SPRING is in the Air!

This past Christmas, the grandkids helped us plant our spring bulbs. G'pa Paul would dig the hole & the little ones would follow behind him, drop the bulbs in the hole & cover them up with dirt - making sure they were completely covered.



We planted tulips & daffodils which are G'ma Jenny's favorite!



Cori is closely examining the bulbs.



Jake is making sure the bulbs are packed in, completely covered with dirt.



We've had some pretty nice rains this past month & if you add the beautiful sunshine we've enjoyed this past week - "VOILA!"



The tulips haven't come up yet, but there are lots of daffodils "springing" up all around the front gate. Daffodils make me happy & every time I see them, I will be reminded of a happy memory when our grandchildren helped us plant them.



Paul added a new gate & I have cleared my garden - getting ready to plant new veggies. (I promised Adia I would wait for her to help me plant this year.)



The grandkids also helped me find some rocks to "border" my garden. Thanks to some talented artists in the family, I will have the best looking garden in the neighborhood!



We painted a rock for each grandchild...these little gems will frame my garden & help me give it the "love" it needs to grow.



Isn't this a fun border for my garden?



Meanwhile...here's more evidence that "Spring is busting out all over" our property - a few fruit trees from the orchard are "poppin' popcorn"...



& a few blooms from the flowering plants that the deer WON'T eat!





HAPPY SPRING TO YOU! May you be filled with the joy & promise of new life as you prepare to celebrate this Easter season...I Know That My Redeemer Lives!

"Did Jesus really live again, After he had died?
Oh yes! And so shall I!" (Children's Songbook 64)

Friday the 13th...

Friday the 13th is a great day, it's my "lucky" day...Paul was born on a Friday the 13th in Jan (back in the day) & WE were married on Friday, the 13th of March, 17 years ago. I am the LUCKIEST...Here we are, 17 years ago, a few weeks before he proposed to me - aren't we cute?



The day we got married, 17 years ago, (I was teaching school in Bakersfield, CA) so Paul drove down from San Jose & picked me up after school...we were headed to Vegas Baby! That's right, I convinced him to run away with me to Las Vegas...no worries, all you church friends, they have a temple in Vegas, too. Vegas is only four hours from Bakersfield, so off we went.

Getting married in Vegas was a "hoot!" 1st stop was the court house where we had to get a marriage license...what a joke! We ran up the steps to the court house & the guard by the door didn't even look up from his newspaper & just pointed in the direction we needed to go without saying a word...how did he know we needed a marriage license? We walked up to the counter & the lady gave us a 3X5 card to fill out with one of those "game" pencils, you know the kind that come in a Yahtzee game? So we fill out the "form" - it was literally our names & address! No ID required! It was that quick & we laughed as we left for the temple, joking that we should come back & fill out more forms for all of our friends & they would get these "bogus" marriage certificates randomly in the mail.

So we got back on the freeway & didn't realize that we missed our exit for the temple until we found ourselves on the way to Mesquite! If any of you know Paul, you know that he times everything perfectly (After all, "every second counts!") - so realizing we were going to be late to our temple appointment, he calls the temple to check their hours & to make sure someone would still be there to marry us.

Their response, "Oh it's okay, Mr. Middleton, we will wait for you."

Paul was surprised because he hadn't identified himself & asked, "How did you know my name?"

The response, "Well, it's Friday the 13th in Las Vegas - you are the ONLY wedding we have scheduled today."

Well, Friday the 13th maybe unlucky for some, but for me...it is the LUCKIEST day of MY life! Happy Anniversary to us!

What, you may ask, did I get for our anniversary? Well, ever since we built the Riverhouse, I have been "pestering" Paul for a water feature in the middle of our circle drive. He insisted that we didn't need a water feature because we have the most beautiful natural water feature in all of California in our back yard...The American River! (Yes, this is our actual back yard.)



...& the grandchildren don't seem to care if there's a water feature in the circle drive - they still love going 'round & 'round on their toys...notice the desolate circle drive in the back ground?



After researching prices & designs - Paul decided to "do-it-yourself" at a fraction of the cost. Macy happened to be here when G'pa Paul began working on MY water feature...did you ever really doubt I would get my way? Macy didn't much like g'pa's tractor...



She preferred supervising from the sidelines...



I had no specifications in mind, I just wanted it to look natural - so Paul worked his magic & created this beautiful water feature for ME...



...a few plants & "VOILA!" The finished product! I was so proud of Paul - he did a fabulous job & it literally became a "labor of love" for him, for me. I AM the luckiest!