Raspberries, Raspberries, and....pears!

PEARS

Something we discovered when we first moved into our home (a year ago) is that we had a pear tree. BUT when we moved in, (pear season) there were NO pears on the tree, we only found a few on the ground. So we assumed it wasn't a very good pear tree or our neighbors cleaned it since the house was vacant all summer. We didn't know. Derek gave it a shot last fall, and pruned the tree. This year, VOILA we have PEARS!
We've been picking them and letting them ripen in our house. I have had a kitchen counter full of pears for two weeks now. Tired of them.
BUT we have picked and canned. Thomas has enjoyed eating them off the ground in the yard as well as helping us pick and put in the basket.

I love this picture of him observing the pear.

Don't be fooled by this picture. Most of the work was done by Derek and Emma, really.

Derek pickin' away!

RASPBERRIES

For the past few years we have had a tradition to go to the Raspberry Patch in Payson with our friends the Golden's.

Here are Emma and her friend Brooke.

Thomas loved the raspberries so much, he ate them right off the bush! :) (good gravy)

This was my view most of the night

If you look closely you will notice Emma is sneaking some berries out of Brooke's bucket. Little sneaker.

Oops, she's caught!

Girls played in the field.

Thomas loved the cows!

Again, this was my view most of the night. Little boy hanging on my leg.

We love picking raspberries so much, that Emma and I went back later that week with another friend. Gotta love raspberry jam! :)

Emma's 4th Birthday

For the record, this was the night of Emma's Lady bug (after) party and she was still out there hitting that pinata. She couldn't get enough of it!

We had a family birthday party with Grandma's, Grandpa's, Uncles, Aunt, and cousins. Here she is after opening my gift to her that was HAND MADE WITH LOVE! I made her apron from this tutorial. I made the felt cupcakes from this tutorial class
The chef hat was from the dollar section at Michael's than I just embroidered details on the strawberry. I was SO EXCITED to give these gifts to her. She loved them, made me so happy.

She opened up a gift from her Auntie Kimmy. It's a cute purple polka dot shirt.

Thomas doing one of his favorite things, playing with the chickens in our yard.

Finn and Uncle Dennen got in on the action.

Emma's Grandma Phair's birthday was the week before so we celebrated theirs together.

'Better than ANYTHING' cake!

Grandma Phair and Emma blowing out candles

The party wasn't over when it got dark outside. Some of our guests congregated in Emma's "Bakery" (room) and she served them her cupcakes.

Emma's actual 4th Birthday!

Loved getting her birthday phone calls.

We surprised Emma and took her to see "Winnie the Pooh" movie.

She loved getting her own popcorn and special drink.

Made it to a lunch/playtime at McDonalds, one of Emma's favorite places to play.

We took the kids to the park and surprised Emma with Princess bike.

Yes, she was surprised!

I think she likes it! :) She rode it for a while to practice. There were a few falls. We just kept assuring her that if she keeps practicing, it will get easier. Even Mommy and Daddy fell when we were little while learning to ride a bike.
Yes, that is Thomas' wood chip pile on the slide.

And don't forget Chuckee Cheese outing. Yes, that's our children on the ski ball lanes. Guess who the leader of the pack on that one was? .......Thomas.

Getting ready for beddy bye! What a great birthday she had! It was definitely a fun filled day. I won't lie, we were exhausted.

Opening a few gifts from Mommy, Daddy, and Thomas.

These are a few of her favorite things..
Rapunzel (Tangled), lots of disney songs including "I've got a dream" from Tangled, checking the mail, drawing, saying her ABC's and spelling her name ALL THE TIME (so proud of her), dress ups, Peanut Butter Sandwiches (and Jelly, she just says Peanut Butter), ask Mommy and Daddy lots and lots and lots of questions all day long :), her friends, her chickens Sarahs', riding on her Daddy's back at night like a horsey (she calls him Max) while he drops her off to her bed, making cards for people, picking flowers for others, baking with Mommy, Preschool and asks everyday if she gets to go again tomorrow :), and continues to let her imagination run wild!

Happy 4th Birthday sweet Emma girl! It feels like just yesterday we brought you home from the hospital. We had so many emotions those first days of bringing you home. We were so overwhelmed with ALL the love we have for you! Thank you for coming to our family and being such a joy and blessing to us!