The Growing Garden

Our garden has really gotten off to a good start!
It's fun going out to check on our little project everyday. There is always something to do - weed, stake up the tomatoes, weed, water, stake up the tomatoes, weed, water and so on... We are thinking about expanding it next year, based on how well it goes this year. This is our "trial" year to check it out.

We were SO EXCITED to see this awesome squash!!! The kids were excited too! We all went out to the garden together to take pictures and then pick the goodies! We were able to pick one squash and one zucchini (what do you do when you have 3 children that want to pick the vegetables and only 2 veggies to pick!!??). I cut them up, rubbed them with olive oil, threw a little salt and pepper on them and grilled them. They were my birthday present to myself today!!! The whole family loved it and the Millers got to come over and share them with us too. (Yes, one squash and one zucchini went a long way!!)

After a little more digging around, we saw a cucumer. I didn't even know we planted cucumbers. Yah! A yummy salad treat! We'll let him keep growing for a while longer though. We also have lots of tomatoes that are working on ripening. They are going to be delicious (and good, as my kids would say!!) Now if we can only take care of the blossom rot problem!!! :)

Let the good garden times roll! (Look how big that corn is getting!!!)

A Day at the Farm 2010

We took our annual trip to the farm today!
I can remember doing this with my older kids and now it is so much fun to take Blake. He was looking forward to his "field trip" all week. We went with lots of our friends.

Blake really liked the fluffy bunny. He wanted to hold it and so he "helped" to hold it. I can tell by his facial expression that he is so excited!!! He was making some crazy faces today!!
There were no baby calves to feed but this sweet little goat was fun to feed! He was really gentle to feed (compared to the baby calf).

We were amazed at this really big pig!

And finally, the hayride was a big hit. I was instructed by Blake to keep my arms tightly wrapped around him the whole time. This picture of him cracks me up because this is his "I am not going to smile at you" face. We get this a lot!

Our farm trip was a blast! So glad we could go!

The New Bike

Josh got a new road bike a couple of weeks ago. He really loves riding his bike. He rides his bike to work when he can. It is around 28 miles round trip. Here is a picture of Josh coming home.

Look at those beautiful clouds!...and my hubby on his bike having fun and getting a great workout!!!

The School Play

Last Thursday the 1st the 2nd graders had a performance at school. They sang a few songs for the parents. The theme was "Unsung Heros". The songs were dedicated to all the heros at school that don't always get the thanks they deserve - the secretary, the nurse, the bus driver, the cafeteria workers, etc. It was really cute! If you look closely, you can see Tyler on the right side of the closest risers. He is on the top row. This is a really bad quality picture. I am having a hard time downloading pics tonight so it will just have to do...Anyway...
Here is Tyler getting ready for the performance.

Madison was "Anna" who got a sunburn in Aruba. She was so cute in her swim gear. She was super excited to get an "actor" part in the play.

Here is our "Anna" with a major sunburn!!!

Oh the joys of elementary school!!

Our Garden

The Miller-Martin crew has started our first garden together! All our kids (plus one neighbor girl) helped to plant something in the garden. It seems fun now but we'll see how fun they think it is when we start picking weeds in the dead of summer!!

It is definitely a "city garden". We won't be planting an acre of corn and an acre of beans but it gives us something to start with and learn! We have peppers, onions, beans, corn, tomatoes, cilantro, basil and watermelon. Josh worked so hard to put up our fence so the bunnies don't eat our food before we do. Everyone did such a great job!!

And of course, it can't be all work and no play! I have a feeling that the daily watering of the garden will never get old! We'll update our garden adventures as the spring/summer continues!!!

Our Annual Beach Trip

It was our annual trip to the beach this weekend.
We go for rest (of course we don't get much of that), relaxation and the pool!!!
The kids had so much fun in the pool. They went 3 times within 24 hours. HOURS at the pool! Strike a pose Jamie!!!

This almost looks like we cropped Madison in the picture sitting down in the air!! :)

She was doing a fancy jump though!!

Tyler doing a "cannonball" - with a picture perfect smile!

Our little Blake was so funny! He was a little reserved about getting in the pool on Saturday morning. He didn't want you to let go of him at all and he had real anxiety about being in the water. When asked if he wanted to get in, he said, "no. I said no!" After an hour of being in the pool, he warmed up to being in the water. By that night, he was Mr. Independent and jumping in the pool with his water ring. I was so afraid he was going to slip right out of that ring but he never did. He was great entertainment for us to watch!

Here's a picture of the Pool Dominators! We can out swim, out last and out splash any one! Just ask all the other people that tried to come to the pool while we were there! It was kind of funny to see other people come and quickly go after a little taste of the Miller-Martins.

It was a gorgeous weekend to spend at the beach! The weather was perfect! It's hard to believe that a month ago we were playing in the snow!

The kids were building a large fort and it kept them occupied for the longest time. We finally had to tear them away from it so we could leave.

This weekend has given me summer fever! Let's skip spring and head right into the lazy days of summer! (except you can keep the summer electric bill!!!)

We ended our short and FUN trip to the beach with seafood and DQ!! Yum!!

PERFECT weekend!

Goodbye beach! I shall miss you until we meet again this summer....

Madison's Special Day

We are so proud of our Madison! She turned 8 this week and she was baptized this weekend. We had such a great weekend with our family visiting. It made the day even more special!
Here is Madison in her beautiful white dress (side note - $6 two years ago at JCPenny!! - I planned carefully!! :) ). Madison was truly blessed to have Dad baptize her.
Look how tall she is getting compared to Dad!!!! The time really flies!!

Her Primary leaders gave her a special CTR towel to use after her baptism. She really loved it! She was so filled with excitement that she had the chills before her baptism so it worked out really good for a blanket too! Thanks for the towel fantastic Primary leaders!!! :)

Madison's favorite part of her baptism was actually being baptized in the water - even though the water was FREEZING cold!!

It was such a special day with our friends and some of our family there (we missed everyone who couldn't be there!!).

We are very proud of Madison and her decision to be baptized. She is such a sweet little spirit that tries so hard to do what is right.

We love you Madison!