Wild Blackberries, Beavers and Other Things of Interest

Point of Interest No.1...Strange but cool table centerpiece-

does anyone out there want to guess what it is?:o)

I'll give you one hint- it came from our garden!

Yum! Home-made popsicles!

These are made only from orange juice concentrate

and yogurt, so they're fairly healthy.

Matter-a-fact you could even have one for breakfast!

Wild blackberry picking! Damien and Aubrey went over

to a place nearby and picked some lovely, wild blackberries.


Isn't he just too cute?!:o)

Awesome! And the berries made some good blackberry cobbler!

Thank you, boys!

A perspective on life from inside a silo...

There was an old silo on the land the boys were berry picking on

and it made for some interesting photography.

While they picked berries they also watched deer,

eating in the field-

and the deer watched them picking berries!

Virginia creeper or ivy growing up the outside,

you can see growing down the inside at the top

of the old silo.

The old bridge out behind our place-

Kinda picturesque, isn't it...

Aubrey on the creek-

Ty took the picture from the bridge.

The bridge is old and becoming really dilapidated-

Doesn't look very safe anymore really!

This is an awesome shot, but it almost gives you a turn

when you think about Ty taking it from the edge of that rickety old bridge!

(Or maybe that's just because I'm his Mom!:o)

Our creek out back...
What a great place for our children to grow up-

The wonders and beauty of God's creation

are just the best- how blessed we've been!

One of the members of our beaver family-

Isn't he/she a cute and clever little thing!

A clearer shot of a beaver friend-

And a nice little bass that got to go back in:o)

And I just had to post some of our trip to

Silver Dollar City yesterday.

They are having what they call "moonlight madness"

right now, and maybe it is a little "mad" because they stay open 'til

10:00pm- but we wanted to experience it, getting to ride rides etc.

after dark when it's warm (they are open late during the

Christmas season too, but often it is colder then)

And I must say, it was really cool, and alot of fun!

This is another silly hat picture, what is it with these

crazy hats anyway?!:o) Here they are enjoying the hat moment

with a few friends we were privileged to spend part of the day with.

Only if you notice, Baby wasn't on the picture above-

And alittle later he mentioned it to Big Brother,

who like the doting big brother he is, headed back to the

"hat store" so Baby could try a hat on too!

Doesn't Jensy look adoringly impressed!

Oh, the joys of candle dipping!

I told Kait that next time we go to SDC

we would go to the candle shop and she could dip

some candles. So here is my promise being fulfilled!

She picked a pair of unicorns and made them

pink and orange and the other one purple and yellow.

And now they're hanging in her little girl bedroom-

Daddy and Jensy having a lemon-ade break-

As you can see, it was dark!

Chad and Aubrey playing a game of

Checkers and Aubrey being the kind boy he is,

said that I could mention that Chad won!

Jens amusing himself with a wooden tic-tac-toe game.

East or west, Home is best!

And as a parting word of thanksgiving

for all God's goodness to all of us-

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!

His faithful love endures forever."

Happy 5th Birthday, Kaitriana!

Our little princess turns five years old!

I've made Kaiti a new birthday dress every year for her birthday-

just our little "tradition":o)

I have fun with different fabrics and different styles/patterns.

This year we decided to do a butterfly birthday so I was tickled to

find this little butterfly headpiece and wings at a

garage sale shortly before her birthday.
Just what we needed for our special butterfly effect!:o)

Where has the time gone, Sweet Little Girl?

Kaiti was the only one who waited 'til her due date to come-

Her brothers were all in a hurry, I guess!

She was born at home on a beautiful Monday morning in June-

We couldn't have asked for a nicer birth or

a lovelier little girl!

~Her butterfly cake~



Little cousins share in the birthday fun!




Mommy & Daddy and
our precious Kaitriana Elizabeth~
God bless you sweet little lady!




Make a wish!

Presents! What fun!

Standing with Nana for a birthday picture

with her card and 5$ from Nana.

One thing we've tried to do is help our little birthday children

maintain a good level of gratitude at their birthday party instead

of manifesting a spirit of greed- so I like if after they open a gift they

personally thank and hug the giver instead of greedily

ripping open one gift after another!

After all, nothing good we receive in life, we deserve,

and what better time to learn gratefulness

and thankfulness than when a child!

Birthday gifts from her big brothers-

Damien gave her new sunglasses and

Ty, our outside man/gardener brother

gave her the garden/yard tools.

Aren't they cute!

Surprise, Kaiti!

Finally, after so many boy bikes we got to buy a little girl one!

Up until now she had just used hand-me-downs from her brothers,

which was fine, but it was time to get her her own.

Maybe Mommy & Daddy enjoyed the idea as much as Kaiti!:o)

For a fun party activity we decorated butterfly-shaped

cookies- just the sort of thing little girls (and boys) love!!!

A bit more sugar and food coloring than I really

care to think about in one place at one time,

but hey, a little girl's 5th birthday only

comes once in a lifetime!!!:o)

As you can see we do like to make a big deal for birthdays!

But besides liking a good party, I see it this way-

Every life is a divine blessing from God and

every year is a gift from Him to be

celebrated and thankful for, so-

Let the festivities begin!

Happy 5th birthday, Kaiti Dear-

We all love you!

Silver Dollar City!

Yay! Silver Dollar City! We don't nearly always get seasons passes,

but we decided to this year...

Here is the bunch in front of the "huge marble" outside

the Red Gold Heritage Hall-

(Mommy was taking the picture:o)

You can actually move this thing...it's in water!





WATER...

IN GEYSER GULCH!

Jensy was not so impressed with the rides!

Matter-a-fact he would much rather enjoy watching

his favorite people enjoy them!!!

Chad, Aubrey, and Ty
on one of the big swings...

Daddy, Damien and Kaiti--can you find 'em on here?

The butterfly kiddie ride is more Mommy's speed!

Sad to say, she's not even as brave and daring as little Kaiti!

There were these two strange birds we met there that day...

they were actually really nice guys, but I guess you could say,

a good lesson in not judging a book by it's cover!:o)

Two more "nice guys"...

do they put nice guys in stocks???:o)

Damien and Kaiti at the Carousel Barn

where you can play with all sorts of fun things.

These had magnets in the ends of them and balls with

magnets in them too, to build things with.

Damien and Jens playing with foam dough-

And the ball deal...what fun!!!

It's so noisy but so much fun!

Jensy loved this place!

Having a yummy skillet lunch...

Well at least some of us had skillet, one of

our favorite foods to eat at SDC:o)

Awefully good at home too, this time of the year,

with all our wonderful homegrown veggies!

~Lost River of the Ozarks~

All of us on a lost river boat ride except Daddy & Jensy-

Here they come!

There they go!

~Wildfire~

A ride the guys like...

beyond me, why...but some people are like that!:o)

The end of a fun day...well, there was still the long ride home,

and a kind of "squished" one at that,

but when you're with people you love and enjoy being with

THE FUN CONTINUES-

LIFE IS A JOY!