Canning Update

Let the Harvest Begin

We have been canning at least 2-3 times a week. We have been putting up Spaghetti sauce, salsa, tomato paste, tomato sauce...you can just imagine how much you can do when you plant almost 80 tomato plants! I personally think they out did themselves but we are now reaping the rewards.

We also have been making a lot of jam. We started out with plum jam, which I have never tried before (kind of sounded like prune jam to me) but can I tell you--it is delicious! We also made peach jam and nectarine jam...yummmm! I think the family has already eaten about 4 jars of jam since we started.

When we get too tired to actually can the food, we put it in freezer bags and freeze it-- our freezer is full of plenty of fruit for smoothies and tomatoes for sauces! We are going to start making apple pie filling and applesauce soon.

Our garden has been a true blessing for us this year, it has been so nice to just go outside and grab a vegetable to cook for dinner, lately we have been eating green beans, beets, fresh salsa with onions, peppers, and tomatoes. The guys have done a great job this year on the garden. Thanks for all your hard work!

Grandpa G Turns 81

Wow, looking back at the years I have spend with Grandma and Grandpa has been wonderful. Last weekend we celebrated grandpa's birthday with good food and conversation. Thanks for the great times, we expect many more years of unpredictable experiences.

Grandma, Lynne and homeys were hard at work making grandpa's birthday dinner. We also had roast beef and gravy. I could not resist having a little gravy.

Grandma's famous pie crust. This is the best pie crust ever made. You might think I am partial but this crust is simply the best. I have never had a pie crust this light, crisp and flaky. Tasty stuff!

Birthday Grandpa and Jacob hang out before desert is served.

Happy Birthday Grandpa

Check out Grandpa's birthday dinner.



Grandpa does a fantastic job blowing out the candles. Watch closely because he will jump the gun and get a head start.

August Fun

Now that school has started it is nice to look back on the fun of summer. We had a busy August, Jamie got married and the Sinks came up to visit.
Jamie was beautiful, and so was the ceremony. We are so happy for her and wish the new couple a world of happiness!These where the only pictures that I , Jessica, have on my computer. There was lots of other pictures taken by my Dad, the master photographer.

It was super fun hanging out with the Sinks, it seems like their stay is always to short. We where able to go swimming with them one of the days. They played water baseball and it got super intense and fun to watch.

We celebrated another wedding this summer--our niece Stephanie married Justin. We posted some images of their engagement already, but we will get some images of their wedding soon.

Congrats to the entire Scott family for practically doubling this summer--you both had wonderful weddings and receptions--Stay Happy :)

Now here we go in the Sink Swimming Pool--Bring on the competition!!!

Dad is trying to take Mathew down! He might not be in the same weight class as Mathiew, but he has some good wresting moves!Here is Richie and Jim going after the ball. I can tell it is Richie because of his back muscles.I love Richie's face in this picture, he is trying to throw Mathew off him... and it isn't going so well. Derek was a little trooper, even though he hated the water. I did also, way too cold for my taste.

Dad's Home Town!!

San Diego Here We Come

So this past week, Me (Heather), Richard, Mom, and Dad all jumped in to Moms new car and headed to California!! Dad has been pestering us all summer about his need to feel the ocean breeze, to place his abnormally big feet into the mushy and grainy sand that lay beside the freezing cold and salty water. He has consonantly talked about his desire to hop on board a deep sea fisherman's boat and stick his Alaskan pole into to the waters of California. He has somehow talked Richard into enjoying something this crazy... We all packed light, got some snacks, videos, (obviously a book) and drove to California!

The First Day...
We planned on leaving on Sunday morning but... daddy decided to change plans!! We left Saturday night and drove to a crazy place in Nevada that was down right dangerous!! We went to bed at the hotel and woke up bright and early and arrived in San Diego later that afternoon.

The Second Day...
(By the way.. dad is making me post it like this.. Not my fault!)
So we woke up, got in the car and Drove... Now dad had a great idea, or so he thought... it was to teach me how to drive on the highway... now can i just say that i am okay with driving.. under 45 miles an hour... anything faster and I start hyperventilating.. anyway long story short, I drove for ten min before Mom finally asked dad if I could pull over. I am perfectly fine with not being able to drive on the highway! So after all the driving, we finally ended up in Sand Diego around 4:00!! We went to the hotel and then off to the beach, it was very pretty but I'm afraid it was freezing cold! Dad and Rich were brave and went in to the water for about 30 minutes before they no longer felt their legs.

