Nilsson News

 Jenn, I like how your title is now Flake Fivesome.  It has a ring to it.  Right now, I am so grateful for a heated home.  This morning when I went out to feed the animals, the temp said 12 degrees and with the North wind chill it felt like -14!  Hello!  It was ultra bitter and a serious rude awakening.  I spent the next hour out there battling the huge tarp that was supposed to be covering our haystack but had blown off.  Any time I attempted to haul it back up onto the stack, a gust of wind would inflate it like a massive parachute and nearly blow me away.  So freezingly frustrating!  Tonight it's supposed to drop down to 3 degrees.

It feels even colder to Elise and I who just returned from a delightful and gloriously warm trip to Arizona where it was 80 degrees.  We both discovered how inept we are at following an atlas.  In spite of Dad's meticulous notes and directions, we somehow managed to miss the most crucial turnoffs.  The route we took was supposedly 45 minutes shorter than the other, but for us, it ended up being about 6 hours longer.  We took the very much more scenic route and enjoyed the golden leaves of Colorado  and the plain, black nothingness of New Mexico.  We learned that road signs are very important and when you see one you should follow it.  We also learned how lovely it is to have lines painted on the roads and when you no longer see lines it means you are lost.  Uncomfortably we learned that bathrooms are few and far between on the Reservation and if there happens to be a bathroom, they are closed after dark.  We made it to Snowflake eventually.

The Flakes are so much fun to hang out with.  We woke up around 6:30 in the morning and hit the ground running.  Robin and Rand had us chasing them, going on wagon and wheelbarrow rides, digging in the dirt, playing with marbles and cars and helping us become fluent in the toddler language of "Engh."  They are such delightful little people!  Baby James is adorable and so content.  We had a great time visiting with Jenn and Scott and knew we would get in trouble if we kept Jenn up any later.  We so wish they could live closer!  Thanks for putting up with us!

Garrett and the kids sounded like they had a great time while I was gone.  Garrett and Alex collaborated and had a top notch dad's homeschool afternoon.  Alex taught and had the kids reenact Paul Revere and the Battle of Lexington while Garrett taught the science section about the brain, complete with an object lesson that included smashing watermelons on the driveway.  Don't we just love the men in our lives?

It is fun to be able to officially say CONGRATULATIONS to Emma and Cam!!!!!!  We are so excited for them and glad that Cam is still going through with it even after meeting the family.

Stay warm everyone!

Millie slipped and collided with the mud.  A girl after my own heart!

Flake Fivesome

 We had so much fun hanging out with Elise and Ruth this week and we miss them like crazy!! Thanks to them there are bulbs in their ground, veggie starts in the greenhouse and our ale vera can breathe!!

Robin has recently learned how fun it is to wipe things down. She will get a rag, napkin, tissue or any other such item and wander around the house cleaning.  She (and Rand) really enjoy doing the dishes too.

Rand is getting his first molar.  We discovered it last night which makes sense because he hasn't wanted to eat much for the last couple of days. 

Scott made our wagon into a covered wagon for Halloween which is fun.

Our weather is supposed to get pretty chilly this next week - I won't say cold because I know what the temps are in Utah and Idaho right now!  

Hope that you all have a great week!!

Manning Moments

 Jenn you put us all to shame. You have three babies to juggle and always manage to write on the blog! 

I don't have much to write about. We just the last of the apples off our tree and cut down many of our plants in the yard yesterday. Our tomatoes are still going but they did get a little nip of frost. The weather has been lovely but I think that will change this coming weekend.

We have been enjoying our little school for the most part. Wesley loves his online reading program and our great brains that we do. He get so passionate for whatever he is studying. He recently has started this thing where he "studies." He will go somewhere away from the rest of us and study. He will take toys or objects and just observe for quite a while! It is very cute. I wish I could get into his head sometimes.

Chet is learning how to sleep. At least that is my perspective. His perspective is probably learning how many loops he can jump through in one evening. It is a work in progress but I think there is progress sometimes. He is really, really cute and that is a problem. He says "How about dat!" All the time. And "Isn't that interting." And "Dat's weird." He is a little parrot. He is also very good running into walls or other solid objects and throwing things.

Nick is working and seems to enjoy it ok. The masks are still hard for him to hear and understand his students but what can you do.

I think that is about all. Hope you are well!

Flake Fivesome

 This has been one of those weeks that you look back over and think, "that was THIS week?" because it feels like things happened weeks or months ago! 

