Rockin' the Empty Nest

This week has been absolutely gorgeous. There's an actual hint of fall in the air, and it feels amazing! It's especially wonderful, considering how bad the weather was last weekend when Ike roared into town. He destroyed our pear tree, leaving a big old mess that we will have to clean up this weekend. Then he knocked down our huge Crepe Myrtle tree, that sits outside my kitchen window. I love that tree. It's a hiding place for hummingbirds in the summer, and a resting place for redbirds in the winter. John and our neighbor lifted, and propped it up and hopefully it will continue growing. I know I could re-plant another tree there, but it's just a lovely old tree and I want IT to grow.

Anyway, one night this week we decided to grill out, and light the chiminerea and enjoy the pleasant evening temperatures. We enjoyed grilled salmon, grilled veggies, rice and managed to knock out a bottle of Sokol Blosser. We stayed out until dark, eating, drinking, talking and talking, and throwing the ball about a billion times to Daisy. It ROCKED! I even created a digital layout to remember the night.

Happy Birthday Greg!!

So today is my baby boy's 21'st birthday. I can't believe it. How did 21 years go by so quickly?
I have these random memories of him as a boy:
Joyful and full of life, friendly and outgoing-yelling at any available kid on the playground,"hey buddy!! Wanna play with me?"
Wrapping every teacher he ever had completely and totally around his little finger. Charm oozing out of every pore of his little body, as he blinked those big blue eyes at them. They never stood a chance.
Playing every sport he ever tackled with more gusto than I could ever imagine. 3 concussions, multiple emergency room trips, broken bones and a mother's fearful heart. We managed, and when it wasn't terrifying, man it was fun watching him play!
Seeing him light up the stage in every production he's ever been in. Goodness.
There's nobody like him, and there never will be. He's truly one of a kind, created by God, and what a blessing he's been.
Happy birthday dear Greg. I love you more than you will ever know. (until you have a son of your own and you finally understand)
DOVE!

Maters!!

Fresh 'maters from our own little garden!

Life is good!

Garden Update!

JUNE!!

Wow, when Greg and I got back from Oregon, the garden had practically exploded with veggies and new growth! John and I are having so much fun. We enjoy going out there every evening to see what's new. We are picking little tomatoes, zucchini and yellow squash almost every night. The cucumbers are also doing quite well. We ate our first "celebrity' tomato with our dinner a couple of nights ago and it was amazing. There's just something so rewarding about eating your own fresh grown veggies. There's no tomatoes in the grocery stores right now, but we had our own! Yeah! A few new pics:

And finally: another gardendog picture! Elvis is the laid back supervisor of the backyard garden!

Old McDonald had a Farm! (kind of)

So, a sure sign that we're getting older is that we've planted a garden for the first time! We have constructed a raised bed garden out of cedar. It was a kit that we ordered from the internet, and it's just lovely. We've planted zucchini, yellow squash, red and yellow peppers, onions, basil, and lots of tomato plants. We planted several varieties of tomatos, large and small, just to see what worked. This is an experimental year for us, since we're newbies. But so far, we're quite pleased. It's so much fun to come home in the evenings to see how it's progressing. John is really proud of it! A few pictures. The first one from the first day we planted everything.

The next are from yesterday (april 30)

Our First Pepper!

A Missing Friend...

One of my former classmates and friend has gone missing. Please click on the following link for more information: www.findjohnglasgow.com
I remember John as being very sweet and quiet. He found love with another classmate, Melinda. Melinda and John have lived a very happy, fulfilling, and satisfying life. They've raised a bright and successful son. And now this. I can't even imagine what Melinda is going through right now. The not knowing has to be terrible. Please say a prayer that he will be found. Thanks.

January is already gone!

How the heck did that happen? I kept meaning to update my blog all month long, and somehow never got around to it!
We had a wonderful Christmas. We were blessed to have Amanda and Kyle join us for their first Christmas as Mr. and Mrs. It was fun introducing Kyle to all our crazy traditions; Christmas Eve Candlelight service, followed by appetizers at Chili's, the Christmas pajama tradition, the annual "giving of the loot" by Papa. It was so much fun!
The house is quiet again, now that everyone is gone. John and I are settling back into our empty nest routine. It's kind of nice to get back to our new normal.
Have a blessed New Year!