The Fruits of my Labors...

ONE...edible and completely delicious,

and ONE.... not so edible, yet still completely delicious.

Do you remember Zachary's peach tree?

We planted it back in April and it looked like this...

Well now it looks like this...

We were told not to expect fruit this year and maybe not even for a few years, but we had so many peaches starting to grow that I had to thin over 20 or 30 peaches, leaving just a few, so that the young branches would not break.

Look at this beautiful site...

Being the sentimental girl that I am I couldn't resist taking pictures of Aftyn with the first peaches from Zachary's peach tree.

For dinner last night we ate the 4 peaches that Zachary's tree produced and they were delicious! We are looking forward to many, many, many more years of enjoying Zachary's peaches. 

The title of this post really should be... "the fruits of (OUR) labors" it just didn't sound as catchy, but Ken really has nurtured and babied Zachary's tree like a tender gardener would lovingly care for his garden.

This picture was taken during a late April hail storm. The wind was strong and the hail was pelting, but my boys gave that no thought as they stood in the storm to protect a little tree that has come to mean so much to us.

This little tree is not "just" a tree to us, instead it is a beautiful, living, growing reminder of our sweet little treasure awaiting us on the other side of the veil.

The "fruits" of my labors truly are sweet, all 9 of them.



Boys and Their Toys

Saturday morning while doing our family ritual of garage selling we ran across a little dirt bike. Knowing that my kids would think I was the coolest mom ever for at least a day or so on a whim we decided to buy it.

Since Saturday it's all my boys can think about.

I overheard Tyler tell his aunt that he never thought in a million years that his mom would ever let him have a dirt bike. Probably because I told Tyler I would never in a million years ever let him have a dirt bike. I knew after seeing them ride a little motorcycle at our last family reunion that I was losing my resolve, but that was my little secret.

On Saturday I finally gave in ONLY because I was comfortable with the size of this LITTLE bike.

Little did I know that I opened a big ol' can of..."now we need one for Ken, and a larger on for the older kids, and, and, and etc."

But this is all prelude to the real purpose of this post.

What I really wanted to tell you about is Tyler's prayer during family prayer last night.

It went something like this (Seriously)....

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you that we could buy a dirt bike. Thank you for all the many, many, fun fun fun times we have had on our dirt bike. Please help my Dad to get through school as fast as he can so we have more time to play together and work on the dirt bike. Please help us get the dirt bike all fixed up.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

I had to refrain my laughter. Ty has a one track mind and right now it's completely on his new toy...

THE DIRT BIKE.

1/2 BIRTHDAY!

Today Aftyn is 6 months old.

WOW!

6 months already.

My little love!



Big Hair No Longer an Option, It's a Necessity

Can you see why?

She's taller! My 12 year old is taller than me. I gave myself extra poofy hair but it didn't work.

This is what I think of that...

Stop! I forbid you to grow anymore. This is no good.

Okay, just kidding. I was a little dumbfounded when I realized I was looking eye to eye with her the other day and then even more dumbfounded when I measured her and realized she is an inch taller than me. I better get used to the idea because I know she's not done growing yet. It makes me feel old.

Speaking of feeling old....Sydney is going to be a teenager next month. Yikes!

Stewart Falls With the Kids

For Pioneer Day we decided to go on our own family trek. We took the kids on the same hike up Stewart Falls that Ken and I did a few days earlier.

It is a pretty nice family hike as far as hiking goes. There were a lot of people on the trail so many times we had to stop and let other groups pass us. In some spots the trail isn't big enough for coming and going traffic, but everyone was courteous and we all enjoyed being outside and enjoying the beautiful day.

We brought a picnic lunch to eat on the trail/water tower.

I was a little nervous about how the little ones would do but they were little troopers. We did have to pick them up and carry them a few times but mostly it was to speed things up in some parts. Ken, Sydney, Tyler, and I each took our turn with a child riding on our backs, Ken at one point was carrying both Daric and McKenna. But for the most part they walked and did a super great job of trekking along all by themselves.

Emma fell a couple of times on the trail, the last time she cried and refused to get up, that is until she saw a bug next to her and flew off the ground in a hurry. I couldn't help but be grateful for that little green bug. :)



Thank You

I wanted to thank those of you that left comments on my "Last Year" post.

I so appreciate the love and support I feel from you.

I try to be strong and positive as much as possible, but when I am struggling it helps me so much to write down my feelings. Almost instantly it gives me a better perspective and I can begin to put myself back together. Knowing that I have friends that love me and care about me also helps me more than I can express.

*TO  PAM: (she is my friends mother) I have thought of you many times over this past year and have wanted to take the time to thank you for your many encouraging words. I'm sure you do not realize what it means to me to have a "mother" care and say kind and sympathetic words. I don't have that from my own mom and I can't explain how much it has meant to me to read your comments. On Mother's Day I thought of you. I thought about how lucky Beth is to have a loving, caring mother like you. I wanted to send you a Mother's Day card because you are a mother I admire. Just wanted you to know, and to express my thanks.

Thank you my lovely friends, you strengthen me more than you know.

Each of you are a blessing to me.

(((HUGS)))

 

A Hiking We Will Go

Last night Ken and I decided for our date night we would hike Stewart Falls.

It was gorgeous up there. And cool. And fun. It felt so good to be together, having fun, working out, and being silly.

We picnicked on the water tower then hiked to the falls and back.

Here are a few pictures of our date night adventures.

I bit his ear. Hehe. :)

Can't wait to do it again soon, next time with the kids.

It's a great family hike.

LOVE IT!