The good life

jack surveying the land

We spent Saturday outdoors, determined to beautify (or at least begin the process of beautifying) the exterior landscape of our little Herriman Homestead. Ryan planted 3 trees; two fruit trees for the backyard (plum and apricot) and a Redbud in the front. Ryan worked tirelessly digging the holes, the soil like thick riverbed mud filled with rock and fossil-type objects made the job rough. He was also so patient with our kids and all the neighborhood kids who wanted their chance to "help" dig. I have to say watching Jack stick his little shovel in with all his might and then bracing himself so as not to fall in head first was pretty darn cute. Porter even found a dinosaur tooth in his diggings :) Hopefully our trees will survive the winds and rocky soil of Herriman and grow to be beautiful and fruitful... they were actually included in our family prayer that night :)

While Ryan was busy with the trees I had the easier job of planting two Lilac bushes and a Honeysuckle in our flower beds. I put the Lilacs right under the kid's window and I must say I chose Lilacs specifically, just because of my love for a certain primary song whose lyrics include one... actually the lyrics mention a Lilac tree not bushes... but close enough :)

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donkeys

This evening after dinner I spent time playing in the kid's room... I taught Jack how to put the shapes through the holes in the shape ball, his sweet face lighting up with this new discovery. Tossed the football back and forth over the donkeys with Porter (if it touched a donkey, you lost a point). I played animal shelter with Sophie. She took care of the 3 puppies, bowl of fish, bear cub and baby penguin while I took calls and admitted new animals. We played with puppets and Jack's farm, and sang, "If you're happy and you know it," one of Jack's favorites. As I watched his cute little feet stomping and listened to the sound of Sophie and Porter's singing voices mixed with contageous giggling, my heart was full... and life was good.