Smith Family Blog

Trip to Kirtland

2010-10-02T21:12:00.009-05:00

Well, so it's been a long time since our last post. Life has been really crazy and hectic around here with so many projects, our callings, and so on.
We finally had the opportunity to breathe a moment and relax back in Palmyra, New York with a detour trip to Kirtland. We flew in August 30th to Rochester, NY. My father and stepmom are serving a facilities management mission in Palmyra and got special permission to take us to Kirtland for a couple of days to see all of the sites there and the surrounding areas. We left the next morning for Ohio.
We first went to the temple (we were advised to do that first and so glad we did) and then we went on the Church's historical sites tour. Such a difference in the Spirit apart from a fee we had to pay to take a tour of the temple...still interesting to see where things took place over 170 years ago.
The most impressive place that I felt was the room above the Newel K. Whitney Store. It was one of the places where Christ appeared and where Joseph received the revelation on the Word of Wisdom.
The next day we went to the John Johnson Farm about 30 minutes away and glad we went. It was on his front steps that Joseph taught the next morning after being tarred and feathered. We went to an Amish restaurant for lunch - that was fun.
I will try to post more from our visit to Palmyra later.

Snow for a day

2010-03-11T21:22:00.008-06:00

Texas is known for its warmer weather where we live. El Nino supposedly has touched us this season causing many much-needed rainstorms and colder temperatures. We have had several occasions when the Canadian air has pushed its chill down here. The lowest temp we have recorded was at the end of December at 7.5 degrees Fahrenheit.
More recently, on February 23rd, it had been predicted that we were to have snow flurries. Many were skeptical if they would actually come and stay.
Fortunately, I awoke to snow falling that morning. It was so beautiful. I have missed it so much seeing how I grew up with snow practically everywhere I have lived - New Hampshire, Utah and Idaho.
Our neighbors ceased the moment and built a snowman. Moo didn't know what to really think of it - he wanted to eat it but was hesitant. And he didn't really like walking in it either. Jared, of course, took advantage of making snowballs only to attempt to hit me (I was faster at moving once I got nailed off-guard).
I had been secretly desiring for snow this winter and I guess my wish came true!

The Fruits of Our Labors

2010-02-14T22:01:00.003-06:00

I love to eat fruit. The first spring here in our house we decided to start a fruit orchard. We planted apples, pears, plums, peaches and figs. These last two years were very hot and dry and then this winter was very wet but cold. (The lowest measured was 7 degrees F). Long story short some of our trees did not make it. So we replaced them and added a few more. Now we have two appples (Gala and Mollies Delicious), one pear (kieffer) , two plums (Methly and Morris), two peaches (Flordaking and Harvester) and two figs (Texas Ever-bearing). I had some practice pruning them yesterday which turned out well for my first time. I hope to keep the trees tall enough so the deer don't get them and short enough so I can. Future trees on our list are: Paw Paw, Persimmon, Pomegranate and Apricots. We are also trying our luck with thornless blackberries and grapes.

One little, two little, three little chickies...

2010-02-04T17:57:00.002-06:00

While running some errands a couple of Saturdays ago, we picked up these three, new little chicks. Two of them are Americanas (Jared is hoping for blue eggs this time around) and the black one is a Jersey Giant. We thought she was pretty but we shall see how she fairs in the hot weather this summer. They all seem to be the latest "hot item" to watch in the house with two curious cats.
It is amazing to see how fast they grow up too. A lot of their striped-like feathers are coming in on their wings. The black one has not changed much however.
We hope when they are big enough that the other four will adapt well to them.

Happy 30th, Jared!

2010-01-05T21:42:00.004-06:00

Recently, we went to Arizona to visit one of Jared's sisters and her family for Christmas. On the following Sunday Jared turned the big 3-0! He picked out the pineapple-flavored cake mix which I made. Nicole "whipped" up some yummy cream cheese frosting and I got to try my hand at writing on the cake (not so lovely) while Joshua and Hannah helped decorate the cake with M&Ms and Hotwheels cars. They were great little helpers and did a wonderful job!

