Father's Day Weekend

Arbor Kids

Many of our neighbors are planting new, baby trees in their front yards. My oldest said the other day, "We need to get a new, growing tree."

I guess I wasn't quick enough getting to the nursery to fulfill his request.

He and his brother took the matter into their own hands.

I'm impressed. :)


PS: I had no part in this...they thought every part up and constructed it on their own.

Summer Joy

The title of this post may be confusing. You'll notice the children are wearing long-sleeved shirts, pants, and my oldest is even wearing snow boots.

So, whether it is actually summer yet, I suppose is a subject for debate.

But...it is warm enough to be outside.

And our grass is green.

And the fence is completely surrounding our back yard. (Thank you, Husband!)

And there is now sand in the sandbox. (Thank you, Husband and Lion/Spiderman.)

And we're happy. :)

An Apple a Day....

First Birthday

We celebrated our Baby Princess' birthday last weekend. The day started with a hike to the falls and a picnic back at the bottom.







Then, we went to Grandma's house to celebrate with dinner, cake, and presents.

It was fun to have Great-Grandma visiting that weekend too!











She had a nice, exhausting birthday! :)





Happy Birthday, Butterfly! You are such a beautiful blessing!

Bird Mobile and Diaper Cake

My sister is having a baby soon!

We had a shower for her a couple weeks ago.

I made this for her and the baby:


I got the idea when I was asked to sew a bird together as a contribution to another friend's "bird mobile". The pattern for the birds is here. I hand-sewed the birds (with some last-minute help from my aunt, my sister, and her friends), and my husband helped me assemble the mobile. He's so handy.



I made this centerpiece too. It's a diaper cake. It's not edible. :) It matches the colors my sister has chosen for the nursery.

Just wanted to share with you...Please, steal these ideas and use them. I stole them first...so it's ok!

The Best in the West

Last week, we had the pleasure of visiting some friends back home. "Back home" being...one of our previous homes. The one where my husband lived for many years before he met and married me. The one where I went to college and then taught for 3 years. The one where our oldest "baby" was born. It's a sentimental place for me...partly because of the history we have there, and partly because of our dear friends there.

They are ranchers, so the kids were able to get up close and personal with the kitties, chickens, rooster, dogs, horses, and cows. They loved it.

Conveniently, our friends have a set of cowboy hats containing about every size imaginable. So...we got these great shots of the kids.

Our Growing Girl