Just thought I'd share some of the fun pictures I took in the wash last weekend.
This is a very typical scene, Annelie & Nic running after Seth. He likes to win, so they always let him.
Thanks to my kids for being good sports & letting me practice my photography on them. It was a fun day.
What could be more fun than jumping in the leaves? Jumping in the leaves on a trampoline! This has been one of the most enjoyable fall seasons in my memory. The colors have been so bright & have lingered, due to the lack of wind to blow all the leaves away. Yes I said "lack" of wind. But that all came to an end yesterday. 
To my kids I want to say, take your memories & your light, use them to bless others around you & spread a little Joe City around.
"What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love becomes a part of us".
The fall colors in Joseph City have been beautiful this year. I just had to gather the kids & get some photos. This one was Nic's idea & getting Seth to cooperate was less than simple. I had to bribe him to get this shot.
Getting Nic to pose isn't very easy either. He can't scream & yell in protest though, well I guess he could but if you know Nic you know that would never happen, it's more of a silient protest. He just endures it all.
Speaking of pretty, I hate to brag but what can I say? I'm the mother & that's just how it is.
A fun little conversation I had with Seth the other day,
I think Niclaas said it best when we were sitting down eating lunch after church on Sunday, he looked out the window & across the street & said "Mom, I love when Aunt Julie is with us, she makes everything better". Nic doesn't ever express himself much but he has always been a deep thinker & when he does decide to express himself we always listen. Niclaas has always loved his Aunt Julie. She's the one who gave him his nickname "Pickle". She loved to tease him with her "wicked witch" voice, "Let me feel your finger little boy". I knew he loved her because every time she said it he would stand there & hold out his finger. He wouldn't do that for anyone else! She has a way of endearing herself to her nieces & nephews like no one I have ever seen.
On a personal note I will just say that I completely agree with Nic, she does make things better. She is a great example to me & I am a better person for knowing her. We've walked & talked for miles, laughed & cried together. She is my sister & I love her.
What you are about to view are photos taken during a recent tailgate party organized by the Obed Ward to spur on the Wildcat Varsity Football team. These are some real classics to be viewed & treasured in our memories for as long as you have one! To start it off we see John Hansen, a true "Joe City" character, leading the cheer!
Next we have the Achievement Day girls lead by none other than the perpetual cheerleader herself, Ms. Julie Clifford in her favorite golden skirt & pom poms.
And here is her son, obviously, & his sidekick Derek Downs leading the tailgaters in the WAVE!
There were lots of fun activities like this watermelon eating contest lead by Bishop Palmer. If eating hotdogs was your thing, there was that contest too.
Yes folks, this is Dr. Doyle Hansen doing the "Chicken Dance"and next to him, as if I need to point her out, is that Gold Skirt!
It looks like Dr. Hansen is enjoying retirement!
Speaking of retirement, I was drug out of my golden years of a "has been" majorette along with former Wildcat Mascot, Gerald Hansen to entertain the fans. We did our best.
It's September, & in September truckloads of peaches come into town from Utah. In keeping up this long standing tradition we all put our orders in, one box or two. Some families order four or five! You know when the day of delivery is here, just drive through town & you will see boxes of peaches on every front porch, where they stay as we check them daily waiting for them to ripen enough to "put up". (That's canning slang for "preserve"). We are all getting ready to bottle, freeze, cobbler, jam & jelly 'em up! The conversation among the women all over town is consumed by this subject. We are all in a frenzy, on a race against over ripe fruit & the onslaught of the ever annoying fruit fly! 
When I married my dear husband & he moved me to this little town, I was eager to be a good Joe City woman & was willing to learn everything that this entailed. On my way to reaching this goal I had to reach out to the older, wiser & more experienced generation of Joe City women. On the top of my list was of course my mother-in-law, Eleanor Hansen. She has a wealth of knowledge & I have been learning from her for 17 years now. After receiving my first order of peaches she taught me how to can them & how to make jam with them. She taught me how to appreciate a beautifully bottled can of peaches. You can't just shove them in the jar, you have to place them in so that they look nice. Since then, I always stand back to admire my bottled peaches when there all done & sitting on the shelf. I am grateful for this lesson in taking care to make all my hard work look good. I love being a part of this tradition. I finshed all my peaches today & am proud to say that out of two boxes I only had to throw away 2 rotten peaches! My back hurts from standing all day & my hands & nails are fruit stained but it will be very rewarding to go down in the cellar in the middle of winter & grab a jar of fresh peaches that I preserved myself & I can pronounce all the ingredients, peaches, water, sugar.
