These Weeks

The past few weeks in pictures:

Spring is upon us. 

Noble planted a little peach seedling in the corner of our garden a few years ago and has nurtured it even though I told him I wasn't sure it would produce anything. This spring for the first time it blossomed. It is beautiful.

I see this little tree as a metaphor for Noble's life. We have been trying to teach him a lot of things in his life about what is true, how to live and find joy. I hope like his peach seedling he will give place for those teachings and nourish them...and see them miraculously blossom and produce good fruit.

 Thank goodness for the two little boys who live at our house! They bring so much joy, and excitement, and wonder (and sometimes exhaustion). We all love them so much! I am forever grateful that Heavenly Father had two more in store for us.

Asleep in the same bunk.

Lunch time with Abner and  his buddy (the Kemp's youngest) and big sister.

Climbing the hammock in the warm April sun. 

Showing off his work from preschool.

One of the things I will sorely miss when my kids are all grown - little kids' soccer games. Here is Abner with his team. (Notice the kid with the pirate hat.)  While our other kids have ramped up slowly when it comes to sports, Abner is already a force to be reckoned with on the field. He scored a hat trick (3 goals) in his first game.........after he'd finished crying for half the game on the sidelines about not wanting to play (first-game-ever nerves).

 It is the sweetest thing in the world to still have a couple of kids who want to snuggle up and sleep.

 Our animals are fat and happy.

Literally, Pluto is fat from her winter of leisure (mostly spent in the house and garage, eating). With the weather warming up she is on the prowl on the easement once again...keeping the rodent population at bay.

River has made a miraculous transformation (coinciding with the acquisition of his new shock / vibration training collar). He is now able to roam with relative freedom around the house and yard, and behaves himself around little children and new people. He has learned that life is MUCH better when he's not constantly on a leash or in a kennel.

Nature appreciation

We had a couple of moon rises this past month that were sublime. Here is one I tried to capture with my phone.

A Near-Miss

Last night Noble had a run-in with the neighbor's dog line (like a zip line for dogs to exercise). It was dark and  he was running full-tilt across their yard. Next thing he knew he was thrown to the ground by the throat. Today his throat is swollen and his tongue too where he nearly bit it off. Ouch.

 More Reno With Roy

A few boulders had to be moved to finish the back patio. We had to transport them to a new home in the yard. This was Roy and Mike's genius solution to moving them. It was pretty effective.

The Vampire Room is officially gone! Demo day in the basement.

More demo. Roy rented an industrial sized tile remover and the boys went to work chipping up all the tile in the basement kitchen. Roy says that he found the one thing the previous owners did that was built right: the tile floor. Unfortunately for us. It was a bugger to remove. And it made a TON of dust. I hate that part.

Mike spent about 6 hours yesterday grinding / buffing the residual mortar left from the tile. What a mess. But we are now down to the bare concrete floor. Our plan is to make a finished concrete floor in the kitchen / soon-to-be game room.

Meanwhile Upstairs...

While the grunts worked away in the mud and the dust downstairs, Jessie was upstairs getting ready for prom. Thanks to Holly, who helped us line her dress. It was lovely. 

Jessie didn't get out of work scott-free though. She started her day pulling weeds. Her date told us later that in between morning and evening sessions of prom (ha ha - one of the things I love to hate about high school dances is the all day activities they plan with it) he was home pulling weeds as well. Our respect went up for this kid...or at least for his parents. 

Prom 2016