Our Garden and Easter

For my birthday this year, my wonderful husband surprised me with 4 pieces of wood. Not much you might think. But it was what those 4 pieces represented that was the exciting part! He was building me a garden!!!



We'd had a garden one time before in Phoenix which had moderate success. It turns out gardening in the desert takes more effort than we thought! Imagine that!

Since moving to Texas, I had toyed around with wanting to create one for a while and never got around to doing it. But with Matt's willingness to do all of the hard labor to frame it, till up the ground, and build a fence around it to keep out the critters, I was in!! It was a labor of love that we were able to do together. I helped paint the fence, got the soil and added plants and seeds, and we were off to see how it would grow.

 3/16/13

 Matt and his helpers tilling the ground

  
What a man!

 The plants and seeds are in! From bottom left corner up and then down the next row there are Red Peppers, Husky Cherry Red Tomatoes, Beefsteak Tomatoes, Cilantro, Parsley, Red Leaf Lettuce, Onions, Green Peppers, Jalapenos, Spinach, Cucumbers, Broccoli and Carrots.

 Putting up the painted fence posts and chicken wire. We have a lot of rabbits and thankfully this has successfully kept them out!

Cutest helper ever!

Our pretty Wisteria!

 

 4/12/13

5/27/13

 

 6/16/13

7/29/13

We've harvested many tomatoes which we've shared around as there were too many for us to eat! We've also gotten a number of green peppers, jalapenos, two good heads of lettuce, some baby spinach leaves and lots of cilantro and parsley. The broccoli fell victim to the rabbits as it started sprouting before we got the fence up. The cucumber plant never has produced any fruit and appears to have been damaged as a young plant so we think that is why it is struggling. The red pepper plant has finally started producing and we are letting the carrots grow for as long as possible to make them large but before they lose their flavor. We only had one onion take root from the seeds we planted. It should be ready soon!

It's been a learning experience and we look forward to starting our fall garden with the knowledge we've gained over the past few months with our spring garden. And now that the fence is already in, it should be a much easier process! It has been so fun and rewarding and I'm so thankful for my awesome birthday present!

Below is a pictures of the girls being sweet. Since they are next to each other in the birth order and are both girls, there is usually a lot of, shall we say, tough love between them :) But here is a shot of them being sweet!

 Gabriella reading to Melia

The kids were super excited to dye eggs as we prepared to celebrate Easter and our Risen Savior! It was fun to share in this tradition with our kiddos.

My sister Natalie invited us to attend an outdoor Easter party at her apartment complex. We had fun hunting eggs, getting faces painted, and having some yummy snacks. We love you Aunt Natty!

Our neighborhood also had an Easter party and egg hunt and we enjoyed getting to know some of our neighbors better! Here is Melia showing off her awesome butterfly backpack!

We are so thankful to our Savior Jesus Christ for dying on the cross to take the punishment for our sins. What a joyous celebration it was Easter Sunday rejoicing in his resurrection. We are eternally grateful!