A Surprise Sunday

A gopher turtle was making his slow way across our yard when we got home from preaching Sunday evening. He was enjoyed for a while and then released down by the pond.

Pictures from this weekend

Aren't I a cute little prairie girl? Those buffalo won't know what to think of me, will they? Now, that's more like it. A real little prairie lady with her baby. The Girl received the outfits for Christmas this past year.

These are not prairie ladies. ChubChub decided to sit with them while we were preaching. This group had just arrived earlier in the morning . The man wearing shorts sitting in front actually knew us from when we had been preaching last year in another camp. Small world, eh?

Birthday Bash

Yesterday afternoon we went to a birthday party for a little Mexican girl. The food was great, and the children were able to break a pinata and get wet on a slip-and-slide.

Our Girl is in Love

What's not to love about this suitor? Kind, happy, hard-working, brings flowers, but...oh no, he's already married! To Mommy! Poppins bought The Girl her first bouquet of flowers just because she's so very, very special. (He is, too...)

Another Light in our World

Today Josiah finished his Shop with Pop project. He made a lamp for his bedside table and added his favorite theme: fishing. I had not seen this lamp before today, so it was quite a delight to see how nicely he made his project. The light pull is a fishing lure (see above picture), and the fish are very colorful and well-painted. Good job, Josiah!

Feeding these Critters

Today we picked up a bulk order recently brought in from Montana. The boys sure are handy at loading and unloading these big bags. We purchased bags of pinto beans, red lentils, green lentils, 9-grain cracked cereal, 6-grain flake cereal, and black beans. This order should last us till next week. Well, okay, maybe a little longer....but can you imagine how much food we eat at our house? We try hard to meet our criteria of 3: (1) nutritious, (2) inexpensive, (3) world conscious. I'm very, very thankful for bulk purchasing. It sure makes planning and cooking easier for all of us.

How do our gardens grow...?

Here are Poppins' famous tomatoes of different varieties. These will soon be staked with bamboo, as they usually grow higher than we can reach overhead.

This is a part of Anders' garden. I thought the corn stalk looked mighty proud and peacock-like. Each child has his own garden; Stennes has the largest. His is out in a fenced area behind the back yard.

Poppins has planted 4 citrus trees of different varieties this year. They're coming along beautifully, and we hope to pick some yummy fresh fruit this coming year.

Here is my little herb section. I really enjoy mint, rosemary, and basil. Unfortunately, the puppy also enjoys my basil, so I need to replace the plant. This little section brings me much satisfaction and adds tasty flavors to our simple meals.