Breakfast with Family

Last Tuesday, we enjoyed breakfast with John's sister, cousin, and aunt.  It was so nice to see them!

Triathlon - Michael Ironmanned It!

Michael participated in the Venture/Varsity Scout Triathlon last Saturday.  Last year he was part of a team, but this year, he decided to do all three legs himself.  And he did it!

We are so proud of him!

Sunrise

This is why I love living in southern California.

Court of Honor

Michael was awarded his Star rank at a Court of Honor this week.  He's already thinking about his Eagle Scout project.

Even More Pears

I forgot a few pictures of the pear sauce making process. 

Chewbacca Fortune Teller

There is a very fun book series AJ really loves.  The first book was "The Strange Case of Origami Yoda."  The second was "Darth Paper Strikes Back."  When the third one was published a month ago,  we bought it.  It is called, "The Secret of the Fortune Wookie." 

Each book features an origami star wars character.  AJ made a "Fortune Wookie" and wanted me to take some pictures.  Here they are:

Pears, Pears, and More Pears!

I am blessed to live in southern California where there is so much fresh produce grown locally or within a day's drive of my home.  There is a women who lives about 30 miles north of me who organizes large food purchases to assist families in building their food storage.  (For my readers who aren't familiar with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the church encourages all families to be prepared for the unexpected by having extra food on hand, preferably a year supply of basics and a 3 month supply of regular dietary items, as allowed by the laws in your area.)

Well, this good woman arranged a purchase of super fresh pears from Oregon.  They were an excellent price ($28 for 40 pounds of pears).  I ordered two boxes, planning to can the majority.

Two boxes didn't sound like that much (and I thought maybe I should have purchased one more) until I opened them up and realized I had to prep and process all of them!

Thankfully, I have some good friends here, and one of them came over and helped me can 11 quart jars full of peeled, beautiful pears.  I have an apple peeler, corer, slicer, and thought that would probably work do peel the pears.  It didn't, but my friend brought the neatest gadget called the "Rotato."

It was amazing!  It was quick, simple to use, and did a great job.

When all was said and done, I ended up with 31 quarts of pear quarters and 9 quarts of "pear sauce" (like applesauce, just made with pears).

It was worth all the hard work!