Archive | June, 2011

Life Right Now

29 Jun

Strawberries from the Garden

26 Jun

Had to take a break from the packing madness to partake in our garden strawberries.

I took Aleah and her best friend Ian out to pick some with me.  It was a bit of a rainy day but they were up for the challenge.

it doesn't get more delicious than that

they are completely hidden

no strawberries

lots of strawberries

Ian feeding Aleah strawberries

oops

look at her little ponytail!

Come on over to say good bye to us and pick/eat some of the wonderful strawberries that we can’t pick fast enough!

Sunflower Sprouts

19 Jun

Since I am in Colorado right now with no sewing machine and no garden to call my own I have had to be creative about the recent posts.  Be creative or completely ignore the original sowing and sewing that this blog was intended for.  Forgiveness please.

But, I have a bit of a real gardening post for you!  Pretty exciting if you ask me =)

Anyways, Jared’s parents live in northern Colorado right by the mountains.  I can’t stop looking at them and will miss them when we leave.  Jared’s mom has a little garden out back that has kale, tomatoes, hot peppers, onions and lettuce.  It is not very big but it has been spitting out food for us all week.  Delicious.

On the other side of their backyard they have a bird feeder that attracts mostly red-winged blackbirds but also house finches and other birds that I have no idea what they are because I am not from Colorado.

This afternoon she was picking some weeds around her yard and came across some sunflower seedlings that were sprouting underneath the bird feeder from the stray seeds.

I thought back to a few years ago when one of our family friends had sprouted the black seeds that come in a huge bag.

The couple has grown flats and flats of them in their greenhouse so they could eat them on salads and on sandwiches throughout the year.  So I picked a few from her yard and after washing them, we ate them.  They were so delicious!

Here is a link that explains the proper way to grow your own sunflower sprouts:

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organic-Gardening/1979-11-01/Sunflower-Sprouts.aspx

So have fun and enjoy one of the most delicious snacks on the face of the planet.  And the best news is, it only takes ten days.  (Almost) instant gratification!

Water your Plants

16 Jun

A friendly message from Aleah, “The plants are thirsty!”

She kept running back and forth carrying a cup full of water from her kiddy pool to her Nana’s garden (Jared’s mom).  We are in Colorado right now and Jared and his pops are off on their Canadian fishing trip.  Miss my Jared.

A New Camera and a Wedding

13 Jun

I have a new real camera of MY VERY OWN!!!!!

Holy, holy, Holy crap it is amazing. I am in love with my new camera. And now I will show you why:

Jared performed his first wedding exactly one week after graduating from seminary. No sense waiting around right? Lets jump right into things.

This was the wedding of a great friend he grew up with in Colorado. They grew up wrestling and getting into trouble together.

Cowboy hats and cowgirl boots were a major part of the fashion at this wedding.

The giant trees surrounding the ceremony were gorgeous. The hugest tree was the backdrop for the vows and songs and first kiss for the married couple. I couldn’t help but think how the tree has been around for hundreds of years. The things that the tree has been alive for, wow- I wish it could tell us a few stories.

This tree dwarfs everything that is nearby.

What a beautiful place for the first day with my camera.

 So happy.

Record Heat

11 Jun

A few days ago it was 102 degrees! So, instead of melting and complaining we filled up the kiddy pool, slathered one another in sunblock and headed outside with popsicles and squirt guns.

Nice shot Aleah!

reloading

car wash

Head First

Aleah had to copy her daddy and go head first too!

Happy Heatwave!

We Did It!

8 Jun

Jared has graduated from Bethel Seminary!

I am so proud of him.

 I am so proud of the girls.

 I am so relieved that it is finished.

We did it!  I am married to a Master of Divinity.  Pretty impressive huh?  =)

So this past weekend was super busy with graduating and family and food and things you cannot foresee.

For the big event me and one of my good friends made the girls pillowcase dresses.  She made Sophia’s and I made Aleah’s.  We only used ONE pillowcase for TWO dresses!  It was really easy and we made them both in a couple hours one night in between eating delicious muffins made by her husband and laughing.

I am going to be lazy and send you elsewhere for how to make the pillowcase dress.

http://www.littledressesforafrica.org/blog/?page_id=477

Videos to Start Your Week

6 Jun

All Sophia’s tricks in one video-

http://vimeo.com/24728525

A cute little potato dance from our camping trip-

http://vimeo.com/24548219

This one is of the girls being spun around in our office chair, watch Soph’s eyes at the end-

http://vimeo.com/24728394

Memorial Day Campout

2 Jun

We survived.

No, it was more fun than that.

The girls were troopers

we got to hang out with great friends

eat amazing food

and play lots of bocce.

This is my favorite picture of the weekend, Aleah eating her first marshmallow, with help from Grandpa:

It was a great weekend except for the insane amount of mosquitos, the occasional tick and the torential rain storm that arrived right when we were trying to pack up.

While we were running around trying to pack everything up in between rain spurts, we found Aleah having her second breakfast of potatoes from Lindeys Steak House

We also had a whole lot of help:

Aleah was a big helper with the dishes

This is a picture of three people being involved in feeding Sophia-

Overall it was a good weekend full of laughs and togetherness.  It is refreshing to be completely unplugged.  No one was calling, no one was watching TV and no one was using the computer.  We all stayed up late each night playing password and mafia, telling stories and being so loud that the park ranger had to tell us to quiet down two of the three nights we were there.

It was one of those weekends where memories are made.  In a few months we will forget the hassle of packing and unpacking.  We will forget about the bugs and the rain.  All that will remain are the great stories, fond memories and friendships we shared this Memorial Day weekend.  I am glad the girls first camping trip is in the books and am glad it took place with such great people.