Fresh Apple Cider

We were recently invited to a friends house to help press some apple cider.  We all had a blast, especially Elsy.  Of course, I forgot to crack the camera out until the very end but I still snapped a few pictures.

There were about six of these big buckets of apples and we would put them into the dark blue bucket to soak before cutting them and then putting them in the press.  Elsy spent nearly an hour running back and forth between apple bins and throwing apples into the water.  I didn't even have to show her how.

She was soaked, but who cares?  She couldn't have been happier. 

Logan worked the press while I cut apples.  We got some yummy cider out of the deal.  I realized on the way home Logan hadn't known we were pressing the apples.  I laughed and laughed because I realized I had said, "The Heywoods invited us over for Family Home Evening to drink homemade apple cider."  After saying he wished he had worn some boots he mentioned how much better things taste and feel when you have worked hard for them.  I think that can be something that we can apply to many areas of our lives.  

Despite the lack of boots, we all had a ton of fun. :)

Quiet Book: Mailbox Page

Something my mom and grandma made for their children was a quiet book.  Us kids were only allowed to play with it at church.  I loved playing with that book growing up so I decided to make one for Elsy and the future kiddos.  I have been working on it on and off for months and am still not as close to being finished as I want to. 

I was going to share the whole book when it was finished but I'm to excited about these pages I have already made to wait.  So here is the page I just finished this week.  The Mailbox Page!

For this page I just followed a pattern from a really great quiet book blog I found. 

Inside the box is a pocket to hold all the mail and the flag rotates.  (Thanks grandma for the grommets and grommet punch!)

I knew I wanted one of the pages in the book to have holidays so I decided to make each "letter" be for a different holiday or event.  I did Thanksgiving, Christmas, Halloween, and a birthday card.

Fun, right?  Elsy already loves carrying the envelopes around and opening the snaps.  Hopefully they won't get lost before they make it to the church pew!

Sores, Flowers, and Fish

Elsy has gotten the dreaded hand, foot, and mouth disease.  The poor girl has been so sad, sick, and sore the last few days.  She has little sores all over her feet, hands, and tushy and another rash from having a fever for so long all over the rest of her (even in her ears!).  Her and I have been doing a lot of cuddling and a lot of Pocahontas watching.

This is what she looks like all over, the sores are more on the bottom of her feet :(

Logan, being the great husband that he is, noticed I was a little run down so he came home with a suprise yesterday evening.

He said he got them for me because I was such a great "mum".  Boy he knows how to brighten my day. :)

Needless to say we have been stuck in the house.  I really don't want to spread the 'joy' of this illness to others.  I was super bummed we couldn't go to our ward's service project today, which was a carnival at an old folks home.  Again Logan saved the day and found a little trout farm a few miles from our house.

It was perfect!  Nobody was there to get sick from Elsy.  The sun was shinning and we could stretch our legs.  Elsy kept threatening to jump in (above) and loved splashing her hands in the water to scare the fish (I figure they can't get the illness because they don't have hands or feet? :P )

Yay for sunshine, the great outdoors, and husbands!

Bean Bag

I just finished this little bean bag chair for Elsy.  I had to share it wih you because it was the easiest thing to make (only one yard of fabric!).  You can find the tutorial here.

Every day while I'm showering and getting ready Elsy sits in her room in front of her bookcase and looks at books while listening to her favorite music (a playlist consisting of Tangled, Frozen, and Pocahontas songs).

She has also taken to just watching Pocahontas... whenever I am up for it again.  She stands right in front of the TV or sits on the floor.  So I decided she needed a little chair of her own for these two activities.  

Waalaa!  It has a little handle on the side so she can drag it around to wherever she wants to go.  I have never sewn with piping before and it was way easier than I had anticipated.  I may have over-stuffed it but it is already getting flatter, which I figured would happen anyway.

Say cheese Elsy!

(Can you see her little pigtail?  We can finally squeeze them in, thanks to her baby mullet.)

Moved!

As many of you may know, we moved last week!  

(Our pantry before leaving)

A couple in our ward went on an 18 month mission to Germany and asked us to house sit for them.  Can I just say, we were beyond excited!  It was just up the road from our apartment we were already living in so it wasnt a huge location difference.  The home is beautiful and we love it.  Some of the perks are a vegetable garden, raspberry bushes (Elsy already knows how to pick and eat the ripe ones), a baby grand piano (!), and a garage.  We unpacked our last box on Saturday so it is nice to start feeling like it is home.

Elsy has loved exploring the nooks and crannies and has already mastered the stairs (which was something I was worried about).  Our only problem has been the hardwood floors... Elsy slipped on day one and bit her lip.  Blood was everywhere but it has already healed and she hasn't slipped since (yay for socks with grippers!).  

We are excited to try our hand at the whole house thing.  Huzzah for the next 18 months! 

Pine Valley

Our last vacation for the summer was to Pine Valley, Utah where we celebrated Grandpa Atkin's (Logan's grandpa's) 80th birthday.  It was such a fun reunion!

(Logan was away for the family photo shoot at his friend's wedding)

I absolutly love Grandpa and Grandma's cabin up in Pine Valley.  Logan brought a group of friends (myself included) to visit for the 4th of July before we were dating.  I remember feeling so at home there and hoping it wouldn't be my last visit (probably because I had a major crush on Logan at the time teehee).  Thankfully it wasn't!

We got to meet cousin Ella for the first time!  She was three months old and such a doll.  Elsy was quick to point out her eyes and we had to start protecting them.

I wish I had gotten a better picture of this.  ^^ On our families night to cook David made a massive paella!  This is him just getting started but the entire pan was a mound of rice, shrimp, veggies, sausage, and chicken.  Yum!  The food was wonderful all week.

We didn't get a whole lot of pictures but we had a blast!  (Elsy spilled water all over her shirt so she ran shirtless whilst it dried in the dryer).  Elsy loved playing with cousins, chasing the dogs, exploring the castle in the yard, and playing with the water spicket.  She was even great on the plane, watching Frozen over and over. 

It is so much fun to spend time with family!

Oregon Coast

We went to the Oregon Coast earlier this month for a Volmer Family Reunion.  It was a wonderful trip!  We went crabbing, shopping, cheese factory-ing, lighthouse-ing and the lot.  The coast is my favorite place to vacation.

Even though the weather was always sunny and warm at our cabin, the moment we stepped onto the beach we were freezing.

Elsy had so much fun with her cousins.  It's amazing what little kiddies can learn from each other.  Here they are on the hike to Munson Falls.

And of course we loved being with Grandpa and Grandma.

Thanks Sharee Liebing Photography for these cute snapshots!