a little bit...she finally resorted to flying off the edge.

Here's Pup doing her morning ritual of terrorizing the chickens...

One Fall Morning...well almost

2010-09-08T08:07:00.000-07:00

Our Beautiful Apples...Emma's already been eating them...she's really excited to have one now that they are ripe.

Brandon and I have already had one nectarine...there are only 3 more on the tree...but the tree is very small and it's only it's first year...so I can't wait till next year. Oh, and by the way the nectarine was YUMMY even though it was still a tad firm.

This was just last week...see how green they are compared to now.

This peach is hanging quite low in the tree...I'm surprised Pup hasn't gotten it yet.

This morning this is how the peaches are looking...they are still a tad firm...but I'm guessing within the week they'll be ready. It's amazing how quick they've turned.

What Hannah's been up to

2010-09-07T21:37:00.000-07:00

Emma loves her new skirt...it's an original by Hannah

You can't really see it...but she even sewed on belt loops because she was unsure of the size...what a smart cookie my girl is.

Hannah just picked up a needle and thread a bit ago and started making clothes for a tiny baby doll...then when we were at Walmart on Labor Day after of course losing every needle we had in the house...she brought money with he and bought her own set of needles and thread and a threader...And while I was at gymnastics with Emma I got a call from her asking how to use the threader...so I explained it over the phone and as she was trying it I hear "Oh cool, that's really handy...and she giggled her cute giggle. When I came home this is what she had created for Emma...she was going to wait and give it to her for her birthday in 6 months...but I said it might not fit her then and it might be better to give it to her now...she did this without even trying it on Emma...just eyeballing. it...I'm really proud of her gifts and talents...she is now a seamstress, guitar player, singer, and artist...not to mention great helper and babysitter for when I really need her.Way to go Hannah!!!

What Emma's Been Up to Lately

2010-09-07T21:23:00.000-07:00

3 weeks ago Emma signed up for Gymnastics to give it a shot...our neighbor had seen her doing "tricks" in the front yard and said she was a natural and she should pursue it...this is what she's been working on. I hope you all enjoy she sure does.

Emma is really loving gymnastics....Thank You Grandpa and Grandma Knopp...it's the best gift she could ever have. And everytime we get in the van to drive home she says..."Do you know what my favorite thing was today?....it was the bars...she just loves pulling herself up and learning to do the moves...plus I think she enjoys it because it's a challenge. A lot of the other things like cartwheels and backbends and splits and handstands are easier and she can practice them all day at home..but bars and beam are only at gymnastics to practice and so she can't get enough of it...I know there are a ton of videos...but I wanted to give Grandpa and Grandma a glimpse of what they are assisting in creating in Emma's life....THANK YOU!

A Fun little project.

2010-09-07T21:04:00.000-07:00

One day last week my friend Holly told me she was asked to be a presenter for the Relief Society Spiritual Mall Activity next week. She was in charge of Best Buy...and wanted to know if I would write a song for it as part of her presentation. i thought it sounded really fun and I was up to the task...well, at least part of it...I knew for sure we could write lyrics...but coming up with the actual music and learning it well enough to perform in less than a week I was unsure of...so we used Taylor Swifts music to You Belong With Me and I wrote a new version to go along with Holly's topic...I'm pleased with how well it turned out...I hoping tomorrow night someone will record it for me and I'll upload it as well, but anyway on to the story of Journeys...just moments after talking to Holly a neighbor from across the street that I'm in the Primary Presidency with asked if I'd help her with the store she's in charge of ...she wanted me to do the Store Sign...I tought it would be fun...and here is the end result...I painted it today and she was happy with the results. I'm very excited for tomorrow night...I just know it's going to be fun and spiritually uplifting.

Asher's First Day of Kindergarten

2010-09-07T20:47:00.000-07:00

Asher was so excited for school the moment he walked out of his room in his jammies he said, "Is today my first day of school? " He was all smiles...I wish I had been able to capture that moment on the camera...it truly was a Christmas morning look on his face...he is loving school.

