We moved our site

Just to share we all of you out there we have moved our family site to our own domain and we will be making all future post there.

the site is
www.bellinghamthames.com

we hope to see you there!!

Old Settlers Parade

A couple weekends ago was the Old Settlers Parade.

We hitched a ride on the Conoco Phillips fire truck.

Zoe enjoyed waving at people but decided next year she was passing out candy.

One great part was our truck was the 3rd or 4th in line so we were done with plenty of time to head back to main street and watch the rest of the parade. Lets not forget those promised photos of Trina Jazzercising down main street!

(she's in the black hat)

And her boys Levi and Jake passing out fliers. Thanks for making sure we got one Levi!

~ Merriann

Sorry we are having web problems

I just want everyone to no that we are having web problem. I was simply trying to move our site from Blogger to Wordpress. It worked for a day and now no joy. SO stay tuned I am fixing the problem.

Greg

You're probably getting tired...

of all the gardening but, look at all this great stuff!

And they were from seed!

Check out our carrot freak show...

The corn is great for hide a seek.

~ Merriann

First Jams

We missed the strawberry season but have been all over the raspberries. We made one batch of regular jam with your normal gobs of sugar but since last year I wanted to try a new type of pectin that allows you to experiment more, use no sugar, less sugar, honey or, sugar substitutes and still sets up. So Greg headed to the Coop and picked up some Pomona's Universal Pectin to test it out. We made two batches. Seedless raspberry and mixed berry. The seedless raspberry has great flavor. It tastes just like raspberries (sweetened with a little honey). But, I accidentally used the jam section and I think we were supposed to use the jelly directions so it didn't set up as well. It still tastes great just a lot softer of a jam. The mixed berry we have yet to try but it set up a lot better. We will try a few more batches of different things ( I think Greg wants to try a pepper jelly) but I think all in all I like it a lot better. You just have more options than the 'traditional' pectin.

Greg also picked up this handy food mill and it made quick work of the berries (and took out a lot of the seeds) I am hoping to use it for apple sauce when that time comes.

~ Merriann

Church Campout

This last weekend was our Church's annual Camp Out at Silver Lake. Greg had to work Saturday so Zoe and I headed up Saturday afternoon at visit for the day. I had (briefly) thought about actually staying the night Saturday but then I remembered: Pregnant...sleeping on the ground...um...No Thanks.

We had a blast and are already making plans for next year. We are going to check with the church to see if they always have it the 1st weekend in August so Greg can be sure to request that weekend for vacation (all vacations have to be requested at the beginning of the year which makes it a little harder)

We visited and played for a while and then headed to the SBCC Olympics. They had a rope obstacle (running through 3 turning ropes without touching), a run/hop relay race, fill the bucket relay, Kick Your Shoe (going for distance) Simon Says, and of course...tug-a-war. Saturday night after singing around the campfire they handed out Gold, Silver, and Bronze metals. Zoe's team won the Bronze! She ran up front to receive her metal and came running back so excited. "Mom! Look! What's this for!"

She even found a dog willing to follow her around for a while. I have learned that Zoe is more of a dog person than a cat person. Not that she doesn't LOVE cats...she does. But, sometimes I think she loves them a little too much. But, she does great with dogs!

~ Merriann

Gardening

With the last month or so of nice weather our garden has come alive. For a while there we were wondering if we would ever see the fruits of our labor. It has been so great to head out to the garden to grab something instead of having to head to the store. We had two batches of lettuce going so when one flowered we had another batch ready.

This picture is of the flowering lettuce. Who new it would be so tall? (well I’m sure someone new. The plant in the middle was almost to my waist (and I’m 5’10”).

And look at all that great cabbage! Greg and I have been experimenting with different egg roll, spring roll and pot sticker recipes to use it up. They all freeze well so we can enjoy them for months to come.

The grapes are doing well this year. Last year many of the bunches were falling off at this stage. I’m not sure why but they are better this year. I think Greg did some pruning when the season was over last year.

That's all for now...just a quick garden update.

~ Merriann

Texas Sun

Zoë as we are walking through the store:

Z: Mama I’m cold.

Me: Me too. We forgot our jackets didn’t we?

Z: We need to stand in the sun.

After we leave headed to the car (in the sun)

Z: Mama, I’m still cold…this sun is cold.

We sure did get used to the Texas sun.

~ Merriann

Last day: July 17th

Today is our last day in Texas. The main thing on our agenda today is for Zoe to ride Bentley the horse. She absolutely loved it! Bentley is such a gently little (well, big) guy. He knew he had little ones on him and was very careful. This was especially nice when they would come up to a tree and Zoe would lean to the side instead of ducking. She relied a little too much on the saddle to keep her up there. Towards the end she did get better at it. Zoe said next time she wants to take him on the road. :o)

Then it was off to the airport! We had a small technical delay (the truck wouldn't start) but my brother-in-law, Danny, made a mad dash for the house from work to pick us up and take us to the airport. It was a good thing we were planning on leaving mega early because even with leaving a hour later Zoe and I had just the right amount of time to get checked in, through security, grab something to eat and get to our gate without having to rush or sitting around for too long. The timing was perfect.

On the plane and ready to go

View from the plane window. We're almost home!

Day 7 & 8: July 15 & 16

Tuesday:

Mason takes classes at a trampoline & tumble place on Tuesdays and they were gracious enough to allow Zoe to join in on the class. The pictures didn't turn out the best but you get the idea.

Wednesday:
Today is our last full day. We were determined to get the fencing working (since I wanted to get in a good show) Six long (hot) hours later we were literally fried (but the animals weren't :-) The fence was not working and we couldn't figure out why. So, we hit the pool to cool off.

Don't you just love the tongue?

~ Merriann