How does your garden grow?

We are attempting a garden this year.

I have what you might call a black thumb. I have a hard time keeping plants alive. I either drown them, or forget to water them until they shrivel up. So far my best luck has been with desert plants, or things like bamboo that need very little care.

Still...the idea of a garden has always called to me.

When we lived in Salem several years ago we lived in a duplex with a tiny yard. There was a mushroom plant (meaning a place that produced mushrooms) nearby and mushroom compost was cheap and easy to get. There had been a tree in the middle of our yard, but the owners had cut it down, and most of the yard was taken up by a large stump. It wasn't a play friendly yard, so we decided to build a raised bed over the stump and plant a garden. That garden was my first and only experience with a successful garden.

Our Salem garden one July.

The mushroom compost really made for a great garden, and for a couple of years we had a lot of success, with beautiful tomatoes, corn, onions and garlic. We also grew some pumpkins, broccoli, carrots and strawberries. Then we moved, so we took the garden out and spread the dirt through the yard. One of the nice benefits of that garden was that it helped to dissolve the ugly stump (we sank some nails into the stump before we covered it to help along with breaking it down).

So here we are living at the coast. We have not attempted a garden in the 5+ years we have been here. Our yard is pretty sandy, and I have just not had the energy. This year we had an opportunity to have our back yard tilled for free, so we took advantage and set up a small garden. It certainly doesn't have the advantage of raised beds and a lot of really good soil, but it's a start. So far we have some corn, pumpkins (that we started from seeds we saved from last year's Halloween pumpkins), tomatoes, cabbage and zucchini. We lost the starts we had planted of carrots, broccoli, lettuce and peas, and we are trying again with some of those. We also have plans to do some garlic and onions. I'm not sure how much success we will have, but next year when we are out of debt we will be able to bring in some better soil and build raised beds. For now we are trying to see what we can accomplish.

Do you garden? If so...how does your garden grow?

Wordless Wednesday

On Memorial Day two F-15 Eagles did a flyover in our area.

They were flying pretty fast so we only had a few moments to capture some shots.

D took pictures while I tried to capture video. I think he did a great job, especially considering how fast they were flying.

Happy Birthday Baby B!

One year ago today we welcomed Baby B into our family. I can hardly believe it has already been a whole year! Happy Birthday to my sweet baby girl!

In the Hospital

Blessing Day

She's a Smiler!

Mischief

First solid food

Sitting Pretty

When did my baby turn into such a big girl?

Happy Birthday B! WE LOVE YOU!

Wordless Wednesday

I'm feeling reflective today.

Wordless: a day late

We were driving along the beach last weekend when we spotted a bald eagle. Luckily we had the camera with us.

The shots aren't great, but we were excited to be able to get as close as we did. Hopefully we will get the chance again and will be able to get better shots.

Happy Mother's Day

This is a picture of my family. My parents are the ones seated in the middle of the picture, and other than my Aunt and Uncle, the rest of the people in the picture are my parents' posterity. Six children (five daughters and one son), four sons-in-law, and eleven grandchildren.

Happy Mother's Day Mom! A lot of people are glad that you are a Mom!

Wordless Wednesday

Wonder through a child's eyes.

(Click to enlarge)

Celebrating 13 years of Marriage

May 3rd 1996 marked the beginning of our Eternal Family. We were sealed for time and all eternity in the Portland Oregon Temple. This picture of the temple was taken that day.

This photo got some water damage, but it is still one of my favorites of our wedding day.

Our wedding party. We got married in the evening and had our reception the next day. We went very simple with things. I picked the fabric for the Bridesmaids dresses and let them pick their own patterns, other than that I asked that they be calf length dresses. Groomsmen rented the shirts, vests and ties which was less expensive than having them rent a whole tux but it still looked nice. My sister Myra did the flowers and her husband took the pictures.

Our cake was a gift from the mother of a close friend so really our costs were minimal. My dress was simple and I don't regret that one bit.

We started out so young...and skinny!

Thirteen years, six kids and a lot of pounds later, we are still happy and very much in love.

Happy Anniversary D! I LOVE YOU!

Fun with Family and Friends...

Last weekend I went on a little adventure. I try to get some time away every so often. It's supposed to happen once a year, but that is rarely the case. For me it has been almost two years since I went away from the boys overnight. I love my kids, but sometimes it's nice to have a little time away.
Last Friday Baby B and I went to Vancouver, WA and had a weekend visiting family and friends. Friday night, my sisters, Mom, Aunt, one of my nieces and I spent the evening together eating good food and talking. We played Apples to Apples and just had a nice time hanging out. Baby B and I spent that night at my parents. The next morning we got up and went grocery shopping with one of my sisters and my Parents. It may not sound like fun, but it was nice to be able to shop at WinCo since we don't have one where we live. After the shopping we went to breakfast with my Mom and Dad. Baby B did her usual flirting with the other people in the restaurant and one old lady wanted to take her home!
After breakfast we went back to my parent's house and I got ready to meet up with some of my favorite bloggers for lunch. Baby B took a little nap and then we met Millie, Bee (and her daughter), Sariah (who I had not met before and who is a lovely person) and DaPoppins at Red Robin. There was talking, laughing, baby holding, and good food. By the end of that Baby B was ready to throw in the towel. She was pretty crabby. Still, it was wonderful to see everyone and to meet Sariah as well as Bee's daughter and fun was had by all. Thanks girls!
After lunch, we ran a few errands and then headed up to stay at my sister Myra's house (Myra is the name she picked for me to use for her on my blog). Myra is just over three years older than me. We had a nice visit, she cooked a great dinner and then we stayed up late playing board games and then watched some Laverne and Shirley episodes on DVD.
The next morning I went to church in Millie's ward, although she wasn't there because of wicked allergies. It was still a nice sacrament meeting, and then I headed off to visit another one of my sisters The Pink Avenger, who lives near there. I cooked breakfast for her and her hubby and hung out for a while, and then I headed back home. All in all it was a fun weekend, and I enjoyed the break from noisy boys (and Baby B really enjoyed not having all those boys in her face). Still, it was lovely to come home and to see everyone, and Baby B laughed harder than I have seen her laugh before when her brothers did silly things to entertain her.
Thanks to everyone who let us crash at your house, and thanks to everyone that we got to visit! It was wonderful!