Summer is flying by but we are making fun memories!

Our summer weeks are flying by fast!  I can't believe it's the last week of July already and that means we will soon be forced to think about school shopping and getting ready for school to begin.  

But here's what is happening around our home the past few days!  The kitchen has been busy!  I've never grown such nice tomatoes before this year!  They are so nice, the plant is as tall as me and we are being blessed with pretty red tomatoes!  When we plant the garden, we get to harvest it too.  And along with that comes the work of canning and freezing.  I did one batch of tomatoes and now we have fresh juice in jars! This makes the best tomato soup or I may need it for more tomato recipes coming up!

And Mom Lapp always plans a day out with the grand daughters and then with the grandsons.  Austin had the best day when Mom took them to the creek and they floated on kayaks and roasted hot dogs on the creek bend!  Austin just had the best day!  While he was having fun, Ashlyn invited Sophia and Felica over for a playdate.  Mom then took the girls to the pool and out for ice cream.  Everyone had a blast!

  

One thing Mike kept saying is that we need to spend some time at the pool together and I totally agreed but it took us a little time to make it happen!  Mike and Matthew hit some balls at the Club and then we soaked in the sunshine while the kids swam!  So fun!!!!  We love it at LCC!

We decided to swing by for some ice cream on the way home!  Summer is in full swing around here!

Lena texted Mike and said that the boys are down at the creek with Matt and that Austin should join them.  Of course, we all went!  Here's the little kayaks that Mom bought and its perfect for the kids!  Ashlyn and Zayla will be forever friends!!!

They caught a cray fish.

Hadassah called me the other day just laughing!  She said, "Mom, just look at my huge cucumbers that I grew in the garden!!!"  Ruth gave Hadassah some of her garden space and Hadassah and Jeremiah planted some cucumbers and they are now blessed with pickles!!!!  We made two batches of sweet dill pickles for them to enjoy!  

We had a party in the kitchen while Jeremiah cut up cucumbers and Hadassah boiled the brine.  They filled jars and I just led them through the process and offered the space to make it in!  They all ate pot pie while the cans sealed!  I love these kids!

And then there are peaches!  Red Haven are our favorite kind to freeze and Ashlyn and I cut up two baskets of peaches and they are now in the freezer for lunches!

I do use a recipe that calls for Surejel, sugar and fruit fresh.  You mix it with fresh peaches, dump into containers and then freeze!

Sourdough is something I've made for over a year now and it's an on and off thing for me.  I do like to bake but when I'm in the mood for it.  Sourdough is something you need to plan ahead for and I don't like that part of it but when I do mix up some bread, I'm always happy I did!  Mindy asked for some sourdough starter and I was happy to pass some along to her and now she's making the best breads!  So inspiring!  It got me trying her recipe and a new baking tempt and time and the bread turned out perfect!  I couldn't believe it when I saw my bread overflowing the next morning and ready to shape into loaves!

I made two loaves!  One regular, one cinnamon sugar.  We've been loving the cinnamon sugar loaf for French toast, stuffed with cream cheese and then topped with fresh peaches!  It's so good!

Summer is a time of hot, sweaty days in the garden and mowing the lawn.  It's also lazy mornings and late nights.  Pool days and popsicles and lemonade are on repeat!  We love this summer of 2022!!!