'Tis The Season For...

Making mud pies

Poppies!

Learning new tricks!

I'm not sure what Samuel thinks about being 

carried by someone less than half his weight...

H

He started crawling July 4 - he is already pulling up on things!!

Picnics outside!

Salad a la carte!

Being Silly!

What happens when my sister get's the camera.

Food and Fireworks!

Happy Independence Day!

We spent the evening at Steve and Trish's enjoying family, friends, yummy food, and REALLY good brisket! (which was equally as yummy for breakfast the next day...and lunch...)

Prepared for the fireworks!

It was getting late...we are a bit sleep deprived.

Samuel showed no fear of the fireworks or their noise, however, they were very distracting and he couldn't sleep. Also as a side note, he started crawling earlier that day!

Elijah snuggling with Auntie Hannah

I celebrated this exciting holiday with a double batch of strawberry freezer jam!

Yippee! Look Who's Three!

Well, last weekend Elijah turned 3! Oh my how the time flies. We celebrated with a party full of people.
Yeah for bouncy things to help burn off the sugar!

Praise the Lord it was sunny, but also a bit windy. This is where we are trying to talk Elijah into pretending to blow out the candles. Umm...yeah. He didn't' go for it.

Yeah for rainbow cake that I copied from my niece's birthday.

The girls crowd in...but he keeps his focus.

The gifts were definitely boy...tractors, dump trucks, trains... he loved it!

He has asked pretty much every day since then..."am I still three?"

Road Trip

Well, we survived our longest road trip yet with kids and a dog. Memorial weekend we drove down to visit our friends Shane and Karrie in Medford, OR. (not as far as another dear friend who is at this moment driving here from TX with 3 little ones...) But we all packed in and made the 10 hour drive down. It was wondeful! We had an amazing weekend full of fun and fellowship. Here is a random glimpse:

Pepper was packed in tight. She did great. I only stepped on her once.

We camped on our friend's parents 200 acre ranch. It was beautiful!  No one else but us...and the horses...and cows...and deer...and coyotes...and foxes...

Making smores!

Although he is asleep in the picture, Samuel didn't sleep real well, 

I think he felt cramped between Chris and I and 

awkward in disposable diapers.(he wouldn't poop while wearing one!)

That first night was rough. Samuel didn't sleep well. Chris and I froze. Not to mention that we both woke up to the yapping pack of foxes (we didn't know what they were at the time) that ran around for about 20 minutes. It sounded like there were a hundred of them. We both woke up, but neither dared to move a muscle so we didn't even know the other was awake until the morning!

Elijah: Hurry and take the picture- I'm cold!

Abigail: I'm still groggy but I'll smile.

Samuel: That was not fun. I'm trusting you that we won't do it again.

Cocoa makes everything better. Sorry you can't have any Samuel.

You can see the bathroom just beyond the fire.

Pick a tree - any tree.

It was nice getting mini bouquets of something besides dandelions and wild poppies. They had wild iris, those pinky ones, and 'kitten ears'.

The kids and Pepper enjoyed the freedom to run as far as they dared.

Benjamin, Abigail, and Joshua. "Mom you can go the other way back to camp."

Besides the thrill of teaching small children a whole new use for leaves, we also enjoyed riding a 4-wheeler around the ranch, visiting the ever moving herd of cows and calves (they were eating grass outside our tent one morning!) and going on a hike to see some waterfalls.

The whole clan.

Abigail: 5 1/2     Benjamin: 5
Joshua: 3 1/2      Elijah: < 3
Samuel: 6months   Baby in tummy: due in July

A sign of not enough sleep and WAY too much sugar!

Of course the highlight (at least for Abigail) was riding a horse. 'Grandma Nancy' taught her how to use the reins so she got to ride 'all by herself'! Elijah rode the horse as well, but my camera battery died.

Check out the mini-saddle!!

Well, we did indeed have fun. The trip home was long and arduous, but we made it (2am...).

And in the style of the Mastercard commercials:

Cost of gas: $198

Cost of food: $75

Cost of being stuck in the bathroom for an hour and a half -just steps from the breathtaking view of Crater Lake -during nap time- surrounded by snow -still 8 hours from home : Priceless.

 PS:

A note from Pepper to my doggy cousin Moose:

I got to ride in the 4 wheeler, too! I had fun until I fell out of the trailer and face planted in the gravel. You are not alone in your coordination - I feel your pain.

How does your garden grow?

Well, despite the craziness of our house in the last few months (why crazy? I'm not really sure. But crazy it has been) we still managed to get our garden plot ready and a few seeds planted. Of course we have not gotten to put the time and attention to it that we would like, but oh well. I feel very disorganized in our gardening this year. All my seed starts died.

And I practically had a nervous break down when sowing the seeds outside - Chris really had to help me through that one. A week or so later when nothing was sprouting where I thought it should, I got discouraged. 'Perhaps we won't have a garden this year. The seeds aren't any good. The ground is too rocky. It is too cold. We didn't begin early enough. Maybe the birds ate the seeds or the cats dug them up. Are they staying moist enough?' The thoughts went through my head every time I went out to look at them. Oh well. But finally, what seemed like months later some sprouts were spotted!

 

Hey- the rocks sprout faster than the plants!

God can do anything. 

I was gently reminded that I am not in control. Isn't it amazing how God can grow a plant full of fruit from one teeny tiny seed? Sure we can give it some water, but there isn't much else we can really do to help it grow.
          "Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?... But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness...Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." Matthew 6:27,33a,34
Of course now, due to small helping hands, cats digging, dogs cutting corners and the like, Chris was impelled to ask, "...So did you just give the kids the whole bag with all the seeds and let them go for it?"

No. I handed out small quantities and showed them the designated areas. (I am sorry about the sideways pictures, they did that after downloading! AHH!) But this is what we have so far:

 Corn and Raspberries (the new companion planting!)

Well, I guess we'll have raspberries in the garden again this year (I thought we moved those!).

 The new raspberry location.

I'm sure that I planted the lettuce in rows

I planted the cukes and I know I didn't do it in the path.

 And are those radish or turnips? Well, I didn't plant either.

And all the potatoes...lets just say we compost.  

 At least the peas look good.

Thank you God for a growing garden.

Bonus Picture:

Samuel's Two New Teeth!!!

Blog O' Randomness

Well, over the last month I have had many deep and wonderful ideas for blog posts... But since I have no time to be deep...this is what we get. Chris thought it would be fun to have a caption only blog of random pictures:

Farmer Elijah strikes a pose

Lil' farmers cheezin' it up!

Abigail overseeing the irrigation installation.

Hmmm...you haven't been digging in the garbage have you? 

What happens when mommy eats dairy. Poor Samuel.

Goldie's double-yolker.

 I think we may have two hams on our hands...

 Blob o' butter with marble stuck in the side.

 Mmmm...homemade butter...we were studying the letter 'B'. 

It needed more salt.

Ginormous Marshmallows

Hey- I warned you it would be random. Perhaps one of my deep thoughts will make it out next time.