We enjoyed the smell of ocean and of course sand. Lots of sand.... I hate sand. Richie and Daddy played in the water.

Hey Richie see those fishing boat? That is where we are going tomorrow. In actuality we went off the cost of Mexico instead of La Jolla .


The water was cold and it took a little while for them to get into the water. Richie tenses his body and prepares for the cold as Dad watches him. As for me only my feet touched the great Pacific.

Daddy does a back stroke through the wave.

Awe....... jez lauwese that is cold

Conquering the little waves was quite the accomplishment for these two Richards.


On the look for sand crabs.... oh my!

Later that night we went fishing along Mission Bay Jetty. We were using anchovies and casting just beyond the seaweed. We had lots of bites and had fish on but dragging them through the kelp proved to much for the two macho anglers. I basically read my book while they tried to bring the fish in through a bunch seaweed. Needless to say, the kelp won, but they had fun trying to catch them.

Day Three started early....

We had to be at the boat dock by 6:00 am. and we were not sure how long it would take to get there, so we headed out really early. We were there about 40 minutes early! We went on a half day fishing trip into Mexican waters. We caught all the sand bass allowed, and had a nice long boat ride in the open ocean.


Richie and Dad plan how they are going to stake clam on the back of the boat. This can be prime area because of the amount of chum (fish) that is tossed over the back of the boat. The chum is gross but attracts the fish. They are preparing to give each other knuckle as they proclaim
"the back of the boat is ours".

The captain helped me bring in some fish. This was one of the babies I caught. I did hook into some big bottom dwellers but daddy did not take pictures of those.

Mommy enjoying the calm seas. She caught some big fish. You can see the Coronado Islands in the background.

Seagulls were always flying around the boat just waiting for us to turn our heads so they can steal live bait. If you listened carefully you could here them say.... mine... mine mine... mine....mine... mine mine... mine.......mine... mine

I am freezing in San Diego.... in July, go figure.

Even big birds like this pelican wanted a handout.

Daddy and Richie dump the fish to get a count.

We could only keep 20 of the fish. The deck hands fillet the fish for us. We brought back four big bags of fish and stuck them in the cooler.

Here is one of our largest fish.

When we got done fishing, exhaustion set in so we headed back to the hotel and rested til dinner. Mommy and daddy wanted to take us to Old Town, so that's where we ate dinner. Really cool stores and good food too!


Yummy to my tummy

Two worn out old people.... fishing took every bit of energy they had.

We went shopping for Jimmy's birthday in the little shops near the restaurant. We got him some hot sauce.

Day Four....

Richie has never been to Sea World, so we decided to spend the day there. Don't I look excited next to the pretend walrus. We had a really good time, it wasn't hot or crowded. We took lots of pictures but these are some of our favorites.

We went to the new dolphin and pilot whale show. I talked with the dolphins and they said they enjoy living at Sea World. If they did not like it here I would have busted them out.

Mr. Pilot whale showing off his tail.

I love seals. They were all fairly active except for this one taking a little snooze.


Daddy spent a lot of time with the beluga whales. If you have seen the movie the Incredible Mr. Limpet.....well this is the same fascination daddy has with these white whales.


They do not have very big eyes. This picture is with its eye open.

Smile. . . . these whales always had a smile on their face.


Hey wait for me guys.....

I am teaching Richie about these sharks.
Big fish... daddy wanted to fillet the big guy for food storage. Look at the kids face in the reflection.
Daddy took a no look picture trying to surprise us and get a funky picture. To bad we caught we him in the act. We were watching the the seal and otter show. Mom and I really liked this show. It was very funny.


Daddy likes taking pictures of things sleeping. I think its because he is getting old and likes to sleep.

Any time daddy can get a good shot of an insect he is there taking his time trying to get "the shot". We just leave him behind and he catches up to us later.

Richie and daddy play with the sting rays. I would not touch them because that would mean I have to put my hand in the water.... not going to happen.

Ok there is a task for you to accomplish..... can you see Mommy or me (Heather) in this photo. If you look carefully you can see one of us on our way to the Ship Wreck Cafe.

Give it another try.... Can you see me.

We had a great time in San Diego and hope to visit next year.