Domestic again

I've been domestic again.

We went to Snowflake for the long weekend, my birthday, and to see one of my foreign exchange students. I didn't make it to Eager this weekend. We had a good time. It rained on Friday and was quite cold. Then Saturday we all went up to Showlow to go bowling but the wait was like an hour so the Parana's and us went to the fish hatchery while Brian and Julie and family went shopping. The road to the actual hatchery was closed so we decided to walk along the little stream. It was so pretty. Kathryn wanted to be in the water the whole time and finally at the end I let her put her feet in. We saw the beginning of a river. The stream we walked along starts next to the hatchery coming out of the rocks and then actually makes it to the Little Colorado. It was neat to see the beginning of a river. A worker for Game and Fish came up while we were there and we got to see him feed the fish. That was crazy. These fish looked like they must be starving. Then he gave us a ride back to the car. I was actually grateful for the ride. It was quite the walk.

That night we went to Brian and Julies and watched Ink Heart on their Big Screen. I thought it was a great movie. Oh yes you can't go and visit Mick without getting a root beer float smoothie!

On Sunday I wore my shirt I made and Grandma Weir was so impressed. She told everyone we sat next how talented I was. I like to impress the in-laws. We had my birthday dinner together at Brian's. I made Chicken, bacon, Tortellini, and Brian had made BBQ chicken, potatoes and broccoli. It was a nice dinner. After that we went to the grandparents for cake and ice cream. and Games! I am now the big two nine. We played Uno. Brian and Matthew Lost!! Chelsea Won!! Dallin was mean to Carolina giving her all the bad cards he could.

I learned a new game that Brian got called Keat. It is a laser light game trying to kill the Pharaoh. It was a cool game. That will have to be the next game Matthew and I invest in.

To the Domestic part

On Monday Mick let me pick all the tomatoes I could and green beans. I got two big bags of green beans and a huge box full of tomatoes. I told them I was going to can them. And I sure did!

On Tuesday I canned the green beans. I borrowed Shelley's pressure canner and set to work. It was fun. I got 6 pints out of the two bags I had.

Today I did the tomatoes. I was going to do it at Rachel's but I never got a call back so I decided to do it on my own. I peeled the tomatoes using the Hot Cold water method then packed them in jars. I got 10 quarts of whole tomatoes and 4 pints of salsa.

Look at this I even reused a jar I already had.

It is such a gratifying feeling to have accomplished so much. All on my own. I have been relying on Rachel's expertise to long I guess. Next week I'm doing peaches. If anyone wants to come help I'd love to show you how to do it and then you get to take some home to add to your storage as well.

Added to my food storage

10 qts of tomatoes

4 pints of salsa

4 pints of green beans.

Priceless!

The trip home was like 2 hours longer cause of holiday traffic. Kathryn fell asleep with the book on her face. Matthew said she's learning fast. Learning by Osmosis already!