Parties

The guys playing rock band outside in the back yard.

Logan, Ian, and Elise in the clubhouse.

Party for Ethan and Lois

Ethan and Lois at the party at our house.

What we've been up to...

Great to have Ethan back home from Utah! Thanks to Adam for helping him get packed up and drive across the country! We enjoyed a nice weekend with lots of family and good food and celebrations!

Kristen and Merry Grace at Lois's shower.

Paige at the shower.

Chip snuggled up in his bed with his stuffed animals, monkey and bear.

Squash and More Squash

The squash are coming in in our garden! So far in the last week or so we've had fried squash, squash kabobs on the grill, squash fritters/puffs, and squash casserole. Any new squash recipes would be appreciated! :)

A Camping We Will Go...

What a great trip we had! Cory's family reserves a camp near the coast and they invited us to come along this year. We loved seeing the kids play in the water and just having some time away from the everyday stresses to relax and visit and be together. It was so nice to have those unhurried moments to listen and share with one another. And the area was beautiful. It was so relaxing to take a walk to the lake and feel the cool morning breeze and take in the beautiful surroundings. Such a quiet and peaceful place. We loved every minute of this wonderful family time! Thanks, everyone, for making this possible - sweet memories!

What Logan's been up to lately....

At the orthodontist's office, just before getting his braces off!

Afterwards - look at all those pretty teeth! :)

Catching snakes....This one was on our front porch. Jr. alerted us it was there by constantly barking. Logan went out and got it and threw it in the woods. Yay Logan! I was sure glad he was home to take care of it!

Aren't they sweet!

This is a picture of Kristen and Cory's 4 children at Elise's baptism yesterday. Merry Grace, age 3; Elise, age 8; Paige, 8 months; and Ian, age 5. They sure are sweet, good kids and we love them so much!

Spring is in the Air

This is a blossom on our apple tree. It sure looks like spring around here.

More pic's of Ethan and Lois

I looked out the window...

...and what did I see, popcorn popping on the apricot tree!

Spring is here and the trees and flowers are blooming and things are starting to green up a little, and today, with being off work, it was a good day to get outside and get a few things done.  Logan is still in Raleigh with the rest of the crowd, and Adrian is job hunting today in Winston, so Chip and I tackled a day of work around the house and in the yard.  I continued the process of getting the leaves and other derbis out from around the house and clearing out the flower/vegetable beds, then went to the chicken pens and shoveled out chicken manure and took it up to the house to put in the plant beds to give the soil a boost.  I cleaned out the dirt from all my pots and added it to the plant beds, then added some new dirt to the pots and planted Kristen's leftover vegetable seeds she gave me, along with some flower seeds I got from work this week.  Next I hauled off the leaves and stuff and cleaned up a little around and there's still more to do, but it looks pretty good and I'm excited to get a start on some veggies to grow around the house.  Hopefully, we'll have a garden, too, but I like the idea of having some plants right outside the door.  I saved some flower seeds from my flowers last year and so I put out some of them, too.  I hope everything comes up!  After the yard work, Chip and I were pretty dirty and had to come in and get cleaned up, then I had to mop the floors from all the dirt we'd tracked in.  It had rained a little and so with the dirt and the rain, we sort of made a mess going in and out of the house.  So, after getting cleaned up inside, we got a bite to eat and contined with laundry and the other house chores.  It's been a busy day and I'm glad to have those things underway.  Now I'm ready for some of that fresh produce already!  :)

Ethan and Lois

We took the opportunity to make some engagement pictures for Ethan and Lois.  They look very happy together!

Ethan and Lois

Ethan and Lois

Ethan and Lois

Family Pictures

We had a good time making family pictures at Lake Benson Park!

Kristen, Ethan, Adam, Logan

The Jarrell Family

The Jarrell Family

The Barnett Family

Kristen, Ethan, Adam, Logan

Springtime 09

We've had fun at Kristen and Cory's house blowing gigantic bubbles in their back yard, celebrating Adrian's birthday, watching conference, enjoying the sunshine and playing outside together, watching basketball, eating good food, and just being together.