Blessed with Bounty

This year, we’ve been working so hard on keeping up our garden (and getting our hands pretty dirty) that it’s been hard to remember to take pictures of our harvest. We have had an ABUNDANCE of food including, zucchini, cucumber, onions, lettuce, carrots, and cherry tomatoes. We also enjoyed a few tomatoes, green peppers (just ripening now), and peas.

Though we are now down one chicken (the other “ran away”), our single little hen seems to be trying to make up for what is lost. Look what we found one morning for breakfast inside a particularly large egg.

Also, we feel blessed to be expecting another baby in our home, counting each member of our little family as a sacred gift from God. Cadence has been gearing up by cuddling and “putting to bed” his stuffed animals, with no encouragement at all from his parents. So cute!

Last, we feel so blessed to have a been able to listen to a prophet of God speak, President Thomas S. Monson at the General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. What is a prophet of God, as God’s mouthpiece, saying today? Be grateful. Check out the entire talk by clicking on the hyperlink. It was a beautiful sermon and one I will be reading over and over again. We are grateful for his leadership and I know that by following the counsels of a prophet of God (ex: planting a garden, storing food, becoming self-reliant, & to multiply & replenish the earth), our family has been blessed with bounty!

Capturing Cadence

I was watching some old videos of Cadence the other day (at 3 weeks, 3 months, etc.) and I really started to wish I had taken more videos. Though we don't have the greatest camera, the videos really brought back some sweet memories.
With this inspiration, enjoy the next couple videos. Just Cadence, being Cadence, like every other day. I love it!

Catching Up! Part 2 – The Craziest Week

As I said before, after almost a month of being sick, we had one of the craziest weeks of our lives, which included:

1. Our chicken “ran away” – I took Cadence in to get the eggs and the chickens hurried out of the coop. I couldn’t get them back in, but had to get ready for the temple. I quickly took a shower and came back outside to find only one! After searching almost 24 hours for it (off and on) we found out a little boy decided he was going to pick one up and take it home. We’re still trying to track him down, so if you see a white leghorn chicken with a little boy (4-5 yrs. old) in the center of Provo, PLEASE let us know! I’m missing the 2 eggs a day & I think our other chicken is lonely!

2. Our washer overflowed – again! I know, I know..we’ve needed a new one since we’ve moved in really. This time it FLOODED the kitchen and spilled into the living room. After using all my towels, baking soda, a friend’s carpet cleaner, and a fan, it’s mostly fixed. The carpet is still smelling a little funny.

3. Cadence ran away! I was on the computer and he was happily playing beside me. In a matter of about 1-2 minutes he went out the backdoor (which I forgot was open) down and down about a block (across the street). I ran frantically to find him and found him safely with a policeman who just “happened” to come around the corner just as he ran across the street. After giving them some information to finish their report, Cade now has a juvenile record and has been termed a “wanderer”. Just in case he does it again, they will know where to go to find parents. I felt like a horrible mom and cried for about an hour. I hope I never have to experience that again!

Catching Up!

The last month has been CRAZY! We were sick a good majority of August (so July’s final posts fell by the wayside) and as soon as we were better, I had a baby shower to plan, followed by one of the craziest weeks in a long time. Needless to say – time for a “short” recap with some fun pictures to catch up.

JULY:

1. Priesthood Campout. Father & son’s first year together, though they didn’t end up staying the night because we headed to bear lake.

2. Bear Lake – our yearly trip with Illinois buddies (& wives). The guys swim suits were almost identical – too funny!

Cade had a blast playing in the sand and water but it didn’t last long because he was cold.

Cadence found a new love for “driving the car”. Ever since, it’s been a struggle to get him to sit in “his seat” in the car.

3. Cadence and Mommy took a half day at Hogle Zoo. We only had time to see a couple of animals and the bird show. We especially liked signing with the gorilla (no pics sorry)!

Cadence Signs

Cadence knows quite a few signs for his age, but it is a whole different story when Uncle Jon is signing with everyone. Check out Cade in this video trying to sign with everyone else (even though not much is actually being signed). So cute!

Cadence @ 1 1/2 years

Loves eating vegetables, now that we grow them ourselves, and an independent little climber!

Really good at stacking (and making messes).

Loves the slide, “Whee!” He always says.

Any type of water usually also gets a “whee” rating.

Stickers!

Figuring out how this work.

Loves throwing rocks into the holes in our shed.

…and still wants to be just like dad!