Berry Sad News, But a Berry Good Summer

The huckleberries are done. It was so sad to see only one or two with the rest withering on the bush. I suppose that we can get by until next year. At least we have some jam to tide us over. Lucky for us, Mumsy's raspberries started right when the huckleberries quit, so our summer of berries continues. Mom thinks that we've made about 4 gallons of jam this summer, which doesn't sound like a lot until you realize that it was about 40 jars of the stuff. We hope that next summer some of you will join us for huckleberry picking and jam making. Mark off your calendars for somewhere from late July to mid-August!

Strawberry/huckleberry jam we made with Aunt Libby:

Libby and Ben's huckleberry haul:

Clyde, a good picker and a good eater... these are Mumsy's raspberries:

Big News!!

Life was good... I was eating lamb chops...



and ice cream cones...

Then last Wednesday (August 13), I woke up to my Aunt Libby. My parents were gone. My Aunt Janelle came and got me and Libby and they took me to the big brick building again. This time when I got there my mom was in one of the rooms and had on the hospital dress. She looked really tired and she was kind of pale. My Mumsy was there too and everyone kept looking at this little baby...

They kept showing me this little baby and I thought, "What's the big deal? I've seen lots of babies..."

Daddy told me that the baby's name was Alice Gertrude Rydalch. Wow, we have the same last name. She had really small wrinkly feet and really long skinny hands. They said she was a little smaller than I was as a baby - 7 pounds 11 ounces and 20 1/4 inches long. They said she was my sister, which I don't really understand.

At first, she cried some, but then she was pretty quiet and I decided maybe she was OK.

I got to hold her and that was fun, but she's kind of heavy.

Mom changed her out of her hospital clothes and into a cute outfit.

Then they put her in a car seat. She screamed. I thought it was kind of funny.

Do you know what they did next?!?? They brought her home with us. What??!! I don't know how long she's staying, but the longer she's here, the more I like her. I guess that living with my new baby sister will be OK.