Spring time flowers

I am always struck by the beauty of the Spring Time. Here are a few pictures of some of the recent flowers. The colors just intrigue me and make my inner artist want to paint something. But that'll have to wait...there's too much to do outside to waste a few days painting.

Beautiful orange and yellow!

This iris has rain drops all over it. It rained one early evening and then the sun came out again right before it set. I saw these iris's and had to run inside and get my camera. I love God's beauty that He gives to us!

Our Garden is In the Ground

Last Saturday morning, SM and I got up at 6 am so that we could hurry and get in line for a plant sale. We arrived around 6:40 and found out that we were the second people in line. And then we waited until 8 am for the sale to open. SM knew exactly what he wanted to purchase and so we went into the sale with a plan.

The plan worked well and we were able to buy twelve different tomato plants. There will be eight different colored tomatoes represented when our plants are mature.

We also bought some cucumbers, a zuchinni plant, pepper plants, garlic and onions.

"Who is that crazy person in the garden?!!" I had been sitting crossed legged and looked like this while getting up and sneaking up on SM...

We are really excited to grow this garden this year. SM has been talking to his fellow workmates and they've begun comparing their garden stories, even though each of them have only had their gardens in for less than a week.

My mother-in-law planted her flowers in the front flower gardens. It was a great day for planting and being outside.
Here's that cute husband of mine.
And I had to through this last shot in because it is so pretty.

My Dad has some funny ideas

Have any of you been around someone that once they get an idea in their heads, they just can't think of anything else? My dad is like that...once he gets an idea, he thinks about it and thinks about it and then does something. Well, on Monday when I went to my parents house, I was VERY surprised to see half of all the trees, de-limbed (if that's a word). And the word "surprised" is a less than graphic word for how I really felt. I was very sad and confused to see the trees this way.Apparently my dad got the idea in his head that the trees needed their bottom half branches cut off. I thank the neighbor for this idea since this is what the neighbor did to his trees and they look just as awful. Anyway, Dad employed the neighbor to do this to the trees. And then my dad and mom had to clean up the mess.

There was only one mistake when this branch fell, piercing the roof. Luckily it was only one hole because there could have been multiple holes with the number of branches that were cut down.

So, from this blog, I bet most of you can feel the disappointment in my voice. I was really sad to see these beautiful trees cut this way. Apparently, though, in the years to come it should make the trees easier to cut down when the time comes for that. Meanwhile, I'm going to try to keep all "IDEAS" from my Dad. I don't know what he'll do next.

Trip to Idaho

This weekend, after SM's graduation, we drove up to Idaho Falls to visit our friends, Marty and Jill. I had my first eye exam and am proud to report that as of yet, I do not need glasses. We are also really excited that the lasic (sp?) eye surgery SM had on his eyes three years ago is still holding and he continues to have great vision. The above picture is of the Idaho Falls Temple. We decided to be tourists one day and went to the temple to take pictures. The spring weather has almost arrived and the tulips were beginning to open up.
This is the middle daughter of our friends. She is sporting her new glasses. She kept telling her dad that she needed glasses, and he didn't believe her. But one day he did an exam on her and she really did need them...but just barely. Apparently she really wanted glasses and now she has them.

Here's Marty checking up on his raspberries that he planted earlier in the week. While we were there, he planted 250 strawberries in his front flower garden...in the pouring rain. He was wet and numb when he finally got it done but very happy to have those plants in the ground. Each day he would tell us how excited he was to grow strawberries.

Jill was an amazing cook! I had some very delicious meals and now have some new recipes to add to my arsenal.

Here's their oldest daughter. I think she looks like her mother. She's also got a great personality and loves to cook.

And here I am "reading" a coloring book with their youngest. He is all boy!

And here are the happy couple! But they both look really tired, as they should be since they stayed up talking to us after midnight for four days in a row.

We look less tired because we slept in each morning. Also, SM is really happy because we played hours upon hours of games.

Playing games was the number one reason SM wanted to go to Idaho Falls to visit Marty and Jill. Poor Marty came in dead last in all but two times...and I think we played at least ten times. We did play a variety of games so I think this just wasn't Marty's weekend for winning.

I had to take a picture of the sky on our way home. The clouds were amazing! I love the beauty that is all around me.

Spring at Mom's House

The apple trees are in bloom. They have such beautiful blossoms! They also had a lot of bees so I was anxious to take pictures and get away from the trees. (I have an allergy to bee stings...too many times being stung as a child).

I loved how this photo of the tulips next to the wooden fence post turned out. Did I tell you how much I love flowers and springtime?

The blossom size of these tulips were really large. A little larger than my fist...I just didn't want to add my fist to the picture.

Looking down the fence! Doesn't this just inspire you? I love going to Mom's house and spending time outdoors in such beauty.

This tree is a decorative peach tree...supposed to blossom but not produce fruit. Well, apparently it feels really different than all the other peach trees and so it has begun producing peaches each year. Unfortunately, they are small and tasteless and yucky. So, it's a beautiful tree in the front of the yard but messy! We have to clean up the fallen fruit before mowing the lawn or else you get a real big mess.

Graduation

Last Friday, SM graduated with his PhD from USU. It was such a great day and we are excited that he is really done. DONE with school!
This is a picture of SM with his dissertation committee chairperson. Chris has been such a help and there for us. We were blessed to have him in our corner as we completed all the paperwork and jumped through all the hoops.

Cathy is othe other person that helped with getting everything done. She was also taking pictures at the graduation and I hope to get a copy of her photos. We took Chris and Cathy out to lunch earlier in the week to thank them for all their work and efforts. I love that the Lord puts certain people in your path and that they took the time to serve us selflessly.

And here we are...looks good, yes?!

I can't remember this guys name, but he was the dean of the college or something...anyway, it turns out that my father-in-law knows him and actually set he and his wife up on a date, they in turn fell in love and married. If you feel the urge to start whistling "It's a small world" now would be the time to follow that urge.

There was a reception afterwards. We had some yummy cheese, crackers, veggies and fruit tarts. I'm sorry to my in-laws, since I was the one holding the camera, I got to take their picture a lot...and most of the time they weren't aware I was taking it. Next time I'll tell them to smile.