Fresh Raspberries

Today we had a very adventurous day. We had some young women stay with us for the weekend for Youth Conference this weekend and it was a lot of fun! This morning we all slept in (oh glorious day!) until 8:30 and then we had breakfast and went for a hike on the Warriors Path trail head. I had seen lots of blackberry blossoms out there and we were curious to see if they were ripe. They weren't. Some of the little wild raspberries were though. We kept trekking along until what to our wonderous eyes should appear?? A HUGE bush with humungous raspberries that were ripe and so delicious!! Well, golly, we couldn't just walk by. So we drank what we could out of the water bottle and then emptied it out and filled it with delicious berries, eating a few along the way. Adam REALLY enjoyed that part. Then we headed back to the car and back home to change clothes.

Next we went to Splash Pad--a local water park of fountains and such. It took a while for Adam to warm up to it, but once we got his hat on, so he didn't get so much water in his face, he really enjoyed it and so did Mom and Dad. Exhausted, we loaded back into the car. Adam fell asleep on the way home. Sadly, he did not stay asleep, but he had quiet time in his crib, at least. Next we planned our menu for the next few weeks, talked with Scott and Melissa and planned our fabulous trip with them this week (I'm so excited!!!). Then we went to the store and when we got home, Brian made crepes. We ate our fresh raspberries rolled in delicious crepes with homemade yogurt. Yum!

Adam had yet another first this week. Earlier this week, after getting out of the tub and walking to his room to put on a diaper he peed on the carpet. It startled both of us and I just had to laugh--it was rather silly. Oh well. One more reason to clean my carpets this summer.

We have also noticed a few bug bites on my little Adam. We assume they are mosquito bites, but they loo nasty. This one was nearly the size of a dime. He also had one on his leg, a little smaller, but huge for a skeeter bite.
And of course I have to put pictures up of our first fruits from the garden. I must say--they were delicious!! Now that I have had fresh zucchini, steamed and sprinkled with parmesan cheese, it is officialy summer. Oh, I love garden vegetables! Oh and we caught some nasty huge slugs with the pie-tin trap, along with some small ones and some ear whigs (eww). Thanks Daddy! The peas are so tender and tasty! Adam has loved all the veggies we've taken from the garden so far...well, maybe not the rasishes so much, but everything else. Something in the garden sure loves our radishes...there's hardly any leaves left. We love our garden!!

The First Big Haircut...and other updates

So I have given Adam a few "trims" to keep his hair presentable, but Tuesday night we decided to just do it and get it over with. Besides, it's summer and he can handle a buzz. Here's my little boy before the cut--he's such a cute little boy! Oh I love him...if you need further evidence of how out-of-control his hair was, see the next picture.
The craziness...oh and that's our new rug in the front room. I just finished the pillows that help "accentuate" the room.
This is Adam checking with Mom after the buzzing was over--"are you sure it's not going to hurt? That felt WEIRD!!" He did REALLY well with the clippers! As long as I put my hand on his head and then the clippers and held it still for a second before I moved it, he did great. I was so grateful!
And here's the top of his head. It really reminds me of Zac, Caleb and also Enoch when they get their hair buzzed.
In the bathtub, trying to get out all the little hairs. This is what Adam thinks of it all. He's so silly!
And here's my little goober. I was trying to take a picture of his hair for Grandma(s), and this is what I got. He's so silly. "Rraaaarrr!!!"
He did sit still for one picture. There are a few spare hairs I need to go back and trim, but I'd say it went pretty well.
Oh yes, and I just had to show you all this beautiful pie. I picked the cherries, pitted the cherries (by HAND--no pitter, just a knife and fingers--took me over 2 hours...), made the pie filling, made the crust and did it all by myself. I was rather satisfied. And the best part--it was delicious and we got to share with the missionaries!!

And last, but definitely not least, I finally finished the quilt for my friend Sarah back in Bishop who had her baby at the end of May. It took me a while to finish it, but I was thrilled with the way it turned out. I hope she likes it as much as I do!

Just a little close-up detail of the fabric...the fabric was so cute!