Family Picture 2009

2009-12-16T16:38:00.010-06:00

Merry Christmas, ya'll. We took this in our backyard again. It always seems to be the best backdrop. And I cannot believe it is December so soon again!
Just a quick update. Our fall garden has officially died. After two hard frosts (lower than 32 degrees), the only things still alive are: cabbage, onions, and carrots. We managed to keep many things alive before the first hard frost so we were able to harvest some green beans just in time for Thanksgiving. Jared managed to save a few spaghetti squashes. I was hoping for a butternut to be ready in time for Christmas but they all died. So sad...a great loss with all our tomatoes and pepper plants that perished. Well, there is always next year. It could be a great year with all the rain we have received and continue to be blessed with!
Moo has improved in strides (compared to when we got him). He loves to play. What a free spirit he is! Run, run, run! He has learned how to fetch sticks then proceeds to chew on them. And when Dad comes home it is outdoor play time! Of course, he is still my siamese twin practically. He is the official protector of Mum. He barks and growls if someone is coming to the door.
The cats are still frisky and chubby. Kitty needs to go on a diet. I have been trying to feed her a lot less but it is difficult with another cat in the house. Jared managed to get a mysterious gift at a Christmas party we went to and it ends up that it is none other than a cat toy! They were not too amused with it however.
Jared's work is going well - steady and surely. We figure we are simply so blessed just to have employed in such a turbulent time. And he still is very busy with his present calling as Elders Quorum President. I have stayed quite busy as Relief Society Secretary. What a joy it has been to serve so many and to be side-by-side with such wonderful sisters!
Anyhow, we hope you all have a great Christmas and a wonderful New Year blessed with good health, peace, happiness, and true joy!

Crazy Carrot

2009-12-01T12:19:00.010-06:00

So we decided to grow a variety of things this past spring in our garden. One of the things Jared wanted to try were carrots. Due to the harsh summer, we figured not much had survived. Not only did the miracle of rain come (through fasting, prayer, God's timing and will) but our garden came to life again. Amazingly enough the carrots were still growing. With all the rain and cooler temps we decided to plant again for the fall. Many of the crops are stilling growing or producing.
However, on one day not long ago, we could see that the top of one of our carrots looked large so Jared uprooted it and this is what we saw! It looks like a giant Momma carrot with a bunch of babies. Jared was hoping to juice it but perhaps it will add some flavor to our next salad.

"Turn Around Don't Drown"

2009-10-25T21:20:00.004-05:00

Wednesday night we got 4" of rain out at our place. This made our usually dry creek much more full than normal, then the pipes under the road clogged with debris. I walked the dog before light and could hear somthin a roarin down that way. When a neighbor drove down to the crossing with his headlights on I could see that the level was around 2 ft over the road. I went back to the house grabbed the flashlight and went down into the back woods behind our house to see how high the water was. I did not get far before I saw that the entire woods had been flooded, but the water level was already dropping. This was still 6 ft below our house and 30 ft away. So I had to work from home. The water slowed down enough to get out around 1pm but was still running over the road until that night. Today the creek is running very clear and quick. We have another big storm coming so maybe I will get to stay home another day!

I think I smell bacon...

2009-10-04T21:58:00.005-05:00

The little pig that frequented our yard in the fall of 07 decided to make a reappearance. As you can see in the picture he came back in a big way. The first night he tore up all the field grass under the tree. The next night he crossed the line when he went for the nice grass. We laid down long sections of fencing to help protect the rest of the lawn, which stopped him the following night from doing any more damage. I found out that there is no season for these creatures and they can be "exterminated" if need be all year round. He would taste nice in my frying pan...mmmmm...Bacon...

Fender bender

2009-09-29T14:44:00.011-05:00

Well, on my way to a doctor's appointment in Northwest Austin on September 8th, I was approaching the freeway. It was my turn to merge with the oncoming traffic. I was just about to turn right to get on the access road to 183 when the guy behind me hit me! I didn't know how to feel but I do remember the first words out of my mouth, "You've got to be kidding me"!
Looking in the side mirror I saw plastic pieces flying in the air! Anyhow, there just happened to be an empty, dirt parking lot right after the turn and I pulled in there (they sell Christmas trees there in the winter). I was hoping this guy wasn't going to just ditch me (hit and run) and made sure that he followed me in.
He got out of his car and was apologizing the whole time and I began to feel bad for him. I knew his day was going badly so far. I asked him if he had insurance and he did. It is the law here to carry car insurance. So that was a plus. My neck and back were fine and he didn't hit me that hard but it did break part of the left tail light, bend the fender and dent my bumper along with scratching some paint off. I did depart from the seen after getting all the information from him and told him to try to have a good day regardless of what had just happened.
So all in all it was a total pain in the behind to have to go get it assessed as far as damage and then get estimates where to take it in to get fixed. The funny thing was that I never even thought to that we could pocket the cash and fix it ourselves! Jared did however. So we ordered a new tail light and the Wonderfully Talented Jared installed that and pushed out all the dents. He surprised me the next day! So at least it doesn't look totally ghetto now. Notice in the first picture the left side kind of mangled in. These are both after Jared removed the bumper to get the dent out.
Not only to mention that a few days before I had received a letter calling for a recall on my airbags that could be faulty. If there had to be an accident, he picked a good spot to hit! God's hand is always there each day. And we got our airbags fixed shortly afterward!

