Irresistible

Who can resist this face???

Beautiful Fresno...

To help the time pass while Paul is gone I took a trip to Fresno, CA to visit Kristen, my very good friend from high school. It was nice to just hang out, talk, eat, swim, shop and get caught up!

Here are a few pictures from our weekend away.

Swimming at Kristen's in-laws house. It was so hot outside that we just swam and swam and swam, it was such a relief!

Kristen, Gianna, and Nora!

We went to a farmers market on Friday night and got loads of fresh fruit, saw a clown, had an excellent meal and strolled the streets feeling good about buying local.

We made a stop by an ice cream parlor and had some local Fresno State ice cream. Justin, pictured above, his dad was the original creator of the Fresno State ice cream recipe that they use to this day! Pretty cool, and the ice cream is good too!

Too much fun!

On our weekend we also went to these very interesting underground gardens. Of course I forgot my camera, so the memories are in our heads but if you are ever in Fresno you should visit the Forestiere Underground Gardens, they were worth a visit!

Daddy's Home

Paul got home and pretty much just washed his clothes, took a shower, repacked and he was off again to High School Survival Camp! OK really he was home for a week but it felt like it flew by and now he is gone again.

We miss him when he is gone and look forward to when he gets back!

The Onion Project!

What do onions and apricots have to do with one another? Not much! But over the past couple of weeks, and for the next couple of weeks to come, I will be elbow deep in apricots. This project has had many different layers to it (onion reference) and it has been fun to see it all come together.

Here are some pictures showing all the different layers of apricot season!


Getting the first 2 lugs** of apricots.

**Lug: official measurement meaning carton, from the dictionary of Linda

Mom and I drove over 100 miles to get our tree ripened, local, organic apricots! It was well worth it!

Together with our farmers market apricots, Michaela and I went to my Uncle Spencer's house and hand picked a good lug and a half of apricots. These need to ripen for a few days and once they do we will can them all on our own! My Uncle Spencer was a champ and watched the kiddos while we became tree bound! As long as he kept the Puffs coming then nobody got upset!

Nothing like hand picking your food!

Becoming a tree hugger!

Enjoying the first fruits of our labor!

Liam, attempting the Worlds Strongest Baby feat of moving Nora and an apricot lug!

My mom walked us through the canning process with our farmers market apricots. First you wash, cut, and de-pit!

Then you boil and spoon into Mason jars. The boiling step depends on whether you hot pack or cold pack! I feel accomplished just know the difference between hot and cold packing!

One got away and it became Max's spoils!

Next step: steam and seal!

Passing time while mommy is busy!

All done! What an accomplishment to see them all lined up and pretty!

Not only did we can apricots but we also made apricot juice, a delicious crisp, and graduated as LOLA's**. The next layer of this project will be for Michaela and me to do this on our own with our hand picked apricots. I hope they turn out as well! We had a good teacher.

**LOLA: Lady Of the Lost Arts, official term from the dictionary of Linda

Night Night Daddy

One of our going to bed routines when Paul is home is for him to say good night to Nora. Before he left I video taped him saying good night to Nora and almost every night I sit her down in front of the TV and play it for her. She watches it contently and gives a big smile as soon as she hears his voice.

We can't wait for him to get back!

4th of July

We had a great time celebrating the 4th of July with my parents.

Here is our day!
Thank you Michaela for Nora's adorable 4th of July dress!

Getting ready for our home "fireworks" show.

Grammy shooting off the first "firework".

Grammy and Nora doing one together.

Nora's reaction.

Max was spooked by the pops, so he watched from a safe distance in the house!

Nora recovering on Pappy's lap.

All better!

Happy 4th of July!

As I was putting Nora to bed I found a little leftover 4th of July fun!

If you hate your neighbor, plant a juniper in their yard!

My parents arrived on Friday to lend a helping hand while Paul is out of town. One of the ongoing projects that my dad has been working on is removing the junipers from our front yard. These plants are stubborn and strong but we showed them who was boss.


Take a look for yourself!
Dad cut the bush out until only the root was left.

He then got me to be the "tractor driver" to excavate the roots!

Thank goodness the Xterra has 4-wheel drive!

Nora excluded, this is all the trash my dad pulled out of the juniper that we never even knew was in there! There was everything from an old swing to antique soda bottles!

Loosening the root! Stubborn I tell you!

Mom and Nora spectated from a safe distance!

No more junipers! Thank you Dad for all your hard work!

Where's Daddy?

At 3:00am Paul and Ethan left for a missions trip to Italy. In all the excitement I forgot to take a picture of them all duded-up with their backpacks and passports! Needless to say they were as prepared as possible and excited to go!

One of the morning routines at the Standen home on a normal day, is when Nora wakes up she sits in bed with Paul until he feels like he is ready to get up. This morning when I brought her in to sit in bed she kept looking over to where Paul usually is. It was sad and adorable at the same time. I took a few pictures in hopes to capture the moment.

That is Paul's grungy pillow...he won't let me get rid of it...says he sleeps better with it! Oh well, I try to pick my battles and evidently it reminds Nora of her Daddy so it's worth it in the end.