NH Vacation

I'm going to have to do this post in stages, so check back to see if I've added to it.  We left at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, June 23rd and drove through the night to Massachusetts.  We spent the night with some friends, the MacLeods.  It had been a long time since we got to really visit with them.  We had a great time catching up and the kids really enjoyed getting to know their four children.  Here the kids are, eating dinner in their backyard.  The next morning we went to church with them.  It had been four years since we had been back to Bethlehem Baptist Church.  We had a nice visit there.

We arrived at my parent's house on Sunday afternoon for a ladies only tea party.  The boys dropped us off and headed up to my brother's house.  Here's Rachel and Lyndsey enjoying some "tea" (a.k.a. lemonade).  The girls had fun picking out some jewelry that Grammy gave to them.

Here's Grammy with all the grandgirls.

Sydney and Maegan in the back

Rachel, Abby and Lyndsey on the swing

On Monday it rained most of the day, so we stayed around the house.
It was nice to have a day to relax and not do a whole lot.  The kids had
a great time just playing together.

Papa John meets Abby for the first time.

Jesse and Ethan in his cute red boots that he puts on all by himself

Camping at White Lake State Park
Tuesday-Thursday

Uncle Bob goes fishing (and takes lots with him)

They had a playground that the kids spent lots of time at

 Rachel, Lyndsey and Max all now six years old

While playing baseball, Uncle Bob tried to prevent Jonathan from making it to second base.  He was successful, but not without injury.  Poor Jonathan went down on his shoulder and broke his clavical.  He was running the bases for Mommy, who was batting with Abby on her back and didn't want to run with her.  Uncle Bob felt bad, but they made up.

On a Hike

We got home from camping on Thursday afternoon and then headed out to the beach.  We have a favorite spot to go in Maine, where there is a nice hike along the coast.  Most of us didn't do the hike because we were short on time and the kids wanted to play on the beach.  They had a ball, especially when we changed beaches after a while and the second one had nice, big waves.

Abby

Josiah

Jesse on the rocks

Abby getting to experience the sand and water

Jay, going against the wave while Rachel and Lyndsey run from it. I love the girls' expressions.

Even Jonathan was able to enjoy the water

I love this picture of Rachel.  She is having a ball!!

Josha and Sydney, braving the waves together...

Home Made...

     We had a great time in NH last week.  I will post about that soon.  For now I just want to write about a few things I have recently discovered.  Before vacation I made my own garlic powder.  I had extra garlic from last year, so I decided to try to make powder.  First I took the peeled garlic cloves and pressed them through my garlic press.  I think next time I will just run it through my food processor.  Then I dehydrated the pressed garlic.  Next I ground it in my coffee grinder that I recently purchased to grind flax seed (instead of buying it already ground).  The powder is great!  It has a stronger smell than the store bought, so I need to use less.
     I decided to try and make a mint powder.  I dried the leaves and then ground them in the grinder.  I then put some powder in some frosting I made to make mint frosting.  It came out great, so I no longer have to buy peppermint extract.  I have more mint plant growing outside than I can possibly use.  We pulled up a bunch of it this spring and threw it away.  I'm glad I have found a use for it.
     I haven't done it yet, but I am going to make homemade vanilla.  My sister-in-law has been doing this for some time and I've decided to give it a try.  It sounds pretty easy.  You just put vanilla beans in a bottle of vodka and let them soak for six months or so.  I've pretty much been able to do all my own spices, by growing them and drying them.  It is a pretty good feeling to have all these home-grown things.