Harsha's Visit!!

The Harsha family came for a visit in June. The kids all had a blast playing together, and Traci helped out after Grandma T.'s surgery. It was so great to see them!!Traci and Ben!Grandma and Papa T. with all the kids!!

This was such a great day, we took a picnic to the park and Grandma felt well enough to come along!!

What a great looking bunch!!!

We also went to Fairy Tale Town! This was especially fun for the little kids, but we all had a good time!
Aidan, Ben and Isaac!!
Hannah, Elise and Camille!!
Cheesy!!! But very cute!!
We will miss the cousins, and can't wait to get together again!

Our Growing Garden!!

Here is our garden now (well, two weeks ago)!!

As you can see it is really growing.

This is our tomato and cucumber bed. We have a yellow pear tomato, a Mr. Stripey, and two cherry tomatoes. Isaac and I started the cucumber and cherry tomatoes from seed, and gave away the extras to some friends. It was really fun and now we are both anxiously waiting our first tomato! When we pick a cucumber it disapears as soon as we cut get it washed and sliced. Even the kids know homegrown is better!

This bed has our Peter Pan squash, flowers, onions, leeks, and bush(oops, pole) beans. It has become clear that we have had another plant label mix up from the nursery. We bought 16 bush beans and 6 pole beans, then we planted and trellised accordingly. When our bush beans sent out shoots and our pole beans just grew into squat little plants, we knew there was a problem.

Brian improvised by putting a trellis on both sides of the clump of (now pole)beans, and they are doing well!

This is our zucchini and pepper bed. We have six different peppers and two zucchini. I have been cutting the leaves off the zucchini to keep them from shading the peppers. This has made the zucchini plants look lopsided, but they are still producing more than we can eat!

OKRA!!

This is my favorite! Well, I suppose tomatoes are a really close second. We pick them when they are about 3-4 inches long, skewer them, and grill them with olive oil, salt & pepper. YUM!

Peter Pan Squash, this is Brian's favorite! It is new to us, but is delicious. We roast it whole on the BBQ then slice it, and eat it with olive oil, salt & pepper!

From Grass to Garden!!

Here are the pictures of our latest adventure:
a kitchen garden.

I thought I should give this blog a great title, like from one of my favorite books. So, I considered

which really does describe what we have done. We have removed our lawn in the backyard and replaced it with a garden. This book by H.C. Flores is really great reading and I definitely love the passion Flores has for growing food. But another book came to mind, and seemed just as appropriate.

William Alexander writes about his adventure into gardening, and the economic impact it can have. We haven't broken down the costs of our garden, simply because we really don't want to know!! We love our new garden and that is all that really matters!!

So, here it is, from grass to garden!

First, we assembled the work crew, and dug up the sod.

(Yes, it is the same sod we laid in fall when we were trying to sell the house!)

After the sod was gone we spray painted the bed layout.

Brian is always looking for an opportunity to rent a piece of big machinery! The rototiller made quick work of the backyard. We have clay soil, so we added amendments to the soil.

Then Brian made the raised beds!!

We have two 4x5, one 4x10, and one 1.5x9 garden beds. They are each 12 inches deep. Brian made a screen to sift dirt clods, and the kids had fun helping!
(Any reason to play in the dirt makes them happy!)

Opal enjoyed lounging in the shade of the wheelbarrow while we worked!

Brian and Camille added irrigation to each bed. Here in northern California we won't see rain again until the fall, so watering becomes an important part of the garden plan.

OK, I am helping too! I just seem to be the one who always takes the pictures!

Here it is!

Our garden beds, somewhat planted. After all this work, the adventure has really just begun. Stay tuned...

Our Soccer Star!!

This spring, since he is just three, we signed Isaac up for soccer through the local parks and recreation district. He goes once a week to play, learn skills and have fun. He just loves it!!

He didn't want to stop to have his picture taken!!

Isaac is a natural! He seems to be in his element while playing soccer. He listens to his coach, follows directions and has been making new friends. It is so much fun to see him doing something he loves!
Isaac also has his very own cheerleader: Camille!

A Snow Adventure!

Delight yourselves in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

God is so good to us!

Brian has a friend with a place on the lake. Lake Tahoe to be exact. And by on the lake, I mean ON THE LAKE! We got to spend the weekend at South Lake Tahoe in a funky little place on the lake. When I woke up Sunday morning, I opened the curtains to the bedroom, and did my quiet time looking out at this view! The verse that came to mind at that moment was Psalm 37:4, Delight yourselves in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Sometimes God grants us the desires we didn't even know we had, like spending the weekend in the snow and waking up to enjoy the beauty of God's marvelous creation!

