April fun in the sun (or at least not in the rain!)

Silly Chicken, Speedy, and Chepe--our new baby chicks

We added some baby chicks to our family this last week. We have 2 black Australorps and 1 Plymouth barred rock (in case you're wondering...) The kids love to go out and check on them and talk to them. We are planning to let them free-range in our yard. We have them mostly for learning, but we will also use and share the eggs. They have been a lot of fun so far.
Yesterday we went up north to the church camp and I helped design and install a buffer zone to provide privacy to the camp. It was beautiful day and we had fun. Henry worked along side of me for 2.5 hours! He helped plant and tagged all the plants. He really knows how to put his nose to the grindstone. I am really proud of him. Afterwards we played by the river; throwing rocks into it and stacking them, and I took a nap in the sand.

Here are the kids in a huge swing with a barrel to sit in. FUN!
Afterwards we went to Thenos Dairy because they had $1 scoops in honor of their 65th Anniversary. They were huge scoops too. I had French Apple and Peach Cobbler. And as you can clearly see, Fern had Strawberry! Both kids were nasty little messes by the end of the day, but it was a good day out in the sun, being together as a family and providing service.

They sure are cute little guys though aren't they?! Well Monday is supposed to be int he mid 70's! So we are very excited for that. spring has been a long time coming and we are so grateful that it looks to finally be here. Anyhow, hugs and kisses to all. Have a nice week.

Easter Update

Well there are number of things to talk about today. First off: Happy Easter!
April 1st my Bro.Logan came up from Utah with his family and spent a few days with us. Henry and Fern couldn't get enough of their cousins. Logan's youngest; Davis is such a cute little guy. We love them all. The idea for the visit was that we were going to go downtown and see some stuff, but it was raining cats and dogs. So much so that we set a new state record for most rain over two days (in April?) 1.31 inches! My poor Mom doesn't get that in several months over in E. WA! Logan was only going to spend one night but it turned to snow that evening so there was a bonus night.
Friday thru Tuesday it was sunny and low70's! We planted our garden on Saturday, We had so much fun. We spent over 5 hours there. We tilled, raked, set the paths, and got he first round of veggies in. Then the kids got horse rides to boot. We all got some sun and went to bed tired and content. We have been starting our seeds indoors under a grow light, that is placed under the kitchen table, as that is the only space we have in this small house. Oh how we love our garden! On Wednesday we will be purchasing 3 baby chicks, as we will be raising chickens for the kids learning (and some eggs).One thing that I guess that you all would be interested to know is that we are looking to purchase our first home. With e economy so far down, as also the housing market, coupled with massive amounts of foreclosures, there are some great deals to be had. Mostly meaning that we can finally afford a home. Still most home that we can afford are fixer-uppers, but Lyn and I tend to prefer that, since we can feed our own personalities into it, vs a sterile, characterless new home. One nice thing about a foreclosed, fixer, is that there is tons of equity to be gained! The home we are most excited about(a remodeled 50's home) sold 3 years ago for $247K at 1,010 sq ft. Thanks to a finished basement it is now 1,820, and we are looking to pick it up for around $170K ! although we think that we might wait a few months to see how much further this will go down. Even The Fed doesn't think that the economy will stabilize till sometime in 2010. Anyhow we will keep you posted.
Yesterday (Sat 11) we went to West Seattle to the tide pools. We missed low Tide by 2 hours, although the starfish, and Sea Slugs were further out, we still were able to see alot of neat creatures. We played with Sea Anemones, Geoducks (giant clams), and tiny Rock Crabs. Also the afternoon was just beautiful. Henry kept running around exclaiming "Hey, Look at this!" . we wore our rubber boots so that we could wade further out. Rubber boots are essential here in WA for myriad reasons. After that we went to a trendy used record store and found some cool music. Then we saw a cool furniture store and got some ideas for our 50's house. Then finally we found a model train store that was packed with lots of neat stuff. After we got home and had French toast for dinner, we colored eggs, and then the kids feel asleep instantly. :)
so anywho that's about it for now.
have a nice week.