Look it's my new backpack!

Ready to go and soooooo excited.

Come on already Mom, why are you taking so long...I was getting on my bike and he was riding circles in the driveway waiting for me to get all ready.

He arrived in front of the school...I'm sad I never took pictures of the other kids' first day.

Through the front door he goes...he's looking at me like why are we taking pictures lets just get in there already!

He was really concentrating on staying in the lines


His first assignment when he got to school...he was so excited he wouldn't even give me a hug goodbye.

Guess who's 5...here's his Birthday pictures

2010-08-27T18:48:00.000-07:00

http://www.myonlineportraits.com/ViewSharedAlbum.aspx?ShareID=38bac3c7-887a-4930-8493-45cf1e266b6e

Click on the link and it will take you right to his photo session online...I hope you enjoy...he's such a cutie and I can't believe how much he's changed since last year.

The coop is finished!

2010-08-26T13:33:00.000-07:00


Here are some pictures of the finished product...all we have to finish is putting a large run on this weekend possibly! The kids had a ball splatter painting the nesting box.

front view of coop

This is the nesting box the kids splatter painted...by the way even the kids were splatter painted when all was said and done, not to mention the grass, curbing, dog, one chicken, gravel and wall of the coop.

These are the doors to put in food and water and clean it out.


Asher wanted to take a picture and see how to put pictures on the computer...so this is his photo.

Ben Earned his Wolf in Cub Scouts.

2010-08-22T19:49:00.000-07:00

Ben has thoroughly enjoyed being a part of cubscouts...and he has earned his Bobcat, Basketball belt loop, BB shooting belt loop, Archery belt loop, and Astronomy Belt loop, and now he has his wolf and one gold arrow point and 3 silver arrowpoints...he was on cloud 9 at pack night last thursday....

Ben in Skit

More skit

Ben's den did the skit...it was cute...it was Dr. Bluebonnet skit if you have heard it...

While I'm here

2010-08-22T19:36:00.000-07:00

I guess while I'm at the computer and it's storming outside again...I'll do a quick catch up of summer...well at least some of the things I got pictures of...and they are in no particular order of chronology.

Check out the hummingbird...I know this is a hard picture to see it in...but its so fast at flying away I never could zoom in better and forgot to crop the picture before downloading it to the blog...sorry.

Here is the strawberry bed in late spring as the blossoms set...we had a ton of strawberies!

some other front yard pictures of the flowers I've been working on adding each year...

ENJOY!!!!!

Our newest Endeavor

2010-08-22T17:12:00.000-07:00

Ok, So I know I'm not the best at updating our blog...maybe even the worst...but I have too much fun enjoying life to stop and sit at the computer to write about it...well at least most of the time...and I love being outside in the summer so it's especially hard for me to want to sit at the computer when I could be in the garden or flowerbeds or in the backyard watching our new little flock of chicks...
I've wanted chickens for several years now...and FINALLY one day a few weeks ago Brandon said, "do whatever you want" when I asked him about them again...so I knew I had to act quick...before he changed his mind...and that sunday at church I was talking to a friend at church that had mentioned that she had bought 25 chicks and needed to find a home for some...so I offered and after church told Brandon we needed to get started on a coop. I had to find a way to make it happen without much money cuz it just wasn't in our budget...and before you knew it we had wood, siding, roofing, and all the fixin's just given to us...thank you neighbors and friends...we only had to buy hinges...not to bad I thought... Now we have some 4 1/2 week old chicks of various breeds...I know one is a Partridge Rock, 3 are Barred Rocks, 1 is a white orpington, and the other 2 we are not sure of yet...as soon as they get the rest of their feathers we'll be able to tell better. We are all very excited...except maybe Brandon...but he is such a sweatheart to go along for the ride on another one of my crazy adventures...So now 2 weeks later after finding out about the chicks....they are home with us and the kids are having a ball with them and they really are fun to watch. And they are already eating bugs out of the yard...I hope they don'g get too fat on our earwigs...we have a ton of them :) ha ha ha ha !