Pie Cherries

I have standards when it comes to cherry pie. I hate, absolutely hate, cannot stand, etc. store-bought cherry pie filling. It is so gross. I say this because I grew up with a huge pie cherry tree in our backyard. Every summer we would pick and bottle all the cherries and then use them in our pies and treats. They taste wonderful (with a lot of sugar and cinnamon of course) but it made is so I don't like the store stuff at all. This presents a problem since my parents have moved and we don't have the tree anymore.

A couple of years ago I searched all over for sour cherries to make a pie from and found that they aren't sold anywhere near. I finally found an orchard in Santaquin that ships them in, so when my parents went for their next ride they went up and bought a bunch of buckets full of the stuff. I then bottled it (it was great because they were pitted for me) and it has been great. But then my dad decided they needed another sour cherry tree, so they bought one. It takes a few years for it to produce enough for a pie but this year they picked the cherries and brought them over for me to pit and bottle.

I must have blocked out the horrible memories of pitting pie cherries from my youth but they quickly came back when it took me 4 hours of pitting cherries to get 5 quarts of bottled cherries. My shirt is all stained, my kitchen floor is sticky and I'm going to have to ration this batch out so it doesn't disappear too quickly. But it was an accomplishment!! And I can make my great pie again!

Swimming Videos

Here are some random swimming videos from this year's swimming lessons. Ethan ended up earning a Cub Scout belt loop and pin for swimming because he passed all the requirements they have! I was pretty impressed. They were kind of bummed when swimming ended, but they have another session at the end of July to take. They both did a great job.

Courtney:

Ethan's dive (this kind of hurts to watch but he did better than last year):

Courtney on the slide:

Ethan on the slide:

Primary Talent Show

Our Primary had a talent show today and both of the kids wanted to participate. Ethan signed himself up to do some magic tricks and Courtney signed up to sing a song. Courtney went at the beginning and did a great job. She forgot some of the words and ended the song early but she didn't have any fear getting up in front of everyone and they all got a kick out of her song. Ethan did a great job too! He was really nervous and practiced all morning and I think you can tell. Courtney was in charge of the video camera when he was doing his "act" so it's a bit sketchy, but you can get the idea. I'm so happy that they are confident enough to do it and both had a great time.

Here is Courtney:

Here is Ethan:

The Courthouse

I am trying to help Ethan pass off as many requirements as he can while he is still excited to be a Cub Scout. So last week I called and scheduled a tour for him and some of his friends at the new Washington County Courthouse. Ethan was excited to see where Dad goes for court.

We picked up Brennon and drove downtown where we met some other boys from Ethan's troop. They were pretty nervous when we had to go through the metal detector but then they relaxed when the nice woman, Jana, came to give us our tour. She was so cool and explained everything to the boys. She told them all about the legal process, showed them where the records are kept, the judges chambers and all kinds of things. We even went in a courtroom for a Q&A session where the boys asked some great questions. (The part the boys loved the most was when her pass key couldn't get us in the front of the courtroom so we entered from the judges side and were behind the judges desk then realized that we couldn't get back out so we had to climb over the division between the witness box and the judges desk to get out. They loved that!)

The tour lasted about an hour and she did a great job to explain everything in a way the boys could understand. She also gave them a stern lecture saying that she would be happy to see them come and work at the Court, but that they better not EVER appear in Court. Then she gave them candy and we were on our way. Now Ethan has decided he wants to be an attorney like his dad. I think Bryan will have some advice about that one ;)

Safety Town Graduation

Courtney did it...she graduated from Safety Town so she theoretically should know all the rules of safety. We'll keep working on her but she had a great time and it was a great program. I have already seen a difference in how she acts so it was well worth it. They sang a cute song called "Twinkle, Twinkle, Traffic Light" that I have included on here. It was pretty cute!


Courtney is in the middle with the red shorts.


Here's the video:

Ethan's Last Day of Swimming Lessons

After we had Courtney's lesson, we drove home and she changed clothes. When it was time, we went to scouts to pick up Ethan and go to swimming. He was NOT happy with us. He loves scouts and it was his first time at den meeting and here I was, pulling him out early...before they started playing Ultimate Frisbee. What kind of mom am I?!?! But about halfway there he was calmed down enough to get excited for his lessons, but he made me promise that I won't pull him out early again.

He is doing such a great job. He passed all but 3 things and one of them he passed at the lesson today but she had already filled out his card. That's okay because he has another session at the end of July. This kid can swim though! I was amazed when he swam the length of the pool underwater. I was a bit nervous when he wasn't surfacing, but he knew what he was doing. He did his yearly belly flop while trying to dive. He really can do better, but he likes to goof off and he has a ready audience on Parent's Day so why not?!?

Here are some pictures:

Courtney's Last Day of Swimming

Today was the last day of swimming lessons for the kids. Courtney's was first. Ethan stayed at a friend's house so he could go to scouts and Bryan is in Moab with the Young Men, so it was just me to watch the "mermaid" swim. She did an awesome job. She didn't pass the level (it usually takes a few times) but she had a great time and loves her teacher. I was amazed at how well she is doing the American Crawl now. She even went down the slide which she loved. We have another session at the end of July so we will practice until then.

Here are some photos: