The week in pictures...

BBQ down at Monarch Beach with Family and Friends






Nate's birthday present from Great Grandma Bare



The box the car came in... also super fun. Maybe more. Don't tell Great Gma...



Rylan caught a teeny tiny baby lizard. Seriously the smallest thing ever. So proud. She let it go later that night/squished it to death upon "release" into the wild.

Over the weekend, Grandma Bare treated Rylan to a "pedicure." They pretended to file her nails a bit and buff off her non-existent callouses, and then paint her toenails. Rylan thought it was such a special morning! Ahhhhh, the little indulgences in life...

Nate sporting his sunglasses-- he pretty much thinks he's awesome when he wears them. He starts looking around a-la-Stevie-Wonder, and then saunters off like he owns the place. Too funny.

Stevie's gonna "gitch ya!"

Mystery Tree Fruit...

We have a tree in our backyard that has been there since we moved in 4 years ago...when we ripped everything out and re-landscaped a few years ago, we left this tree along with a few others, because it was a mature fruit tree. What kind of fruit tree, you ask? We haven't a clue.
Each year as the fruit grows and ripens and eventually falls to the ground we have a different guess-- plums? Apricots? Baby peaches?
And they don't taste good-- did I mention that yet? Rylan says the fuzzy skin is "icky" and the flesh "doesn't taste yummy." I'd have to agree. But here they are, nonetheless-- an absolute bumper-crop in the backyard, and I think the Swiss in me just hates to see them totally go to waste (I also save rubber bands, twisties and baggies-- but that's a different post).
So I am determined to use them and enjoy them. But I haven't a clue how to do it, because really and truly they aren't good!
And I should also mention, that we don't do a thing to the tree-- we haven't pruned it (we keep meaning to each year... oops), and we don't even have a properly working sprinkler system in the upper bed where it is. I'm pretty sure its roots have grown under the fence into our neighbor's yard where it receives/takes their water. Point being, there's a good chance the fruit doesn't have a fighting chance to meet its potential. Poor thing.
Take a look and see if you can take a guess at what they might be...




So Rylan and I went outside this last week, picked up some of the good-looking ripe ones off the ground and off the tree, and brought them inside to wash. I cut some of the really ripe ones up for Nate to eat with his lunch that day-- and even NATE (who eats anything and everything) turned his nose up at them and vehemently signed "All Done."



We decided to cut them up and cook them with lots of "flavor." Translation-- Sugar. So we made Mystery-Fruit-Sauce. Turns out if you cooks something for long enough with enough sugar it's pretty yummy! I used my mini-pimer to break up the bigger pieces, and it's just like apricotapplepeachplumpluot sauce. We eat it over cottage cheese, with a little plain yogurt, or just by itself.
Not sure if I will go for making a Round Two batch, but for now, I'm quite pleased!
Isn't it funny how satisfying it is to "live off the bounty of your land?" Jeremy laughs when I say that. But I love it-- even if it is living off of Mystery Fruit.

First real post...

It's been a few months since I first set this blog up...

so what's been the hold-up??

Who knows... but here we are!
We wanted to post some pictures of the kids, and from

Nate's First Birthday Party.
What fun it was!

We had a little party at the park with some close friends and family, and Nate had a blast.
Cupcake-eating was definitely among the highlights from the day!

What a blessing it was to be able to celebrate Nate and his little life,

and ALL that God has done in and through Nate in the last year!
We are so thankful for the gift that Nate is to us, and humbled that God has entrusted him to us. My prayer for Nate (and Rylan too!) is for their salvation first and foremost, and that they grow and mature to live a life pleasing to the Lord and to glorify Him.
May they come to true repentance and faith in Christ,

and may they learn to know Him, love Him, serve Him, and obey Him all the days of their life!

Here are some more pictures from the day...

Big sister Rylan & Nate... loving the watermelon!

Nate at the start of the party...nice and clean... before the watermelon 7 cake "fun" began

Birthday Boy! Rylan just adores her brother... always wanting to help

All of us

Getting into the cooler when he thought nobody was watching...

Pooped out at the end of the party... resting on Grandma Bare-- so sweet!

Nate's First Year in Pictures... August 4th 2007- August 2008

Nathanael Aaron Weber
August 4th, 2007
7lbs 13ozs 20.5"