Birthday presents

The gun is Ethan's favorite. 

Asa

 

Ethan turns 4

Ethan turns 4 tomorrow. His birthday party was yesterday. 

Trick or treat

 

Pumpkin patch

We picked out a few pumpkins for decorations. The deer ate mine a couple nights after we put it outside. :( 

Recommended blog post

My pastor recently posted a brief bio of his parents for their 65th anniversary. See Seeking Early: Faithful Through the Years!

It's worth a read. These folks are salt & light.

A boy in his natural habitat

We have a seasonal runoff stream by our house, and the boys love it when it rains! 

Nice hat

 

Apple picking

A couple of weeks ago, a group of young adults from our church got together & went apple picking. 

Ethan & Asa

 

R&R in NH

We set aside some time over the Labor Day weekend to go to North Conway, NH for a quick vacation. We took the kids to Storyland, did some light hiking, and shopped. It was nice to get away from the pressures of work & other responsibilities for a few days. 

At Storyland 

At Diana's Baths 

Oreo aftermath

 

Before & After

We still have plenty to do, but our stone retaining wall is done and the front yard looks much more orderly now.


 

Stone wall progress update

Nope, we haven't dropped off the edge of the planet. It's been a while since I last posted anything! I've been busy though.

I finished stacking our fieldstone retaining wall a week or so ago. Here's what it looks like now. The total length of the wall (not including the steps) is about 60 feet. It averages 3 to 3 1/2 feet high in most places. Now we're in the process of filling the void left behind the wall with crushed stone & loam. 

Dandelions

 

Jack in the Pulpit

What an exquisite creation! Here is a fully-opened bloom. 

Photo shoot gone awry

 

Beech grove

God uses a lot of different greens during spring, and wow He uses them well.

The beech leaves are almost fully emerged here at our house, and they are absolutely stunning. It's interesting to see the contrast between the rugged, hollow, dying beech trunk and the vibrant youth of the hundreds of saplings that it has spawned.