When it is warm...

Last week was a little bit warmer and we were able to go outside and play.



At the park - on the swings.


At Grandma's - playing on swing set.

(Kenna looks cold- but she really wasn't)

Our New Trees

Becky and I have done a lot in our yards since we moved in three years ago. This year we decided to finally get rid of the trees that have been bothering us. First, we had an apricot tree in our back yard that has been in horrible shape. It was old, overgrown, and gave very bitter fruit. So after 3 years of pruning and watering for three years we decided that it was time to be cast into our neighbors fire.

In the front yard we had three quaking aspen, which while very pretty, send out annoying shoots all over our yard. While trying to control the baby trees I think I accidentally killed one of the parent trees. So We figured that if we had to remove one, we might as well remove all of them.

To replace the Apricot tree we ordered a Peach tree from Gurney's Nursery. We got the Contender Peach, which is supposed to withstand early frosts.

For the front yard we wanted to get something that would be unique and be able to survive our Idaho winters. After perusing the Gurney's Catalogue we decided to order a Katsura tree.


The Katsura tree is a Japanese tree that is known for its many colors that it displays throughout the year.

It is also well known for an odor that it releases in the fall that is compared to ginger bread, cotton candy, or caramels. One owner on the internet posted that the only problem he has had with the tree is that during the fall it causes him to constantly crave French Toast.





So we have been very excited to receive our trees in the mail and have worked hard to remove our old trees so that the new would have good homes ready for them. Our trees arrived in the mail today, and so now all we have to do is wait for them to grow.



The Katsura is the stick with the green tape on it. We were a little sad that the bambo pole we bought as a support was twice as thick as the actual tree, but we have faith that one day it will grow into a beautiful forty foot tree. They do say that you plant trees for your children, not for yourselves. In this case it feels more like we planted them for our grandchildren.



Becky's Peach tree came to us more mature and seems like it will get off to a quick start. It came grafted already, so we don't have to worry about doing that later.

We are very excited, and hope to give our trees everything they need to survive the Idaho winters in their future. Much as we look forward to helping Kenna and Kylie grow into responsible members of society.

At least the trees come with a guarantee in case we fail.

What we have been up to lately...

Kenna this morning- She actually let me do her hair!
Kenna
Kenna and Kylie at the zoo last Saturday.

Showing Grandma how to feed the goats at the zoo.

Kylie wearing Mom's apron - She wanted to help me and I had another apron on, so she wanted one on too.

Playing with big ball that we found in the street and none of the neighbors claimed.

Two 3 year olds, imagination and water= 1 swimming pool

Yesterday, we went to play group at my friend's house. She has a 3 year old that Kenna loves playing with. The girls had played for awhile and then it got pretty quiet. When I wondered out loud where the girls were, my friend said that she thought they went downstairs. We didn't worry too much until one of the little boys came from down the hall with a confused look on his face. I decided to see if the girls were playing in one of the bedrooms and then heard giggling. I peaked in one room and our little 3 year friend was trying to help Kylie get her clothes off. I then noticed that she was wearing her swimsuit and in the background there was water running. As I went into the bathroom, Kenna was sitting in the sink, with all her clothes off and the water going and water all over the bathroom floor. I quickly turned the water off and hollered at my friend that she had water all over her bathroom floor. While trying not to laugh, we quickly cleaned up the floor and got dry clothes on the girls.
Later, when I was getting Kenna ready for a nap, I asked her if she had fun playing at her friends house.
She said "Well, we were making a swimming pool. It was going to be really big. Then you came in and told us no."

Trees, Shrubs and Flowers

Warren and I have been talking about getting rid of the apricot tree in our backyard for a while now. A few weeks ago, Warren brought home a Gurney's magazine and we started looking at trees. Since one of our trees in the front was also dead, we decided to take all of them out too. We found trees that we wanted to plant in their place and Warren ordered them this last week. Today he cut down the apricot tree, the dead tree next to it, and the 3 trees in the front yard. Before we could cut down the trees, we needed to transplant the daisies. Since we weren't completely sure how to do that we went to Town and Country Gardens and talked to them. One lady there explained what we needed to do and then we looked around. We figured while we were there, we should get a few more different flowers and a couple of small bushes. I am not sure what kind of bushes we got or the name of the flowers, but we hope that all look nice with the daisies when everything blooms.



The girls watching out the front window while Warren and Richard cut down the trees.

Kylie outside this morning. It was really cold and even tried to snow this afternoon.

Warren and Richard pulling on the tree - trying to get it to come down.

Warren pulling and Richard cutting the tree.

Warren cutting the apricot tree down.

After picture of our garden spot around our new window. (The yellow in the back are our new bushes, then we have our daisies, and in front the new flowers. I think they are gardellias?)

Before planting anything.

Sorry the pictures are in the wrong order...

(The tree we are planting in front is called a Katsura. And we are planting a peach tree in place of the apricot.)