Firewood

2009-09-29T14:27:00.006-05:00

So there is an empty lot next door. Well the lot actually is not empty - it is full of trees, poison oak, and weeds. Receiving permission from the owner to cut down the dead oak tree, we preceded with caution as we pulled back the fence. Poison oak was everywhere near that tree. Jared came out with a garbage can, clippers, gloves, and dressed in a long-sleeved shirt and pants. I joined him later, cutting up stumps and thorny vines so we wouldn't trip on them coming out with the branches. And I spotted what I thought was a hairy vine intertwined in the tree. But in all actuality it was poison oak! What a heinous plant! We figure that it must have been created after The Fall.
Anyhow, after clearing all that we felt we were in danger of contacting, we had to figure out just how to get the branches down without killing all of the smaller trees that would grow up to fill in the tree we were taking out. That was a bit adventurous. Jared was cutting and we tied one of the big branches. I was to pull it my way so that it would fall in the "v" of the tree. You would have to have been here to see what I mean. It kinda worked and by the mercy of God, we were safe and no harm befell us. Sadly enough Jared still contracted poison oak...

Chicken food?

2009-09-29T14:17:00.005-05:00

Before planting our crop for the fall, Jared noticed that half of a green pepper was gone and thought that that was weird. Then he looked closer at the plant to notice none other than a tomato horn worm. The closer he looked, the more seemed to appear. We found 3 large ones - the length of Jared's fingers. We thought we would attempt to offer them up as a sacrifice to the chickens but they just pecked them once and left them. They must not be very savory. Can you spot the worms?

Fall Garden

2009-09-29T13:51:00.006-05:00

Well, we have been busy doing a lot. One of the things we have been working on was planting our seedlings for the fall garden. The rain that we fasted and prayed for as a stake began to come and so did some cooler temperatures (finally sweet relief!). The peas and green beans and squash (pumpkins, etc.) really enjoyed it. They enjoyed it so much that we decided to take our shades down especially because our tomatoes really needed some sunshine. We discovered that some of the cantaloupe and watermelon vines were still alive after cutting off their water supply. So maybe we will have some fall melon! We are excited to hopefully have more fresh vegetables than this horribly hot summer produced for us. This picture is a little outdated now but if you zoom in on it you can see the bean plants next to the remaining tomatoes.

Meep-meep!

2009-09-06T19:35:00.008-05:00

This post is dedicated especially to Sister Parkerson. While visiting this last spring she wanted to see a rode-runner. We never saw one while she was here but we have seen them every once in a while ever since, but not near our home. One day out of the blue this one wandered into our yard just as I got home from work. I was able to get quite close to him for about 20 min and get all the pictures I wanted. It just kept catching his dinner and pretty much ignored me most of the time. When I would get too close it fanned out it's black Mohawk which otherwise was completely hidden. It was eating grass hoppers, about 20 in the time I was following him. And of course he never flew, just ran very fast. It was about he height and length of a chicken, just a lot thinner.

While diggin' a hole...

2009-08-26T16:23:00.005-05:00

For the last few weeks, Jared has been in the backyard digging a hole to increase our water storage. Each night, while it is much cooler, I will go out and visit with him or help him pick out big rocks in the dirt.
Last night Jared went outside to begin his digging when he saw something climb up the tree in back and somehow made it over to a cedar tree. I told him it probably was a raccoon or a possum. Whatever it was had some amazing climbing and jumping skills!
Usually we hear the armadillo down back moving around looking for food so it definitely was not him. This time we heard something and before we knew it, I heard some munching and crunching sounds.
Jared moved the light he was working under to shine it on the tree and sure enough there was a big, fat coon sitting on our squirrel feeder getting his dinner. We could not believe that there was a coon no more than 15 feet from us, enjoying dinner while we talked. He must have been there for at least 10 or 15 minutes chomping down the leftover birdseed.

Momma-sized!!

2009-08-17T14:48:00.003-05:00

This story is to appease the complaint dept aka Nicole Wallace (hee-hee).

