2011 Spring Garden

When we purchased our home 11 years ago, I never knew it would be so much work! However, during the Spring time, I LOVE to go outside and admire all the hard work that the guys do out back. Let me show you how hard Mark and the boys have worked this Spring. We now have 11 chickens laying and average about 8 eggs per day! 4 more will be ready to lay in late summer.
Mark has a great relationship with his chickens. They LOVE him and when they are out roaming, they follow him all over the yard. He takes great care of their little home.

This is our spring garden that we are hoping will produce lots of great vegetables to eat throughout the summer months.

We recently butchered our winter pig and these two are the newest smelly members of our family. They should be ready for the butcher shop right before Christmas!

Here are Branden and Donivan's berry plants. There are blackberry, strawberry and raspberry plants.

These are the lucky chickens who get to roam and take care of unwanted bugs. They produce eggs and leave them in the funniest places! Its an egg hunt every day!!!

This is my favorite chicken. I just love her colors. I just want to stuff her and display her in my kitchen! (Mark doesn't think that is such a great idea!)

These are the newest fruit trees. Two apples, two apricots and one plum! BTW - we are picking and canning the peaches this week! Come by and pick yourself some!

This is a new home for these chickens. We have had lots of scorpions in this part of our yard so Mark built a little area and put some of the chickens here to eat them. They squawk all day long because they miss their buddies in the back of the yard BUT they are taking good care of those nasty scorpions!

Our first zucchini of the season with many more to come!

It was an exciting day when we got our first white egg!

Mark LOVES the fact that all of his hard work is finally paying off and the kids come to visit every week and go home with eggs, fruit and someday soon, vegetables!

Look who just turned 17!

I just can't believe that Tanner turned 17 on May 6th! Spring is always such a busy time and his birthday sneaks up on us every year! One of his best birthday presents (Mom's too) was landing a job at Tilley's a couple of days prior.

We took Tanner out to lunch for his special day. He chose YC's and LOVES to pile it on! Michael happened to drop by the house that morning so he picked up Tessa on her lunch break and we all met up for a tasty lunch.

You go through a food line and pile your meat, vegetables and sauce as high as you can. Then you take it to the cooks and they throw it on a huge grill and cook it for you. See this bowl down here?
Tanner can really pack it in. After they cook it, it turns into two bowls.
And yes, he can eat the WHOLE thing!!!

Now that was a tasty lunch!

Happy Birthday Tanner!

Hotshot Ryan

Ryan has been working on the "horseshoe fire" in eastern Arizona for the past 12 days. He will be coming home for a much needed rest. We can't wait to see him and meet a new special friend that he has!!!

It is tough work! But someones gotta do it! At least thats what he keeps telling me!

Fathers & Son's

Mark was a proud pappa this year at Fathers & Sons. He had all 7 boys and 3 grandsons attend our ward's Father & Sons campout. They had such a great time and I wanted to capture every moment. (I would have LOVED to have been a fly on the wall or perhaps on a tree watching!

Homemade ice cream was a real treat!

I don't think this sweet little boy could have been any happier! His first opportunity to sleep in a tent with his Dad!

Saturday morning, everyone loaded up and went down the hill to do some shooting.

Then they stopped at 4 Peaks on the way home to do some quad riding.

Branden, Donivan and Tanner could not have been happier having all their older brothers there!

What great memories!

Inaugural Banquet

Anybody that knows Ryan understands that he doesn't miss any opportunity

that life throws at him. Especially when it comes to politics! In the spring he was approached and asked to run for a senate seat at NAU. Well he did and won by a landslide!

Mark and I had the priviledge of attending his Inaugural Banquet where he took his "oath of office"!

Congratulations Ryan!

Lets Go FISHING!

Santa brought the boys new fishing poles for Christmas. They were so patient with Dad but finally the first of February, they went fishing! They didn't travel far, just up the street in the pond on Higley Road by Bashas. Who cares where you go to fish, as long as there are fish to catch!

They waited so patiently and then all of a sudden, boy howdy, it became snack time for those fish!

They were catching them faster than Mark could release them off the hook!

FINALLY . . . Mark joined in on the fun!

No one is more excited than Mark when he catches a fish!

What a fun day they had!