Our garden!

raspberries (1.5 - 80 ft. rows)

strawberries

A saskatoon blueberry bush/tree. It is supposed to have blueberries that resemble real blueberries, but are bigger, and the bush can be up to 15 ft tall. We have to surround it with wire right now to keep the deer off. Aaron is in the process of building a deer fence.

We have three fuji apple trees

We are doing a joint garden with some friends in our ward. We have a large back lot and they have a small backyard, so it is perfect. They even come over once a week and help us weed!! Our garden is 40 ft by 40 ft. Here are the yummy things growing:

yellow zucchini squash
pumpkin (two mounds)

cucumbers (two mounds)

yukon gold potatoes
corn (six - 40 ft. rows)
beans (4 - 20 ft. rows)

peas (4 - 20 ft. rows)

carrots (2 - 20 ft. rows)

bell peppers (1 - 20 ft. row) onion (2 - 20 ft. rows)

lettuce (2 -20 ft. rows)

Do you know who they are?

We went to Grandpa and Grandma Kerns' house a week ago and Calista introduced us to some new people, the Snreks. Their first names are just as interesting as their last names: Atsilac, Nelle, Noraa, Leumas, Euqcaj, and Ait. Do you recognize these names? They also have a grandpa named Semaj.

Calista has always been interested in spelling words, but not just forward. We went to Subway the other night and she says, "I know how to spell Subway. I can even spell it backwards!" and then she will do it for us. I'm not sure why this has interested her, but she loves to do it.

I think these would be great pen names if/when anyone gets to be a famous writer. Just looking at the names makes you a success. Anyone with that hideous of a name has to be a genious or athlete...right?! So what would your name be and what would you become?

Hershey Track Meet

This actually happened a few weeks ago, on June 4th, but I just got the camera out of the car. We love the Hershey Track Meet! Everyone did a great job running their heart out. I think Jacque and Calista were the ones to actually place in the top three, but everyone did great. Samuel actually got to compete this year, where the top runner would go on to compete in Eugene for State and then on to Hershey. It was fun to see him run his best, and a relief that he didn't get first!

Ellen is running the 50m.

Calista is in lane 5

Jacque actually got to run the 50m twice. We forgot that she had turned 7, so she ran one race with the 6yr old girls (and got a participation ribbon), and then went back and ran again with the 7yr old girls (and placed 3rd). It was a close finish between her and her friend Libby(pictured below):

Samuel is getting ready for his 400m run. I'm not sure what place he was. He is only 8 1/2 but competed in the 9-10 yr old bracket since he will turn 9 in December. They also included the 11-12 yr olds in this race because there were only two kids signed up for it. He did great!

Field Day

This last week of school has been a lot of fun for Samuel and Jacque. They started off Monday with a trip to the Aquatic Center. I was going to go with them, but they said that only parents could go = no siblings. Well that made that decision easy. They ended up having a lot of fun. Samuel figured that since it was an overcast day, that he didn't need sunscreen. Well when he got home, I noticed that he was pretty red on the shoulders and upper back, so we put the aloe gel on him. He was pretty sore the rest of the day, but I haven't heard him complain since.

Tuesday they cleaned out their desks and took a bunch of papers and things home. But Wednesday was the funnest day. It was field day. They said it started at 9am, but I figured it would be all right to be a few minutes late. However, as I walked out my door, I could hear the announcer already started. I thought, "Wow, this is really a big thing. They have an announcer!" As we walked fast/ran the few blocks to the school, we could hear that the kindergarteners were running their 50m dash. Once the race was started, the announcer would play fun songs over the speakers like Cotton-Eyed Joe. We got to the track just after Jacque ran her 50m dash, which was actually the only race Jacque signed up for. But we did get to see her do the sack races and the long jump. I didn't bring my camera because I couldn't find it, but my good friend took pictures for me.

Jacque's long jump. Aaron says that she has the Kerns concentration mark = sticking her tongue out.

Samuel ran the 50m, 100m, and 400m. He won each of the races! It was fun to see him run. He always talked about being the fastest one at PE, and it was fun to see him do so well.

This is the 50m dash. Samuel missed the starting signal, so he was a few steps behind everyone at the start. That didn't last long. His long legs quickly caught up to them and he won. After winning, he had just enough time to run back to the starting line for the 50m finals. They did give a few seconds to rest :) He was pretty tired by the end, but he won easily!

Samuel winning the 100m. He had a good breather between his heat and the finals here.

You can kind of see Samuel in this picture. He's in the first lane. As he approached the finish line, a bunch of kids held out their hands to congratulate him. He slowed down a little to slap the hands, but it was okay because there wasn't anyone close to him.

The finish of the 400m.

Samuel's long jump. I don't know how far he got, but I like the picture.

This is Samuel's 2nd grade class, which are all the 2nd graders at Pilot Rock Elementary.

She did it!

Sarah finally got her two top teeth in! It took several weeks of really swollen gums and a few times of crankiness, but they are there. She is 10 months old and has 4 teeth now!

The McKay Creek Reservoir

I found these pictures on my computer. They were from last summer. Our family loves going to the reservoir. I took similar pictures about four years ago when Calista was the baby, just before we moved to Ontario. It was fun to see that they still enjoyed the same activities: throwing rocks, building their own pond, and exploring around.

Don't fall in Calista!

Treasure hunters!
I just thought this was a cute picture of Jacque.
Aaron is digging the pond. The hole is almost done!

Calista is bringing in the culvert. (The bucket contained all of our supplies: pvc pipe, sticks, spoons, bucket (to carry the water), rope and I can't remember what else.)

For some reason Ellen refused to go down and play with everyone else.

Aaron and his crew (non Union workers) are setting the culvert.

Ellen is thinking it over. Do I want to go have fun or should I sit here all by myself?!

Jacque is supervising the process!

Samuel, my strong boy!

Just before we left, Ellen finally decided that it was okay to go down and help!

Galooooosh!!

I liked this picture because it showed both culverts.

Ellen is officially a big girl!

Ellen has been potty trained in the daytime for almost a year, but nap times and nighttimes were a different story. But this last week we decided to go diaper free. We have her go to the bathroom just before bed, and then Aaron will wake her up just before we go to bed. She hasn't had an accident since then!! We are all excited for our big girl! We don't know how long this process of waking her up before we go to bed will last, but I like that option much more than using diapers. Now if we can only work on Sarah! Yeah, that day is far away I'm sure!