So the other night I went out to get the dog some food in the garage(I fill his bowl every evening so he can eat in the morning). I looked down at the ground only to see a huge scorpion near the doorway (it was making its way toward the house!). Not only was it big but it was really fat! Jared attempted to shew it away but it didn't budge so I pick it up with some long tweezer-type things we have and put her in a glass jug we have.
Jared looked at her the next day and said she has egg-like things on her back with legs. She was a momma with her brood! I thought to myself as I do with all arachnids, "I would love to kill her but I will show mercy only because of the babies". Had she been in my house she would have been sent to the spirit world a long time ago either by me or the little mousers (aka the cats). I let her sit in her "prison cell" for a couple of days.
Anyhow, last night I released her into the wild on the other side of our fence into the overgrown, vacant lot. I figured she needed a meal and a new home for her little creatures.

Canner Box

2009-08-02T23:09:00.009-05:00

Our ward recently bought a dry pack canner. This was because the previous canner that the stake owned was dropped a couple of times and we had no canner to use for several months while this one was being repaired. The Bishop did not want our canner to be dropped so he wanted to assign the High Priests to making some sort of box to transport the canner in. I wanted to show up the old men so I volunteered to make it. I first added a handle to the top of the canner - this is probably the main reason it is ever dropped - there is no good way to hold it.

I started with the suitcase idea (two wheels that roll and extending handle) and went to work. Three months later this is what I came up with. It was bigger than I wanted but rolls well and will protect the canner from any damage from dropping. Things I wish were different are first, it does not fit into our trunk, second the canner is a bit difficult to get into the box if you are not able to lift 75 lbs up to mid-torso level and twist it 45 degrees while lowering into position. I gave it to our ward canning specialist for a trial run to see how it will perform.

Inspiration was the key to making this box. I had to think about how every thing would be done for hours, then I would work on the box, think some more work some more. The features in the box constrain the canner to be in the right position. If it is not the lid will not close. When the lid is closed it pushes the canner into place.

Handle added and Finished Box

Accessory Storage

Retaining Features and Canner in Position

4th of July

2009-08-02T22:57:00.004-05:00

This year we had some friends over to our place to celebrate. We made Jalapeno Pepper Poppers. These are stuffed with a mix of cream cheese, chives, garlic salt Monterrey Jack cheese and all wrapped in bacon and grilled over an open flame. We used the peppers from our garden. They did not last long as you can imagine. The evening was spent watching our drunken neighbors light the good fireworks. After a while the show became more entertaining when the fireworks exploded on the ground and caught the grass on fire. We watched and laughed from our roof with hose in hand as this was repeated almost ten times. Each time they had to stomp out the little grass fires. It was nice not to have to go anywhere for the show, and they are not normally so funny.

Garden Harvest!

2009-08-02T22:25:00.014-05:00

Despite all the garden pests and oppressive heat we experienced this year we had some good success. Produce listed in order of greatest success to least: Cantaloupe, Tomatoes, Peppers, Onion, Okra, Zucchini, Cucumbers, Lettuce, beets, Potatoes.

Marginal: Pumpkin, Cabbage, Green Beans, Strawberries, Sunflowers.

Failures: Watermelons, Corn, Peas.

We made a batch of delicious Salsa with some of the Maters and Peppers. We juiced the largest Cantaloupes and froze the juice for latter consumption. You can see that the largest Cantaloupe was 16.5 lbs, the next was 12.5 lbs and the last was 8lbs. We also had a 5 lbs one not shown.

We had trouble fitting them into the fridge.

Below are some of what we got to eat!

Spider Mites

2009-08-02T22:02:00.006-05:00

Spider Mites also had their way with our garden this year. They love the heat and well, this year has been hot. They infested our entire garden before I realized what was going on. They were not easy to get rid of but I think I finally won...for now. They infested our tomatoes and cucumbers, which survived for the most part. They killed our zucchini and green beans.

What they did to our tomatoes! Notice the white on top.

What they did to our cukes! Notice the dead zucchini in the background :(

Rotten Blossom Rot!

2009-08-02T21:53:00.004-05:00

Our Tomatoes were plagued with blossom rot this year. This was a result of El Nino which brought the heat a little early this year. Some tomato varieties were more affected than others - Big Mama loss was 90%. All gardens in our area were affected.

Snake in the grass

2009-06-14T22:45:00.004-05:00

While filling a bird feeder in our backyard I heard a loud hissing. I looked over and saw this little fella. It is called the Texas Cobra or Hog-Nose Snake. He is harmless but gave me quite the scare.
I got a few good pics before I let him depart.

