Our Pillows

Look our very first sewing project with mommy's help! We helped pick out the fabric, sewed on our hearts, and stuffed them really good. All in a day's work.

When Angels Sleep

Shhh!! They are sleeping. And when they find out I got on here and posted this they are going to hurt me! Send help.

Turkey Day

Brined over night, coated with olive oil, garlic, and basil from the garden then on the grill smoked with hickory chips. mmmm good. Our favorite were the mashed potatoes. Half red potatoes and half russet potatoes. Heavy whipping cream and lots of butter. mmmm Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving Eve

We ran over to the Columbus zoo to see Zoolights. The zoo has a lot of indoor climate-controlled areas to see the animals so it makes it easy to see the animals year round. The gorillas, tigers, elephant, rhino, monkeys etc can all be viewed inside. We got upclose and personal with the tiger this visit and Jocie just kept saying "kitty" over and over. We watched some fox-sized bats eating fruit and stretching their wings. Before it got too crowded at Zoolights, we headed over to see the reindeer and visit with Santa and Mrs Claus. By then it was dark and we enjoyed the wonderful light displays and musical light show. We have had such a warm November it was a shock for the cold to be here finally. We checked out the construction on the new polar bear area that will open in the Spring and it looks like it will be pretty impressive.

Sharing Shakes

Friday night + White Castle + Family of 5 + 3 milkshakes = LOTS of sharing

Ohio St vs Michigan

No its not the big football game of the year. Its the big soccer match of the year at Jesse Owens Stadium. Ohio State won 1 to 0. Heber had fun cheering with his pom-poms they handed out. They even have a player with bright red hair that Heber pointed out. Now he is trying to head bump a balloon like the players do.

I Need a Brother!

Heber had fun setting up this battle scene while the rest of us were taking a nap today. He had army dudes, knights, indians, a bear, and a dragon all in on the battle action. Luckily, the jedi stayed out of this one. He even had a group of army guys off to the side "doing dishes". That is essential in any battle. It was a very quiet battle. He let his sisters and mom and dad sleep through the whole thing. Ahh to be young again!

Preschool Field Trip

Jocie's preschool class took a field trip to Slate Run Living Historical Farm . They still do everything the way they did in the 1800's. They can their own food and salt their meat. They do tours and teach people how to garden, preserve food, and caring for all the animals. I am so jealous of their cellar. They use huge horses to plow the fields. The big horses were definitely Jocie's favorite.

Fun in the Yard

Some cute shots of the kids playing in the front and back yard. Can you tell that its Fall?

Fun at Freeman Farm

Freeman's Farm is about 5 to 10 minutes north of us in Galena. http://www.freemansfarm.com/
They have a fun country market with lots of goodies and decorations. We took a very long and cold hayride through the woods, ate kettle corn, fed animals, learned how to make a giant batch of apple butter over the fire, warmed up by another cozy fire, and admired the gazillions of pumpkins. It must be Fall!

Indoor Camping

Here are the sleeping beauties or "sleeping booty" as Jocie pronounces her favorite Disney cartoon. They stayed up late chatting, playing rowdy, and telling each other stories, but eventually they all fell asleep for the night. Jocie's stories were a little shorter. We all woke up the next morning and had blueberry pancakes, eggs, bacon...THE WORKS! Here is to indoor camping!

Old Deaf School Park

This is a Sunday afternoon walk we took in the park. Old Deaf School Park in downtown Columbus has a topiary garden patterned after the famous pointalism painting below: "Sunday Afternoon" by Seurat. Many of the characters and themes from his painting can be seen in the pond and on its banks. The girls really loved the little dog-shaped bush. The 10 acre park was home to a school for the deaf from 1834 to 1956 before the school was relocated elsewhere.

Its Beginning

The first little signs of Fall are creeping into our backyard. The air is more clean and crisp and the leaves are beginning their big show. "Mildred Jr" meanwhile munches aimlessly on the bounty of our unmowed grass. We've already had a couple bonfires with this beautiful weather. We went through 30 hotdogs in one night that we roasted over the fire with friends. A lot of smores were enjoyed that night too. Welcome Fall!

Happy Birthday Jocie

Jocie turned 3! She is lugging around her new baby everywhere. She even tries to bring her to eat dinner with us. She loves playing dressup and wants to be a ballerina. When we turn our back she will be in one of her dresses dancing around the house within seconds. She helps with the animals taking feed to the chickens. She misses the kids while they are at school but started preschool this week. She is very happy and gives driveby huggings that always surprise us.

Happy Birthday Ashlyn

Ashlyn turned a big 5! She requested purple juice with her purple scrambled eggs and purple toast. Ashlyn is our smarty pants. She loves playing ponies, barbies, and baby dolls with her little sister. She picked out a cake with lots of chocolate! She LOVES LOVES kindergarten. She always draws pictures of mom and dad getting married with lots of flowers. She enjoys exploring new books and stories and can sit forever and read books. She gives all of the animals lots of love and helps out however she can.

Lake Jumping

The Diving Diva. This is 9 month-old Tink's first experience at the lake. Heber had fun throwing apples and tennis balls into the water. We heard that Tink's dad loved the water and it sure looked that way. She took a few steps in the water at first and then after that she was diving 5 feet into the water and swimming around. This is at the dog park at Alum Creek. There is a section for big dogs, little dogs, and one park setup right on the water's edge. There were even a couple sailboats out on the water. Chancho was there too but was only brave enough to get his front legs in and lick the waves from speedboats as they came on shore.

