treehouse update

been over a year and the tree house is almost finished. so is my bank account unfortunately but whatever madelyn wants she gets. here are some pics.

tree house groundbreaking

a week or so ago we broke gound on the tree house, although we opted to build around the trees rather than attach the structure to the trees. the budget keeps growing and madelyn keeps wincing, but we are moving forward. we will keep you updated on the progress.

to give you some perspective my hand is on the board that holds the movie screen for our outdoor movies.

honey crisp apple trees

after sara introduced us to this variety of apple we knew we needed some in our yard.
so saturday i borrowed an auger and we planted two of these babies. we were told they would produce starting this fall. these apples are so good they may be the forbidden fruit.

clouds part just in time for annual egg hunt

the annual easter egg hunt took place last saturday. although it was a bit wet, the rain stop just long enough to find some eggs. this year we had over 30 kids and near 600 eggs. the garfield clan was a welcome addition to the festivities. despite the weather it was a great to kick off the summer party season at the roundy's.

the gospel and grub, it must be april

madelyn put together an amazing brunch with everyones help. it's been a tradition in our home since heber j grant was in charge.

isaac, maddie, and nauvoo the beautiful, highlights our trip to des moines

we just got back from a week in des moines visiting ryan, sara, issac. and maddie. we had a great time and saw some amazing things. (i can't figure out why the heck this is underlined but oh well. ) here are some pics from our trip. thanks again to the paynes for all their hospitality.

diners, drive-ins, and delicious meals,

sara went to great lengths to make sure we were fed well in des moines. we had chinese and mexican and even a calorie laden breakfast to make me feel right at home. then, feeling a bit over confident she played the indian food card. now i know most of my family are big fans and the dish she cooked (marsala chicken) wasn't the worst thai i have eaten, but i have to say, food from india is not my cup of tea. i am not particularly fond of curry and i like to eat cows and pigs. here are a few pics of chef sara's offerings. thanks sara, you're a great cook and you and ryan were wonderful hosts.