A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words

I have had zero motivation to blog. I mean life has been happening around me and it has kept us hopping over here. I normally LOVE to take these opportunities to write, but somehow I couldn't find it within myself. We had a rough winter healthwise, on top of the fact that we had an incredible loss with Zach passing away, and there have been some changes going on with our little church here (we are losing Bro. Lee and Sis. Cherrie already), and therefore there hasn't been a lot to cheer about, but I think I am finding my way again. I am hoping that by posting this it will rejuvenate my blogging spirit. Let's hope so......

We will start this presentation off with my two March 25th babies. I took them to Red Robin for a birthday dinner and a round of birthday sundaes. Den was sick with an awful flu and therefore couldn't attend, but, honestly, it was a sweet time with my two twin birthday boys. River turned 19 and Abram turned 8. I still can't get over those numbers!

Then on the 27th Boaz turned 1. He had his very own birthday cake to devour and destroy. In fact, we let any of the little kids who wanted to take a chunk of it with their hands help him out. I mean we had to show him how it was done, right? You can see Roman in the background quietly enjoying his very own slice of Abram's cake.

Here is Bro. Rusty lighting Boaz's candle. Actually, here are ALL my March babies in the same photo.....with my November baby in there to boot!

We had invited everyone at church to come to Boaz's 1st birthday and Abram's 8th. It was a heartfelt and wonderful turnout. After all, the brethren here are my family!

Okay on a different note. We remodeled the mud room in our house. I was so sick of the hodge podge of cabinets and make shift shelving that this room had. We gutted them and put in an Ikea shelf unit that stores everything neatly and beautifully. Levi painted the walls a soft blue and green and we threw a pretty little rug down to tie it all in. Now this room feels like a happy addition, rather than the dreaded space it was.

Before! The cabinet was rendered useless and just accumulated piles of stuff sitting on top of piles of stuff. It was an eye sore to me.

After: This picture shows off the handy cubed unit that allows for every item to have a home. We painted the pantry that was in that room to match, and added some cute whimsical things on the wall. I mean it's not the dreamiest space ever, after all it's a mudroom/laundry room and it is itty bitty at best, however it makes me smile now.

On a baby note:

( Boaz is a bit dirty and missed matched in this photo, but it was a great play day outside, to which brought out some quick changes of clothing as puddles and mud were explored.)
Oh yeah....Boaz has learned to walk now that he is 12 months. He is toddling all over the place. A bit wobbly, but ridiculously cute. He and Popeye are besties, and I am amazed at Popeye's patience concerning Boaz's antics. Lucky for Popeye Boaz doesn't have a great sense of aim, balance or swiftness yet.....and I emphasize YET!

Now on a dirty note......hehehe

Our flock of chickens have all grown up. We allow them to free range which makes the sight and sound of chickens around the property a very normal experience.The greater challenge is hunting for their eggs daily. I think we are finally getting down their main laying areas now. Roman and Abram love hunting/collecting them!We have three beautiful large pigs and two piglets on the ranch currently. Levi has joined the FFA program here and will be entering one of piglets in the fair this year. It was a tradition that we missed in Washington and are excited about bringing back in to our lives. We have two pastures. One on our property and one we are renting from another farmer. This gives us 5 cows to care for, but 4 of them belong to us, ( One is Rusty and Mary's). We are running a meat csa and it is really taking off. It is becoming more of a workload now, but River is taking the ranch by the reins for the most part. What a blessing he has been!



And we couldn't have pictures of our property without showing some evidence of having teen boys. You can see jeep tracks running across the pasture.....this didn't make Dad smile....nope.

And on a brighter note. Here is a beautiful picture of spring here. The sunny weather was 73 degrees that day, and it was full of promise. Spring is full of hope....hope for all things that are good. Bring in the Spring, Lord.