FUN AT THE LAKE

About 2 weeks ago my dad called Craig and asked him if he would take the boat to the shop in Las Vegas and try to get it fixed, he was coming out in a couple of weeks and wanted to go to the lake, besides that the boat had been just sitting for the last 2 years and it was time to finally get it fixed. In the meantime Stephanie and her boyfriend Juan came to spend a couple of days with us (Monday July 27) and while they were here we got the phone call (Tuesday July 28) that the boat was fixed. Well, so we thought. We spent a few hours Wednesday morning cleaning and making sure the boat ran before taking it out to the lake. When we got to the lake later that day, to our disappointment the boat wouldn't start. What a waste of a day! We got home and Craig started tinkering with it, to find out the gas in the boat was so old that it clogged the pipes. So we spent the next 6 hours draining the fuel out and cleaning the fuel tank, cleaning the pipes, changing the fuel filter, and cleaning everything and anything else that was some how touched be fuel. It was a hot and miserable evening but by morning we had the boat running again. Thursday we tried it again and with high hopes we headed to the lake. To our excitement the boat started and we knew the rest of the day was all about relaxing and enjoying the lake. Here are some pictures we took before the camera battery died, Some luck!

Ashley on the beach. This is actually an island that we had all to ourselves.
Stephanie RELAXING!
Craig and Kayla
Austin and Juan

Me and Ashley (she has no fear, she loves the water)
Juan flying Kayla's Barbie Kite
Stephanie and AshleyKayla picking up seashells

Before leaving the lake we all got the knee board but something was still wrong with the boat. Craig wanted to ski but the boat would stall out every time. It's like the boat wasn't strong enough. It was a few days later, when Craig was looking at the boat engine again and discovered that a small part was put on backwards (probably by the last people that were working on it 2 years ago), he fixed that and says the boat should be at 100%. I guess we'll find out this weekend when my parents come.

Apricot Jam

This was a lot more work than I thought it would be. My mother-in-law was given an apple box half-full of yummy, delicious apricots. She told me to take a few home (a few is about 30-40 apricots), I love apricots but I couldn't eat that many, even if a wanted too they would spoil before I could. So before it got to that point I thought I would try to make some jam. I have never made jam before and always thought it required some special kind of talent and besides that, that's something my grandma does. I was amazed on how easy it really was, it just took a lot of time, maybe because I was doing it myself. All in all I think I had roughly around 175 apricots. It took about 7lbs of sugar, 6 lemons, and 4-5 hours, oh and all 175 (give or take) apricot. Right now I'm a little sick of apricot jam which really stinks because its my favorite kind of jam.
Anyways, I made 2 different kinds of apricot jam. The 1st one was freezer jam, which consisted of blanching the apricots, peeling the skins, pitting them and them pureeing them. Adding the sugar and lemon juice. Making the jelly on the stove, mixing and canning. Pretty easy.These ones will have the stay in the freezer.

The second kind of jam was over the stove. 1st I cleaned the apricots, cut them in half, pitted them. Then threw them in a large pot with some sugar and water. Cooked them until they were soft and tender, then I added the rest of the sugar and lemon juice and let it cook on low for about 45 minutes. When it was done I jarred them, they will seal themselves. These ones can go in the pantry. I made 46 half-pint jars in all.

YUMMY!

New Finds!

We have been so busy trying to organize ourselves in our new home, family visiting, and the holiday that blogging was the last thing on my mind. About 2 weeks ago, Craig and I were on our way to go visit his grandma and we came in a house that had a piano sitting out front (I guess it had been sitting there for the last couple of days), so Craig and his brother Gary pushed it back home. Ya, it needs a bench, a new paint job, and some of the keys stick but I know Craig will make it looks and sound just beautiful.It's funny because the next day the local paper came out and there was an ad in it, FREE PIANO. What! So Craig called and it just so happen to be our landlord, so needless to say we now have 2 pianos and just the other one this one needs some work too.
I think in a couple of months we will have both pianos restored and sounding amazing. It will be so great to have not just 1 but 2 working pianos in the home.