Fun family portrait - 6 boys and 1 girl

When you have a bunch of THE most adorable boys -- all in row ... 6 to be exact ... [how often does that happen???]

And then the most darling little GIRL finally joins the bunch ... :-)

You have to document this addition in a special way! :-)  These boys are super proud of their new little charge and want ya'll to know that she's well protected.

And just in case you're wondering - how can this special sister ever get a date?  Well, we all know -- he'll "Have to get through us first!"  Oh, my!

Oh, I have so much fun with photos.  Thank you, Lord, for giving me such a cute bunch of rascals to take pictures of every day.  And, the cutest little pink bundle, too.  What fun!

Note:  I can't take credit for this idea.  So many of our friends (you know who you are) gave us this fun idea -- from the post of another photographer out east.  Our own Marina Koslow Photography, here in Bend, Oregon shot these adorable photos of our little brood.

Summer fun all 'round

Whew!  What a summer so far!  Being so busy preparing for Camp Dwight and all, I got off the blog track for a while.  But, I had my camera with me and my many adorable subjects were everywhere. :-)

You never know what you'll find 'round here.  Apparently, CATFISH were the find one day.  Dwight was letting the water naturally flood out of the lower pond into the "draw" (as Paula has named it).  It's that gorgeous stretch of lush green grass that all the RV's and campers fill for camp.  Anyway, the boys were exploring and realized that there were catfish in the waterways!  We found 11 total and put them back in the pond.  Hopefully they'll grow big and we can catch them later on to eat.

Vienna helped me drive the boys around on their catfish adventure. :-)

Best Buddies

Quint - our resident waterer.  He faithfully makes sure the grass is watered, the garden is watered, and the lower park grass is watered. Interestingly enough, he's the one who wants us to build fires in winter, too.

Chance -- always dressing up and playing some grand game of his fantastic imagination!

Going for a run before camp

Hanging out by the pond -- eating FRUIT!

Vienna - the little darling I get to keep playing dress up with :-)

An early morning run with my hard-core sister-in-law and best bud, Naomi.

Getting EGGS! Ty and Quint are the egg hunters.

The 2 little guys - best buds.  Always laughing ...

Cousins and best buds - always laughing, too!

Yum!  Fresh-picked blueberries - thanks to Rachel K and Rachel Z for their picking and thoughtfulness.

Quint riding the zipline during camp - a highlight and worth the wait!

Orin, Chance, and Ty with cousin Barrington before the Camp Dwight fun run.  A total blast!

It's a family fun run ... so the whole family's gotta run, right? :-)  YEAH!!!  Thank you, Chad, for helping us attempt to stay in shape with our 1 run a year. :-)

Special visit from my college friend, fellow choir member, accountability partner, and gopher girl ... Wende Pentz.  I love you, girl!  So fun to meet her whole family and introduce them to our fresh goat milk - which they now LOVE! (can't you tell?)  Go Pentz family! :-)

Kefir popsicles!  The best on a hot sunny afternoon.

4th of July baby girl

Burnell, the workin' man!

Orin, the playful athlete

The happy couple after a dip in the canal.  Just celebrating 10 years of marriage!!!

Gardening project ... on a small scale

"Mama, did you know that watermelons grow on bushes?"

What?  "No, they don't, dear."  I'm going to have to teach them about plants.  I can't believe that MY children are growing up not knowing how plants grow and what different plants look like.

I love gardening!  From as early as I can remember, I've had a fascination with gardens.  I love the whole process ... from preparing the soil, to picking the seeds to grow, to planting them.  Watching the new little green sprigs pop out of the ground and then grow each day.  

And then there's the harvest.  Going out in the morning and picking fresh zucchini or sugar snap peas.  Oh!  What a treat -- a luxury, really.

Gardening has always been a part of my life.  The earliest I can remember was my Grandma Carolyn, growing plants in a small community garden near her apartment.  We had a big meyer lemon tree and fig tree  in our backyard in CA.  When we moved to our 36 acres in Saranac, NY, Daddy took gardening to a whole new level.  To show how serious we were, he even had a special seed planter that we rolled down the long rows planting corn, beans, peas.  We planted all sorts of squash, broccoli, tomatoes ... anything we could think of that sounded good.

