Donnell Centrey Farms

    There is a Farm down here that has all these awesome things to see and do all year round. I have heard great things about this place but never wanted to force Dave to take us. This was the year. The boys had a blast. They got to 'harvest' food, gather eggs, milk cows, and drive tractors. It was a great Saturday, we will go again. 

   Gathering Eggs.

  Picking Apples.

      Driving  a tractor.

    Milking a cow.

      Sorting the food.

   They had a trailer full of cotton that we got to plan in.

    Dave and Sam in the cotton.

  Me and Logan.

   Dave, Sam, and Logan.

   Sam and Logan took a ride around the farm.


                                        
      There was a slide made out of a corrugated pipe that the kids could slide down. It moved them pretty quick. They wanted to stay all day and play on it.

     The sandbox filled with corn. Sam got a buried.

    Logan also got buried.

The boys going for a ride in the corrugated pipe.

The Fire pit

       Dave has been wanting a fire pit for years. A friend of ours had brick in his back yard from when their house was built. He told Dave if he took it out he could have it, so Dave decided to see if he couldn't get a fire pit out of it. He leveled the ground and made a serious pit. He and the boys worked for hours making if perfect. Well Dave worked and making it perfect and the boys worked at taking the 'best' bricks and making a family with them. He counted and he ended up using an entire pallet of bricks. Dave sits out there all alone with the fire and loves it. He is so handy!  

     Sam's family.

Sam and Logan's First Day of School

     Sam started school about a month before Logan did and of course I forgot to take a picture of Sam on his first day so I got a picture on Logan's first day of Preschool. Sam started first grade on the 2nd of August. His teacher is Mrs. Mileham, his loves her. Logan got to start at First Presbyterian playschool, the same one Sam went to. Logan has been dying to go to school and really missed Sam when he was in Kindergarten all day everyday.

                 Sam

            Logan

                      Both my handsome boys. Seriously, could there be cuter boys??? I don't think so!

 

    This is the spot that Mr. Mike (First Presbyterians photographer) took Sam's school picture a few years ago. Before I took him in, Logan wanted to look around and check everything out. When he saw this spot he just had to get his picture taken. He was so excited to start big boy school.

The Possum

     One Saturday Dave worked outside all day. When he came in to eat dinner he left the garage door open and forgot about it for a few hours. Right before bed Dave ran out and closed it. A WEEK WENT BY. The next Saturday I made raspberry jam and loaded it into the outside freezer. While I was out there I heard a rustle but with so much stuff as there is out there, I didn't think about it much. Later Dave went out to get something for me and yelled at me to grab the camera and 'not freak out'. I ran over with the camera ready and Dave pointed up to the shelf. A KITTY!! How did a cat get in our garage, it hasn't been open for a week?! Dave says, Syd look closer, that is NOT a cat!  Dave, is that a possum? Yes, yes it is. GROSS! I was just out there for 20 minutes rearranging the freezer and there is a possum waiting to attack me. Let me remind you it had been in there for A WEEK!! How gross is that? Our garage is broken so Dave had to open it manually. The poor guy worked for hours and that possum wouldn't give up. At first he tried to get it out nicely, just coxing with a broom handle. Then he moved to forceful prodding with the broom. The possum kept running from the air compressors to the top of the garage and finally Dave started batting at it trying to get it out. After about a hour of fighting it, he came in the house pretty upset, wandered back to our room and came back with the CO2 powered Beebe gun. It was hot and he was tired and done. He shot it in the butt trying to get it to run and but it wouldn't. He shot that thing over 20 times before it finally died. Dave hates to kill anything but I think he was happy when that thing finally died. We are very careful to always close the garage when we aren't out there now.

Logan's Art

    One day Logan was playing so quietly, I didn't dare disturb him. Later he wandered into the kitchen with blue ALL over his hands. I asked him what was all over and he said "My masterpiece made me dirty." What exactly is your masterpiece, Logan? Show me. He lead me into the bathroom and showed me. Not only did he use a regular marker, as you can tell, he also stood on the counter while doing this. Safety First People!!  I asked him what he drew and he told me all about it. It is him and his Dad being rock stars with their guitars. They have rock star hair and everything. We left it there for a week until the shower steam made it run down. My boys are so creative.

Sam's art

   Sam and Logan love to play Play Doh. Shortly after we got home from Moses Lake while the boys were playing, Sam came to show me his creation. Papa Jerr. Can't you see it? He is so funny!

Sam's First Lost Tooth

  August 7, 2011 Sam lost his first tooth!! He is such a big boy.

Our Garden

    With spending the whole summer traveling we really didn't get to be home to work on our garden much. We are so thankful our backyard neighbors took care of it for us. We always plant way more stuff that we will ever use. We always plant 8-10 tomatoes and 12 pepper plants, Dave's idea is to share the love, and my idea is to only pick what I don't have to reach into the plant for (gross).

   One Pepper picking.

   One of the watermelons.

   It was huge, also it tasted bad. We won't plant those again.

   There is no way we ever use all the peppers we have so I slice and freeze them. It saves us a lot of money on peppers in the winter.

     We made a dirt pile for the boys to play in. I didn't like them to dig in the garden, there are to many spiders and it grosses me out. The boys love to turn it into a 'wallow' if you will, and roll around in it.

   Logan loves to clean himself in the sprinkler and then go back for more.

Moses Lake

  I found some random pictures from Moses Lake that I had to include. After Alaska we spent another couple of weeks at home before heading back to Jackson. The boys really just wanted to play on the boat the whole time, so that's what we did mostly. Casey was on summer break, Dee and Peter worked nights, Ryan was only working part time, so there was always someone to take the boat out. My brothers are great uncles to always make time to spend with Sam and Logan. The boys really love them.

    We took the kids to the sand dunes and let them play in the water for a little while.

    Logan

   Everyone got wet. The kids loved the sand. There is nowhere that the boys can swim in Tn so we have to get our swimming in at home.  We parked the cars on top of the hill and trekked down to the boat. We did not think through the marching back up sopping wet in the sand. The boys thought they were so funny walking up a few steps and then throwing themselves down and rolling down the hill. It took us a good while to get up the hill and then they were so sandy that I wasn't going to let them in the car to go home until they 'striped it down'. The boys love to strip it down; Normally I can't get them to keep their clothes on but when they are in public they are more shy. Good thing for me most of the time. Sam threw a huge fit and begged for something to sit on and Casey felt sorry for him so he got Emma's blanket to sit on, but poor Logan didn't have the same luck. He got to ride home Buck Naked!!  He was not happy but I bribed him so he did it. Once we had the kids settled we started to leave and Casey car was stuck in the sand. We didn't want to get hit so we pulled farther off the road than we should have. Sylvia and I had to push the car out while Casey threw sand at us from the tires. We all needed baths when we got home.

  We spent the day out at the Heslop's and the boys made bread with Grandma Linda. The boys sure love helping her cook. They got to make their very own loaves.

     Logan's ended up being a bunch of balls pushed into the pan. He loved it and it didn't taste bad.

      Sam, Aunt Laura, and Grandma Linda.

    Sam thinks its so fun to be set on the Fridge.

Sam wanted to take a picture of Laura, James, and I

   Sylvia, Brittany and I took the kids to the bouncy house and let them get some energy out. I love this picture of Emma and Brittany in the background.

    Out of order but, Papa Jerr and Sam on the Jet Ski.

     Sylvia and Emma.

     Sam and Avry on the hot dog.

Louie the Lamb

       Right before we came home for the summer, Lacy inherited a mini sheep. He was 5 weeks old when we got there. Let me tell you we were in love with Louie. She brought him in so he could play with the kids for the day and they had a blast. He is the best pet ever. He doesn't bark, bite, or poop everywhere. Sam didn't get a nasty rash from touching him. He ran with (or away from) the kids. He came when you called his name. He drank a bottle!! I want one so bad, really anyone out there have one because I am dying for one. We had a great day playing with him.

   The kids ran with him like he was a dog.

   Sam and Louie.

   He knew Lacy was his mama.

   Emma

  Lacy, Sam, and Logan.

     Logan wanted to read Louie a book. Louie wanted to eat it.



   Louie loving Sam.


         Side note: Louie passed away shortly after we came home to Tennessee. We were all heartbroken.