We have had alot of snow this year. Or so we think so. We have the best property for sledding. Hills everywhere. Even the road running along our house is a giant hill down and then up again.  And when the road is ice with snow on top, there are no cars that will take a chance driving. They would just get stuck in the bottom. All of these pictures were taken by Eric. I was sleeping. Julia had a really bad cold for about a week, and I was very sleep deprived. So Eric bundled all the older children up and took them outside to play. Toffee, our dog, loved the snow. I think she looks part wolf in these pictures. But she’s not. 

Spider web with snow caught in it

the bee hives

notice our van on the bottom of the hill, it would not make it up the hill because of the ice

sledding buddies

here, Michael is attempting to snowboard…

and here, Michael is wiping out!!

 

Toffee

~cheryl

We have these very special people that are a very special part of our family. Eric and I knew them before we ever even got married. They were a part of our wedding, and then later when Laura was born, they were a part of the special time of her birth and then baby dedication. And over the years, God has blessed our lives with each other. They have filled a void that has ached to be filled. They bring love and laughter to our family. And we bring love and laughter to theirs. 

So for years, every few months, we get a special visit from Grandpa Luke and Grandma Beth. They spend a whole day flying over 3000 miles just to come love on our family. They have been here to celebrate birthday’s, New Years, Graduation, even a few new babies. They have watched our children so Eric and I can take off for a weekend getaway. They know how to load up all these little people into our big van and head to a favorite park.  Gabriel’s middle name is after his Grandpa Luke. And all the girls share Grandma Beth’s middle name, Elizabeth. 

We love them. Very much.

Their last visit was about a month ago. So I am a little late posting these pictures. Grandma Beth brought pocket watches for the boys and wrist watches for the girls. So we decided to do a fun “old fashioned” photo shoot. I dug through all our clothes and came up with some fun stuff. The boys really got into dressing up like cowboys. 

Oh, and I almost forgot. Grandma Beth has bought each of girls an American Girl Doll. Yes, even me. The one I dreamed about having as a child. But Maryann did not have one of the big girl dolls, just one of the baby ones. Yet. She has been dreaming about Felicity for months. And so this Christmas, Grandma Beth and Grandpa Luke got her Felicity. But, where it all went wrong was almost disastrous. This was the last year AG was selling Felicity. So Beth ordered her months ago. Or, so she thought. She had all the packages shipped directly to my house and I put them all up on the shelves without even opening them. Them when she got here, she went through the boxes. No Felicity. Double check. Still no Felicity. She had accidently ordered the wrong thing. And that day was the very last day ever that you could order her…if she was still even available. So after a few panicked phone calls to AG, Felicity was on her way to our house the next day. At this point, Maryann knew now that she would soon be holding her beloved Felicity in her arms. 

She arrived minutes before we started our staged photo shoot. And she was lovely as she looked in the magazines. And Maryann was head over heels in love with her.

Here are pictures from our “Time” photo shoot…and the arrival of Felicity.

~cheryl

 

I love you little Jules~

~cheryl

This last weekend we worked hard outside in our yard. Planting all those thousands of bulbs that I bought last fall. Digging big holes and planting fruit trees in our orchard. I think the children picked apple, pear, plum, peach, cherry and asian pear trees. The boys hauled firewood from trees that Eric had fell. I learned how to drive a tractor. We tore out some old pipes and put in new ones down by the creek. All the children were out there with us. The sun was shining and it felt warm, especially with all the work we were doing. Even little Julia joined us. I put her in the stroller and parked her on top of the hill by the chickens. She could watch them or watch us in the orchard. She loved it. 

Friday evening Eric worked on burning one of the huge piles of yard trash. The children were all busy playing nearby. We brought out lawn chairs and roasted marshmellows. The sky was so clear and we could see thousands of stars. It was so beautiful. 

Everything about the whole day was fun. Working hard togeather, playing togeather and eating togeather. Everything except…

 

the POISON OAK

that Michael, Josh, and Maryann got into. All of the children know how to identify poison oak by now. This place was commercial grade poison oak when we bought it. It was EVERYWHERE. But Eric sprayed and sprayed and got a really good kill on most of it. But there are still a few places that he needs to spray next spring. But the problem with poison oak is that in the winter, all the leaves fall off leaving just these sticks coming up out of the ground…that are loaded with the oils that cause the reaction. So pour little Maryann, Michael, and Josh played with it as swords and ran through it. But Eric and I had no clue. Josh used the bathroom in it. And now has poison oak in places that make him a very very miserable little boy. And then there is Maryann. Because her hair is always falling in her face, she is always pushing it back. Which meant that everytime she did this while playing in the poison oak, she was wiping the oils across her face. 

On Saturday when we woke up, she had a slight redness to her face. It almost looked like maybe a reaction to some makeup or lotion that maybe she had got into.  And since we had no idea that they had been playing in the poison oak, we never even considered it.

And then Sunday came…

 

And then Monday…

 

Which I immediately called our Dr to see if we could bring her in. Her right eye was completely swollen shut and she could barely open her left. She was crying because it itched and hurt. The office had just had a cancellation and so I took her right in. Her Dr assured us that with a script of steroids, she would be feeling better by that evening. And he was right. We are now on day two of the meds and she is almost back to normal. 

Eric thought she looked like a little chinese girl, and decided to find a chinese name for her. She was thrilled with his idea and now only wants to be called by her new name, Meihua. In fact, when we went to pick up her prescription, the pharmacist asked which one was Maryann, to which she replied, “My name is not Maryann anymore, it’s Meihua.” So I had to explain to her that only to Daddy was she MeiHua, and to the Dr. and pharmacy she was still Maryann. 

Eric and his little MeiHua (pronounced Me-How, meaning beautiful flower in Chinese)

~cheryl

 

Maryann has so much fun dressing up. And now that Jules is a little bigger, she is Maryann’s new dress up friend. Maryann will go through Jules closet, find the dress she likes, and change her into it. This was their “matching dresses” as Maryann informed me.

Pretty Girls

 

And Jules is also one of Gabe’s favorite playmates too. He got the car for Christmas, and loves to push Julia around in it. The girl is going to have no fear of speed. I often have to remind the older boys to drive her slower. They like to stick Gabe and Jules both in the car and race them around the house. 

 

Eric brought home a couple of boxes of citrus from work. It was to help support a local fundraiser. The children and I love it. All the oranges, tangelos, and grapefruit their little hearts desire. This is how they like to eat their orange slices!