February- Almost Gone!

Items of interest this month:

1. David's birthday, 61, was on the 20th. He shares the same birthday with a boy in our Sunday School class (they're 50 years apart) so we thought it would be fun to have a class party that was a birthday party... for everyone! We had it last night and it was a good time. I'll show you...

The box they're trying to open was a "surprise package" which was wrapped in several layers of paper, ribbon, twine, tape, etc. They kept passing it to the next person for a 10 second opportunity to try to get it open, decked out in David's work gloves, a knife and a fork. When they finally got it, they used the knife and fork to try to put some of the goldfish and malt balls into a snack bag to take home. It was so fun! 

2. Our second magazine (March/April) is just about ready to publish, at the end of the week. This one has 35 pages and 57 recipes, plus articles about various things. The second one has been so much easier to produce since I was learning everything the first time around. I really love the Pages program! I've figured out that I need to basically finish the magazine during the first month, then fine-tune and change it during the second month. All the time we're also cooking and photographing like crazy for future editions. I admit it... I enjoy it, overall! These are some picture from the article about putting on a Bridal or Baby Shower. Mmmmm, it's fun to eat things up after the pictures are taken! And this issue is going to have Ariana's Carrot Macaroons in it, too! Thanks, Ariana.

3. We're going to start improving our back yard! David bought some ultra-dwarf fruit trees (Fuji apple, Asian pear and avocado) but we needed a master plan before just sticking them in the ground. Enter Philip, our landscape architect nephew... who brought some great ideas to the table.  All this to say that yesterday was the first step, with a guy taking out a strip of our patio. The total dirt area is going to be divided into 4 quadrants, with a tree in the middle of each one. This will be delineated by pathways of decomposed granite. Each square will have low plants around it and the part under the trees will be oak leaf mulch (of which we have a steady supply). At the top of the 'T' of pathway, there will be a focal point of some sort, probably a statue. He also gave us some great ideas on how to replace the steps from the dining room and the overhang over the patio, all with beautiful Craftsman style. I'm so excited! David has already planted the avocado tree and the others will follow very soon. We're still looking for one more type of tree for the 4th square, probably dwarf citrus.

4. Another item of interest, although it's more like one of those things you just have to go through, is that David is having prostate surgery coming up on the 17th of March. They found a small amount of cancer there, and he's too young to take a "wait and see" approach, so he's decided this is the best option for him. We'd appreciate your prayers for us and for a good outcome! Thanks!

5. We've had the most wonderful rain this month! We recently went down to the beach to look around and saw this wide, short rainbow. Thank the Lord for His goodness to us!