First Day of School

This first picture of Heber is his 1st day back to school. Ashlyn started a day later so the rest are her first day. Jocie started crying because she felt left out and wanted to ride the bus too. She wore her little backpack while the kids waited for the bus to arrive. She wore her backpack all day. She anxiously awaits the kids to get home so she can play with her big sister and brother. Ashlyn loves school! She was 4 when she started and just turned 5 but she does great and loves her teacher.

Hayden Run Falls

Hayden Run Falls is a short trail in Dublin, OH about 20 minutes from the house. Its surprising that its right in the city. The waterfall looks really tiny now but when it rains good the water falls over the entier ledge. We have not seen it in winter yet, but the ice it forms is supposed to be beautiful too. Literally a 2 minute hike from busy road in the city down to the waterfall. Here is a great shot of the boys sporting their "summercuts".

Indian Creek

This is another creek and waterfall in Dublin, OH. It was cold water but the kids had fun and the scenery was breathtaking. Amazing this is hidden right in the city. There are some nice overloks of the gorge with benches. A few different waterfalls and 2 minute hike on this one too.

Homemade Donuts

...well kind of homemade. The kids, a friend, and myself went to Amish Country. mmmm cheeeeese. Anyways found this donut mix at one of the stores and it really turned out great. Chris says Krispy Kreme better watch out.

United State Airforce Museum

Here is a quick virtual tour of the US Air Force Museum in Dayton, OH. Chris and the kids spent the whole day there while I went off to a women's retreat for church. A lot to see and do. Jocie found a helicoptor her size and Heber had fun identifying Transformers. An amazing collection.

The Tank

A fun tank at a veteran's building that Chris took Heber to go check out in Columbus. They must be boys. This was pre-summercut. We chopped off all the red hair and he loves it.

The twins arrived!

The twins are here!! We are now proud parents of two new "kids". Granted they are a little furry and now have little horns protruding from their heads, but we love them the same. Milly (named after my childhood milk goat Mildred) and her two adorable kids are our newest addition here on Fuller Farm. The kids were just 2 weeks when we first got them and they are now almost 2 moths old and double in size. Chris made us a goat pen and he found a great plan for a stanchion made of PVC and wood. A stanchion is a goat milking stand for all you lay goat people. : ) Chris was very proud of his accomplishment that he and his friend "Lowes" made in one afternoon. Milly gives lots of milk that little Bo and Peep share with us. We tried out some cheese recipes with some of the herbs from the garden. We will have to do another post with some pictures of our cheese adventures. This first picture is the PVC stanchion.

Alum Creek Beach

Summertime

Too many tomatoes. Not enough friends. Too many to eat so they get canned. We added fresh basil and oregano from the herb garden. The basil goes great in the homemade goat cheese too. Chris found this neat gizmo from Italy that turns out tomatoes into puree and spits the dry stuff out the back.

Take a virtual walk with us!

Who needs a therapist?! The forest behind the house always envigorates the senses no matter what season we pass through. (Fuller Woods?) Its the perfect place to get away and only hear birds, bugs, and foliage moving in the wind. Best of all there is no therapist to pay when we walk back to the house. A little fire and some marshmallows and we feel like we are camping in the middle of nowhere. Ahhhhhhh!

Carthage Jail

Old Nauvoo

We spent a couple of very busy days in Nauvoo. The weather turned perfect into the 70's for the time we were there. This was a very rare treat along the Mississippi at the end of June. The kids enjoyed the kids area called "Pioneer Pastimes" where they played games, dressed up, and learned all about being a pioneer. The kids received prairie diamonds at the blacksmith shop and learned how to make rope, bread, candles, bricks, barrells, newspapers, and many other pioneer activities around town At the end of one of the musical productions we attended, they invited Heber to come up on stage. He enjoyed doing that and yelling his name to the audience. There was such a special spirit and awe inspiring to be on Parley Street near the river and look back to see the temple. What a great experience. What a heroic and faithful legacy we have in our pioneers. Despite persecution and trial, they did all in their power to follow a living prophet of God.

Tenney Reunion

A few shots from the Tenney reunion in Woodruff. The kids had a great time searching for frogs at night with all the kids. Lots of yummy food, fun visiting, and exciting games. Good memories.

Woodruff, AZ

Some shots around Woodruff

Ben & Jessica's Wedding

We were privileged to attend Ben & Jessica's wedding while back home in AZ. It was a beautiful ceremony and such a wonderful new couple. Congratulations! This posting is only a month overdue. Things seem to have really been busy lately.

Fuller Reunion

As you can see we had a lot of fun doing all sorts of activities at the Fuller Reunion at Fool Hollow Lake in Show Low, AZ. While there were some close calls NOBODY fell in the water or got hurt. Thanks to everybodys help we were all able to make some wonderful memories for ourselves and our kids. The kids "remet" many cousins and new friends.

Family Photo Courtesy: Shelby Fuller

Playing in the Irrigation

Thanks Uncle Maven for opening up the floodgates and letting us play in the irrigation. The kids had a blast playing and had fun with the snake they all found. Playing with cousins is always fun.

Grandma Jocie

When I was growing up these were some of my favorite places to run around. Grandma Jocie's house was always a place where you could use your imagination. The last photo is one of Grandma Jocie's poems that she wrote. I'm glad for memories.

Alamo Cafe

This is Chris and this posting is purely to tease, taunt, and make family jealous. While in San Antonio we went to The Alamo Cafe. It was fun to see Heber watch the tortillas being made through the same windows I had peered through over 20 years ago. As always the fajitas with fresh tortillas were yummy yummy in my tummy. WE also enjoyed Amy's Ice Cream at the Quarry and Rudy's BBQ, which has multiple locations. YUM!

San Antonio Temple

The Alamo

No we didn't find the basement of the Alamo, but we did see the Governor of Texas who happened to be having a press conference right out front.