Labor (Day) of Love

After months of working 18 hour days, I gave myself permission to take a breather. Although "breather" may be a stretch considering I'm still sick! In spite of sounding like my voice box has been removed Mortal Combat style, I spent some quality time with the people I love the most and that is all that truly matters.

I had the best intentions to go pick tomatoes on Friday, immediately following work, but by the time my work day ended I didn't feel up to getting down and dirty at Day Farms. I came home to the sha-weet surprise of baked potatoes and pit-grilled steak. Nice! I love it when the hubby cooks on his days off! Now I really didn't want to go pick tomatoes so I twisted the arms of my family members and then dragged them to a movie with me. Dinner and a movie with the whole family... does it get any better?

Up bright and early on Saturday, I went for my manicure and then decided to get down and dirty by picking tomatoes for my annual Labor Day Weekend canning-fest. Of course I dragged any willing body with me to the picking fields. After an hour of picking and destroying my freshly manicured nails, we had about 60lbs of tomatoes just begging to be peeled and stuffed into jars! We even discovered that chicks grow in tomato patches! 

Too bad Bill forgot he had put the chick on his truck seat for safekeeping...he sat on it! 

Later that day we finally replaced the busted dishwasher that refused to run it's rinse cycle anymore and while we were at RC Willey's we had Abby and Linz test drive the beds they are getting for their birthday on September 27th. It seems like they were still sharing a single crib just yesterday! My babies are growing up! We wrapped up Saturday with a sunset drive and Frank Caliendo. We were still laughing when we finally went to bed!

My girls have been great about letting me dust off my photography skills to take pictures of them in various locations. I haven't been a professional photographer for years, but I still have a passion for it. On Sunday we headed out to Antelope Island for some Buffalo sightseeing and some creative portraits. Our feet are hating us for the torturous trip down the rocky sand dune, but I think the pictures were totally worth the pain... don't you agree?

 

 

Carley was having an off day and was not prepared to have her picture taken, so I don't have any singles of her but she promises to be at our next photo shoot at the Ogden Train Station. Thank you for letting me take your pictures, girls!

My tomatoes are still waiting for me so it is time to walk away from the computer, but it has been a fantastic weekend and more adventures are coming soon!

Chocolate Covered Tomatoes?

I've been avoiding this place for a few weeks.. but I think it is time to take a deep breath and take a small step forward. There's still a giant emptiness that we work around, and I still cry every day, but there are other normal things happening in our lives as well and I don't want those moments to slip away.

Fall is a fun time around our house. It is the time for harvest, canning tomatoes, and enjoying the cool air that brings with it nature's most stunning colors. If we took a poll, I think that most of us would agree that fall is the best season of them all. But we don't ask Bill, because we know that he hates autumn, saying it means that his favorite season has come to and end, and the bright fall colors just mean that the leaves will soon be dead.. and don't even get me started on what a baby he is when it comes to the cold! But we love him anyway. :)

Labor day weekend I headed out to our local farm to pick some tomatoes. As usual,we planted our own garden, but something went seriously awry and we didn't get the yield that we had hoped for. After hours of picking, we felt we had enough to keep me busy for the weekend and then some. It was so satisfying to see all of those tomatoes!



In addition to canning tomatoes, Labor Day weekend was filled with fudge orders. The girls and I create gourmet fudge recipes and the demand for our unique, homemade fudge is growing all the time. In fact, the girls often dream of opening a candy shop one day. It is a cute dream, but I wonder which one of them will want to volunteer to do those dishes every day? Even though we have more than 20 unique and amazing fudge flavors, the runaway favorite seems to be the banana cream pie. As long as the demand for it continues, we will keep filling orders and creating new flavors!


Our evenings are filled with homework, dishes, laundry... the typical household activities. But it still shocks me that my "babies" are in Junior High. The homework assignments get tougher and I grin as I hear my little ones learning the basics of Spanish. It is a quiet routine that I am happy to have.