The sad part of the week was saying goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa. They are being sorely missed and Robin will often hand me the phone and insist that we call Grandma. Thanks to everyone, especially Dad and  Emma for letting us monopolize Mom for the past month. And a huge thank you to Mom for sacrificing so much for us. 

James impressed everyone by surpassing his birthweight before his 2 week dr visit. He is a trooper and puts up with the constant noise, eye pokes and head pats without complaint.

Rand loves all that is water. A new favorite activity is playing in a bowl of water in the greenhouse. Then he has access to dirt and water...what more could a boy ask for? 

Robin keeps us laughing constantly. She is always pulling funny faces and what she lacks in words she makes up for in gesticulations!!

Well, that's all that we have to report. Hope that everyone has a great week. 

Hart Happenings

 Hello all!

So much has been happening in this family!  Congratulations of the highest order to the Flakes!  We are so excited for them and anxious to meet little James.  He is a cutie.  I especially like the picture of him where he looks like an old man.  As for Rosie's hair.  I guess we'll just have to accept that it is a force of nature.  Wish we were closer but you probably don't because we might not be able to restrain ourselves from smothering those cute Flake kids and their parents.

We have been deep into canning and school stuff.  It was a blast a couple of weeks ago to have Dad come up with jars and lids (do you know how hard it is to get canning lids these days?).  Ruth brought over some peaches, I added some pears, and we went and picked boxes of apples from our neighbor's orchard.  We canned every last piece of fruit.  It was INSANE!  All hands on deck -- all day!  The kids were troopers, Dad is a canning pro, Ruth managed to keep an eye on everything, even my in-laws pitched in and cut up bushels and bushels of apples.  We had my stove going, Ruth's and my camp chefs fired up, and they kids were blanching peaches, straining the apples into sauce, and hauling jars back and forth.  It was a day to remember and we all took bounty home; such a fun memory!

The boys have really enjoyed some of their recent activities.  Jack just wrapped up his first middle school soccer season playing for Taylorview middle school and had a great tryout for spring club soccer and made it onto the Premier team.  We are really excited to watch him keep honing his skills!  Ian and Peter have had a great experience participating in the local Opera performance of Hansel and Gretel.  It was spectacular!  They played the kids who had turned into gingerbread people by the witch.  It was very opera and so well done.  Ian is currently in rehearsals for Elf: the musical which they will performing in November.  

Our studies have been so fun.  We are reading Little Britches and the boys love it.  We tend to get sucked in reading and then we forget some of the other things we have to do.  But it is SO GOOD!

Anyway, my laptop is going to die.  Hope all is well.  Must post now.

Flake Fivesome

 Of course the big news from Snowflake was the arrival of baby James. He is an absolute sweetheart who adores his Grandma Belliston.  He eats like a champ and is almost back to his birthweight.  He still has quite a bit of hair and I am hoping that it sticks around.  

Robin and Rand are getting used to having another baby in the house.  It is really cute to see them stand on their top toes to check on him in the pack and play.

The weather is cooling off which is nice and we are enjoying the last of our garden produce. Hopefully we still get more tomatoes but we'll see.  

One of our favorite things to do is wait to see what crazy hairdo Robin will have next. Her hair has a mind of it's own for sure. 

Hope that you all have a great week!!

Nilsson News

 Huge congratulations to the Flake clan!  We are so excited to have little James Wilson a part of the family and we can't wait to meet him!  Jenn is such a trooper and I honestly don't know how she does it.  I will try never to complain about being a busy mom ever again.

The garden is finished.  We pulled out the remaining tomato plants yesterday along with canning a batch of spaghetti sauce in between conference sessions.  I'm hoping to have enough tomatoes left to do a batch or two of that yummy tomato soup!  We have greatly enjoyed conference but like always, it is over way too quickly.

We have actively been doing school and I have been learning a lot.  I hope that someday my children will appreciate my attempts to guide them in their learning.  Every day is an adventure!  The days are the perfect temps and the nights are cold.  It's hard to believe we are fast approaching winter.  This has been kind of a lame post but life is going well and I have nothing else to report.

Emerson has been obsessed with the idea of owning a milk cow and making all sorts of dairy products like cheese, yogurt, cream cheese, and butter.  Just for fun the other day, he took the cream from our raw milk and made butter.  Maybe instead of buying a cow, we just need to increase the amount of raw milk that we buy.  Emerson says, "But mom, raw milk is so expensive, I think we should get a cow instead."

We sold all of our chickens and rooster.  They went to a family who wants to try hatching their own eggs.  I'm glad they didn't go straight to the dinner table.

Having science and history fun with the Harts.  It's always a blast!