Fall traditions as told by Hannah

Fall Traditions as told by Hannah

Hi Grammy,

It's fall. The leaves have already begun changing and you can smell it in the air. The tree branches are starting to droop under the weight of the fruit. The nashi tree is full and should probably be thinned...years of doing it alongside with you has taught us well. Don't worry, we'll keep Jan away from it.

We picked the plums this weekend...they are sweet and the ones that fell to the ground squished under our feet when we weren't watching where we were stepping. The apple trees, too, have come on...we'll make pie filling, I'm sure. And the ones that fell from the tree early or that the worms got to? Yep, we'll play baseball with them, just like we always do.

We've picked all the berries. Don't worry, we didn't miss the ones underneath because standing on our heads is second nature now. Only thing is that more berries probably went into our bellies than into our buckets...but I'm sure you're not surprised by that.

We've harvested the corn and tomatoes...we've pulled up the soy bean plants and picked off the pods. I made some and took them to work to share. It pleased me greatly when I realized that's what you would have done. No one's home grown soy beans are better than yours, Gram.

Vegetable Olympics will be coming up soon...mud football to follow. We bottled tomatoes a little while back. Grammy, I told Harmony that if you were here you'd scold her for not cutting them to the right size. I mean, they were just ridiculously large! Mits did a lot of beans, too. No canned or factory bottled greens could ever rival yours.

The hibiscuses bloomed and are now gone for the season. They remind me of you, the hibiscuses do. They are bright and beautiful and full of life.

The walnuts need just a little more time...they're starting to fall. And the pecan tree is huuuge! I swear it grew ten times as big this year and there are so many pecans on it! We'll climb those trees soon and shake the branches until all the nuts come down. We'll wear buckets on our heads for protection as we run around trying to catch the falling nuts. We'll clean and crack and harvest those nuts...perhaps not as diligently as you did, but we'll try our best.

Your trees and garden will be going to sleep for the winter soon...and then in no time they'll be blooming again. That, I think, is an analogy for a greater Plan. And oh, how one's soul sings at the thought of it.

I miss you, Gram. See you later, alligator.

Love,
Hannah

An average day with the Hesley/Walker clans.... as told by Hannah

 This is what happens on summer days with nothing to do....as told by The Han
My older sister, Harmony (the short, spunky, sassy one) has gone a bit weirdy lately with her food choices. I don't remember the last time I went home and we had normal food. This weekend:

Me: Why have you gone weird? And how long is it going to last? I'm sick of waffles made with flax seed.

Harmony: With a name like Harmony it was going to happen sooner or later. Deal with it.

Me: Ugh.

   later...

Me: Do we have any Otter Pops?

Harmony: No, do you want a spinach smoothie? It has fruit in it.

Me: Fruit and spinach? No thanks, I would like an Otter Pop.

Harmony: Let me make you a smoothie.

Derek: We have some Otter Pops in the freezer.

Me: Hurray!

Harmony: No! Let me make you a smoothie.

Me: Noooo. Harm, Otter Pops are delicious, they make the world go 'round.

Harmony: Yeah, round.  

   ...delayed response...

Me: HA! That WAS funny! Very clever, good one.

Harmony: I know, I know. So let me make you a spinach smoothie.

Me: Nope, got an Otter Pop, I'm gonna go eat it with Kona.

Little sister, Hali (the long-haired exotic-looking one), was also home this weekend. I wanted to watch Swamp People (a story for another day), Harmony wanted to reupholster a couch, Derek wanted to do...something (probably a nerdy computer game), and Hali...well...

Hali: Coooooome outside and sit with me! 

Harmony: How 'bout we do my couch!

Derek: Neither of those sound fun.

Hali: Buuuuuut it's nice outside. Anana, come outside with me.

Me: Meh...I want to cuddle with The Kona and watch Swamp People.

   ...a few minutes passed, Hali disappeared and the rest of us went about what we were previously doing.

Harmony: Where is Hali?

Me: I dunno...

   ...I went to the front room and looked out the window...

Hahaha. Of course, we laughed and took photos before joining her, it was just so cute and precious...gotta love the baby of the family. She was sooooo happy and wanted nothing more than to use her new hammock. Coincidentally, she was reading one of the crazy food books that Harmony has been reading.

And the reason I love my family? After sitting outside and talking for a while, Harmony did make us weird smoothies (which I fed to Kona), I helped her reupholster her couch, and then we watched Swamp People all together! Swamp People has become a recent obsession which I will explain in further detail at a later date.

The rest of the weekend was spent helping out in the yard and garden at G-Ma Oka's where I skillfully pruned her bonsai trees into practically perfect spheres. I wielded that electric pruner with great talent. Unfortunately, Grandma is getting up there in years and is no longer able to come outside. Such a shame that she was not there to kibitz that I missed a spot here or there like tradition holds. Or to tell me how lucky I am to have the miracle of electricity, because years ago she did this by hand with naught but some hand sheers.

And what about Kona, you ask? What did one of the most featured characters on this blog do with her weekend? The usual: laid around, went with us everywhere and watched us work.

Oh the memories

A list of fun things/qoutes we did for spring break 2010

(We wrote a list of memorable things on a chilis to go box that Haley Jeane found under her bed)

 

Saw Kobe Bryant

Rode Buffalo Bills

Got lost... a lot

Survived a 4.4 earthquake

Hali touched the fish in China Town

Sword fought with grocery dividers

Stretched on the set of YES MAN

Got naked in the street

Bonfire on the beach

Had boardwalk romances

Spent WAY too much money!

Met cute boys on the freeway

Dodged tumbleweeds

Screamed really loud on rides (especially Laura)

Hali got her mickey balloon

Rob got a picture with a girl with a "Rob" tattoo

Boogy boarded at midnight

Caught rabbits

Met Aladdin

Watched someone get engaged

Went to a sea shell graveyard

Became missionaries in China Town

Got stuck on a roller coaster

Built HUGE sand castles!

Did baptisms for the dead in the Newport Beach Temple

Went house hunting for celebrity cribs

Pyramid on the beach with random people

Squished 6 girls in Hali's car many times

Experienced Hali's wrath

Awesome Quotes:

"Spring Break Oh Ten! Take off your shirt!"

"On a different note, look how many light switches there are!" -Mitch

"Where do you find people with one leg?" -Trevor "In a zoo!" -Haley

"You know you're a true friend when you can pick your friend's butt." -Jessica

"I'm the least experienced in life! Yes!" -Laura

"I've always imagined this is what the celestial kingdom would be like" (About Disneyland) -Katie

"When I put these glasses on its like a whole new world!" -Aladdin

"It's on your birdy!" -Ashley

"Have a six flags day!" -Six Flags Idiot

"Have a mitchin day!" -Mitch

"It looks like they just threw up Trojans all over the wall." -Jessica

This is going to summarize our Easter...

Just go to Hannah's blog... love it

http://nannersh2.blogspot.com/

So I guess its blogging time again.

So I live in the Ivy house with 7 girls.

One lives in the back half of our living room.

The house is constantly freezing cold.

Sometimes late at night you can hear us screaming about nonsense like the bachelor..

or you can hear us singing to Celine Dion

 This is Ashley.

She has curly hair and is studying photography.

She is in love with cookies and Kevin.

And we can say anything we want to each other without feeling stupid

love her

This is Jessica Sweat.

She loves finding funny videos on youtube.

She loves photography.

Hearing her mischievous giggle can make anyone laugh. I love it.

Love her.

 This is Haley Jeanne Austin

She sometimes goes by Sally.

She is engaged to Max who also goes by Bobby.

We eat cereal for breakfast together and make a noise for every bite we take.
We are five years old.
Love her

This is Laura Luke.

She is known as the business building girl.

She loves to eat string cheese.

We can go to dance parties and dance crazy together without a care. 

Love her.

This is Katie Jo Parker.

She is from Ririe, Idaho where she lived on a tree farm.

She is a hospice nurse... she may have more elderly friends than young.

We have three classes together its the best to have a roommate in three classes. I will miss her while she's on her mission.

Love her.

This is Kailey Jean Larsen.

She was in Taiwan for the past 6 months.

She dances like no one is watching... even though everyone is watching.

We do ridiculous pranks together from Mona to boxing, we have fun.

Love her.

These are my roommates!

They are so great.