House O' Sullivans

Last Friday, I dropped off the girls at Maya's house for a cousin sleepover, and came home to find this note, scrawled on the back porch with a black-eyed susan.   Casey and I decided a few weeks ago that we'd start taking turns planning a special outing with one of our kids each month--mom dates and dad dates.  We are starting small, since the Sullivan family schedule is fuller than full, with one of us taking one of the kids each month.  This month was Casey's turn with Zeke and they planned to go fishing.  They'd been talking about it for days and last Friday was the day!  Casey wanted to go up to some ponds in Millcreek Canyon, but the weather had turned cold, so he opted for Millcreek--the one that runs through our neighborhood.  Our friends Cheri and Adam Hansen live on the perfect fishing parcel, so off Casey and Zeke went. The evening's bounty--three brown trout--which Zeke named, Evergreen, Pokey, and Stick. Zeke told me that H...

The other night Zeke appeared in our room, waking Casey and I from total sleep, and announced that he was hearing "foot noises."  Then he told us the proposed cause--ghost-uz!

Miracle #1:   We grew our first watermelons this year.  Four of them.  And they are GOOD.  I've been trying for years, but this was the magical year.   Zeke, consuming our bounty Soph Hal Miracle #2:   Sean (Casey's only brother)  got married .  We spent Saturday morning in the Oquirrh Mountain Temple for the sealing, attended a luncheon at the church, and then the reception in Doug and Ilean's backyard.  The wind advisory had us all worried, but it all worked out okay.  Poor Sean had been battling a fever and sore throat all week and was pretty beat by the night's end.  After the triumphal exit through clouds of bubbles, Sean had to sell the Buick before driving off into the sunset.  It was classic!! Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the reception: Cousin Emory.  The girls all had matching mint-colored dresses that we dutifully crafted for the event.  I learned to smock with elas...

On Labor Day we made our annual mecca to the Dixon's orchard to pick pears.  They have a garden of Eden-style backyard--over an acre of pear, peach, plum, and apple trees, surrounded by grapes vines.  The crazy thing is, most of the fruit just falls to the ground and rots.  They have maybe 8 pear trees alone.  I laid our harvest out on a big table in the basement to ripen, and by this last Monday it way go time.  Ilean had picked up peaches for me from the Brigham City neighborhood connection last Saturday, so I had a bushel of those to do as well as the loads of Shirlene's apples that we'd picked the week before.  Monday and Tuesday were total sweat shop days in Wayne's basement kitchen.  I made loads and loads of pear-applesauce.  The kids LOVE to help crank the fruit through the Victorio strainer.  At one point, when they all wanted to help simultaneously, we worked out a genius shift system where one would crank the handle, one would tam...

Last Friday night, Jenny (in town form Florida for Talana's wedding) slept-over in Wayne's Bar and we took her climbing on Saturday.  Newel and Karen and their kids met us up Big Cottonwood Canyon at the Salt Lake Slips (just below the Storm Mountain area) for the action.  We all took turns climbing, except for Newel, who for an unknown reason, refused. ALL of the kids ended up crying on their descents because the route was so irregular that it was hard for them to come down keeping their legs perpendicular to the rock face. Jenny, up high! Hallee and Zeke Sophie, harnessed up and ready for action I LOVED Sophie's outfit.  Her heart-covered, pink, knee-high socks were the perfect climbing statement. Hallee climbed like a pro.  Little Mr. Zeke, trying out the route. Arden, looking for a preying mantis. Maya Karen, hitting it! The kids fully entertained themselves when they weren't climbing with fuzzy ...