Spring Garden Tea Party

Tender blades of green grass please us all with a standing ovation for the arrival of spring!  Purple violets decorate the grass and the sun shines warmer!  This celebration of the arrival of spring was the backdrop for our celebration of Gracie Anne's 5th birthday!  April 5th was a lovely day for our Garden Tea Party!  This tea party was complete with sweet girls in lovely dresses, vintage jewelry, vintage hats and linens, mismatched tea set, pink lemonade and yummies, croquet, and hopscotch!

Gracie Anne, Eliza, Genna, Anna

Thank you to the darling girls for making a sweet memory with Gracie Anne!!

My Lil' Helper

Isn't she great?!

She is also a filthy mess!

Progress in the south bedroom moves slowly!  But at least it moves!  And at least I have some great help!

We are working on taping and mudding the new drywall.  I'm also working on some repairs to an old wooden bed frame I found when I went antique-ing with some good friends!  I picked up this set for $10.00!  The veneer needs a little attention, and I've also stripped the orginal finish off of it since a lot of it was flaking off.

House Guests in Nebraska!

We were so excited when the Frehners said they were coming to MO and wanted to stop and stay a couple nights with us!!  They were very brave considering the condition of the house and its lack of central heat.  But we did the best we could and plugged in a space heater for the room that they stayed in and tried to keep things as warm as we could!

Once again, I'm shy the photographs from this great visit!  But I did manage to get this cute one of Sam, Gracie Anne and Blaine!

The boys thought Sam was hilarious and had a lot of fun with Jakob, but Gracie Anne was thrilled and was at Blaine's side the whole time!!

The Frehners attended church with us on Sunday and were able to witness our records being read into our new little ward.  This was also Callan's first Sunday to pass the sacrament and he passed like a pro, even though he was nervous!

I was so glad to see Jessica again!  And I was thrilled to finally meet Annabeth for the first time!    The Frehners had a great time back in MO. and signed papers for the sell of their home - just a few days after we signed on papers selling the north 100 acres of our farm! 

The Art Lesson

Among all of the comings and goings and bustings and buildings, we still manage to have school.

This year I've decided to make art more of a priority.  All of the boys have great potential, however, art is one thing that has always ended up on the bottom of the list and isn't usually practiced because of that!

This particular day was absolutely beautiful.  I taught my kids how to do 'blind countour drawings.'  We practiced several times on this day and even little Grace got in on the fun!

She is drawing all of the leaves she sees.  Note that these are not leaves of three, just leaves of one!



We are so Blessed!

With a little bit of time on my hands I've decided to sit down and play catch up!  It has been a very busy few months!  Time sure does fly!  We have been able to make more progress on our old house on the hill in Nebraska!  We are in contract with 100 acres of the farm in MO and have the 40 acres with the Orchard and business listed for sale.  We've been back and forth between both places, cleaning and packing in one and destroying and rebuilding in the other!  What more can I say, but that we have been blessed, and I'm always thankful to have a pillow to lay down my weary head at the end of the day!

I'm also thankful for my incredible better half,  big helpers, all four of them, and cherry red mustaches!

June Through July! My, Does Time Ever Fly!

June started off with me already up at girl's camp!  This year I was asked to help with camp by serving as a stake first level specialist.  It was a great learning experience!  And as usual, it was great to get home.... and get some sleep! 

Camping in Missouri is so different than what I grew up knowing to be camping.  First, there isn't any green grass where I've camped... and especially, there is no such thing as mowed grass!!  Even though it isn't rugged, surrounded by evergreens, with the air lacking in oxygen, it is really pretty!  The girls opted to try cooking turkeys in our reflector ovens, and everyone cooked biscuits and muffins in the reflector oven boxes next to the fire. 

I had wonderful youth leaders who managed everything sooo well!! 

It was a wonderful experience!

All work and no play makes Jane a dull girl.  It also makes Jack rather boring too.  One Monday evening in June, we packed up hambugers and ran up to Nine Eagles on an impulse.  It was a good impulse and we had a great time!  The burgers were great, the water was fun, and the sunlight was perfect for pictures!



By the end of June we managed to complete the downstairs bathroom in our Nebraska house.  Just in time to show it of to my parents, and Grandma!  We hadn't seen Grandma in six years and this was Gracie Anne's first time meeting her.  After she warmed up she had so much fun talking to Grandma and showing her all of her toys!



This is a bloom from the old rose bush next to the front yard gate.  They do have some charm to them!!



Here is a shot from the gate up the road.  Tim is getting the mail.  Our wonderful neighbors, Ruth Ann and BW are so sweet to think of us and mow the strip of grass next to the road!



While the Grandparents and Great Grandma were here to visit, we squeezed in a quick trip to Nauvoo.  It was a beautiful day along the Mississippi!

We also had an amazing experience to rescue this little puppy from off the middle of the highway.  He was starving to death and couldn't stand for more than a few seconds at a time.

We cleaned him up, fed him and named him Gilligan.



However, within two weeks it became apparent that Gracie Anne was not yet ready to be a dog owner.  A strange "sibling rivalry" came to be and the two were at each other constantly.



A friend of ours helped us find a new adoptive home.  She places rescued and abandoned animals.  She interviewed lots of people and we decided that a young couple who lives 1/2 mile from a dog park would be the best dog owners ever!

So we all cried, said our goodbyes and sent our Gilligan on his way.  We were told that the first meeting was beautiful.  He ran right up to his new mama and crawled up into her arms.  We miss him terribly, but we just know that Gilligan is in good hands and is being loved and spoiled rotten!