Saturday is a snowy day...NOT.

And they said it was going to snow today...ha!  They've been advertising it for days...storm coming, snow in the central valley Saturday and Sunday!  Whatever...it rained like crazy and even a little hail yesterday, got real windy and cold, but clear skies and sunny today, so we went ahead with our garden mulch plans.  Joel had a few friends over, so we bribed them with a pancake breakfast and they helped us unload!  Many hands make light work..thanks guys!  Ryan Budge let us use his trailer and wheelbarrow (and he worked hard too!) and after doing a load for our garden, they have gone back to get a load for his garden.  The boys are taking a wii break while they wait to help with the next load at Ryan's house.  Joel, you and your friends ROCK!  THANK YOU!!!

Rich black mulch from the Gallo vineyards...Joel and Austin helping Ryan loosen it up (it did get rained on after all)... 

 Do you see them in their shirtsleeves? Snow?  I think not...look at that sky!

 Nathan and Ty were here also...four strong young men...yay!

 They make it look easy, but wheelbarrowing loads of mulch to dump is hard work!

 Ryan is their scoutmaster...do they get credit for doing a good turn today?  YES THEY DO!  And he leads by example I might say...

 Austin taking some wheelbarrow turns...

 Oh to have the strength of the youth!

 Joel is an old pro...he's done this every year since he was big enough!

 It's exciting to see the garden fill up with the beautiful black dirt...can't wait to get our plants and have it looking like a real garden!  (as soon as the frost and snow warnings are over...ha ha)

 Clark even came over and helped!  He's pretty much done it every year too, and some of his friends have helped in the past...

 Farmer Dave likes how it's looking!  And the fact that his back is being saved by all the young helpers!

 Thank you Clark!  We appreciate your willingness to always come and help us out...

 Is this a great crew or what?  I'm thinking I better get them all some pizza for lunch!

Thank you!  Thank you!  Scoutmaster Budge and all of our helpers on this beautiful snow-free day!

After the second batch was unloaded, these boys have earned their Monopoly and Pizza party...Devin showed up just in time to go unload the second batch.  Lucky him!

 Thank you again guys!!!  You can't tell by the picture, but it's an intense game of Monopoly!

Enjoy your game...and your pizza...you have earned it!

And later, maybe we can go outside and build a snowman...ha ha!

Happy Birthday!

This young man would be 80 years old today!  I still can't believe it, nor can I believe he's been gone for over five years.  We sure miss him!  We loved to hear the story of how he came to be named GEORGE Arlow...being born on Washington's birthday.  Grandpa wanted to name him George Washington Farnsworth.  Grandma agreed to the George, but not the Washington!  She had a brother named Arlow born on Feb. 22nd also, so that's where his middle name came from.  I don't think I ever knew why he went by Arlow all his life instead of George...but I like it.  Dad loved life and would still be going strong if he was here today...adventuring and outdooring as much as possible!  Love and miss you Dad...happy birthday!

Card Swap...

I joined a card swap this year and just got my first set of cards back. It was so fun to get them!  The theme was Thinking of you/Valentines...and this is what I got...(two of each card)...I opened up the yellow flower one so you can see the cute thinking of you on the inside...

 The red "plain" card is what I made, the other darling cards are what I got in exchange for my boring cards.  I traded up!  There is some tulle on my card that you can't see, but it's still pretty plain compared to the others.  I will have to step it up a notch next time!  Thank you Lydia S. for organizing this, and thank you Connie C. for inviting me to join!  It is going to be fun to get new cards this year for different occasions. 

And speaking of cute cards...here are some samples of ones I recieved as gifts from my very talented friend Teri S.  She took some cards already printed with cherries and embellished them...so cute!  And then she made me some wedding cards with all the little pieces of the bride and groom clothes...darling!  I love making and using homemade cards...and I especially love GETTING them! 

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day to all my friends and family!  Feel the LOVE!!!  I finally finished my new banner on Saturday...I decided it had too many X's so I swapped out a tag and put a heart in.  Which do you like best?

 I think it turned out pretty cute...hard to tell from the picture, but each letter is a little tag...I wish you could see the detail better...you'll just have to come visit me today!  I found this banner on the Lil Luna blog and just HAD to have it.  It was time for a new Valentine decoration...haven't made one in a long time. It came with all the alphabet and some other heart tags.  You can spell out love, or be mine, or whatever you want!  I'm partial to X's and O's.  Now it's time to go make my valentine his favorite dessert...bread pudding.  (In my heart-shaped pan of course).  Happy Heart Day everyone!

Love my fam!

I wanted to post a few more pics from our family picture day in December...Since it's now February and the month of LOVE, I just want my family to know how much I LOVE them!! Don't know how I got such great looking kids (none of my pictures were ever this good looking!) but I am grateful for each of them and what they bring to our family circle!   

I count my blessings, one by one...Ashley, Amanda, Clifton, Clark and Joel ~

I truly am blessed to have such an amazing family!

Here are all the men in my family...love the addition of a terrific son-in-law and adorable grandsons!

And here are the McKinney women...so grateful for my girls and wish we could get together for girl time more often! 

 Ontie Ashley with Jacob...they are both adorable!  Jacob always has such a serious look, I wonder what he is pondering?

 We could not love on this baby enough when he was here...Grandpa even kept asking for turns to hold him, it was so cute!  He doesn't always connect with babies, so it was fun to see him bonding with Jacob.

 Just a fun shot of my kids being happy...shout out to Lemonphotography (Maddy!) for doing such a great job!  I don't think I can get my kids to jump for ME. 

 Such a cute moment, little inquisitive David and his Uncle Clif teaching him something...so sweet!

 And the McKinneys all like to play...this is a favorite pose with a lot of people it seems...my girls are prettier than any of Charlie's Angels though!

Dale and David having a fun and crazy time. David was very patient through all the picture taking!

To ALL my family, I LOVE you to infinity and beyond!