All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!

Gretta finally let Eric pull out her two loose top teeth this morning. One of them was so dead it was black, but she wouldn't let anyone touch it. 

This brings the count up to 6 lost teeth.

Paddle Board Fun!

It was a beautiful day at Lake Michigan today. The water was warm and the weather was hot and sunny. Eric took both of the girls out on the paddle board and they had a great time. Gretta is really a surfer at heart too. She really wants a bogie board.  She also rode some waves in on the paddle board today. 

It was a fun afternoon!

Blueberry Picking with Eric

We were so excited that Eric wanted to come blueberry picking with us today. We had a nice time. This farm also sells Christmas trees in the winter. Did you know that Michigan produces the second number of Christmas trees annual in the US. #1 is Oregon.

Everyone had a great time and we came home with 4lbs of blueberries!

Eliza had to spend time time feeding the chickens blueberries too!

Boxes are so much fun!

I ordered a steam canner from Amazon. I am so excited to can some Michigan peaches! Yummy! I am also so excited to have my own canner. I think I might can some more cherries and make some jam too. 

The box for the canner was big and the girls sure had a fun time playing in it. 

Then they turned it into a house for there pretend kitty. They sure want a pet!

Dress up

Gretta dressed up her stuff Elephant. Isn't she creative!

Summer Reading

We went to the Library for summer reading today. They really do a great job. Each week this summer has had a farm animal theme. Today the theme was Duck's, so they brought 2 ducks and 1 chicken for the kids to see. Eliza loved petting the ducks. They are only1 one month old.

Berries

One of our favorite activities here in Michigan is picking all of the wonderful fruit. We went blueberry picking again today. Last week we picked blueberries and blackberries. 

We pick blue berries at a place called Bredeweg Acres.  

The place we go has a website Bredeweg Acres

 The bushes are full of berries and the setting is beautiful. The girls and I picked 5 lbs today and paid $7.25 cents for everything! Actually I picked blueberries while Eliza watched the chicken at the chicken coop. Gretta also helped a bit. 

We also enjoy eating them in fresh!

And in pie and cobbler

Lemon blueberry pie

blackberries

We made blackberry freezer jam. Yummy!

Marissa and the girls

In preparation for the BYU book I asked Marissa to send me any pictures she had then of the girls while babysitting them. Here is what she sent me!

Finding Marissa to babysit the girls was truly a blessing. Find the right child care was really a struggle.  It also worked out great that Allison Fors was able to help babysit them this last year too. I am grateful that they could get to know Allison better too. Especially since we are so far away from them now. 

Thanks Marissa, and Allison!

 Marissa's friend Kelly also watched them from time to time.