Landry

My beautiful niece Landry made her LONG awaited entrance into the world last week. She's been prayed for and hoped for for about 7 years now and we're so glad she's finally here.

Enjoy the pictures!

First Day of School

Today was the first day of school for both boys here.

Porter is starting 2nd grade

and Walker is starting Kindergarten.



Porter pretty much takes things in stride and doesn't let things worry him too much. Walker wasn't worried either but really excited to start school. He's been asking about it off and on for months and was up really early this morning dressed and ready to go. He picked pancakes and scrambled eggs for breakfast then was out the door! He wasn't nervous or anything, just really ready to go. I've been quizzing him on is phone number and what to do if he is confused or lost or has any problems. I wanted to make sure he knew what to do in any situation. This morning I said, "What if you can't find Porter to help you find the bus to ride home?" He responded, "Well, that's ok, I'll just walk home." What?!?! NO!!!!! We live about 3 miles from the school on the other side of town! I really hope he doesn't try that sometime... but I wouldn't put it past him. He's pretty independent.

And we had to get a picture with Emilia and the boys!

So now it's just me and Luke here at home. I had all kinds of plans to get so much done but those plans are going to have to be put on hold for a little while. I went to the doctor yesterday because of back pain and a pretty good idea that the kidney stones are back. They are. Bummer. So pretty much I will be lazy and not try to aggravate things too much until they pass and I'm feeling better. Wish me luck!

Fall Fair

One of my favorite memories, as a child, is entering projects into the local Fall Fair. You could enter anything from art work to baking to vegetable creations and so forth. I talked the boys into entering some things of their own this year. Walker was excited from the get go but Porter wasn't really all that interested until Walker was ready to walk out the door to go register. Porter decided last minute that he would draw a picture and he entered that.

Walker walked away with a first, second and third place ribbon for his entries and sadly, Porter didn't get a ribbon but was still very proud that they hung his picture up and everyone got to see it. Plus he told me now he has seen what the judges like and can do something similar next year. :)

I didn't get a picture of Walker's first prize lego creation before he tore it to pieces to create something new but I did get picture of the picture he drew and his name that he wrote out.

Walker's picture is the pink and yellow rocket(????) and Porter drew the colorful house at the top of the picture. He said those were the best stars he's ever drawn and was quite proud of himself. They can't wait to enter stuff next year and have already started thinking about what they want to enter.

Good work boys!!!

Emilia is Here!

Saturday night we picked Emilia up at the airport! She is from Finland and will be spending the school year with our family here in B.C. We are very excited to get to know her and her culture better.


Here's to a great year!!!

Smoke

This has been a very smokey summer for us in B.C. We have had forest fires burning everywhere. It got so smokey here that I started to feel very clausterphobic at one point! It was hard to breathe and all of our throats and noses hurt.

This is what it usually looks like off of our back deck -

This is what it looked like when it was smokey -

There were even a few days that were worse than this but I didn't even want to go outside to take a picture!

Luckily we've had some rain and cooler weather and the fires have died down considerably.

Mmmmm... Tomato...

Today I picked the first two red tomatos from the green house, brought them inside and set them on the table. I went about doing a few chores and when I returned I found this...

I can't really be upset. I'm just glad he appears the like tomatos... with a little salt, of course!

Luchadore!!!

I was working upstairs the other day while the boys played downstairs. I could hear all kinds of laughing and it was obvious they were having a lot of fun. After a while I heard them come upstairs and when I turned around, this is what I saw...


Pure awesomeness if you ask me!

I love these little boys and hope they never lose this crazy side of them!

Forgiveness

I saw this on another blog and had to share.

I am so grateful for the Savior's influence in my life and in my family's lives and I am in awe of the power and the influence He has in other's lives.

Water Lily Lake

A few evenings ago we decided to go for a hike up the Water Lily Lake trails. It was a beautiful evening and we had a great time. We had to turn around when it started pouring out but we still loved spending the time together.

I take a lot of photos for other people but I hardly ever have the time to take photos of my own kids. It's sad really. But then I finally decide to take some and this is what happens...

Wow. They are a little crazy. Maybe this is why I stick to taking pictures of other people'e kids!

The boys even caught a toad!

Reaping the Rewards

I planted a garden this year.

For the first time.

Ever.

What a chore!

I'm not a gardener. Never have been. I really don't enjoy weeding and watering and all that jazz, but I must say, when those little leaves and shoots started poking out of the soil a little something hidden deep inside of me broke free and I was pleased with it!

I've only harvested lettuce so far but I've got loads of tomatos, squash, peppers, peas, carrots, onions, cucumbers, raspberries and strawberries up and coming.

Here are some of the varieties of lettuce coming up...

Yummy!

I planted way too much lettuce so if you live in the area and would like some let me know... seriously!

One quick question for all you gardening pros out there...

I am growing purple onions. The green shoot part (is there a name for that?) is really tall but I just noticed today that it's starting to flower on top. The problem is that the onions themselves are still tiny. What to I do?!? Do I let the tops flower and die and hope the bottoms will grow bigger or did I get a variety that doesn't get big? HELP!