Cherries Anyone?!

We have been so excited for our cherries to finally turn red so we could pick them, and the day has finally come!! We have waited for 3 years for our cherries to come back, each year the tree would bloom and then a freeze would come through and kill the flowers. This year we prayed hard that our fruit trees would be spared so we could enjoy the yummy fruit, and viola all the trees have fruit this year. Two apple trees, a nectarine tree, and cherry!

We went out on family night to weed the garden and pick cherries, we spent about 30 minutes and got A LOT of cherries and we didn't even leave a dent in the tree. The tree is LOADED with those mouthwatering SWEET cherries! *smile*

Mason is so proud! I had to stand by him and pull the branches down to his level, and after squishing the first handfull of cherrys (had to show him a tecnique) had the system down very well.




Everyone had a contest to see who could pick the most cherries, I say they all tied.



Here is Oscar climbing up the middle of the tree.






Here is Daddy on the scary tall ladder!





Here is Zachary on the safe ladder having fun!



Here is the 'fruit' of our labor! (*smile*) We all had fun picking, eating, throwing pits at each other, and picking some more.



Next was the job of 'pitting' the cherries so we could can them (we did this the next day). Thanks Julie for your nifty gadet to help make this job LOTS easier. We had to wash, stem, and sort out the bad ones. All the boys were so willing to pit the cherries I just got everything set up for them, and they were off.







Sometimes the pitting was a little difficult *wink*



And after a week (yes it took me that long, pregnancy slows me down) of all that hard work.....Tah Dah!!! 24 pints of cherry pie filling, 7 half pints of cherry jam, and 2 gallon sized freezer bags full of cherries!! YUMMY!



Our tree is still LOADED and they are very ready to be picked and enjoyed. If anyone wants some, please please come and get some, I would hate to see them go to waste.

I have also been busy getting ready for Lily's arrival by getting some freezer meals prepared. I thought this shouldn't be so bad, but boy was I wrong!! I really do NOT have the energy I do when not pregnant so something that seems so simple quickly became a nightmare. In walks my friend April Dittrich to the rescue! I now have 30 meals all packed up nicely in the freezer ready for those crazy nights when all my help has gone home. THANK YOU April!! Also a big thank you to all my friends who gave me great ideas and receipes, especially a book from Rebecca Bledsoe called 'Dinner is Ready' by Deanna Buxton. I'm excited to try all the yummy receipes.






I also want to give a great big THANK YOU to my mom for coming up and cleaning all the dusty animal mounts and plant shelves for me. Everything looks brand new! Love you mom, could not, would not have done it without you!! You're the BEST!