Over in that there creekbed I found a shoshone arrahead

2009-06-14T22:39:00.004-05:00

While working in the garden I found these partial arrow heads. Our area was the last camp of the local Indian tribe before they were forced onto a reservation. Lots of neat stuff to find.

Beach-ball Cantaloupe

2009-06-14T21:44:00.008-05:00

Cantaloupe is my favorite melon. The way I see it, the bigger the better, so I got some seeds for 10 lb cantaloupe. They start out looking like a football and then inflate with sweet goodness until they reach the size of a beach-ball.

Ornothologists

2009-05-26T15:55:00.005-05:00

Well, since moving to Leander we have become quite interested in all the birds in our yard. We have the typical birds like Cardinals, Blue Jays, Sparrows and Chickadees. We even have a woodpecker of some sort but it is not Woody. And yes, we have hummingbirds. Jared knows which kind.
We have placed a feeder right outside one of the living room windows. The cats go bonkers over them.
The best time of the year to spot new birds is in the spring when it has barely started to warm up. Robins, surprising enough, are not common here. They come in the early spring and stick around for a very short time. Last year, however, we eyed a Painted Bunting. My oh my, it is one of the most beautiful, exotic-looking birds I have ever seen with my mortal eyes! I did not get a picture of that, but I did get another type of bunting along with his mate this year. It is called the Indigo Bunting. He is still quite a beauty. The picture isn't the greatest so you will have to click on it to enlarge. It is very difficult to get a picture of these birds because they scare quite easily.

Spring Garden 2009

2009-04-26T21:14:00.005-05:00

This year I wanted to get an early start on my garden. Last year our garden got cooked by the summer sun before we got much out of it. I carefully started everything I could in-doors planning to plant everything outside around the second week of March.

From my experience last year I knew I needed to work on the layout of the garden and Improve the type of mulch. I tilled in about a ton of rotted manure after shoveling it into the garden by hand. Then through inspiration I decided to pile the tilled dirt from the isles onto the rows where it would actually be used forming raised rows. These were covered with plastic and dirt on top of that.

The miracle came when I could not find the time to get this fancy design done until after Easter. Work and church callings kept me just busy enough to keep my plants out of the garden. Then came a nasty hail storm that would have pulverized everything in my garden. So that which was so frustrating was a blessing. I even had my garden plants in the flats laid out in the garden, but moved them the night before so I could spray bug killer. My garden was spared because of faithfully fulfilling my calling.

Now my garden is in and growing thanks to the help of the in-laws. The list of garden plants this year is quite long. But for fun I will include it anyway: Peppers, okra, pinto beans, green beans, beets, blackberries, potatoes, sunflowers, cabbage, cantaloupe, watermelon, pumpkin, zucchini, peas, cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, lettuce, corn.

Note: The cantaloupes are supposed to get to 10 lbs. Watermelons and pumpkins over 100lbs.

Raining hail... Ah hail

2009-04-18T16:40:00.008-05:00

The end of March we had a severe thunderstorm warning that turned into a tornado watch along with an expected hailstorm. We just got the hailstorm.
It downpoured rain and then it suddenly began throwing down small ice chunks which within minutes turned into marble sized hail. You could hear it hitting the roof and the windows and I became rather worried that it might break a window. Fortunately, it didn't.
Many places around reported golf ball and softball size hail! We were very blessed not to have our windshields damaged or any dents put in our cars. Many cars around had smashed windshields and we saw many "mobile" places or stands where you could file your insurance claim if you were one of the unlucky ones. A co-worker of Jared's had a "totaled" car due to all the hail.
It looks like it snowed here and we are so glad that we had been so busy that our garden was NOT in! We would have nothing to show for all of our hard work.

April showers bring May flowers...

2009-04-18T16:03:00.008-05:00

...Well, not quite so here. It warms up all too fast before May. We had a high of 92 the beginning of the month (April 9th) but it has been relatively mild since. I think some of the much needed showers have helped keep temps down but humidity up.
I said I would post a picture once the tulips came up but they did not turn out as spectacular as I had hoped. Apart from that though, I have been wanting a hibiscus plant for some time now (since we moved to Texas actually) so Jared got me one that I had picked out.
I think it is so great that we can grow so many amazing things here. If it were a bit warmer during the winter we could grow my mango and his citrus trees but for now we will settle for peaches, figs, and whatever else will bloom for us.

