Other May pics

We're dying to have apples grow in the backyard for Owen to pick and enjoy. Chris planted a 2nd apple tree to cross-pollinate with the first one he planted about 4 years ago. The new one had blossoms already this year but the original one never has for some reason. Maybe next year!

The original tree is happily growing still. It's trunk is about 2"!

Our poor azalea bush...

It was Owen's idea do to this puzzle TOGETHER!!

A very rare sighting of both kids together AND playing with Canton. Picture-worthy for sure!

Joe and Connie got box seats for the local baseball team's game and invited us to join them! We've never had box seats before - they were great, especially when a storm came through and cancelled the rest of the game. We enjoyed our nachos before heading out. 

What a view!

Owen and Willow can't resist playing in the rain still :)

Celebrating the end of the year with amazing shakes at a new local shop we found!

Tilly and Whiskers

The "kittens" are still doing well. Whiskers is in a phase of hissing at Tilly, which we're assuming is for dominance, but she gets sprayed with water when she does it, so we're hoping she learns quickly that everyone is equal in this home!! :)

Owen got a bath from Whiskers. I'm not sure if he liked the taste of his sweat, or if the length of his hair reminded her of licking Tilly. Either way, she was at it for a while, and Owen enjoyed it too!

Who will win? Tilly? The stink bug? or the curtains?

Whiskers guards over Chris as he takes a rare nap. 

Whiskers is our lap cat. She enjoys laying down with us in the evenings. 

The girls both enjoy being outside the best. Whiskers has started wandering more to the front yard but sticks around on the porch usually. Tilly has a nice cool place in the garden, or you can find her on the stumps in the backyard. Both of them enjoy a good moth chase (we try and protect the butterflies around here!!) and Whiskers even caught her first baby bird recently. :-( 

Tilly doesn't stay still for her picture to be taken much. 

Here are a few videos:

Owen narrating Whiskers in the trampoline

Whiskers "hunt hopping"

Whiskers with the laser pointer

Nursery

Willow has outgrown Sunday School at our church so she had a few options...attend the service, switch to the 11:00 service, or volunteer in a class. I work in the 1s class twice a month so she started with me, then ended up being asked to help in the Kindergarten class the other two weeks. She's loved it! It's been sweet to see her interact with the kids! She's learning to hold a variety of sizes of kiddos too, which is also good :)

 

Strawberry Picking

We had an available Saturday morning at peak strawberry picking so we headed out to our favorite patch...rain or shine. It was misty on the drive but definitely a rain when we got to the patch. It was muddy and slick but we'd brought boots...just forgot a dry change of clothes (what good are rain jackets if they don't keep you dry???). We came out with 3 gallons of berries and a few sugary treats from their store!

Owen likes their animals a bit more than picking I think ;)

Ninja

Owen has enjoyed his Ninja class again this year. He goes once a week and always comes back sweaty! Mission accomplished! :) We enjoyed watching his end-of-year "Ninja Games."

 

Mother's Day

We had a great Mother's Day! Willow and I were in the nursery at church so no official picture with mom that day, but we enjoyed lunch with Tom and Patti, then dinner with the rest of the family. It was a great day!

The "unofficial" picture:

Owen's card he "made" me at church. haha! Thanks bud!

The "official" picture the next Sunday...Willow still dressed for nursery :)

Choir Concert and School Dance

Willow was able to have a normal choir concert (a first for us due to COVID) with 6th and 7th grades and no capacity limitations. Again, her director was very complimentary of their 7th grade choir and even took them to evaluations a few months ago where they earned Superior ratings! They did a great job!

Videos titled "Choir 7" include Willow and can be found here. (#4-8)

Willow has a big fan club!

As things s t a r t  to get closer to back to pre-COVID "normal," her middle school had a spring dance. She invited a couple friends over so they could arrive together. They had a great time!

We love seeing that smile!

For King and Country concert

I'd gotten Willow tickets to see For King and Country two years ago and it was rescheduled due to COVID. It was rescheduled again...and again...and we were happy to finally get to go when it was (appropriately) rescheduled for the day before her birthday! I'd bought tickets for Nana and Kim to join us 2 years prior and thankfully they were both able to still go. We enjoyed dinner out beforehand and all really enjoyed the concert. They do a great job!! It was sweet to see Willow singing along and wanting to capture the moment on her phone. She was happy to be able to turn on her flashlight on her own phone when they did that for one of the songs. When they started the concert, they announced that the tickets had gone on sale 898 days prior to that night. Yikes!! They thanked us all for remembering we even had tickets ;) 

 I have 16 videos from that night. I'll just pick 4 random ones rather than posting them all :)