Allium Flowers are ready.....

Storing our flowers

Loading for Portland

So our next load for Portland is on its way. This is how we load the truck and this also gives you an idea of how big the bins are and how the flowers look in the bin. Much better and easier than buckets like we used to use. We take 6 bins at a time. Allan(Clints brother) is the one in the truck and Clint is driving the tractor. Allan will be driving the load to Portland with his wife Coreen. Corey loves to be a part of the action....riding on the fork lift...using the palot jack...just anything as long as he is in the middle of the action...he is going to be an amazing farmer!!!!

Our New Beautician

Always time for fun!!!!

Even though we work tremendously hard we ALWAYS make time for fun stuff....maybe more than we should, but I don't think so :) Amber brought the Kraupp kids over Thrusday and they had a blast with swimming and picnic outside. Craig's friend Cobey was here and then eventually Heather's friend Shelby joined us as well. Most of the time I was in the field but I love the fact that we always have lots of kids coming over to hang out at our house. We love having them and entertaining. I love my kids being around me so I am always glad that their friends enjoy being here. It looks like it is going to be a GREAT summer :)


Corey and Jake getting in on the swimming fun....

Eremurus picking....

So Friday we picked Eremurus. We have already sent one load to Portland so this will be our second load. Thursday we picked 2 bins and Thursday we picked 4 bins. This was all in between also picking peonies. Yes we are running ragged but realize that this only last for about 3 weeks and we can handle it that long. My back is totally good now..thanks goodness I was wondering...it survived the conditioning. We will load the truck Sunday afternoon so it can be sitting in Portland Monday morning. I will take pictures of that whole process and post tomorrow so you can see..it is pretty cool and you can see how big he bins are. Friday was really fun though even though we did a ton of work. We had a great crew and just worked fast!!

Patrick, Teresa's son is a great carrier...he always has the stems straight which makes my job incredibly easy!!! I told him he needed to hold a seminar during lunch and teach everyone how to do it. He is a great sport even though I give him a bad time (he gives me a bad time too...so don't feel sorry for him). I really enjoy joking with him and he makes work fun. He had a great time riding in the bin to hold the flowers in place when we moved the tractor a long ways in the field. It was so incredibly hot that he loved sitting in the water. I couldn't pass up the photo opp though!! Patrick we appreciate your hard work and your example in keeping the flowers straight...I do think it was rubbing off on some(KEVY BABY) by the end of the day.

Our great crew that worked hard all day. Clint promised everyone a BBQ if we could fill 4 bins. I didn't take pictures because I was so tired I didn't even think about it actually....but the BBQ was a lot of fun and great food. Working is great fun and it is fun to work with fun people. Thanks everyone for your excellent work!!

Heathers 8th Grade Graduation

Tuesday was Heathers 8th grade graduation. This week has been so incredibly busy with the flowers. We were glad to take some time and go to Heathers graduation though. I can hardly believe she is going to be in High School next year. We are very proud of her. She is very excited to go to high school I know. She is going to have tons of fun....I am not ready for her to grow up so fast...two in High School...Craig in Junior High next year. No elementary kids next year....what is happening!!!!

Saturday Boise Market

We have been going to the Saturday Capitol City Market for about 10 years now. We really enjoy it and have meet some amazing people. It is a lot of work to prepare and have all our Saturdays during the summer so busy...but it is worth it. This is the first market that we made it too this year. Everyone loves our peonies and it is very nice to see all the happy people as they walk away with our peonies...it makes our hard work worth it.

Amber and Corey

Corey loves to play pretend with anyone that is willing. Well this day Amber was the willing party. I just couldn't resist these pictures...I know Amber will love this post :)

Craigs Field Day

School is almost out so that meas field day. I barely made it down to Craigs field day so I just have pictures of the end of it. We are crazy in the flowers but went down for an hour to be with Craig. He and three other boys came in first place in the 400 relay. They were really excited. Then he came in fourth in his class for the 400 meter. Maybe a future track star....Heather was also there as the eighth graders were bused over to help out.

Picking Like CRAZY!!!!

The Peonies are totally in full production now...I have been picking like crazy and my back is KILLING me...I hope I get used to it soon. Corey is the greatest helper for me and is so great to be out in the field most of the day with me. He has probably been out there for 95% of the time. Every once in a while he needs to go visit grandma he says. He has been the best to play along side of me. I am one lucky mom :)

Gardening time

Yes we must be crazy...but we are attempting a garden this year. I really want to freeze some corn and can some tomato juice. So we began this adventure and yes it will be interesting with all the flower stuff to see if we can keep up. Hopefully it will be patient with us and grow well :)

I will post more pictures as it actually start growing....as you can see Craig and Corey were great helpers....

POOL TIME!!

