Spring time activities

I'm so grateful to my four sisters who took the time from their busy lives to come and visit me and Rick and offer their love and support after Jake passed away.  They came on a Friday night and we enjoyed a salmon dinner and a sleep over at my home.  We talked and talked for hours and finally headed to bed.  The next day we planned to take a lovely walk along the river trail, but it was pouring rain and so we ventured out but didn't last long.  They will probably kill me for posting this hilarious picture, but hey, it shows smiles all around and the fact that we had a good time, no matter the weather.  We had lunch at a Thai restaurant and did some shopping.  We went and saw Jordan and her family's new home.  I introduced some of them to the wonders of the George Foreman grill and we bee-lined it to Target to pick some up for their grilling enjoyment.  They gave us this beautiful planter and HUGE geranium that Jan brought with her from Idaho.  It will be a constant reminder of their weekend visit and of their love.  Sisters are the best and I'm so thankful for my four.  They are wonderful women and I love them.

Rick routinely has training meetings or conferences out of town.  Now that I am retired, I get to tag along and enjoy all the various locations to which he travels.  We had a lovely, relaxing visit to the Homestead resort.  While he is in meetings, I get to do my own thing and take along a project or two to work on.  It was lovely weather and so relaxing to visit the Homestead.

Rick takes such good care of our lawn.  He has also mowed the lawn of a single sister in our ward for nearly 20 years.  Mowing after a rain storm turned his legs green and hairy with grass.  Couldn't resist taking this funny picture. Rain or shine, he gets his yard work done!

I love flowers.  I love how cheery they are and I love to have as many as I can get around my home.  I enjoy gardening and sprucing things up.  Rick has been giving me flower baskets for Mother's day for the last several years and I love them. We spend a Saturday in our yard in early spring getting it ready for summer, planting, weeding and cleaning it up.  I always love the end result, although we are exhausted by the end of the day.

This spring we pulled out two ever green trees that were overgrown and ugly.  In the place of one, we planted a salsa garden complete with onions, tomatoes, peppers, cilantro, basil and dill.  Can't wait for it to mature so that we can pick vine ripe tomatoes and such.

This brown spot shows where the other tree was located.  With the help of some neighbors who knew what they were doing, they helped us cut it down and pull out the roots.  We planted new grass seed and hopefully it will fill in and look good in a few months.

This is my view as I take my daily walk.  I live in such a beautiful place and I'm grateful for the beauties of this world. Beauty makes me happy and content and I'm so thankful for God's creations.