House Construction: May 4

Jump for Joy! It's almost done!!!

Happy Birthday Grandma Routsong!!!

The boys were so excited for Grandma's birthday! She even let them help blow out her giant candle!! What fun! Happy Birthday Grandma!!

Timmmmbbberrrrrr...

Whenever I am in Kendallville, Indiana I happen to have brand new experiences of which I never thought I would have. Well this particular day, I had 3 new experiences that a city girl from California never would think of!! First, Nate's dad found some wild mushrooms growing out in his land. They were mushrooms of a shape I have never seen before in my life. I think they were called sponge mushrooms or something like that and they looked like sea sponges that grow in the tide pools of Monterey Bay, California. Well he picked a bunch of them and fried them up on the stove for dinner. I have to say, they were actually quite yummy. I thought they sort of tasted like fried calamari, but that was just me.

Later that day, Nate's dad came to tell me that he found a swarm of bees. When I think of a swarm of bees, I think of Winnie the Pooh and bees following him. So I honestly didn't really know what to think of. So he shows me the swarm, and again, it is something I have never before seen!! Hundreds and hundreds of bees crawling on top of each other and completely covering one of his bushes. For some reason, they chose that bush, the Queen was there somewhere, so all those bees just decided to land there in a big pile! It was so crazy! I have never seen more bees at one time in my life!! So Nate's dad wanted to capture the bees. He got one of his beehive boxes down and set it down next to the bush. He shook the bush a little and shoved some bees into the box where they found some honeycomb. And then one by one the bees started to march off the bush into the box. It was an act of nature that was something I had never before seen! Pretty amazing. Several hours later, every bee had left the bush and was in the box. But by morning, they had decided they didn't like the box and they all left!!

My 3rd experience of the day: Nate's dad is remodeling his barn. He needed a tree cut down that would be in the way of the barn. So he got Nate all dressed up in his work coveralls and had him climb up this super tall tree and chainsaw it down. No, I have never seen a tree be cut down before, let alone have my hubby all the way at the top of it!!! So the boys and I and Grandma watched him cut down the tree and saw it crack and fall! Pretty cool! The boys thought it was awesome!! Thanks for all the fun exciting experiences in Kendallville!!

Mom & Me

Happy Easter 2010

Grandma Hutchinson sent an Easter package from Utah. The boys were so excited to open it and find tons of eggs and goodies! Thanks so much Grandma! They made these picture frames with some of the things in the package, and they decorated these big easter eggs. Cooper really caught on for the first time how elmers glue works. He sat there and put glue on each individual square all by himself and stuck it on his egg. He worked for a long time (as you can see tons of squares on his egg) and was concentrating very hard to get just the right amount of glue. It was adorable. He is learning so much!

We stayed at Nate's parents house for the weekend because it was General Conference and Easter this year. It was fun to do Easter stuff all week, decorate easter eggs and talk about the true meaning of Easter. I am so proud of Jaxton because he is so young, but he listens and understands things we teach him. We had a couple family home evenings on Christ and on Easter and taught him about what happened to Jesus. Of course we use his language, so we say that the bad guys hurt Jesus very bad and they put nails in his hands. He understands that bugs die and so when we told him that Jesus died because the bad guys hurt him so badly, he understood (as much as a 3 year old can). Then we explained with pictures that Jesus came back, that he woke up from being dead. And Jax, with his Primary understanding, said, "He was resurrected!" And it was fun to help him learn this, and let him know that we all will die someday too, but we will be resurrected and come back just like Jesus. What joy it brings to teach an innocent child such truth and to see them understand it!

So we had an easter egg hunt outside. It is so much fun having little ones who are so excited about things like the Easter Bunny and surprises. Nate came running in and said he heard the Easter Bunny. So we all went outside to see if we could see him hopping down the main road. We didn't see him, but we found lots of eggs! And baskets of goodies too!

Indiana Beauty

Springtime is at its fullest here in Indiana. The grass is already greener than green and we have had some 75 degree sunny days already this April. But with springtime comes the rain storms. And with rain, we are blessed with a rainbow from time to time. Beautiful!

I have never seen such weird and interesting clouds in my life. A dark black raincloud moving across the sky. Underneath the dark blackness, are mashed potato-like fluffy white clouds in the sun! How does that work? I couldn't help but take a picture! Fascinating beauty!

House Construction: April 2

Drywall

Kitchen area & loft above

Master bathroom windows

Great room & loft above

Great room

Dining room looking through to the great room (there will be a banister there)

House Construction: April 1

Insulation & Beginning Drywall

Garage entrance

Kitchen
Great room/front door in the distance

Great room with loft up above

Master bedroom

Boy's Bedroom

Basement

Front of House & Dining room window

Front of house & Office window

Garage stone

Bubble Wrap

Nate got a huge package of equipment today. Inside, the boys found a treasure!! Bubble Wrap, and lots of it!! It was the highlight of their day. All day long I heard bubbles popping from being jumped on and pinched. What simple pleasures!!

House Construction: March 25

Work on the Exterior of the House

Front View from Dupont Road

Back view from Hardisty Road: Siding & trim partway done

Dining Room window

Great room windows & back siding

Back of house siding & trim work

Happy St. Patricks Day

St. Patricks Day has always been a special holiday in our family, because my sister Becky gets to celebrate a green birthday every year on March 17. Happy Birthday Becky! The big 23!! This year, Jaxton had preschool on St. Patricks Day and they went all out with the holiday! The kids made 4 leaf clover hats, wands, and ribbons proclaiming their loyalty for Ireland. Then at the end we were invited to see their St. Patrick's Day Parade! What fun. Even Cooper got to be a part of the parade! It was one of the first nice sunny days yet this spring. What a fun day!

Cooper & Mom Time

Jaxton is at preschool 2 mornings a week, so Cooper and I get some time to spend together. It is really fun to give him all my attention, and he loves it! Here we are playing his most favorite game. It takes years to get all set up and then is over in about 30 seconds!! That's the excitement of a 2-year-old!

House Construction: March 15

They have all the stone laying outside ready to put up on the exterior of the house.

Here is all the siding for the back and sides of the house ready to put up.
Can't wait!