Emerging of Moo and Our New Family Time

2009-03-05T13:51:00.009-06:00

We had Moo evaluated around the middle of last month and he is officially a Heeler a.k.a. Australian Cattle Dog (not a Catahoula like we thought). He has all the markings of one. Sometimes he lightly nudges me in the calves so that is another tell-tale sign. We also wanted to find out if there was hope of a better future for this dog. He is slowing emerging from his shell...
He is FULL of energy! We have let him outside under our supervision and just loves running around. He loves to smell and sniff things.
Moo has gained a lot more confidence because he used to be leary of the chickens and now he loves watching them...we are still trying to correct this instinct. Eventually we hope to teach him some more commands like sit, lay down, etc.
Our new family favorite is at night right before we go to bed. We do our family scripture/Ensign study time on the living room rug and we sit near each other and one of us will toss a treat/doggie cookie to Moo without making any eye contact whatsoever. Of course he will only come so close to Jared, but it is progress. And if he ignores the treat, one of the cats comes to gobble it up. They like the treats too, especially Kitty, the Queen Bee who rules the roost.
The picture is of Moo in one of his "hiding/security places".

Signs of Spring

2009-02-17T19:33:00.000-06:00

Sometime this past November, I planted some tulip (red and yellow) and daffodil bulbs in our raised beds. We began to see the blades of some of them coming up and pushing through the soil about a week ago. Within a day or two later we saw buds on one in particular which since have opened up! The rainfall we have been receiving most recently along with warmer temps and humidity has encouraged such. Although tomorrow is supposed to be 80 it will most likely turn cold again before we plant our garden. The only thing we have in right now are the onions.
It is so exciting to see everything slowly come to life again. I think Spring is my favorite season here because there are so many beautiful wildflowers to see before the merciless, hot summer comes along.
Once the tulips come along, I will post more pictures.

Moo

2009-02-01T22:24:00.000-06:00

Jared has been wanting to get a dog for some time now. He wanted us to be protected by a guard dog of some sort. We had decided not to get a doberman, rottweiler, or pit bull especially because house insurance will not insure you otherwise. He had his eye set on a bull mastiff. I checked them out(I had never heard of them) and he would tell me all about how great they were. But there was a set back...they were quite pricey.
So we looked on Craig's list. Not much luck there (the puppy that was on there was bought up quickly) and then we looked at the animal shelters and the SPCA. There is a local one about 8 miles from here. We looked at their website and Jared found a dog that was a Catahoula Leopard and Shar Pei mix. His name was Moolatte. What a heathen name!
He was originally a stray and taken in by some lady who does dog rescue stuff. So he lived on a ranch with lots of other dogs and was never socialized with humans other than probably the woman. So during the winter time she ran out of places for the bigger dogs and pleaded with the SPCA to take in some. They agreed and that is where Moo ended up.
We went for about a week or so when the shelter was open to just take him on walks to get used to us but he didn't warm up too much at all.
Finally, on the 17th they granted Jared permission to take the dog home (there was an issue at hand about the dog's fear aggression). The moment we got home Jared opened the back door to the car and he didn't move much. I opened the other side and out he came. Crazy dog loves women! I thought a dog was man's best friend.
Well, he is anything but a guard dog besides the fact that he is still trying not to be afraid of Jared. About each day Jared takes him on walks just so he will eventually warm up to him (we hope). I have to get him to go outside before Jared gets home though otherwise he is too scared to leave his crate.
So for now he is my "shadow" all day long. He follows me everywhere I let him. He likes going on walks but steers clear of the chickens.

Especially for Momma Smith...

2009-01-06T23:27:00.000-06:00

So while Momma Smith was in town she wanted to see an armadillo but only got to see our "giant rats" aka opossum. I actually think they are kinda cute. Besides the point, we got home the other night only to see an armadillo on our front lawn looking for some grub! Jared quietly sneaked into the house to grab the camera and was able to get some photos before the little guy high tailed it out of our front yard. I think they are kinda cute for not being furry. They are most definitely unique.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-06T23:15:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year y'all! Our kind neighbor who likes to have the "keggers" invited us over for the fireworks show he was going to put on. This time it was not a kegger though. I would see it as rather dangerous and stupid to be lighting fireworks while being intoxicated. But apart from that they had munchies to go along with the show. His wife made some really good chicken wings. Our newest neighbors who happen to be LDS were there too.
Jared took these great pics the following night. It was supposed to be when you could see the moon and like three planets but we looked too late so we could only see one. It sure was bright though!

