Making Cider and Memories

My Dad has an old apple press that he got from my grandpa. He makes delicious apple cider every fall and we all love it! He promised the kids this year that they could help him make some cider, so we went over for the afternoon to help and got to see the whole process.

Allie, Papa, Roderick, Makinley, and Josh picking apples in the backyard.

Tons of apples being washed.


Papa feeding the apples into the grinder.


Look at that cider coming out!

Avery got to press the apple grinds down first.

Avery and her Papa.

Roderick and his Papa pressing the apples.

Allie gets her turn to press the apples.

Allie gets the first taste!

So first they pick the apples. Then, the apples get washed and fed into the grinder. Next, the apple grounds get pressed and every bit of juice gets squeezed out. Finally, the juice gets strained and poured into jugs. It takes a lot of work!

The kids each got to fill up a jug to take home.

This is just about my favorite picture ever! These are four of my favorite people in the whole world! There's a lot of love in this pic! :)

Tonight, as I sip on my mug of warmed cider that I regularly enjoy, I'll be even more thankful for it, knowing all the hard work that my Dad goes through to make it. I'm so glad my kids got to share this fun memory with their cousin and Papa.

Family Beach Trip

My parents treated the family to a couple nights at a house in Lincoln City, which is right on the Oregon coast. The house was big enough for our growing family. With four original kids, three spouses, and three-week-old Jeffery Scott making five grandchildren, we needed lots of space. It was perfect weather for a weekend at the beach!

This is Avery and Nana flying a kite.

Poor Nana was abandoned and stuck with two kites!

Josh flew is fancy kite - one kite, two strings.

I just liked this picture of Richie.

Allie looks so innocent here... Looks can be deceiving! The house we stayed at was separated by three levels, which made it a little hard to keep an eye on the busy three year-olds. Allie reenacted the classic story of "Adam and Eve" with Roderick. Roderick sat by and watched her scribble with a ball point pen on the flat screen TV and then was handed the pen by Allie while she said, "Now it's your turn." He didn't bite, though. Way to be strong, Roderick! Thank the Lord Rich was able to repair the TV with his glasses cleaning wipes and an hour of patient rubbing.


There's the two rascals!

My big kindergartener with her name written in the sand!

What a beautiful mommy/daughter pair Jana and Makinley make!

Nana and 4 of her 5 grandkids. It was just about a perfect night on the beach!

Papa is passing on to another generation the art of roasting "the perfect marshmallow".

Daddy and Avery enjoying the fire.

Thanks, Mom and Dad, for such a wonderful weekend! My camera died before I got any pictures of Jo, Ryan, Jeffery, or Megan, but we had fun with all of you guys! What a blessing to have had such a great time together!