Aidan, who used to profess a strong hatred for the snow, had a great time! He even liked sliding down the hills without a sled!
Isaac and I had fun on the slopes(can you call a sled hill that?)!

Isaac LOVED the snow! He rode with anyone willing to share a sled, or went by himself! It was great fun to see him pulling the sled up the hill over and over again. I think it was helpful that we all had decent snow gear this time!

Camille did not enjoy the snow, or the cold weather! This first picture was taken right away when we started sledding. Camille soon began to cry, and was miserable the rest of the time. I tried to put her in the sled so she could sit down, but she laid down and cried(the picture below). Eventually I took her back to the car and put on a movie for her while Brian stayed and played with the other kids. The next morning it was 26 degrees(without the windchill coming off the lake) we tried to walk in town a bit, but Camille just cried and cried. We have had this problem with her before in the cold, no matter how bundled she is, she hates the cold! I think she would prefer a vacation to a tropical place!! Elise also loved the snow this time. Having good boots and snowpants made all the difference for this trip! She had a blast sledding and playing in the snow!
The kids in front of the lake!
This is a tunnel we drove through, the kids thought this was very cool!We had an awesome time! The kids were all good, the weather was great and the views were fantastic! God is so good to us!

Rock Climbing!

Elise's Brownie Troop went indoor rock climbing, and we all went along to cheer her on. I know she was a little nervous about the event because she isn't a fan of heights. However, once we got to the rec. center she belted up and was ready to hit the wall. We are very proud of her for trying something new(and a little scary!)! She did great and says she would like to go again.


While we were watching the girls climb, I looked down to see Isaac getting belted up! It was very fun to see Isaac give rock climbing a shot as well. He weighed barely enough, and had trouble with the harness. Brian had to put him on the wall(he couldn't pull the harness that far by himself) and he was able to climb up a little. He had a blast!!

Rock climbing was a success!! And both Isaac and Elise want to do it again! We will keep you updated for when they ring the bell at the top of the wall!

A Very Busy December!!

December started out with a wonderful holiday concert by Aidan's band at school.

He plays the trombone, and we have enjoyed watching his interest in music grow!!

(Doesn't he look so grown up?)

Next, we celebrated Camille's 2nd birthday with a Dora Party!! Grandma and Papa Taylor came to help celebrate.
Camille knew just how to blow out candles and open presents. She had a great time!
Then there was the persimmon harvest.

Some of you may know that my(Staci's) favorite fruit is the Fuyu Persimmon, which is the delicious, firm variety. I have always felt that a home is not a home without a Fuyu Persimmon tree in the yard!! So I waited patiently for the landscaping to be completed to plant the best of all fruit trees. The landscaper brought a tree labeled Fuyu Persimmon, planted it, and we(I) waited patiently again for it to fruit.

Here it is!!

If you know anything about persimmons, you know that this is NOT a Fuyu Persimmon, but the other variety "that which must not be named". It is in fact a large, soft, fleshy fruit. I thought this might be true early in the season as the small fruit appeared on the tree. They were curiously tear drop in shape. I tried to remain positive, but at last I had to admit that I did not have a Fuyu Persimmon tree. Due to my dislike for this variety, I have googled recipes for jam. I will try to make the best of a bad situation. (I already have a spot picked out in the yard for my next Fuyu Persimmon tree!!!)

CHRISTMAS!!

We had a great Christmas! The kids woke up early to open their stockings. Santa is always so good to the kids! Camille wins the prize for the best bed head (we often sing My Hair Had a Party Last Night when we see her in the morning!) Then Grandma and Papa Taylor came by for breakfast and to open gifts. They went home for lunch with uncle Terry and Tori, but brought Tori back for Christmas dinner that evening. We celebrated Feliz Navidad with tamales and street tacos, it was delicious!!

SAN FRANCISCO!!

We planned before Christmas to take the kids to the San Francisco Zoo on the 27th, but the zoo was closed because of the recent tiger mauling. So, we went to Pier 39 and the Aquarium on the Bay. The kids touched sea life in the tidal pools (including sharks). We also walked through tubes underneath the fish tanks that surrounded us with the sea creatures you would actually encounter if you were diving in the bay!

Elise is feeling a sea cucumber!

Everyone got in on the action!!

Out on a pier, we posed for a picture. The bay is behind us, with Angel Island in the background. We had such a fun day!

We had a very busy and fun December!!