Family Photos

2008-12-15T21:40:00.000-06:00

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Well, I have wanted to take some photos of the two of us together for some time now, especially because it seems all our families really want are recent, updated photographs of us. Jared's mom was in town and the Sunday before she left was a beautiful day so we figured it was a great photo opp in our backyard. It was nice to have some foliage to add to our pictures rather than leafless trees which is all we see now for the most part with the exception of the live oaks and cedars.
Jared brought out the tripod so we would have some clear pictures and not blurry ones instead. We started out by an oak tree (a branch of the huge tree), moved to a cedar tree in the front of the house, then we posed near the trunk of the huge oak tree in the backyard, and finally to the little red oak that was so vibrant! We were able to pick out one from a few of the options and sent it out to family for Christmas. Here are some of them for you to see (above and below).

Fall 2008

2008-12-09T12:41:00.000-06:00

About two weeks ago we actually had some fall foliage which is not much to brag about at all. We do enjoy the bright reds, some dull oranges and yellows. They are not as brilliant as the falls back home. Living in New Hampshire, I really took our gorgeous fall leaves for granted. It was always the norm. It must be all those maple and oak trees! Jared would like to line our driveway with red oaks.
Here it is just rather mediocre in comparison to the Northeast but at least we get some! That's what the very edge of Hill Country will give you! Jared snatched a photo off of the main road that we got to view for about a week or two before all the leaves fell or changed color. So we get to enjoy fall leaves while the north part of the nation is shoveling snow.

World's Hottest Pepper

2008-12-08T20:46:00.000-06:00

A guy at work sent out an email advertising some really hot peppers that he wanted to give away. So I grabbed some of the most famous ones. I thought it would be fun to grow some next year. Here is a picture for you to see and a scale to compare them. The guy I got them from ate a very small Chocolate Habanero and it was so hot it made him puke! The one at the top is the current world record holder! over 1,000,000 on the scale when a Jalepeno is about 3,000.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scoville_scale

Remember the Alamo

2008-12-07T22:18:00.000-06:00

On Black Friday we slept in to miss all the sales and instead decided to visit the Alamo and then attend a session at the San Antonio Temple. When you attend the temple here there is NO cafeteria nor clothing rental place so you have to bring all your clothes. Linda was needing a new dress so she picked out a really nice one (I would have bought that one if I needed a new dress). She looked great in it too.
At the Alamo, we gave the "quicky" tour. We first went to go see the short film put out by the History Channel. Afterward we looked at some cool rifles and other neat artifacts. Then we went to the little chapel and listened to the guide. Did you know that the hump was not originally there? They add it later. We then proceeded to one of our favorite places where there is a huge oak tree and a little square pool over near some library and posed for a couple of pictures.

Thanksgivin'

2008-12-07T21:58:00.000-06:00

Well, first off we wanted to fry our turkey but soon realized after we borrowed the fryer from our bishop that it would be too costly for our budget this year. We didn't have a propane tank nor 3 gallons of peanut oil. We abandoned ship so to say. Instead, Jared found a yummy injection sauce on the internet for our turkey.
Last year it seemed Thanksgiving was a living nightmare so I decided that this year I would make the pies the Wednesday before. Perhaps things would run smoother. I did just that. We were scheduled to make a lemon meringue pie along with some sort of layered pumpkin pie. I made the lemon filling and Jared assisted with the meringue. I was hoping to have lots of it but it ended up being short on top of the pie. It still tasted good. I cannot say it was bad for the first time. I made the pumpkin layered pie and Jared really enjoyed it. I cannot say the same for myself. It tasted weird. I guess I am a traditional girl.
On Thursday all we had to do was make mashed potatoes, candied yams, roast the turkey, throw some Stovetop stuffing on the stove, and nuke some frozen mixed veggies. Oh, and Jared successfully made some really good half white flour and half whole wheat flour flaky rolls. They were absolutely delicious! Perhaps it was all the butter he lathered on there...
So our feast was a bit delayed but it all ran well. Needless to say we didn't eat so much that we were rolling on the floor.

That's Nacho Cheese!

2008-12-07T21:43:00.000-06:00

I made cheese. This was my first attempt so it looks kind of funny. It took me all day to get it to curdle and then had to stay up well past my bed time to finish the job. I had to press it for a few days. So I fashioned a press out of a #10 can and weighed it down with 40lbs of water. So the finished product is in the picture below. Now we have to wait a few months for the flavor to enhance.

Liar Pit or Fire Pit

2008-10-19T22:05:00.000-05:00

If you live out where we do, you can do pretty much whatever you want. We wanted a Fire Pit, so we dug a hole in the lawn and made one. We were informed by our kind neighbor that around these parts they are called Liar Pits. This is to signify what type of conversations take place around it. The following are some pictures and explanation of how we made our Liar Pit.

