California Memorial trip

As a family, we haven't been down to Cali in 4 years?  Can it be that long?  Life got busy, we were starting our Bend Soap business, and we just hunkered down for a bit.

But, the passing of Donna Beth and Grandpa Gene brought us back.  It was soooo good to visit with family again.  I took absolutely NO pictures during either memorial service.  I so thoroughly enjoyed seeing everyone.

Road tripping with the crew:
Burnell & Chance rocked the back seat.  Unbeknownst to me, they brought along a harmonica and accordian!  When they broke out in song, we were all stunned. :-)
Quint & Wyatt handled the middle seat.  They are amazing traveling buddies and can handle 12 hours in their carseats with no problems. Amazing! :-)
Ty and Vienna and I were in the front-middle seat.  With Orin up by Daddy.  It works great!

Z beautiful Mt Shasta

  We had the awesome privilege of staying with Dwight's cousin, Sherry Kirk and her family.  They live on an expansive campground out of civilization a ways.  We LOVED it!!  What a perfect place to raise their children.  Our boys loved the hiking trails, the playground equipment, and all the bugs they could find. :-)

The view from Elliott & Sherry's

Making new friends: Chance and Tiffany Birkholz

Catching up on all the adventures and pictures from Shannon Winter (Dwight's cousin).  She and her husband are living on a catamaran in the Pacific, traveling along the Central American coastline, with their 6 children!  What an adventure!  Dwight and I are so intrigued.  We spent hours listening to stories, asking questions, and basically living vicariously through her. :-)  So much fun.

The camp kitchen where Elliott & Sherry fed us amazing breakfasts.

The gorgeous Aunt Jodi meeting Vienna Rose Cheree. 

Brothers David and Dwight and their little "thugs" Quint and Sammy.

Mandy is a natural with Vienna.

Uncle David razzing Orin

A fun merry-go-round for the children

After Grandpa Gene's memorial service, we stayed the night with my sister, Amy and her husband John.  Our 1sts time seeing their home since they moved there years ago!  Can't believe how time flies.

Birthday bashes

Burnell's Birthday

June 10th arrived, and so did Eliashib and Isaac Zwonitzer.  Apparently, Burnell had a great idea for a birthday to remember, and invited his buddies to come over for the day.  He told them to arrive at 10am. :-) Good idea, BD.  What fun they all had all day.

Birthday cake and ice-cream for the 9-year-old

 Our new tradition:  Treasure Hunt and Pinata!  The boys love running all over the property looking for golden "clues".  One is always hidden in the pinata - which leads them to their treasure: aka presents. :-)  I think I love it about as much as they do.

Reading his own clues

The Clarks help out

Aren't these the spunkiest Grandmas you've ever seen? :-)

Uncle Ryan's Birthday ... Bowling

I think the last time we bowled was in Colorado for the Padwe Family Reunion.  I'm thinking this is a Padwe interest here.  After a few warm-up games, Daddy (Ted) bowled a 201 - and was incredibly excited, let me add.  He earned it. What a fun game. Several of the boys even got strikes and spares - legitimately!  I was impressed.

Ty's hilarious way of getting the ball down the lane ... sprawl and chuck it as hard as you can!

Ecstatic over another STRIKE!!

 And ... bumper cars.  The boys brought their own money so that they could have a turn on these.  You can just imagine the enjoyment that the boys and their Daddy had out there, crashing into each other.

Cheering the team on ... Dwight the Man!

Quint (still 3) thought he was in 7th heaven!  He actually managed the controls amazingly - which is so Quint.

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!