Tenth Anniversary

Joshua and I celebrated our tenth anniversary on June 2. We had dinner at the Vintage Press that evening and started things off by trying escargot for the first time. Then we split an amazing salmon entrée, got a complimentary sparkling beverage, and accidently ordered three desserts. We asked for a dessert sampler, and I guess that's what we got but they were full sized desserts. Needless to say, we weren't able to finish all three.

The following day we took a day trip to the coast. It was lovely and foggy when we got there, and we enjoyed a walk along the bluffs.

It was relaxing to walk along the ocean admiring the view and chatting about everything and anything.

We had seafood for lunch of course, and it was good.

We took another short walk along the ocean.

 We also walked down to the beach. It was such a nice way to celebrate a big milestone.

Triple Birthday Dinner

After numerous COVID delays, we finally got to have a triple birthday dinner for these three birthday buddies. We had pizza, salad, and fruit for dinner, and they each got to pick a birthday dessert. Ezra chose orange danish rolls, Elias chose pumpkin pie, and Mary chose brownies. It was hard to decide which ones to eat.

 Then it was present time.

Youth Fundraising Dinner

The youth and children had a fundraising dinner on Friday night to raise money for camperships. Joshua ran the program, but I was responsible for the food. Mary helped me prep things before the big day.

We planned for 70 people, so it was a lot of pies.

I wore my camp shirt on Friday to get in the spirit and had fun working in a kitchen again. Things went pretty smoothly in spite of a few issues, and everything turned out well. Dave came down to help me in the kitchen and that was a huge help. The youth served the dinner and did a great job.

Photo: Ash

We started off with sourdough bread made by Ash and piped butter, then had a green salad with candied walnuts, craisins, and feta. Our main course was chicken cordon bleu, roasted broccoli, and a red potato salad, then we finished everything off with chocolate creme pie with raspberry sauce.

Photo: Ash

 Rachel helped me plate the pie at the end of the evening. It was a big effort, but fun to be involved in and the dinner was a success.

Work Party

We had a work party to get some help with the front strip. I was feeling discouraged about getting it all dug out, but with some extra muscle, shovels, an axe, and a sawzall, we were able to get the whole thing done. It was exciting.

 We finished off the work party with a picnic lunch in the backyard.

Ezra's Birthday Breakfast

 We enjoyed birthday breakfast with the birthday boy and crew on Tuesday. It was a dinosaur party, so Ezra made sure we all put on dinosaur stickers as we arrived.

Four Years

Mary is four years old and continues to be a delight.

She is smart and imaginative, making up all kinds of games to play.

She has a great memory and surprises me frequently by remembering things that happened a long time ago.

Mary loves reading, playing with David, spending time outside, and doing things together.

She is independent and chose all her own photo spots for her pictures this year, but she still likes to snuggle and spend time together.

Mary is a hard worker and a good helper, but is also full of silly fun.

She is a sweetheart, and we are so thankful for her.

Blueberry Picking with Grandpa

 Dave came down Saturday; among other things, we enjoyed going blueberry picking.

Mary's Birthday

Mary turned four on Tuesday, and we had a fun day celebrating.

She requested cookies for her birthday dessert and was excited to pick the one she wanted.

A puzzle from Dave and Gayle and big kid Legos from us.

 It's hard to say who was the most excited about this gift. We had a fun day with our sweet girl.

Mother's Day

I'm so thankful for these two little ones. We had muffins for moms together at church this morning.

I got to hand Mary pieces while she created this dinosaur.

We harvested green beans and carrots to go with our dinner.

Sweet and Sticky

 David is usually not a particularly messy eater, but he sure got into his crackers with sunbutter.

Happy Anniversary

 Mary helped me decorate the cake for Mom and Dad's anniversary.

Yard Projects

Dave came down last weekend to help with the sprinklers. While he and Joshua worked on that project, Dad came over to help me finish tearing out the grass in the front yard. It felt good to get that done. 

Dave and Joshua got the sprinklers in the back yard set up and put in drip irrigation for the front and back beds. It was a busy weekend, but we got a lot done and finished things off with hand pies Saturday evening.