Just kickin' back.....

                          But only for a second so I can post some random stuff as I wait on the laundry.

The first picture is me kickin' back! This was on a day I had just returned from the hospital from visiting Abi and giving her a shower. I fell onto my bed in exhaustion and wanted to look at my photos on my camera. The result, me with my feet up on my headboard!

I took this photo of the sunflowers growing up above the corn Justin planted. Some of the flowers are now spent and the finches and sparrows have been picking at them. 

All the time I spent at the hospital, resulted in my garden getting away from me!

Elyssa is in front of the patty pan squash, but to the left those are tomatoes and also behind the squash as well. They really are nearly 6 ft. tall. 

This is my most favorite plant. I planted 4 Armenian cucumbers aka snake melons. I love them chilled in the fridge with some homemade dill dip. Or in a salad. I eat these everyday! Ashton calls this bush the foliage rocket, because I have it growing on a trellis I made of old branches in the shape of a pyramid.  I picked 6 of these last night and they are all huge!

Last weekend we were going to take the kids to the lake before summer is officially over but the weather was going to be cooler than expected so we bagged the idea and decided to go hiking instead. We packed a lunch and headed up to Doughnut Falls. It was a really great day for hiking.  On the way we stopped at this bridge to get some photos. Justin was setting up the timer on the camera, I think this is a test shot.  

This is the waterfall, from the outside. See how the water goes through the doughnut hole?

This is from the inside!

 After our hike we stopped to have lunch. And this guy provided the lunch time entertainment.

He really liked Ashton's BBQ potato chips and Elyssa's Banana chips. Oh! and Justin's Mt. Dew, only Justin refused to share that. 

This was so random but I needed some therapy!!! LOL!  

Thanks for stopping by,

Stacey

More Tomato Recipes

Mozzarella Cheese (in this case 4 string cheese) and a 1/4 cup of Parmesan 

 A tablespoon of Pesto

 1/4 cup balsamic vinaigrette

 2 large garden tomatoes, some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

 Stir it all up! Let the beautiful flavors and colors come together.

Serve immediately! Do not refrigerate. It will change the flavor of the fresh tomatoes. This is a dish best consumed in one sitting.  If you don't mind your tomatoes changing flavor then feel free to chill.  My daughter loves this salad. She asked me to make it for her lunch today, after having it for dinner. Ashton and Justin say it is really good!!!

Roma Tomatoes

This is GOOD stuff

There is nothing like a good old fashioned BLT!

Especially when the Bacon is extra thick.

The Lettuce is Crisp!

And the Tomatoes are Fresh Picked from the Garden!!!!

 Put all that goodness on some toasted white bread,

 And you have yourself one of the best combinations on the planet!

Oh BLT, How we love thee!

July Photos of the Month

July

July came in with a bang! These first 4 photos are at a friends house for the Fouth of July celebration.

We had a blast!!! Thanks Jon and Meg! 

 Justin playing guitar

 Ashton 

 I can't decide which of these 2 are my favorite

This next one is at This is the Place Heritage Park. Elyssa is doing a Little House on the Prairie curriculum this year and she needed some reference on pioneer life. 

Abi's Accident was on July 18th. I mean Trauma Dragon's accident. 

Sometime during the first week of exhaustion silliness ensued. 

This was taken when they moved Abi out of SICU  and into IMCU.

Our first harvest after the spinach and lettuce were done. 2 zucchini, 1 white patty pan squash, 1 green onion.

This is that same green onion. It was a monster.

Abi and I holding hands in IMCU. 

The next photos were taken at Yuba Lake. 

Justin taking pity on me and painting my last 3 toes.

This scorpion wandered right into our camp.  We were in a group area and camped on the blacktop. There was a lantern on the ground as we sat around talking before bed.  This guy was attracted to the light. I am ok knowing that there are scorpions out there and that they come out at night. I just stay on the path or at camp. But to have one wander over into my personal space, puts a whole new spin on things.  

We had to share our beach with the cows. They only wandered through occasionally though. It was funny to see them on the sandy beaches.  

More pictures from the hospital. This was after they moved Abi to the Surgical Orthopedic Trauma floor.

My baby brother and sister they are the youngest of the 6 of us. 

Josh and Abi

This is what Abi thinks about this whole mess! Since this picture was taken she has not been this alert or chipper. She sleeps a lot and is exhausted. 

Thanks for stopping by! 

resting up.....kinda

Last weekend I was pretty much forced by my husband to go to his family reunion. I am so glad I went it was a much needed rest and change of scenery. I knew I needed the rest but it is hard to leave when you are in the midst of the situation. My husband is extremely sensitive to my needs and has taken excellent care of me. I know it is hard on him to have to hold down the fort while working a full time job and also taking the kids to and fro.  I know we needed to have time to reconnect as a family and my kids needed me desperately to bring some normalcy back to their little world.

 We have not missed a family reunion in 17 years.  Although I enjoy it I also know it is a lot of work to be able pack up everything needed. I usually make the menu and shop for the food and do elaborate meals. This year I was not able to do that and part of my hesitation in going was the work involved. I absolutely did not have it in me to do any packing or food prep. My husband was very sensitive to my needs and abilities.  He bought hot dogs and we decided that we would just go with that for the weekend. Justin's dad decided to make breakfast casseroles and pre-made some biscuits and gravy. We had a microwave to warm up our breakfasts and it was an awesome idea.  I was able to take the kids shopping the night before to pick out some snacks, that was very helpful.  The hardest part was getting my clothes washed and getting them packed. Admittedly, I did not pack my clothes until an hour before we left.  However the only thing that I forgot at home were some hair clips, which was easily remedied by sending some one into town to pick some up.

I feel so fortunate and grateful for all of the love and support poured out on us by Justin's family both near and far and all of those at the reunion.

The trip was a great success and I was able to rest and and get a grip on my emotions and stress level. It was really nice to swim in the lake and I loved sitting on the sandy beaches. I have photos to post as well but it will have to wait as I am not home but, at the hospital right now and I don't have access to them.  I will also have to play catch up and do my photos of the month post. I am 3 days behind with that.  oh well....

I stayed the night with abi last night and I am feeling very optimistic about her recovery, she is coming along so fast.
I know this post is a bit discombobulated but it is what it is.
Well that is it for now I will post more later.