We started by selecting a spot. Then we dug a hole. As expected when we dug we found that fire ants also liked that spot. A quick note here: Fire does not just describe the color of the ant or the sting of the ant it also describes their overall attitude. Digging a hole while avoiding the sting of about 1,000,000 angry fire ants is not a trivial feat. The more I dug the more I found, and they were not to happy about the eviction notice. So after digging the hole to the approximate desired dimensions and disposing of the former tenants we began to lay down the rocks. Where do you find rocks in central Texas? In your lawn. So we dug up the ones that were protruding above the surface. The iceberg principle applied here as the exposed portion of rock was no indiction of the actual size. I am guessing the largest one weighted about 500lbs. How do you get a 500 lb rock across your yard? With a Chevette. (see pictures) Once we got all the needed rocks close to the hole we lined the hole with the rocks. There were plenty of leftover rocks that were too big for the pit so we used them for a table and in the future for benches. I will leave it up to you to figure out how I got the 200lb table top placed by myself with no help. We had to test the Liar Pit, so that night under a star-studded sky I started a fire with flint and steel. Hot dogs and smores were on the menu. They never tasted so good after a hard days work.

Chicken Coop Completed.

2008-08-24T22:37:00.001-05:00

So I spent a months worth of Saturdays of my life working on this chicken coop. It is mobile and the chickens seem to like it. It comes with a light and electric fence to keep out chicken poachers.

Texas Wildlife

2008-06-22T22:52:00.000-05:00

So everything is actually bigger in Texas, except the deer. They are about the size of a great dane. They pass through our yard from time to time. I caught one one Saturday morning on our back porch. I got a few shots before it hissed at me and ran off. Notice the glowing eyes.

The bugs are bigger. This is a Rhinoceroses Beetle that flew into our garden. This explains why our grubs are so big. The centipedes are nothing to shake a stick at either.

Our Rats are bigger too. On the left we have a white tree rat. Below we have a ground rat-check out the size of this bad boy!

And even our ant mounds are bigger. This one in our lawn is about 7 feet in diameter.

So as the late crocodile hunter said " you got to have your wits about ya" when in Texas or you might end up getting carried out of bed by some huge Texas bugs.

Chickens added to our Little Farm

2008-06-08T22:22:00.000-05:00

I have wanted chickens ever since I was a wee lad. Now that we live far out from any city we can have almost any animal we want. So I got Chickens. 3 Rhode Island Reds and 2 Auracanas that lay blue eggs. When we bought this house we were lucky to have on our property a chicken coop and one small cage. I have them in the cage now and when they get big enough they will live in the coop and eat all our bugs. We decided not to name them because it is harder to eat them when you know their name. If all goes well we will have some fresh blue and brown eggs in 16-22 weeks. Notice thew hungry cat in the first picture. She wants to eat them.

Gardening in Texas

2008-06-01T20:14:00.000-05:00

Our garden gives us the chance to enjoy more of what Texas has to offer, good and bad. This includes hot days with singing birds and warm nights with flashing lighting bugs and plenty of mosquitoes. It took a lot of work to get here, compare two pictures one taken in February and the other taken today. Fresh zucchini and cucumbers have already graced our salads. The Tomatoes are well on their way as well as the corn and cantaloupe. We have met some setbacks. Our electric fence cannot keep everything out. The squash vine borer took out 5 Zucchini plants already. I performed surgery to extract them from all our plants, but I obviously missed some. The cabbage worms and corn worms are having their way with their respective victims. But good will overcome. We will see if our sunflowers reach the promised 8 ft height and the watermelons really grow to 250 lbs.

Wheaties come to visit Austin

2008-05-11T21:44:00.000-05:00

David and Jenn Wheat came to visit May 3, 2008. The tour of Austin included the capital building, (see picture). The best part of the capital building is the huge open rotunda. We found that if you stand on the star in the middle of the floor and speak you can hear yourself as if you are speaking into a loud speaker. This makes you feel like you are talking loudly but only you can hear it. This is because you are in the center of a round room and your echo returns from every direction at once. We also discovered that if you jump on the
walkways that circle the rotunda the floor shakes on the opposite side. I found this out because a big burly biker was not very happy that his floor was shaking when he was already afraid of heights. I decided to stop jumping. We also went to the Austin botanical gardens. There were plants of all shapes and sizes. The most interesting tree was a thorned tree of some sort. I guess this kind of tree does not like to be climbed.