My Gerber Baby

Francesca had her first rice cereal today and Mikey she liked it!

Her brothers had different opinions. They both said BLAH to the mixed cereal but Vincent liked the "powder" form.

Zack was still BLAH on the powder.

Cutie in a blue shirt

What the recent rains brought

The rain from a few days ago brought this double rainbow over the neighboring dairy.

Here is a view of the rainbow over our soon-to-be-possibly-cut-down Walnut tree.

If you look in the lower half of this picture, you'll see some of the four ducks that enjoyed a frolic in our seasonal creek. (click on any photo to get a closer look)

Here is our wooden bridge with plenty of water underneath!

Happy St. Valentine's Day!

Here is my hidden stash of Valentines for my family, mom, Ray, and Raymond.

Here is Francesca modeling with the Valentine's I made.

And here are the kiddos checking out the gifts.

Speaking of our Anniversary...

Here are some pics from a stop in San Andreas on our anniversary date.

Jason speaks with this antique shop's door greeter.
He's not quite as friendly as thoseWalmart greeters!

Jason drooling over an antique still in the dusty patio portion of this shop.
There was plenty for me to look at as well in the semi outdoor section.

But even more eye candy inside...

I didn't even attempt to browse this super narrow aisle with my big purse on my side.

I like the stained glass bar-pool scene in this vignette, along with the Jigger Whack, an old bar tool.

Here are some jolly monks!

And dear Ol' Beth in front of the mining museum next to St. Patrick's church.

Tree Planting Party

Last Super-hole Sunday (as Esther named it) some of our friends and family came over and dug a row of 21 tree holes along our creek, 3 holes in our back yard, and planted 14 trees in some of those holes! Wow! Thank you so much for the help. That was so awesome!

The trees we planted along the creek:
2 nectarines
1 Fuji Apple
1 Golden Delicious Apple
1 almond
2 plums
1 pluot
1 peach
1 Bing Cherry
1 Rainier Cherry
1 apricot

The trees in the back yard:
1 Meyer Lemon
1 kumquat

Now Jason and I get the pleasure of purchasing 10 more trees to plant in the holes that are already dug! We plan on getting more different varieties of fruit trees, plus a pecan for the row along the creek. A lime for the hole in the back yard. This will allow easy access for Jason's margarita making.

In addition to the above trees, last month Jason planted a Navel Orange and a Blood Orange in the front yard. There's also a small mystery citrus in the front yard that came with our house.

Having many fruit trees is a dream come true for Jason and I.

Anniversary Balloons

The night Jason and I were out and about tasting wine, dining on yummy Italian food, and enjoying the local talent at an open mic night in an Angel's Camp coffee shop, the boys and Gramps (Grampa Ray) blew up balloons and tied them to a shaggy bush in our front yard. Here are the boys and balloons the next day. An added bonus, Gramps taught them how to tie inflated tie balloons!

Sweet Cottage Dreams Is Having A Lil' Giveaway

Sweet Cottage Dreams: I'm Having A Lil' Giveaway

Pro-Life Inauguration Ad

I found this at Danielle Bean.

Our 15th Wedding Anniversary

Yesterday was our anniversary. We will be celebrating it tomorrow with wine tasting in Lodi and the foothills. We'll also go to dinner at an Italian restaurant in Murphy's, recommended by our pastor, Monsignor Gus. We are also looking for a fountain for our front yard as a gift to each other. :)