Today:

-while the children are splashing in the pool, I will be assembling approximately 120 of these darling table decorations for our annual ward 4th of July breakfast.

Wishing you all a
Happy [and safe] 4th of July!

July Mix Winners

Hooray for Winners!

Here are your random numbers:

18  1  3  2  14

Timestamp: 2009-07-03 09:06:57

#18 was Barb ... congrats!

#1 was Azucar...Yay!

#3 was Kristen M ... you lucky lady!

#2 was Kim W. ... so glad your number came up!

#14 was Mary Elizabeth ... congrats!

I need all of your e-mail addresses as well as physical addresses, please. [except Kristen M., I already have yours.] email me at [lomaril at aol dot com]

SYTYCD/LOVE

People, if you are not tuning into FOX on Wednesday and Thursday nights...WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? And people...have you not noticed that there will be back to back seasons of SYTYCD? Another season in the fall? I mean, really, this is exciting stuff. And so far this season, I am waaayyyy impressed.

When they revealed the top 20 I was thinking..."What?" These are not the 20 I would have picked, but I would have been wrong. Because, with only 2 exceptions [Asuka & Caitlin], I love the entire cast. Once Caitlin is gone, I will mourn each one's departure, yes I will. [ummm, that was my inner Mary Murphy speaking]

But last night. Last night, this dance tickled my heart...I loved it...especially the quickie wardrobe change. I never thought a quick step would thrill me so much...

Enjoy!






And don't forget the giveaway below!

July Mix / Giveaway

This month's mix is full of fun songs, the kind that you blast in your car and sing loudly with...at least, that's what we do!



My Top Ten from this month's mix:

1. Fools - Diane Birch. I dare you NOT to sing along.
2. Pocket Philosopher - Mandy Moore. So fun to sing along with, especially the chorus: "Hey, come on, let's play a song or 2 or 3 or 4, or 5, a few, or more."
3. The Good Stuff - Schuyler Fisk.
4. Nothing At All - Madi Diaz.
5. Radio Radio - Brooke White. My girls and I love this song, we blast it.
6. Sea of Tears - Eilen Jewell. I love the retro-bluesy-rock feel to this song.
7. Nobody - Kate Earl. Can't help but groove to this one.
8. Hold On - Zack Hexum.
9. No One Does It Like You - Department of Eagles.
10. Birds Fly Away - Theresa Andersson.

Five commenters will win a copy of this mix. Anyone can comment once. Just do it before Friday, July 3rd, 9AM. **Please provide your e-mail address!!

Good luck!

Blueberry Update

When I returned from Girls Camp they had made a few changes to the U-Pick times:

7am-5pm
Blueberry U-Pick
1052 Lake Rd
Burbank, WA
follow the signs!

There is another family u-pick up the road a few miles, that is not our farm!

Summer Music Love

I was at Girl's Camp all last week and it was wonderful. Crafts went great and it was so fun to be up there with both of my girls and such amazing women from our stake.

Now that camp is over, I feel like my summer can finally begin. We'll be spending more of our days at the pool, and we'll be listening to these:

Amanda Leigh - Mandy Moore: I've already ranted and raved about this album, but it's just not enough. This is MY album of the summer. I listen to it and it takes me to this wonderful place in my head where I imagine a quaint little neighborhood circa 1952 where children are riding banana bicycles and the mothers are all wearing dresses and aprons. The homes are all lined up with white picket fences and it just feels right.

Bible Belt - Diane Birch: Another very retro-ish album that I love love love.
I'll be playing this at the pool all summer long.

Radio Radio - Brooke White: Brooke's newest single from her upcoming album "High Hopes and Heartbreak" due to release on July 21st. Can't wait for this album. This song is the catchy kind that you just can't get out of your head. Love it.

What's your summer music?

the 411 on Brandon and blueberries

Brandon's race results:

Apparently, I am justified in my worrying about startling wild animals while running through the mountains. The winner of the race was kicked by a moose after coming upon a defensive new-mother-moose. He was okay, but another runner had to be airlifted from the course. We aren't sure why, but of course, my worry-wart brain thinks he/she was probably mauled by a bear or something dangerous like that. Obviously, ultra-running is a dangerous sport.

Brandon fared better than those runners, he finished without too much injury or damage. He finished the 100 miler Saturday evening with a time of 32 hours 39 minutes and 55 seconds. He fell [on his head] once and has a few scrapes and scratches on the side of his face and ear, and this morning he showed me a nasty scrape on his shoulder. This race was, in his words, "like running in a big mud puddle" and after mile 10 his feet were wet the entire race. He said he had to cross streams about 21 times and by mile 70 his feet were so raw that running was too painful. He walked the last 30 miles. He says his feet feel like they've been hacked with a paddle for 32 hours. Needless to say, he's hobbling a bit today, but he's back to work anyways, and we're proud of him!


Blueberries:

This morning we start picking blueberries and also are offering a U-pick this year. My children will NOT be picking this year, so if you want to buy organic blueberries directly from our farm, you have a few options. You can come out to the farm and pick berries yourself for $3 a pound, or come out and buy berries we've picked for $4 a pound. We also will be selling berries at the Pasco Farmers market if you want to look for us there.

Blue Mountain Farms is located at 1052 Lake Rd. in Burbank. To get here from Pasco, head towards Walla Walla on Highway 12 and after crossing the Snake River Bridge, turn left onto Highway 124. Go about a 1/2 mile and you will see our packing shed on the corner of Lake Road. Turn left on Lake Rd, and park in the parking lot near the blue office. U-pick times are from 6am-Noon, Monday-Saturday. We will provide picking buckets and a bag to send your berries home in, but you may prefer to bring a container to transport your berries home.

Please remember that eating berries while you pick is not allowed, so small children may have a hard time obeying the rules :)

If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me [lomaril at aol dot com]

Right now...

...it is 11:53pm and somewhere in the Big Horn mountains of Wyoming my husband is traipsing through the forest, hopefully at about mile 55 of a 100 mile race. I always dread the night time while I am at home needing to be sleeping and he is far, far away running, in the dark, alone. I worry about him. And my worry-wart brain starts to think of horrible things that could happen to him.

He doesn't EVER worry about these kinds of things because he knows I worry enough for both of us. I worry about him falling down a mountain side and no one being able to find him. I worry about him twisting his ankle and just trying to push through the miles [he did this last year at Cascade Crest!] I even worry about a wild animal being caught off guard while he is running and going on the attack. It's silly, I know, but I can't help it. I inherited my mother's and my grandmother's worry-wart nature. [thanks Mom!]

So tonight, this post is just kind of ridiculous, but it's what I'm thinking about...right now.

Good luck Brandon, we love you! and Be Careful!

Summer Reading

Here's the system I've come up with to help encourage my children's reading efforts this summer. Bribery isn't my favorite tool to use, but I am not above it. It works. The kids get rewards at school for reading, so I figure I will reward them at home as well. A couple of my kids really love to read, and a couple...well...not so much. But they do enjoy rewards...

They will receive a money reward for each book they read based on the difficulty of the book, and throughout the summer, when they want to go to a movie with a friend or want a new lego set, or new littlest pet shop, they can redeem their rewards and purchase what they want.

I'll post our list when they are off to school again and evaluate how it worked at the end of summer.

Here's to Happy Summer Reading!

Mid June Favorites

busy month so far. daddy-daughter dances.
pollo con crema. double header softball games.
reading the scriptures. long talks with my mom.
girls camp. braces off. ice water.
bbq's. Amanda Leigh. ripe blueberries.
the B.O.M. made easier.
bunches of colorful balloons.
pool parties with 20 teenagers.
school out for summer.

june.