Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day!!

This touching song is guaranteed to make you cry, so get your tissues handy! It's especially meaningful to us military families. =)

Thank you to all of those who have given their lives, and to all those left behind. Wives, parents, children, siblings - this is as much for you as it is for our fallen soldiers. You have our undying gratitude. We will never forget.

This is a recording of the ALERT Chorale's performance on one of their tours in 2009. Joe had the awesome experience of singing with them, and he's one of the bass singers in this video!!

ps - if the video is having trouble loading or is taking forever to show up, try clicking here... and if THAT doesn't work, click here!

Yep, It's Spring!

And all we can say is we're super glad. =)

So here's a post of pictures from around our garden and property - hope you enjoy!! I might have overdone it... but I just love the gorgeous colors that spring's brought!

After what seemed like a loooooooong winter, we're thrilled to see the gorgeous spring flowers and feel that warm sunshine.

We've already begun planting the garden... let's see. So far we've planted broccoli, lettuce, some herbs (basil, cilantro, parsley), cauliflower, cabbage, and onions. We've also pruned our raspberries, thinned our strawberries, and taken care of the perennials from last year. (splitting, separating, re-planting, you get the idea.)

I think it'll be a pretty good year for the garden - it's been a nice wet spring so far, and, even though we don't really love the rain, we know that it means we don't have to start watering quite yet!

I love these blue forget-me-nots - you practically can't kill them! And they come back every year. And you can separate them really easily, so what started out as one little bush in the corner of our garden has been split into about six thriving plants that get bigger and prettier each day!!

The chickens absolutely love the sunshine, too... because sunshine means less mud and more dust!!

Bet you didn't know that chickens take dust baths. Seriously. It's how they stay clean... they really don't like water too much. =)

Mmm... pretty.

These are the second things we see in the spring - right after those lovely, cheery dandelions!! It may seem strange, but out here where it's cold for so long, we like our dandelions. They're the first flowers... and... well. They mean happy days ahead. :D

Our strawberries are looking awesome! Last year we got... ummm... several gallons. And I can't wait to get more! Roberta's strawberry lemonade is the b.e.s.t.

Oh, and speaking of Roberta - she's home!! She finished up volunteering for the International ALERT Academy and returned on Saturday. We're so glad to have her back!! =)

Spring also means people!

(Chip, our over-active border collie, is really happy about this one. He's an "outside dog," so all winter long he sleeps on the porch and pouts, because people don't like spending hours upon hours in the freezing cold with him.)

Hard-working farm girl...

This, my fine feathered friends, is a blueberry bush!! They haven't bloomed quite yet... but almost!

And the lilacs!! They're getting ready, too.

Plum blossoms. Oh, my.

Friends, you would not believe how FAST our little guy is growing!!

Oh, yeah... and he likes playing "bull." Go figure. =)

You would also not believe what Sarah named him.

Maybe you don't want to know.

Oh, you do? Okay..... fine.

She named him Mr. Rippingforth.

Dreadful, I know it.

I wanted to call him Raymond. But Mom said there was NO WAY you could eat a Raymond. I tended to disagree... but whatever.

Oh, and Mr. Rippingforth does not like the barn. He glares at you when you leave him in there alone.

Clover lives up her name. She loves that fresh clover!!

But I think we should have called her Dandelion - because she loves those yellow flowers wayyyyyy more than any other weed out there!! =)

...

Okay, that's all for now, folks! Thanks for stopping by!! =)

Hugs!
Hannah
(for everybody)

Mother's Day Excursions

After church on Mother's Day, we decided to take a little "explore." It was a beautiful day... there were some clouds, but overall, it was warm and sunny, and simply ripe for adventure.

So we all hopped in the car, turned the music up, and went on our merry way around the two or three hour loop - down our long country road to the river, up the river, and then home on the highway.

All, that is, except Roberta - who's still down in Texas volunteering at the International ALERT Academy! We missed her, though. :(

As I said... a gorrrrgeous day.

The river is currently down to almost record levels, because they've got the dam open down in Grand Coulee.

It's really neat, despite the yards and yards of mud and sand - because you can picture what our county would have looked like over seventy years ago!! The dam was built in 1941, and the Columbia River became the 150-mile long Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake - also called Lake Roosevelt - the largest reservoir and lake in Washington state.

A little bit of history and geography for you!! That's what comes of visiting the Grand Coulee museum nearly four years ago. I'm a homeschooler. Hence, I have a mind like a steel trap.

Now.... we continue.

Our very first stop was somewhere along the shore, where we walked down as far as we could - to what is normally 50 feet underwater!!

These tree stumps have been underwater for 70 years... how cool is that?! Some of them kinda resemble people. It's super weird to see whole groups of them standing down there - the look lost.

Joe conquers the tree stumps!

And Sarah shows us what she's made of by standing on her head. Annnddd... in the process, she learned something. Never stand on your head with a baseball cap on. That little button at the top... there's a reason they call that the headache button!

Shadows!!

POW!! I show off my martial arts, shadow play, photography skills. All at once!

Betcha didn't know I could do that, huh? =)

Sand art.

Even more sand art.

Awww.... cuties!!

And of course, cuties have cute feet, too!

This, ladies and gentlemen - is our most favorite mom in the whole wide world. We love you SOOOO much, Mom!!!! =) Hope you had a happy, happy, happy Mother's Day adventure!

Cuz we sure did.

Errrr... watch your back, maybe?

He's thinking about it....

Rock art!! =)

Mom and her kiddos. Well, some of them, anyway.

Thank heaven for self timers!! =)

I feel like this photo is missing something. And it is... we miss you, Berta!!!

These flowers are some of the first we get during the summer.... and they grow e.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e!! Except where you want them. I guess they're wildflowers in the best sense of the word!!

For YOU!

Awww... that's my Mama! Aint she purty?

Back in the car, we continued on our leisurely way upriver.

It's quite the scenic route, too! If any of ya'll ever decide to grace us with a visit, I think you'd loooove to come out here with us!

Our next stop was a small campground where us kids go for barbeques when Mom and Dad go out of town during the summer!! It's an awesome place to hang out - quiet and usually practically deserted - with a dock for swimming, picnic tables, and the perfect place to set up a small grill.

Yep... any visitors will probably be doing this, too!!

Mom and Dad.

Looking up...

And looking down.

After we were done gallivanting around the countryside, we stopped by a Subway for a quick dinner. During which, Dad remarked - "I feel like we should be PCSing!"

For all you un-military people, that means moving... and it more often than not involves a cross-country drive for us Navy folks. So our afternoon had very closely resembled one of our many moves - a few hours in the car, laughs and giggles, music, a Subway dinner as the sun was setting.

But we weren't going anywhere. Except home! =)

And so they all lived happily ever after.

The end.