Wheat Meat

I just posted on my self-reliance blog about how to make wheat meat. Check it out! http://selfreliancebyjamie.blogspot.com/

Crazy Hair Sunday

Nathan had a lot of fun fixing his hair for church on Sunday. . . if he can do this many different things with his hair it must be time for a haircut!!

I finally convinced him to let me comb it and make a normal face. It was not easy . . . what a handsome guy!

Food projects

Here are some food projects that I have been having fun with. I've been sprouting wheat. It is great! Sooooo easy and quick and healthy! I will be posting more about how to do it on my self-reliance blog. . . soon. . .


I canned chicken for the first time. It was so easy and is great!!




I've also been adding wheat berries, cracked wheat, and TVP (textured vegetable protein) to my ground beef as a meat extender (not all at the same time. . . ). These are my sloppy joes that I started out with less then a cup of meat and ended up with a whole pan. We love them, too!




What a great year for cherries it has been ! Our family drove out to Emmett and picked our own cherries a few Saturdays ago and I canned a bunch of them, dehydrated a bunch of them (YUMMY!!) and ate them until I was sick. I love cherries!

So, that's also a little of what I've been busy with lately. :)

Summer Fun!

I know I have been slacking on my blog. . . but summer has been BUSY!! Here are some of the fun things we've been busy with:



Lunch at the park! Pretty much everyday, I have gone to the park to get free lunch for the kids! It's great! They get free lunch, I don't have to make it, my kitchen stays cleaner, and they get to play and release some of the never-ending energy! Plus, it's super close to Bryson's office, so he frequently joins us.



Kayla thinks she owns the swings. She loves to swing as high as the swing can go. She will just lean her head back like she is relaxing and swing away forever.







Lily is a huge fan of the swings, too. Between the two of them, we are usually at the swings for quite awhile, and I am doing underdog after underdog after underdog. . . you get the picture?

Nathan wants his share of the underdogs, too. It is quite the workout. :) Running back and forth between swings doing underdogs constantly. I love to hear them squeal, though!

This is Lily enjoying the oranges she frequenly begs for from my friend, Christy, who often is at the park with us. She loves her little baby, Dallin and constantly talks about how much Dallin likes her.

Kayla does her share of stealing oranges, too. Thanks, Christy!

We missed a few days last week of having lunch at the park and the lady who gives them out asked me where we had been when we went yesterday!

Update on Self-Reliance Blog

Hey everyone!

I have changed the address to my self-reliance blog, so I hope that doesn't confuse anyone! Here is the new address: http://selfreliancebyjamie.blogspot.com/

I am really excited about getting some cool links and info up there. Take care!!

New Blog!

Hey everyone!

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I am the ward self-reliance specialist. So, I have started a new blog with all sorts of stuff related to self-reliance.

Check it out: http://c9selfreliance.blogspot.com/

Memorial Day Project

So, this is what we did on Memorial Day. . .

It looks like Bryson did all the work--trust me, I did my share.

And Nathan did his share, too. :)



And Lily and Kayla did theirs . . .



Really, though, I placed every brick on the bottom layer and most on the top layer. Bryson then perfected where I put each brick.

And here's the little retaining wall. There's a little wave to it. We love how it turned out. I got some raspberry starts from some the Larsons in my ward and planted them back there. Now for strawberries and grapes and I will be all set!

Well, that's it from here! Our backyard is finally starting to look more complete. We've only been here 2 1/2 years. . . :)