Old Photos- 2016 - 2019

I haven't posted in so long! I think it's been almost two months. I have been pretty busy with online schooling. With housework and general living in between school, I don't really have much time to work on blogging. I found some time today, so I'll use it while I have it.

 I found some old pictures from a couple of years ago, and I thought it would be interesting to share. 

This is a picture of Hal in February 2016. He was still so little! Now, he's seven years old and still has more energy than me. He was almost three in this picture.

Kirkland Conference 2018.

This is QB and Lulu walking together the day before meetings started. We were there early because my dad helped with the sound, and needed to set up.  QB was taking care of Lulu, showing her around and making sure she didn't fall. It was so sweet. I still remember taking that picture. 

 Feburary 2019

I did a photoshoot in my room because we couldn't get professional photos done, and I wanted to remember how thay all looked at this age. I didn't get everybody to participate this time (I did another one earlier), so I only got a few kids.

Hal - 6 yrs

Lulu- 2 yrs

Ricka- 7 yrs

Another picture of Lulu in a different outfit

- still 2 yrs :)

Butler- 9 yrs

I think they all look very different, even if it's only a year's difference.

=

Lulu- a couple weeks old (September 2016)

This whole outfit was a gift from a school parent, and we still have it. Pixie just outgrew the dress, but the shoes and the flower still fit her. :)

 November 2016- Ricka

At the time of taking this picture, I didn't realize how little she looked! I think Ricka was five here, she looks so different now!

Her face looks heart-shaped here to me. :)

Also November 2016- Lulu.

:)

After school, working hard on chores and homework. Butler and PC.

I think this was also 2016, or maybe 2017.

January 2019- Ricka, Lulu, and PC

I like this picture. This was PC with his tablet. Nothing has really changed since this picture with him, he still loves anything with a screen.

February 2019

Snow at the meeting room. Lulu was so excited! It didn't last long, but it was fun while it lasted.

May 2019- "twins" Hal- 6 and QB- 4

So cute! This was a Sunday morning before meeting. They thought it would be funny to match (all the way down to the hats and vests!) and confuse everyone. It was so cute seeing them "tricking Daddy!"

I have to go work on (more) schoolwork, so I have to end this post here. Bye!

Home Sweet Home

We currently live on five acres, and we have dogs, chickens, cats, and sheep.

Most of the property is made up of small fields. We do have one big field that's probably two acres, and that's where the sheep usually graze. That field is behind our barn. In front of the barn, there's about three small fields that have lots of trees, and these fields surround the house and driveway. 

It's really beautiful on our property, especially in spring and summer.

There are also two small-ish ponds, which a myriad of frogs call (loudly) home. In the warm months, sometimes we spot a heron or a family of ducks there as well.

Reflections

We have many willow trees on our property. They're big, too. At one point, I counted over eight in the front area of our property. In late afternoon, the hanging leaves catch the sunlight, and everything has a golden-green glow. It's breathtaking.

In springtime, we have several trees that blossom, but only two actually produce cherries in the summer. we also have two old apple trees, and they are twisted and bent. They bloom every year, but rarely give much fruit. 

Early morning sunshine- This is from a while ago, before the world went into isolation. I was waiting for the school bus at our gate, with PC. It was even more beautiful in person. The camera does not do it justice.

I took this picture when I was watching the sheep in the back field. The sky was so blue, and with the clouds marbled through, I like how it turned out.

Ground covering flowers by the house- they're everywhere this time of year! I think they're called periwinkles, but I could be wrong.

Scout and Molly love playing in that field Scout's standing by. We call it the willow field, because of how many grow there.

Six Months Old! (March 4th)

Pixie passed this milestone over a month ago, but due to current circumstances, we couldn't get a professional picture taken. So, I looked through my (very long) camera roll, and found some photos that are almost as good, taken around the time she was six months old.

Pixie is an energetic little girl, and always on the go (or trying to be) When she was six months old, she was almost able to sit up on her own, but she needed a person there. now, she's very close to crawling, and can sit up all by herself. She loves her people, and loves being held. This can cause a problem sometimes, because if she's constantly occupying a kid, this said kid "misses out" on jobs and chores, and holding Pixie can soon turn into a get-out-of-work ticket. 

Life has been busier for the better ever since she was born, and we love her very much. i can't imagine life before pixie, and I don't know what we'd do if we didn't have her in our lives. she is constanltly teaching me lessons on how to be a better big sister, and how to have grace, patience, and to be more caring to others. We love you Pixie!

Sunday Dinner (At Home)

*This post was written and saved as a draft two weeks ago...*

Yesterday was Sunday, and since we can't go to meeting right now, we had a simple Sunday School at our house, singing some songs and saying our verses. It was nice, because it set the day apart as the Lord's Day, instead of just another weekday. We've been doing this ever since we couldn't go to the meeting room, and us kids all look forward to it.
 Later in the day, we listened to the live broadcast Common Thoughts of Christ, and we really enjoyed it. Check it out if you have time to listen to it. The broadcasts start at 2:30, i think, and usually go on for an hour and a half.

For lunch, my dad wanted to try out his new wok. A wok is like a pan for cooking, only it's shaped like a bowl and can withstand much higher temperatures.

So, he decided to cook a stirfry lunch for us. He'd been wating to try it out for a long time, and finally got all the necissary pieces to do it. The last few days, he's been buying ingredients and planning the meal, and was prepared to cook yesterday.

Us kids were divided into groups of two, and then each group chose a combination of vegetables to add to their shared stirfry. Here's the stir-fry orders for each group:

I love all the bright colors of veggies. So pretty!

Slicing, dicing, chopping, mincing, and more.

Rainbow Pepper. :)

My dad marinated the meat for a while before frying it, and I think that's what made the meat so good in the finished dish.

Each pair of kids shared a big plate of stirfry, and these were the vegetables to add to each one.

Butler and Lulu were the first pair to get their lunch . Because a wok uses such high temperatures, the food does not take long to finish, so they didn't have to wait long to eat.

First, my dad cooked the meat,

Then he fried the veggies, put the meat back in, added noodles, cooked that together for a bit... 

...and the dish was done!

It was so good.

My mom sliced the green onions long-wise, and they looked fancy and pretty when she was finished

Ginger. I love the smell of fresh ginger! It was delicious in the finished dish, giving just a hint of flavour. 

Of course, I also had to take a picture of the cherry blossoms. How could I not?! Look how pretty it is!

So cute! Pixie was in a good mood, and I managed to get lots of pictures with her smiling. 

Nature is so beautiful. We are fortunate enough to live on property with lots of land, so we get to see this every day. 

Everyone loves Pixie!

That's all for this post, but I'm working on a few others at the moment, so check back because I have a tendency to post at random moments sporadically.

Déjà vu

I found this old picture on my mom's blog and it's a picture of Ricka and Emma.

The then two youngest in our family

The current two youngest girls:

 

I don't know if you guys can see the similarities, because I'm not sure if the camera captures them very well, but to me, the resemblance is startling.