My Garden!

This year I really felt like I wanted to start a garden. There isn't anywhere to put a garden on the ground, but we have a large deck and that is now where my garden stands. This is my first attempt at square-foot gardening... or gardening in general. I tend to have a hard time keeping plants alive so I really hope it survives. It looks good so far. Here is how I did it:

First I built a 4x4 foot box out of wood. It's 6 inches high.

The I built my wooden grid and drilled drain holes in each square.

Then we mixed up our soil. 1/3 peet moss, 1/3 vermiculite, and 1/3 compost.

Ready to plant. I made a couple extra tall boxes for my carrots and potatoes. (Tyler is blocking his eyes from the sun.)

Tyler is helping me plant some seeds. I could not have done this project with out Tyler and Donny's help.

All planted. We did some by seed and some by plant. We planted peppers, potatoes, cauliflower, cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, corn, yellow crooked neck squash, carrots, green beans, cantaloupe, and strawberries. Sounds like a lot but it all fit in this little box.

Except the zucchini. I planted it in it's own pot. Because I didn't want it taking over my whole garden. I am going to try to grow it vertical... on this stick.

And here is it is all finished! Now just to watch it grow! Lets hope I have a green thumb.

Everything I learned about square-foot gardening I learned from squarefootgardening.org. It has a lot of info just on the website. You can also buy a book about it. If my garden fails that will probably be my next step. I'll keep you posted on how it does.

Scissors

Tyler has recently found a great joy is cutting. Give him some scissors and paper and he will be entertained for quite some time. This first photo is a common scene at our house.

I have told him that he can only cut paper. He does this well. I find small pieces of paper all over my house. But recently I have been finding things like this:

I guess technically this is still paper right?

We might have to have another talk on what we can and cannot cut. :)

First trip to the Zoo 2011

The weather here in Atlanta area has been beautiful. Tyler and I went to the zoo with my friend Amy and 2 of her girls. We had so much fun. We could have spent all day there but we didn't, just means we will have to go back for more later.

Tyler got to ride on the train and Merry-go-round. He thought the train was loud so this is what he looked like the entire ride.

He loves Giraffes. So of course he picked the giraffe to sit on. It was the only animal that didn't go up and down. But He still had a blast since it was his first time riding on a Merry-go-round. He's waving in the picture, that is why his hand is blurry in front of his face.

They had a small petting zoo in the kids area. Tyler thought it was great. He got to pet some goats, sheep and pigs. The pig kept snorting at him and the girls. It was so funny and made the kids giggle.

We packed our own lunches. Although, Ty thought everyone Else's lunch looked better than his. He kept mooching goods off Amy. Stinker!

This is the momma panda bear. She just had a baby named "Po". He was hiding so I didn't get a photo of him. Maybe next time.

Gorilla!

Another Gorilla family and a little monkey!

The Rhino's and Elephants were the same color as the sand.

Tyler said the giraffes were his favorite but he was overly excited about the Meerkat's. They were so energetic and fun. Here is my little Meerkat.

I know it seems like all the photos are of Tyler lately. That's what you get when I am pregnant. I don't like pregnant pictures of me. Plus, Tyler just looks so cute. Don't worry, you will have another cute little face to look at in 2 months. :)

A beautiful spring weekend!

I had one of the best weekends in a long time. We didn't do anything to adventurous, but maybe that is what I liked about it. It was fun to spend a weekend at home with my little family. I love them so much.

Saturday we worked out in our yard. My handy husband was able to fix our lawn mower. It has had a few challenges. We still need some replacement parts but he was able to get it running long enough to mow down some of our weeds that we call grass. Meanwhile, Tyler helped me finish building my garden box. I am going to attempt square-foot gardening this year. I hope I don't have a black thumb. (I'll post pictures of the garden later) We also decorated the house for Easter/Spring.

Tyler asked me about 30 times on Saturday: "Is it Easter Day yet?" No matter how many times I told him it wasn't going to be for a long time, he kept asking. So to make the next 4 weeks not seem so long we made a countdown chain. Lets hope it satisfies him.

My little bunny!

I love this spring decor. My friend Chelsey actually made it, when she decided to get rid of it, I decided I'd like to inherit it. I love it!

Here is a picture of Tyler with one of his favorite foods. I wish olives still fit on my fingers.

Of course, we also watched General Conference on both Saturday and Sunday. I am thankful that we have the BYU channel on our basic cable package which made things so much easier. I enjoyed hearing from our prophet and all the other general authorities. My friend judged her favorite talk on the one that made her cry the most. If I was to do that, it would definitely be the talk given by Elder Richard G. Scott. What a wonderful talk. He talked about his wife and children that have already passed on. I loved how he talked about his relationship with his sweet wife. It makes me want to try harder to show Donny how much I love him. I am grateful to be sealed to my husband and children. I am so grateful for the knowledge of being an eternal family. I love my boys so much.

Tyler did very well during conference. I printed off some cute activities I found online. It helped keep him interested. I love that he can recognize President Monson and got so excited each time it showed him.

Here is a chain of the first presidency and the 12 apostles.

On this page he was supposed to draw a picture of himself. My mom says it looks like Charlie Brown. Donny thinks it looks like a Character from the night before Christmas. Either way, I think it is great!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend as well.

As Donny says " Today we sold our last shred of coolness to the minivan Gods." Well it's true. We have finally purchased our first car together as a couple. It is not the car we ever envisioned being our first, but it'll do. We are actually very excited to have this vehicle. It's been a while since we have had a second car. It is very spacious, and i love the stow and go seats! Tyler thinks it's the best thing ever! Here she is, our Dodge Grand Caravan:

We finally ventured down to Atlanta to see some of the attractions. This is us at the World of Coca-cola! (mostly pictures, i'll try to do better updates soon, but this is what you get for now.)He wonders why we won't let him drink his coke. (Tyler + caffeine = not a good thing.)
Tyler tasting the soda. Sugar rush!
We got to taste all kinds of flavors of soda. This was Donny's favorite from Africa. Although, my brother is in Uganda and he has never seen this kind. :( It was yummy though.
We went to a 3D movie and Tyler wasn't fond of the glasses. He preferred Mommy to wear his.
running around the museum with Daddy.
I'd like to order a coke, please!
Coca-cola bear!
The first coke machine!

Georgia!

So if you didn't already know, we moved to Georgia in January. I (Donny) started a new job with Lockheed Martin Aeronautics in Marietta, GA, where I work as an analyst on the C-130 program. They make airplanes like this one:

Here are some pictures of the big move from Utah to Georgia. Luckily the company paid to have us moved, so we flew to Georgia while our stuff traveled in a truck.  

All of our stuff, boxed very carefully (or maybe just a little un-carefully, thanks packing guys...), waiting to go on the truck.

Tyler loved the airport and the whole flying experience. It didn't even bother him that he threw up on the plane...

After we got to Georgia, we stayed in a hotel for about 10 days, including five or so that the whole area was completely shut down, thanks to the "Great snowstorm of 2011"

Once the area thawed, we were able to find a place and get our stuff. It seemed to take forever, but we're moved in and loving life! The people are really friendly here, and we've felt welcomed and comfortable. Here are some pictures of the house: