Sum, sum, summertime: Missouri style

Like I mentioned last week, we had a wonderful time in Missouri during June. Summer in Las Vegas just doesn't quite hold the same appeal. I hate missing out on things like this...

The strawberries were dropped off by a friend and while we had to rush to use them, it was such a nice gesture from a "neighbor." I barely recognize my neighbors and would be uber cautious taking produce from them (I'm sure they're all perfectly nice, just proving my point that they're strangers to me).

This cherry is from one of three (maybe 4) trees at my MaMa's house. It's a white cherry (but we call them yella) and they are delicious. They make the most scrumptious cobbler, more like peach than a tart red cherry. Unfortunately there were only enough this year to fill a large sour cream container. My mom and dad think the tree took quite a beating in a hard rain earlier in the spring that knocked off all the flowers. And, on an even sadder note, the day I was leaving for the airport we saw that one tree had been split in half during a storm the night before. The whole thing had to go. I have never seen another tree of this type anywhere and definitely haven't seen this variety of cherry in a store. It makes me sad to think that its a dying breed. Like so much in small town, USA.

What we were lacking in yellow cherries we definitely made up for in gooseberries. A lot of people don't like them but I think a slice of gooseberry pie is one of life's great pleasures. My mom's bushes are especially beautiful and the little red fruits were sweet enough to eat right off the branch (something I wouldn't try with green berries...yuck! They need sugar, sugar, sugar!). There was no pie or cobbler made from these yet though because my mom saves them for our church's annual sausage and pancake supper. There is an elderly man who attends each year in the hopes of getting a slice of gooseberry pie and my mom wouldn't want him to be disappointed. I love that she calls him Mr. Moore. She is 65 years old but he is still her elder and she thinks of him as adult. And I'm sure she is just a young girl in his eyes (ask G, her Grandma Boo-ah is better than any 3 year old playmate!). I think I need to start teaching my kiddos to call people Mr. Smith or Mr. Jones instead of addressing them by their first name. We'll see how that goes.

And these white hydrangeas. I don't think I need to say anything else. Ok, I don't need to but I will. I loved that G didn't differentiate between these flowers and the dandelions she plucked from the grass. Each bouquet was just as beautiful. There's a life lesson there. I'm just sure of it.

We celebrated both the girls during June also. G had her annual Half Birthday party, scoring some great gifts to keep at Aunt J's and Boo-ah and Papa's. Gimme a break, okay? Her birthday is on December 25. Last year we didn't even get to her gifts until the 26th and I had to force it on everyone because everybody was all celebrated out. So the girl gets a half birthday. Its not gonna be fun explaining it the the little one, though.

E celebrated 10 months. Or should I say WE celebrated having her around for 10 months. What a delight she can be (and so feisty, too).

That doesn't even begin to cover the wonderful things that we did and the great family time we had but thats it for my Missouri posts. I could go on forever (especially if my sister sent me her pics, too) but it's time for new things. Finishing up G's room (oh, did I mention I got a cute little mirror for her gallery wall in Missouri?), planning a 1st birthday party, and getting this crazy house in some kind of order. There are still a few lingering items in my suitcase from the MO trip. That should probably be my first priority...