3rd Annual Pumpkin Weight Contest

Look closely....I think that is pumpkin juice on his lips!!!!!

In anticipation of growing the biggest pumpkin this year, I lovingly started my pumpkin seeds in early april. I had Jack be Littles, Cinderalla, carvers, and of course the BIG MAX for the 3rd annual contest this year. I had so many pumpkin plants I filled every dirt spot I had around the house. I planted over 26 pumpkin plants in hopes of a record year of growing pumpkins. I had so many plants I gave them to neighbors, friends, church members....anyone who would take one and promise to plant them. They were growing well and I lost a few plants to rabbits, deer, and who knows what else. But never fear, I had several plants to replace those eaten. When we headed to Italy and Greece in late July I had a fairly good number of pumpkins growing. I hired the neighbor kids down the street who so lovingly took care of my garden last year. Well lets just say that when I got home from vacation.....EGADS!!!!!!!!! All the plants were eaten except for 3 pumpkins. No problem.....I will concentrate on those 3 and we will have the biggest pumpkin ever. Well would you believe the very next morning I woke up to this...........

My mom comes by her green thumb from her father who loved planting a huge garden every year. Mick and I when we were first married canned beans, tomatoes, and corn from his garden when Mick was going to school. Here is some of the beautiful flowers she had this year. When I was having such a terrible time with the deer eating my pumpkins I convinced her to plant some pumpkin seeds at the lakehouse. She started them the end of June and got a very large and fun crop.

Here it is the biggest of the many pumpkins my mom grew this year. This is the pumpkin for the contest this year. You can post your guess on this blog or e-mail me at mjjgjward@roadrunner.com by friday Nov 5th. Good luck. I have several candy bars, all Mars of course. Even have the new coconut Twix, coconut M&M's, pretzel M&M's etc.

Good Luck and Happy Halloween!!!

Ron and Ruth Wise come for a Jersey Visit

Ron and Ruth Wise from California came for a short visit. They arrived tuesday evening and stayed with us until early friday morning.
First thing we did wednesday was head to Hoboken to visit the Cake Boss. It was a beautiful sunny day and the view of the NYC skyline was superb.

We didn't see the cake boss or mamma this trip to Carlos Bakery, but look at all these cakes and goodies. Got a picture with the family though. We had famous canole, cream puffs, and a few other delictables. The line was just about an hour long from the outside line until we ordered and had our goodies in hand. Evidently that is a short wait.

We headed to Thomas Edisons factory for a tour after our Cake Boss adventure. This site has just reopened for visitors. We learned so much about Edison and how organized he was and what a brillant inventor he was. His home was closed for tours, but we got to see his lab and factory and tour the library. Here is Ron and Ruth in his lab, just the way Edison had it the day he died.

I had to work that evening, so Ruth dyed Janelle's hair red and they watched a movie. Janelle even popped popcorn for them.

We headed to Morristown to visit the Ford Mansion and Jockey Hollow on thursday. This is where Washington and his troops spent the winter of 1779-1780. It was the coldest winter in recorded history. We went to the Ford mansion first only to find we had just missed the tour and the next one was in 2 hours. So we decided to head over to Jockey Hollow first and come back to the Ford Mansion. This is a picture of Ruth and I by the gardens of the Wick home in Jockey Hollow. The fall leaves were gorgeous. If only the sun was shining. After coming back from Jockey Holley and the Wick house tour we found this note on the National Park Service Door. " We are closed for the rest of the year. Some emergency or something like that. Just came on suddenly. You know how these things happen"

I was so upset as Ron had already purchased our tickets for the Ford Mansion tour at this park site. So I decided to try the door. Sure enough it was open and here was Ranger Steve laughing. Guess I have been going too often to these sights, as now they are playing jokes on me, as well as being on a first name basis. But, I will say, we got a great tour. The Ford tour is usually 20 minutes long......ours was over 1 hour. I love hearing all the stories these park rangers have researched.

So come for a visit. We will surely go to Jockey Hollow and the Ford Mansion. Who knows what Ranger Steve or Ranger Keith will do.

Thanks again for coming Ron and Ruth. You know I love company!!!!!

California Girls Week

September 28th through the 5th of October, I was blessed to have 3 good friends from California come out for a New Jersey visit. Laurel, Denise and I have been friends since our babies were just 3 years old. Jenny Summers and I became great friends when we served in the Stake YW together. We laughed, ate, and had great fun. Below are just a few of the many pictures we took

One of the rainy days we headed over on the ferry to one of my favorite places...Ellis Island. The stories always bring me to tears. A trip over to the Statue of Liberty completed the day.

Trip to the M&M's store is always fun.

We rode the train into the city and then took the subway around town. We even had a NYC taxi ride complete with cutting drivers off, horn honking, and Joni white knuckling it to get to our matinee broadway show on time.

Wouldn't be a trip into the city without being in Times Square. Look for Jenny in her NYC torquoise sweatshirt in the bottom left corner. This is a huge screen they have posted with a camera in the heart of Times Square. So fun to find yourself.

We ate at some fun restaurants. This is at Shake Shack, which is the In and Out Burger of NYC. Jenny who loves NY and their cheesecake, knew all the hot spots for that dessert. So Juniors and Stage Light Cafe were visited for that delight.

We were able to see 2 Broadway Shows. West Side Story, which was excellent and In the Heights with Jordan Sparks.

A visit to Hoboken, NJ to visit the bakery of The Cake Boss. Got to meet mamma.