When Dwight and I started our home together in Redmond, OR, we planted a wonderful garden each year.  Apparently, Redmond is sort of a banana belt of Central Oregon and plants grow quite well there.  By the time we moved, we had built a deer fence all around it and had even installed automatic sprinklers.  We gleaned a delightful harvest each day of the late summer.  Oh, what a joy!  Waking up each morning, Dwight and I would head out, pick a few weeds, harvest a handful of produce.

But, when we moved to Tumalo, our first gardening attempts were thwarted as the cold nights throughout the high desert summer stunted our plants' growth.  I had even ordered and started some heirloom plants.  But, what survived and tried to grow during the day would then be killed in a random frost at night at any point in the season.  My tomatoes were hailed on the day I put them out.  I couldn't even grow zucchini!  Grrrr! 

We bought a greenhouse the next year and again started our hopeful journey toward a plentiful table come fall.  But, a random wind storm sent the plexiglass panels of our bolted-together greenhouse off into the pond, and other places and the frame got smashed.

Alas, Dwight decided that it was not worth the effort.  Buying made more sense.

But, along with GMO, and the price of organic foods, and my children's ignorance on gardening all-together, I believe that it is time to attempt this wonderful art again.

Step 1:  Make 2 raised beds and fill with good soil

Thanks Grandpa Burnell for the help!

Step 2:  Plant seeds

Step 3:  Water and wait

Step 4:  Catch a bird, eat ice-cream, play Duck-duck goose, wash up

Step 5:  One month later ...

Our plants are growing!

Our Date

How long has it been since we were on a date???  I honestly can't recall. Oh, wait, I remember .. it was at the end of the Fortified Families Marriage Retreat held the beginning of May.  Rachel Z was babysitting, so  we moved the wheel-lines together then went to Sisters for dinner at Takoda's.  We stopped in that nice park and walked across the covered bridge hand-in-hand. Ah ... that was a nice little walk down memory lane. :-)  I'd forgotten!

Ok, so 1 month in between dates isn't that bad ... but it feels like forever. :-) :-)  We tend to pack our months fuller than is reasonable.  One month feels like 3 round here.

Let's face it, the main reason we don't get out more is that we don't like to leave our favorite people!!! :-)

They're so fun!  If we have any extra time left after chores, cleanup, farm projects, lawn maintenance, etc ... we want to do something fun together!! :-)

Dwight got the idea one evening, when we were both enjoying a private conversation at the end of the table.  We were all googly-eyed and romantic and felt like we were on a date - ignoring the cheerful banter from the boys.  He then got the idea to serve a little Apple Cider Vinegar (NO!) ... Sparkling Apple Cider, that is.  He poured our champagne flutes and we continued our "secluded" visit. :-)  The once oblivious boys soon became aware and began to participate in our impromptu date in their own ways.  Burnell decided to pretend to be our waiter and serve us ice-cream.  Others thought that we should share our bubbly with them.  Ahhh.... :-)  The bottle of sweet liquid quickly disappeared and our moment became more public, but it was so much fun that I decided to recreate a similar "date experience the next week.  No babysitter, no expensive restaurant ... just lots of fun with our favorite people! :-)

So, the above picture is our wait staff. :-)  Amid preparing the meal, feeding the baby, decorating the table, and getting ready ... we did't have time to dress them (or clean them up, for that matter).  But, they're adorable anyway - dirt and all!

Me and my love

Our "booth" on the front porch

The boys at their table - decorated, too.

Our waiters always "close" in case we need anything. :-)

 Dwight with our meal of Roasted broccoli and sweet onions and Pasta with meat sauce.  I didn't get a picture of our awesome House salad.

Another dirty little waiter (Ty) checking in on us.

Burnell learning to serve bubbly.

Quint was learning, too.

And ... Wyatt wanted to taste-test our banana splits - quality control and all.

Our glasses from our wedding.

Can't wait to go on another awesome date!