Come on Down. . .

To Peterson Farms Apple Country! That's right, Sarah's been running Norm Rasmussen's country store since the beginning of July. Norm has 15 greenhouses on his property (that are bigger than our house!) and he sells the produce he grows at the store. Sarah's really got it looking cute and organized now, but our fridge is usually full to capacity with leftover produce!

Norm grows so many different things and he plans to stay open through the winter.

I think Sarah's favorite part of the day would be feeding the goats. She has to go through all the berries and get rid of the rotten ones every day. . .but then she feeds them to the goats. . .which are hilarious. Sarah and Emily have them all named. There's Bub - the one who butts heads with the other goats fighting over the food, Penelope, Hercules, Peter (who walks on his arthritic knees. Rather sad.) and the two twin babies - Ernest and Huckleberry. Sarah's favorite goat, Louisa, was bought by a family of Hispanic people. Let me tell you, apparently Hispanics LOVE roasted goat. Yesterday, Sarah went to feed the goats and Louisa was missing! She couldn't believe the poor goat's fate came already! Why can't the goats just live in peace. . .eating fresh fruits and vegetables every day. . .okay, maybe they're rotten fruits and vegetables, but it still beats sitting on the kitchen table! :)

Anyway - they also have a Llama. . .named Herman.

Ode to Tracy

Yes. . .this post is dedicated to Shirley's VERY OLD (that's right) friend Tracy. Oh how we've missed the Joosts. They were so wonderful to let us stay at their house for a couple of nights while we were in California. The girls were a little nervous to see Brittney, Collette and Natalie, (They hadn't seen them for 8 years!) but once we got settled, it's like we never left!

Tracy used to babysit Sarah for years while Mom had to work. Brittney and Sarah were BEST friends when they were little. They were practically sisters!

Look at them now!

One thing we couldn't get over was the fact that baby Chandler was not such a baby anymore! He's quite the big boy! It was so hilarious because Chandler kept looking at Sarah saying, "You look so familiar! Where have I seen you before?!?!?" He and Sarah hit it off right away. He's totally the little brother Sarah's always wanted. I mean, who could resist this face?

Emily was so happy she realized Natalie was an awesome girl! She only remembered the Joosts visiting one time when she was 4 years old and Natalie took her "My Little Ponies" and wouldn't share. That could ruin a child, you know! :) But Emily totally loves Natalie now, especially because they both LOVE the Twilight series.

But Mom's favorite part was going to the M&L fabric store. (Or shall I say "favric?") (Or material) (That one's for Tracy!) All I have to say about the trip to M&L is "Hey Tracy. . .What's your number?"

Okay. . .I'll get serious now. M&L is mom's favorite fabric store. You can get a yard of fabric for dirt cheap! Tracy and mom had so much fun trying to grab the last yard of a certain piece, especially the adorable toile! Their carts were full to capacity. . .mom had to fed-ex a box of fabric home, because we couldn't fit anymore in our luggage! But the most amazing part of the M&L trip was the fact that they now have a public restroom! With all the laughing that goes on between Mom and Tracy, it's mandatory to have a public restroom!

And one last thing. . .

Pretty much the weirdest part of our trip was the 5.8 magnitude earthquake we felt while at Tracy's. In 1994 there was the Northridge earthquake which was 6.9 or 7.1 or something like that. . .it was HUGE. We still lived in California for that one. Of course, we decide to plan our trip right when the next biggest earthquake since the Northridge earthquake hits Southern California. Tracy and Sarah were looking at pictures on the computer when the cupboards started opening by themselves and the chandelier over the dining table was swinging. They look over and Mom is asking anyone if they'd like a piece of gum. She had no clue what was happening. Tracy said, "Shirley, do you feel that?" Mom says, "Feel what?" I mean, come on, who can't feel a 5.8 magnitude quake? Tracy couldn't get over the face that we were sitting there riding the wave and mom just thought she was having a dizzy spell. Quite hilarious!

So in conclusion. . .we love the Joost family SO much and we can't wait for our next trip to California so we can see them again and laugh our pants off!

More California. . .

One of the many highlights of our trip was that we got to go to Knott's Berry Farm with Auntie Kae, Denise, Travis, Corryn and all of Todd's family. We even got to see Denny when we went to dinner at Mrs. Knott's Chicken Place. He was just as silly and sarcastic with mom as he's ever been! Of course, Corryn was so excited to see her Emily Rose! After a couple of minutes, you couldn't keep Corryn away from Emily! It's really freaky how much they look like sisters! They look more alike than Sarah and Emily!


We had so much fun with Auntie Kae. . .she was so silly! Every time we walked by a cute shop she had to stop and see what was there. Especially the shop with the little birdhouses!



One of the rides that mom could handle was the Log Ride. We probably went on it 4 or 5 times all together. Corryn was sort of scared of rollercoasters so she was completely content with this one.



And of course, we had to ride Jaguar a thousand times. It's mom's favorite ride and soon became Corryn's favorite ride. . .she had never been on it before, so we dragged her on and had her sit in the back where the ride is the whippiest. . .and she loved it! We couldn't get her off of it!

For Sarah's birthday celebration (only 20 days late) we went to the American Girl Place Los Angeles. (Philip's favorite place in the whole world!) (he he) Sarah had been wanting an American Girl Place birthday party for years and she finally got a surprise one for her 20th birthday, thanks to Auntie Kae!


They had the table decorated so cute with adorable flower pots and napkins. The menus even matched the decor!


The best surprise was the huge cake that came out with all the waiters singing Happy Birthday to Sarah! There were several other little girls in the restaurant that had cakes for their birthday, but there was not one birthday song as enthusiastic as the one sung for Sarah! It was probably because Auntie Kae sang "cha cha cha" in between every sentence, so they started the song over and all the waiters played along! It was so hilarious, we were all cracking up!

But truly, the highlight of the day was the little doll in the highchair they sat next to Uncle Steve. He kept pretending to feed it fruit-kabobs and grapes and his soda. We were cracking up so hard and Sarah couldn't help buy take 30 pictures of it! There is no sense of humor like Uncle Steve's sense of humor! We just love him!

Summer

Where has the Summer gone?!?!??!

We were gearing up for our big trip to Southern California and now it's over and school starts in a little less than a month!

We had such a great time visiting our friends and family. We hadn't been down to visit for 3 years! Emily loved it so much she asked Mom if we could move back down. Of course the answer was "NO!" We love our home here in Hillsboro way too much to leave.

In California, we got to stay at our Uncle's wonderful house in Malibu!

















It is such a gorgeous place and he was so nice to let us stay! He let us borrow one of his cars so we didn't have to pay for a rental car. He is just so wonderful!

We went to the Getty Museum with Uncle Butch, Auntie Kae and Uncle Steve. We had so much fun! The villa was so gorgeous and they had the most amazing fountains and pools. It was so hot outside we wanted to go for a swim!

They also had the prettiest herb gardens with herbs that were used back in the first century!

It is definitely a memory we won't forget -- especially the part where Uncle Butch let Steve roll down the wheel chair ramp without holding onto him!!! :)

Here are some more photos from our trip to the Getty Museum. . .