8th grade recognition Cake

I have been asked to make the cake for the 8th grade graduation. So I have created this design. I will be creating it on Sat or Sun so I will take some pictures so you can see how close I came to the original design.

What is that I see???

Could that be little radishes popping their leaves out of the ground!

Gardening A Crash Course!

My mother-in-law spent the afternoon teaching me all about gardening. It was a lot to take in but I think we got a good start.

Here we are in the planning stages. Irene is teaching me about making raised beds and planting in wide rows.

We decided to plant the potatoes on one side of the garden and the corn on the other.

. Everyone worked hard to get the job done. My father-in-law was here also even though we didn't get a picture of him. He was the official photographer and potato cutter.

If you look closely you can see the wide raised rows.

Apparently this will allow for larger crops, less weeds and easier watering.

Irene is guiding her grandson as he digs a place for our rhubarb and our asparagus.

He worked hard to clear a spot between two of our basement windows.

Now that the land has been worked we started planting the rhubarb and asparagus.

Don't worry we covered these tender plants with some dead leaves and grass so that the frost etc. will not kill them.

Now you might be wondering why is Rosco sitting in the lawn chair. Well he got in-trouble for several things. Like steeling the cut up potato pieces that we needed to plant and getting too excited when he saw where Tim and Ansir were planting them. I hope he doesn't dig them up. He also barked at some town kids who were walking by. Naughty little dog!

When Irene came to the house she brought with her a book that will help me learn all about gardening. She said it was given to her when she was first married and it has helped her tremendously. I feel honored that she is willing to share this treasured book with me. Thank you Irene!

A New Calling!

Two years ago I made the decision to move to ND to be with my husband. At the time I knew that God was calling me to go but I in my sinfulness could not imagine what he had in store for me. I had always thought I was called to be the 1st grade teacher touching the hearts of many. Now I see things differently. I know see where God has been leading me. He is calling me to work in our new church to help get a youth ministry started. It is met by some with excitement and others with hesitancy and a bit of "we tried and it didn't work so what makes you think you can do it?" attitude. I have decided that we need to keep working, keep planning and keep praying that the Lord will bless our endeavors. I know it will not come easily, and that it will take lots of time. I will be discouraged at times and filled with joy at others. I am asking for continued prayers as we minister to these young people and their families. I pray that we can develop a support system where the children feel safe to discuss the issues they face each day and that we can give them comfort with Gods word.

Easter with the Suttons

AT 5AM Ansir was up and dressed for the sunrise service! He discovered that his basket was filled with treats and he had some new cloths and best of all a gift card for itunes. After we attended all the activities at our church we took a drive to MT to visit Tim's brother and family. We were delighted to have the opportunity to attend yet another church service and had the privilege of hearing our nieces singing during the service.

After church it was off to the house to see what fun things the girls got for easter. It was so fun to see their pure joy at each thing that was in their baskets. There were squeals of delight echoing threw out the house.

We had a massive easter egg hunt on the farm. There were over 300 plastic eggs filled with candy and 5 dozen died eggs. It was crazy. There were two special eggs that were hidden they were silver and gold and their prize was cold hard cash. Ansir searched and searched but to no avail the younger kids found them first!

Even Austin got in on the act. Isn't he so cute with his little Easter basket.

What a good daddy helping his youngest little girl find eggs.

She was so proud of all her eggs

Once the baskets were full they had to find some bags to use.

This is our middle niece.

More candy.

Rosco even got in on the action and towards the end he was racing the kids for the eggs.

The eggs were hidden from the house to the barn from the barn to the small field and out back in the cove of trees.

Here are the oldest two kids. They are tired from traipsing all over the farm. It looks like their bags got full.

Even the Great Aunt Lela got in on the act. She loved helping the kids look for the eggs. What a nice day memorable day!

My Buns finally Raised!

After almost two years of living in ND the land of the cold. I have finally gotten my Buns to rise!