Mary, Mary Quite Contrary...

...How does your garden grow????

We are definitely amateurs in the area of gardening but we have thoroughly enjoyed our garden experience so far. It has been a wonderful project and new hobby for us to work on and discover together. It is fun to see miracles occur in our little garden every day. It is incredible to me that a tiny seed can become a huge plant! We are now enjoying cucumbers, tomatoes, and cilantro.

The beginning stages of preparing and planting...

This is what our garden looked like when we got back from Utah, weedy... but the plants were a lot bigger than when we left. So we had to take some pics anyway.
We bought green and red bell pepper starts for our garden....and soon discovered that one of the plants in the pack wasn't a bell pepper but a hot pepper! Expecting the big, round bell peppers, we couldn't figure out why the peppers were so skinny. We both tried a bite of one and about drank a gallon of water each right after. It was pretty funny. Anyway, we have been finding new fun ways to use the spicy peppers in our cooking. We tried making a version of grilled pepper poppers filled with cream cheese, mozzarella, and several spices. They turned out tasty!!!! We are planning to make them again soon.{Just FYI: Mark is becoming a fantastic grill master}

Happy Independence Day!!!! We are proud to be Americans. It has been a humbling experience to live near and associate with many military families. They make such huge sacrifices for us. THANK YOU!!!

The "Q"

It is full on heat of the summer and we are happy to have purchased......a BBQ!!! It is a used one and it works like a charm. We've done shish kabobs a couple of times now and that seems to be our favorite.

The Surprise AKA "Royals Game"

I had to delete this post because it was messing up my blog. It was a long post with a great story. I don't want to type it all again because it took a long time. My mom and sister surprised me by coming out to visit a couple of weekends ago. The cover was that we were going to Kansas City for the Royals game. We went to the airport and they walked out!!!! We had such a wonderful time together!!!! It was the biggest and best surprise ever.

Check it....

I have been wanting to post this picture for a while but for some reason have put off this fine opportunity. This is Mark with.......THE WANDERLUST. His family went on a tour of the USA in this fine machine back in the day. Mark's siblings still talk about it today, and yes, the beaut is still around. I just hope you don't fall into the coveting trap that tends to occur when anyone beholds The Wanderlust.

Yardation Beautification Sensation

Hi! It's just me, Dorothy, here in Kansas. This spring weather is insane. From hail to wind to rain to sun, it's always an interesting place around these parts. "There's no place like home."

Along with spring weather (however loco it may be), we have moved from "indoor" projects to "outdoor" ones. We have been working on "yard beautification" for Monday Night FHE (and any other night we can fit in too) these past few weeks. Enjoy a before and after of the front of our house.

Before....

After...
Focusing on "yard beautification" has been a great experience for me. I have already learned many useful and helpful things. One, where did my muscles go???? I can't use a shovel for more than about 15 minutes without having to take a breather. Moral of the story: If you don't work the muscles, then they go bye-bye.
Two: I think if I HAD to choose a different profession, it would be landscape architecture. I have loved attempting to plan out our yard and it would be nice to know more about planning and creating a landscape. Moral of the story: there isn't one.
Three, all I need to put is Moral of the Story: Any house related project takes a lot longer than you think!
Last but not least, I have married well!!!!! This is the first time Mark and I have done manual labor yard work together. Mark is a git-r-dun kind of guy. But I didn't know he would be such a great yard worker!!! I was so impressed with his work ethic! He worked ALL day one Saturday digging out the grass so we could put in the dirt. I came home from a meeting and started helping him. It was about 8 at night, I thought we would probably be done for the night but he really wanted to keep working to finish. So we stayed out until probably ten or so finishing up tearing out the grass. Now mind you, this was a tough job. I tried doing it for about 5 minutes and told him I could help him but couldn't do the job myself. He had a very sore back the next few days but got the project finished! I was slightly surprised but completely impressed with my husband's ability to do manual labor and stick with it. Moral of the story: Sometimes you think you are married to someone absolutely great, but as you keep getting to know him, you realize he's magnificent, amazing, and Mr. Incredible.

P.S. We are also planting a little vegetable garden in the back, but I'm not telling anyone just in case nothing grows. shhhh! :)

Grammy

Our sweet Grammy Tew passed away recently and we made the trip to Utah to support her funeral. We were happy to be there because she holds such a precious spot in our hearts. Mark grew up with her around his whole life and I have found that she was such an easy person to love right from the beginning. I feel extremely blessed to have met her and developed a relationship with her before she passed away."The Boys" and parents

It was also nice to be able to spend time with family while we were there. We found time for croquet, badminton and volleyball. We of course fit in some board game time too! Cash Flow, Ticket to Ride, and Acquire were the favorites this time.







This is a picture of Mark with the branch that he broke off trying to save the dragon kite that was stuck in the tree. What a hero!