Gardening Time!

The weather the last 3 weeks has been weird. A week of snow, a week of snow/rain and the next week we're wearing shorts! Welcome to Wyoming where you could see snow every month of the year. Since May started and I knew we were going to be busy, I was hoping I would have a chance to get to the green house and pick up my plants. Well I did just that this week and planted them on Tuesday. Jason rented a rototiller and away we went planting. We don't have a big space but it's pretty good for in town and we can pack quite a bit in there.

After our errand run to Cody, and we picked up some fermented fertilizer from a friend (fresh from the pen) Jason got the rototiller going and I set Katelyn out to enjoy some cool watermelon in the shade. Nothing like cold watermelon on a hot day outside.
I put her down for a nap and Jason and I got all the plants in and flowers planted in the 1 1/2 hr nap she took! She was in the dirt and helped out a bit before nap time too. She was so cute walking barefoot in the grass and dirt and just going all over the backyard. She is going to be so much fun this summer. I'm sure we'll have many outings to the local pool.

Our garden is a 3 foot wide strip the length of our backyard. And in the strip we crammed in 9 tomato plants, 9 or so seed spots of okra (it's southern thing for Jason) rhubarb, 1 zucchini, 2 cucumbers, 1 row of peas, 2 rows of carrots, 10-15 rows of corn only 3 plants deep, 18 plants of broccoli and 6 plants of peppers. Lord willing, the weather warm up some more but thank you for the moisture. It sounds like a lot, but Jason's cousin just moved here from Billings and he was thinking she would probably take some produce. I hope she likes tomatoes!

2 busy weeks

The last 3 weeks have kept us very busy. The last week in April was Katelyn's birthday with my parents visiting. They left Saturday morning and Sunday our friend Scott Macleod and his son Daniel from Nashville, flew out to speak at the DTS in Meeteetse. Jason was designated tour guide while they were here and I volunteered to help cook at the CWAM base since they don't have a full time cook. We packed up our family and moved down for the week. Jason took them camping for one night in the mountains, which they enjoyed. Scott would speak to the school in the mornings about worship and Jason would take them out and do stuff in the afternoons. They shot guns, and went fishing. I think they had a great time here. The only problem was the weather. It was either really windy or snowing everyday. While they were here it was raining and flooding Nashville. It must be a culture shock for them coming out here. This was Scott's 3rd time out here. Scott and his wife Sarah have a ministry in Nashville and have been working with inner city youth for years. Scott said Daniel has been doing ministry since he was born. So for them to come out to the wide open ranges and shoot guns and go fishing is something of a novelty for them. We enjoy taking people out and giving them an experience.

We took them back to the airport early friday morning only to pick up Jim Anderson and his son James Saturday night. Jim has a ministry in Spokane Washington Called Lifeline Ministries. His main focus is to speak on protecting the Daughter's heart and does a lot of womens ministry. He spoke Mother's Day at our church and some awesome ministry time came out of his message. We didn't get out of church and to lunch until after 2pm! Sunday night we packed up the fam again and moved down to Meeteetse again.

Jason had a job he was finishing up while we were down there. He was able to take Katelyn in the mornings so I could listen to Jim speak before I had to make lunch. Daddy used Netflix to watch Caillou or Veggie Tales would would end up in her taking a much needed nap.
It was quite difficult at times to get stuff ready by 12:30pm with a toddler wanting your attention and missing her morning nap. But we made it through and had a good time. Jim and James wanted to do a lot of things and Jason did a lot with them. James wanted to do everything that was offered. Jim did a lot of ministry time in the evenings too, so we were gone some of the time too. Friday, Saturday and Sunday were free days for Jim so he and James kept Jason busy taking them different places. They rode horses, went into Yellowstone for a whole day and drove 12 hours. Went fishing Sunday and caught some monster fish. James enjoyed watching a couple of westerns while the "grown ups" talked outside around the fire. We had some much fun, but we were so tired too. There is just something to being away and not having your routine that makes you tired. We deepened relationships, got some ministry our selves and made some memories for some young boys. All in all, it was a productive 2 weeks.

1 Year Old!

My baby is 1! This last year seems like it has just flown by. Katelyn had a special birthday week. My parents came to stay on Tuesday and left Saturday morning. They brought a few presents to make the day special, but I don't know who had more fun with the toys, Daddy or Katelyn.

Wednesday night we had our home group and Tracy LaFollette loves Katelyn and gave her a little birthday party complete with the biggest cupcakes you've ever seen! Katelyn didn't know what to do with herself when all these people sang "Happy Birthday" to her. She sat down on the chair and looked like she was going to cry. Jason took her on his lap and had to show her how to put her fingers in the frosting. It took a while for her to get into it, but she did end up having icing on her face. It was so sweet we didn't let her have too much and she skipped the cake part. What kid wants cake when there is frosting! Tracy loves to buy these cute outfits for Katelyn and what would complete an outfit without a new set of shoes.

Thursday the Pellegrino grandparents joined the festivities for the day. We went to lunch at Rib & Chop, drove home only to have Katelyn sleep the whole afternoon away. We had to wake her up so they could see her for a little while. They brought her her first doll, some outfits and a pink horse on wheels that whinnies when you push the button. Grandma & Grandpa Derksen brought a Fisher Price Cd player, some books and a tea set that makes noise as it pours. Katelyn has had a lot of fun with her new toys. Today she got a little purple car she can ride and push as a walker. This week we're down at CWAM and I said that I would help cook since they don't have one, but since I'm so busy Katelyn needs something to occupy herself and this should help. She is busy walking all over the place but that only lasts for so long keeping her happy.