Gardening 2017: March, April, May

Gardening is science and art, but mostly science. Good thing, since my art hasn't significantly improved since grade school.

Fruitland winter was so cold and lasted so long that we couldn't even put seeds into the ground until April and May.

So, we started seeds indoors. They were scared of the dark, so we shined a light on them at night.

When the ground thawed, I roto-tilled a spot for a new garden.

I went overboard and got rid of a lot of the back lawn.

Then we planted all sorts of seeds. I've never grown potatoes or onions before.

Apparently, you plant small potatoes and small onions,

and in a few months you get big potatoes and big onions.

The greenhouse experiment didn't work very well as a transition period for the seedlings germinated inside during the early cold months. It didn't seem to do anything to warm and promote growth.

In May, after a few weeks, we got our first harvest of radishes, spinach, and herbs.

                                                          Then I made an omelette.

What would you do?

Chris: 8 Months

This was a busy month for Chris!

• Finally confident in his sitting skills, although he really hates sitting. He prefers to be off exploring.
• Mastered army crawling followed by hands and knees crawling a couple weeks later.
• Crawling all over the house and getting into everything! My favorite is when I put him down somewhere and walk into another room, and before long he comes crawling around the corner and breaks into a huge smile as soon as he finds me. 
• He is such a busy boy and wants to spend all of his time playing. His favorite toy is whatever Sarah is currently playing with, and he tends to voice his displeasure when he doesn't get what he wants.
• Prefers table food over baby food, even though he isn't very good at eating it and doesn't have any teeth.
• He has become a very happy, content baby for the most part, and it is so fun to see him grow and learn.

 Showing off his sitting skills

 Off to explore

 Hi, Mom!

 Of course Sarah had to get in on the photo shoot. Chris actually looks as dark as Sarah in this picture. It is a trick of the light. He is totally pasty just like his mommy. 

April Adventures

 Aunt Amy made both kids new swimsuits. It wasn't warm enough for swimming in April, but there was enough sunshine for us to dream.

 We made our first zoo trip of the year. It was a beautiful day, and all of the animals were out enjoying the sunshine. When I asked Sarah what she wanted to see at the zoo, her instant answer was meerkats.  She didn't want to look at anything else until we found them.

 Feeding the sheep

 Going down the big giraffe slide all by herself

 Can't go to the zoo without at least one ride on the carousel!

 Thank goodness for that glass!

 Chris made it up on hands and knees!

 Such hard work!

 Chris went for his first ride in a shopping cart.

 The weekend before Easter, we got to spend lots of fun time with family. Jehana and her family came to visit for a few days. Kelson took their family as well as our kids to see a little of Boise while I was in the temple with my family. They loved playing with the magformers at the library. 

 Katy went to the temple for the first time, and we all got to be there for her special day. It was such a great experience to be in the temple with my whole family. 

 Afterwards, we came back to our house for some seriously amazing dessert. That is a brownie layer topped with layers of chocolate, raspberry, and vanilla mousse, topped with ganache, fresh raspberries, and raspberry sauce. It was delicious. Definite Pinterest win.

 The next weekend was my birthday. The best present Kelson gave me was to take Sarah the day before my birthday so my Mom, Chris, and I could spend a day thrift shopping in Boise. We had so much fun! It will be even better when I can leave both kids.

 For my birthday dinner, we had a crepe bar. So good! We had savory toppings for dinner followed by sweet toppings for dessert. Who needs a birthday cake?

Kelson gave me this CD case for my birthday. What do you think is in Emily's mix?

 Chocolate, of course! He knows me so well.

Gardening 2017: Signs of Spring

The snow of early 2017 finally melted away in March, and the world emerged from a winter that featured 50+ inches of snow in this area for the first time in decades.

Things went back to normal, and Spring was ushered in by its ambassadors: crocuses. 

Then came the tulips.

And finally the apple blossoms.

We were so excited to see everything coming to life!

Easter With Family

After lots of Easters spent so far from family, we were so excited to be together with them this year. My dad loves dying Easter eggs. His holiday specialties were always Easter eggs and jack-o-lanterns when I was growing up. It is so fun to see him doing those things with his grandkids now.

 We dyed eggs with Grandma and Grandpa and all of the cousins on Saturday night. I think they did about 10 dozen. There were a lot of messy, happy kids that night.

 Sunday morning, the Easter bunny had come with our baskets! Sarah was very excited about her puffy stickers and chocolate bunny.

 We went to church in Union with all of my mom's family. Getting a decent picture of all of us is apparently really difficult.

 Doing a little flying with Grandma and Aunt Katy

 After church, we went to my Uncle Donny's house for the big Baxter family Easter dinner and egg/basket hunt. This was one of my favorite traditions growing up, and I loved sharing it with my little family this year. My favorite moment was after dinner when we were all watching a short film about the resurrection of Christ, and Sarah shouted, "Jesus came back to life! That's why we have Easter!".  Some of our teaching is sticking!

 Sarah loved collecting the Easter eggs.

 I made Sarah a very twirly, poofy, Easter dress this year. When I tried it on her the first time, she twirled for about 5 straight minutes and kept saying, "It's so wonderful!". Sewing for a princess is fun.

Chris got a green bow tie to match Sarah's dress. Of course I forgot to bring it with us on Easter. Oops.

We had a wonderful Easter with our family. The best part was teaching Sarah about why we celebrate Easter and that because our Savior rose from the dead we can be together as a family forever. 

Chris: 7 Months

Chris at 7 months:

• He has tried lots of solid foods now and is no longer happy with just milk. His favorite is squash or yams mixed with apples and a little cinnamon.
• Sleeping much better, which makes Mommy very happy.
• Has mastered getting up on all fours and rocking back and forth. We will have a crawler soon! For now, he makes his way around the room by squirming around like a snake. Slow, but effective.
• Can sit on his own, but has no interest in doing so. He would rather be on his tummy playing with toys, so he flings himself down when you try to make him sit.
• Loves his sister! Everything she does is funny.
• Has a bit of stranger danger, particularly around other women. His short list of people he likes include Mommy, Grandma, Aunt Katy, and Aunt Jehana.
• We thought the blue eyes would fade, but I think they just keep getting more blue. Weird!
• Chris has become such a happy little boy. We love him!