January - April 2019

January 

We've gotten attached to Jonas and Abram's cat, Shadow.

Lilly and I enjoyed a day of shopping and lunch at Subway.

We're thankful that Violet only needs oxygen at night now.

I always enjoy reading with Jonas after school.

February

Catherine and Thomas enjoyed a playdate while Violet was at therapy.

Abram is always an exuberant little guy. 

Emily and Catherine visited a dear friend.

March

Lucy spent a day with us. She loved the daffodils.

Jonas modeled his outfit for crazy dress up day at school.

Phillip got his gardening started.

We visited this old stone bridge in South Carolina. It made a nice day trip.

April - a very busy month

Thomas celebrated his 2nd birthday.

Thomas paid a visit to a dear friend.

We had our traditional Easter egg hunt for the grandchildren.

Jonas celebrated his 8th birthday.

Violet had an EEG which confirmed the cerebral palsy diagnosis, but her outlook is very good.

We ended April by celebrating Rachel's and Jason's birthdays.

may 2019 gardens

Somehow we bought the wrong type of peas. We usually plant sugar snaps, fat sweet peas that are delicious straight from the garden. This year we had a flatter pea that wasn't as sweet. It may be a type of snow pea.

The strawberries have done really well. We've enjoyed picking and eating them right in the garden.  They're favorites of the grandchildren.

The tomatoes are in the ground and mulched with pine needles.

Peppers

Pineapple

This year's experiment - cucamelons

onions

Blueberries 

Pepper

tomatoes

squash in cups ready to be planted in the garden

Green beans planted but not showing yet. Peppers in pots

peppers and tomatillos

muscadines

scuppernongs

thyme

rosemary

cilantro

bush tomatoes

lettuce

more tomatoes

asparagus - already harvested

We also planted oregano, mint, wildflowers, okra, and corn.

Thanksgiving and Christmas 2018

We all signed our Thanksgiving tablecloth. Sadly, I put out one marker that ran when I washed it. Hopefully with a bit of work, I can get it washed out before next Thanksgiving.

I didn't take many pictures. Somehow I was able to get all the Isbills together. I'm not sure what Jimmy is contemplating. 

We had much to be thankful for this year. Violet was able to celebrate Thanksgiving with us.

This year we used an artificial Christmas tree.  That's unusual for us, but Jason had this tall, thin tree that fit our space perfectly. We were very happy with it.

Catherine had a fall that resulted in a broken leg. She was a miserable little girl for several weeks but she recovered completely.

Emily organized a family Christmas party. Jaclyn is holding Catherine and I am holding Violet.

We were able to get a picture of Phillip and me and all six children. Jaclyn is sitting beside me. Laura, Hannah, Rachel, Emily and Jason are standing. 

Brett, me, and Mark at the Brown family party at Camille's.