Kate had a few weeks before her new job was starting so she was able to come spend a few days with us.  We just had the best time!  I enjoyed every minute with her!

She helped me get a bunch of canning done...having her there made it fun!  She cranked up the music and turned the drudgery of canning into a dance party.

 Did a bunch of salsa....which was much needed!  I think this is the first year we have ever ran out of salsa!

 Oh and I found this fabulous canner at Costco!  It holds a lot of bottles!  My old one has about had it.,,,so I bought it!  Oh wow!  I could do about a whole batch in just that one canner!

 We went up to Park City one day and shopped a bit..it was beautiful up there...leaves are already starting to turn.

Oh and while we were driving, she called all the people who had signed up to bring food to the luau to remind them.  That saved me a ton of work!

I didn't get enough peaches off our tree to do some serious bottling, so we drove up to Brigham one day and got a few boxes of peaches.

(note to self...don't ever buy sun crest peaches!  They had a big sign out front that said these were perfect for canning and baking with...they looked beautiful and tasted very good, so I bought them.

We came home and put them in the boiling water to get the skins off.  Nope.  They were not ripe!  So we decided to let them sit a few days.  When I went back to give them another try, they didn't look so good...kind of bruised and icky looking.  So I new I better get them done now or they would go to waste.  I got them into the boiling water again, hoping the peels would come off now they were riper.  Nope.  I still had to practically peel each one.  Then the pit wouldn't come out either!  Oh man I was so frustrated, I wanted to just throw them in the garbage.  I got about two dozen quarts bottled, then made a batch of jam with all the pieces I had massacred trying to get them off the pit.

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Kelley trying to eat the whole peach...he helped us get them peeled...he is a peach...(a good peach.)

 

 

Kate picked the rest of the peaches off our little tree and we bottled them.  Now that's what peaches are supposed to be...They were really lovely. The skins just slip right off and the pit doesn't stick!  Plus they taste like heaven.

This poor little tree made as many peaches as it could hold...the branches were all weighed down and Kelley had to prop them up to keep them from breaking. 

Hopefully next year it will make enough so I don't have to buy any at all!

I was glad Kate was able to have some time to visit with her friends while she was here.  I know she has wanted to do that for a long time.  When she comes home on Friday night and has to go back again on Sunday, there is never time much time, so I  think this was a real treat for her.  We also got to have a good visit with grampa before she left.

While we were making dinner together the night Brian and Holli came over, it just felt so good to have her there.  My heart sure longs for more times like this ...not going anywhere or doing anything special...just doing everyday things...with those you love.