The Garden

Well, since we have talked about our garden I figured I should add some pictures of our little garden. So far, Phillipe hasn't bothered the garden, but something else is eating all my plants! The little buggers...stripping the leaves to nothing. We've tried a soap/oil spray, but they are still getting eaten. We've also tried some Sevin, but it keeps raining. We've got to find something to get rid of the little pests. In my little herb garden, my basil had just sprouted and had these tiny little leaves--but no more--they've all been stripped to the stem! I've never really liked bugs...now I know why.

Anyways, pictures of our little garden. These were taken a while ago...probably 10 days ago. It's grown a lot since then and we have about 3-4 little tomatoes and 3 yellow squash growing!Adam loves to help in the garden. Good thing he was digging with one of Daddy's taffy pieces and not a trowel or we wouldn't have any pepper left!

These are our little sugar snap peas. Only about half came up, but that's ok. They are now also starting to get eaten by some bug, and they haven't bloomed or anything yet. We'll see. It was so exciting to watch them grow! At least, the ones I didn't pull up, mistaking them for weeds.

And this would be two zucchini plants, nasturtium (flowers that help with squash bugs--eww), and a mixture of bush beans and corn. We'll see how it goes. These are in our "top box."

This is our "bottom box" and it is growing the most so far. There are labels of the plants on the picture. I'm so excited to have fruit from the garden! I've already been able to cut some "chives" off the tops of the onions for our burrito skillet and other meals. It's great!

And of course we always have to have a picture of Adam. He was helping Daddy with the dishes last week and he was just so cute, I had to get a picture. He's getting so big!!

Our Newest Addition

We are happy to welcome the newest addition to our family and household. We've been looking for a while and finally found just the right one. We were able to find a well-loved, used piano for the right price. We are so excited! Adam loves to play and makes sure that he tickles the ivories every morning before he asks for his pancakes for breakfast. Here's Adam with Daddy playing our lovely piano.We seem to get a lot of rain in Tennessee and I'm alright with that. Here's Adam and Daddy stepping outside our kitchen door onto the patio to feel the rain. Adam thought it was pretty spiffy!

Oh my dear sweet Adam. The last few days when I go in to get him after naps (after I hear him talking to himself, usually) I find him in his crib like this. Almost always he has one, or both, of his feet stuck in the bars.

This is what his leg(s) look(s) like after I pull him out. It usually goes away after a few hours, but seriously, that's got to hurt!

And this is one of my favorite pictures. Adam was quietly playing in his room and then I hear him grunting and start making some cries of distress. This is what I found: Adam, stuck in his block box. He fell over, falling right in on his little bum and he couldn't get out. He's so silly. We just love our little mischievous son! Today we washed the car and it started raining, so we decided just to finish up. Adam found the bowl of soapy water and thoroughly soaked himself with it. He had so much fun! The joys of having little munchkins--love it!!

The Camping Trip

Camping was such a blast! After getting, um, let's just say "lost" for the sake of time, we finally made it to our campsite about 7:30pm. Adam was rather done with being in the car and Mommy had to play peek-a-boo and all manner of games from the front seat to try and keep him from screaming. Here's one of those happy moments in the car, he's just so cute when he's happy!

While Brian and I tried to start a fire (Brian was successful...thankfully!) Adam decided that he could help by picking up all the pebbles and relocating them. First it was on the picnic bench, then the fire ring, then the tent as we set it up and then IN the tent once it was up...he's so silly.
Here is Dad so patiently starting the fire. A nice gentleman thought he'd help us out with our fire issues by bringing the pump for his air mattress that he used on his fire--that sure worked!
Here's Adam with his walking stick (Dad's fire stick, but they were good about sharing). Adam just loved to be outside and with Mom and Dad. He was really good for the most of the trip. He only woke up once during the night and was fine sleeping in between blankets.

So, after we had dinner at 9pm Friday, Brian had to go to another campsite to pay the fee and it was too dark for s'mores (as our fire was just dying coals). So, once we got the fire started in the morning and cooked our breakfast, we had marshmallows. Adam enjoyed it! Who ever said you can't have s'mores in the morning???

Adam after the marshmallow sampling. He thought it was great!

In the morning before we headed out we went down to the little waterfall and creek that ran by the campsite. It was so nice to hear the water all night long--so peaceful and relaxing! All-in-all, it was a great trip and I'm happy to say we're going to repeat the experience. Adam really enjoyed camping and so I'd say he's definitely a good mix of Daniels and Haynie.