Berries & More

~ Another first ~

 for Joy 

The annual trip to the berry farm was delayed and the strawberries missed. 

We made it for blueberries, blackberries and raspberries. 

And, all, enjoyed the day.

Picking Blackberries. Stealing Blueberries.

 Running through the fields

Tree Climbing

The barn

Taking a Cold-Sarsaparilla break

To enjoy the fruits of our labor, we all worked together to make a Triple Berry Crumb Topped Pie with Vanilla Ice Cream for dessert during movie night. 

A visit to Abe

A little homeschooling field trip.....

A trip to DC to get my travel visa so that I can enter China and adopt our little Joy, ended up with a side trip to visit Abe. We've studied him last year and this year in our homeschool history studies and it seemed fitting that since we just finished our 3rd Abe book, that we stop by and see his Memorial one more time.


Honest Abe


On the Steps of the Memorial: Washington Monument in the background with the reflecting pool under construction


And our first little side step over to the Korean War Memorial...

A little trip to the river

Summer


Awe, it's a breath of fresh air.


Beaches ~ Fishing ~ BBQ ~ Hiking ~ Friends ~ Family


I love these summer moments.

A Little July Hike

We've made this same hike before...in the snowy winter...at the end of spring...now, in the summer. Anytime of year, this hike is wonderful.

Lunch by the water



The 5 kids at play


Boys being boys



And, girls exploring nature




These moments are the moments that make life special.

Down on the boardwalk...

We just love, love, love Baltimore Harbor


We took my little brother their for the first time last Saturday.


When I am there, at the harbor, I get that "awe, this is home..." and "life is good..." feeling.


It's just one of those feel-good favorite places.

It's Spring

From time to time, I look back at my blog here and think "Wow, I have some beautiful kids. And beautiful memories." I don't update much. We all have this thing now, you know, called "Facebook" and it's seem easy to post a picture each day or an album there on a special day. And, well, blog-land gets forgotten about. But what a beautiful collection of memories we gather here on these blogs. Let's be honest, it's really for us, not for the world. We like to look over our entries and remember how precious time is. How fleeting it is that our kids grow up and change. How blessed we are to have these special moments worthy of blogging over, worthy of capturing on camera. Worthy of remembering.

Today I post a few special memories from the past few months.

A family field trip to Annapolis...my sweeties, all 5 of them...how I adore them.


Another family field trip. Washington, D.C's Cherry Blossom Festival. Me and my Bug. She's grown so much and just celebrated her 4th birthday.


My son. My heart-throb. Running through the sprinklers on a warm Easter Sunday. I love him. Oh, I love him!


Look at my beauties. Kya and Autumn, all growing up, becoming such wonderful little ladies. Here they are on Easter Sunday in their "twin dresses". They just bless me so much. It's amazing to watch them grow.


Lord, thank you for these little ones, for my love Dale, for all the blessings you bring me each season of my life.

"Just Take A Hike"

At some point and time we all cross a bridge in deciding how to handle a situation...


When you get turned away at the DMV because you don't have the right docs even though your DL expires in 6 days...just "take a hike". Seriously...even if it's 39 degrees and you've had no breakfast. Seize the moment with the little people in your life.






Then when you are all done, stop by Panera and have a pastry and coffee by the fire place.


~ Dawn & Autumn's unexpected date (thanks to the DMV). ~

DC in the Winter

My girlfriend, Jen, and her girls came up for a few days. We all went to DC one of the nights and it was neat because I had never seen DC at night time...very pretty. And it was nice to see the National Christmas Tree.