Apples make me sMiLe

i love this time of year

the crisp cool air

a time of harvest

our garden has not done as well this year as last.

i think that is because of the lack of sunshine we had this summer.

yet we still have been enjoying many delicious fruits and veggies from our garden:

beans

peas

carrots

lettuce + arugula

potatoes

cucumbers

broccoli + cauliflower

strawberries

raspberries

soon to be corn

and

apples.

apples from Grandma's trees.

I thought these pictures were so fun, they captured our adventure the other day as we helped Grandma and Grandpa Boehme pick the most delicious apples.

Then we turned them into tasty apple sauce. It was wonderful to have so many helpers turning the crank to push the cooked apples through the strainer. Each of the kids took a turn and felt so great knowing they had just made apple sauce.

I love canning season, but because it is so much more than storing food.

I know it is a labor of love and work that will teach much more than simply putting food in jars for the winter. I found this inspiration the other day, and I know every effort in food storage is binding my family together in bonds of love and unity.

"President Spencer W. Kimball counseled: “I hope that we understand that, while having a garden, for instance, is often useful in reducing food costs and making available delicious fresh fruits and vegetables, it does much more than this. Who can gauge the value of that special chat between daughter and Dad as they weed or water the garden? How do we evaluate the good that comes from the obvious lessons of planting, cultivating, and the eternal law of the harvest? And how do we measure the family togetherness and cooperating that must accompany successful canning? Yes, we are laying up resources in store, but perhaps the greater good is contained in the lessons of life we learn as we live providently and extend to our children their pioneer heritage.” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1977, p. 125; or Ensign, Nov. 1977, p. 78.) "

Emma and I have spent many an afternoon just laying under the apple tree and enjoying a sweet apple together, and watching the clouds drift by.

I loved this picture. I just had to capture Brian and his Dad up in the bucket of the tractor. They were like this for quite a while, Maddi played and they just sat and talked together. I know that Brian loves his Father so much. He is much like his Dad in many ways, and this was a moment to cherish just watching them, Father and Son working side by side. I think this is one of those moments President Benson is talking about.