This last monday night we decided we better put the pool up before we get so deep in flowers we can't do anything else. Nina and Jeremy came to help which was great fun and they helped out a lot!! We are all excited to have our pool up and running. We put a sand filter on the hose cause the pump pulls sands...it took like four days to fill the pool to the top so Corey had a great time playing in the pool as it filled up. He could touch bottom and had a grand time.

Fun in the Sun!!!!

We had our 15th anniversary on May 14th. Good Grief!! Doesn't seem like it could be that long! Anyway, Clint had to pick up a tractor in Walla Walla for John Deere so I went with him overnight and the kids stayed home!! Now that was a treat....for both of us and the kids. This was the first time we had done that and the kids did amazing and got along so great!! They mowed the lawn, kept the house clean and had fun outside all day Saturday. We got home about 9:00 that night. We had a nice time together as well. It was a pretty drive and beautiful weather!!
CATCHIN SOME RAYS!!

TOO COOL

Let the PEONIES begin!!!!!

So our busiest, craziest time of the year has started. We begin by debbuding the peonies. I have been busy the last two weeks doing that. I think that it is pretty much done.....now we just wait for them to start popping. I have decided that my height is a great advantage for this job but I could almost be a few inches shorter(oh dear - did I actually say that!!!!) Anyway I think my back is in condition now to start the picking which should begin by maybe middle of next week-then I really will be busy...I will try to take pictures and post them as I go but peonies are the most intense season and I(well my family) just try to stay sane!! :) It is all good...the whole time I just tell myself it only last about 6 weeks and there is an end!! We will probably pick somewhere between 20,00-40,00 peonies---depending on how they sell this year...should be interesting with this economy...flowers are a luxury in my opinion and I wouldn't buy them....we will see:) The crop looks great anyway!!

This is what the peonies looks like before debudding. See all the little buds around the edge...we take all of them off therefore giving all the energy of the plant to the main bud...it gets bigger and stronger. For those of you that have them in your yard it also helps with them falling over..some varities are worse than others at that but this help...It make the plant heathier and I think look prettier.

Here is the finished product..yes it has to be done by hand totally to every plant...some plants have upwards of 25-40 flowers on them. It is worth it though and has to be done to sell wholesale.


The fields really do look great and they have grown so much even since I have taken these pictures. I think we are ready to roll!!!!!!

Goofy faces of Corey

After his bath the other day Corey told Heather that he wanted to have FANCY hair....so this is what Heather did to him..as you can see he loves it!!!

Another fancy hair do.....

After church sunday he decided that he was gonna ride like the big boys.....he does look pretty cute and all grown up!!!

Good Friends!!

Craig and Cobey have become quite the friends lately....it is so nice to have someone that they really enjoy and they are so nice for me to have around as well...most of the time I do not even know these guys are around. They so have a terrific time together....to bad they live on the opposite sides of Homedale or they actually may never be separated!!! We think you are great Cobey and are welcome over anytime!!!!
Jeremy is another great friend of Craigs...we all love having him around too and he just lives up the hill so we are thankful for that...there are times when they are either here or there and Craig absolutely LOVES that. Jeremy is a great friend!!!!
The three of them have a great time together and really get along good...that makes it so nice!! Craig is a lucky boy to have such great friends!!! Here is some fun times they had this past weekend....

Craigs School Concert

Craig had a concert Thursday night. It was really good and with much coaxing he really had a great time once he got there...actually Mrs.Silva takes care of the bribing..she can get that boy to do amazing things...she is the best teacher. Mr. Savell is his music teacher and has done some fabulous things with music this year. Craig has really enjoyed him. They even played 4 0r 5 songs on the recorder...amazing and it sounded pretty dang good.:) Great Job Craig!!!

Craig is the one in the back row by the little window...orange with blue strip shirt.The glare makes it kinda hard to see. :)

Best Buds!!

Corey has a great little friend...Jake. It is so fun when he comes over to play and they are really having a great time together these days. I am excited that they will grow up and be good buddies.

What Talent!!!!

Cousins working together....they are so funny and have the funniest ideas. I just loved this pose and has to post it. They were posing for Star Wars I think. When you get Robert, Kalvin, Kevin, and Heather together..along with any other cousins you never know what they will come up with!!! FUN TIMES :)

I love how Kristin is in the background having a fight with Craig...good action!!

A week with Glen!!!

Glen, Clint brother, came to visit this last week. He lives in Denver and we don't see him all that often so it is always a good time. Clint really enjoys their time together riding motorcycles (although I didnt get pics of that!!! UGH!) Grandma loves the singing jam sessions at night. He is a fun guy and we all like to have him around. Friday night we had a family party. It was fun...Glen went home on Sunday...we are excited for when he comes again...hopefully Toni will come next time!!:) I didn't get all that many pictures of Glen...he thought I was rather annoying with the camera...sorry...you must be realted to Clint!! Thanks for coming Glen.