Combine, Applesauce, Peaches and more Football, Oh My

The valley is really beautiful right now. This was last week sometime. When the weather was so nice. I wish fall would last longer than it does here. The past week we have been out for Harvest Break (potato harvest). I think the school district had to give it a better name so that it didn't just imply that we get out of school just to harvest potato's. Not very many kids actually work in the potato's anymore. Half of the school actually helped with the harvest when I was in high school. It is kind of nice to be able to have a break right before the weather turns bad. We mowed our lawn really short, cut down all of the annuals, and cleaned up the yard. Everyday the kids had football practice. Brandon, Tim and I have all been sick with a bad cold. It has been pretty miserable. I have definitely been the most miserable because I really don't get much sleep at night with all the snoring and snorting going on.. One night I will have to record Tim and put it in my blog so you can all feel sorry for me.

Remember the pictures of the apples that we got off of our apple tree? We actually made applesauce. I bought a Kitchenaid attachment that worked great. First you boil the apples, then put the apples in the attachment, the applesauce comes out one hole and the seeds, stem, peelings all come out a different hole. It was alot less messier than the last time we made applesauce. These apples made great applesauce.My little helper. Maybe he should be called the MESSER.
I also bought a case of peaches from the fruit guy in Victor. The peaches turned out great. They were a really nice color and in good shape. 14 quarts is what I got.
Here is just a few of the jars of applesauce that mom and I canned. I think we got about 50 pints and another 7 quarts. It was a really long day.
This is Brandon's favorite place to be. Anywhere that Grandpa is Brandon is sure to go. He actually took the day off from school because grandpa took the day off from school to cut the grain. He spent all day on the combine. He loves to be on the farm equipment. I can't tell you how glad I am that my kids are able to grow up by my parents farm. I love the fact that there is responsibility, hard work and some sacrifice. Having to leave a party early to move pipe, getting up at 6:30 to move pipe and then go to work for Tim, and lots of manual labor. They will tell you that they hate it, but the truth is I know that they feel better about themselves, and have a sense of accomplishment.



Josh
This was Josh's last football game. He did really well. He caught some good passes and made a few tackles. He is the center most of the time, and gets to kick the ball. He does such a great job. Their team really struggled this year. I was proud of him that he didn't get down on himself and had a good attitude to the end.
Tim was one of Josh's coaches this year. It was a good experience for them.
Russell, Tim and Josh
Russell Huff and Josh, super great friends. One of the great things about living in a small community is that you get to really know the families around you. We have such great friends and are so lucky to have such good kids around.
kicking the ball
go # 2