Got Me Some Peaches!

As I was leaving town yesterday, I noticed a fruit stand at the gas station.  I called Stan and told him.  He went right up and bought a case of Washington peaches.  When he got home with them, he promptly devoured two.  When I got home from work, I made peach cobbler, and today sometime I will probably do some freezer jam.  I used this recipe from my cooking blog.  I pretty much made it the same way, except I used less water since peaches have enough juice, and I used a mixture of sorghum, tapioca and potato starch for the flour.  After he gets the applesauce (from our own tree) going, Stan will process 7 quarts of peaches just for eating this winter.  The cobbler was so good, I had to have some for breakfast!

Just look at that ice cream melting into the sweet peaches!

Just looking at the pictures makes me want to go back for more!

Busy Saturday and My First Blogger Video

What a day! Hubs, son, and Syd all took off at 8:00 for the lake, where they happily spent the day catching "Really big fish, Gramma!"

I took off for Sam's flag football game at 10:00.

And before his game was over, I headed to the high school to watch Chris play football against Livingston. The Panthers won 34-6!

After the game, Gracie and I headed to Bozeman for lunch at the Co-op and a few errands. The kids just love to eat on their balcony-so pleasant! (So do I!)

And since Gracie had been begging to come to my house for forever, we headed home, where she proceeded to rake my leaves, with Chloe supervising. I pitched in when it became obvious that this pile was for jumping.

And here is where the fun started. The fishermen came home, and Gracie's mom and brother showed up-the leaf pile didn't stand a chance!

Good times-the kids will carry that memory all their lives.

Small Town Stuff

I know I've talked about the Manhattan Potato Festival. We live here in Manhattan and always are sure to take in the festivities.

I grew up in a small but growing town just 10 miles east of Manhattan-Belgrade. Back in about 1962 they started their own Fall Festival and have carried on the tradition ever since. It's really in the family because right from the beginning, my Mom started dressing in outlandish costumes and walking in the parade. She "retired" from that in the 1990's and I still have people telling me the Belgrade Fall Festival will never be the same without her.

BUT-now the next generations are coming along. This year my 15-year-old grandson rode the football players float. Not Mom's outlandish costumes, for sure, but at least the tradition is still there. Actually, Chris would DIE before he tried anything like that. He probably would die of embarrassment watching her if she were still around to do it.

The curly-haired one, number 85 is our Belgrade Panther pride and joy.

Honoring our firefighters.

There was a pancake breakfast at the Senior Center, a free barbecue, crafts in the park-a true small town celebration.

Afterward, Stan and I drove 25 miles to the cement plant where he worked for 39 years. It was the plant's 100 anniversary and they had a barbecue, giveaways, and tours of the plant. I wasn't going to go on the tour, I had toured a few years ago, but they convinced Stan he had to see the new equipment in the control room (he was a lab technician there), and I didn't want to sit around waiting for him so we went together. The reason I didn't want to go was because the kiln where they fire the cement rock gets VERY hot-over 2,000 degrees-and we spend quite a bit of time fairly close to it. Being at that "magic age," I could really sweat! Well, I donned a hardhat, picked up some earplugs and went on in anyway. It was alright to see it once more, but I did get tired of our tour guide continually asking me if I was OK. What was up with that? I wasn't even the oldest one on the tour! I didn't even start sweating til we left the plant!

Big day-we could have gone back to Belgrade for the homecoming game, but we decided we had traipsed around the valley enough for one day. Besides, it was unseasonably hot for September and I hadn't cooled down from the kiln yet.

First Day

I went to Grace and Syd's school this morning to witness their first day of school. What a hoot! I was working when Chris and Isaac had their first day and Danny was 180 miles away, so these are the first grandkids I got to see on their first day. Wouldn't have missed it for the world!

Two very cute kindergartners. They're not in the same class but their classrooms are right next to each other. Everybody is going to think they're twins.

Sydney barely had time to let me take this picture-he was too busy on the playground. When the bell rang, he grabbed his backpack and lined up, totally ignoring us. Mom and Dad-who are they?

Miss Grace had a minor meltdown, but her awesome teacher, who she had already met, immediately took her under her wing and reassured her. I see a great relationship growing here.

I had to be there, after all, I was there when they were born. First Gracie, such a sick, tiny baby.

Then Sydney, six weeks later-small but healthy.

Where did the time go? All those days of diapers, bottles, croup, colic-now they're "grown up!" Now just don't blink or they'll be grown and going off to college. I know-it happened to me with my three boys!