Beautiful Day!!

I've been so thrilled about all the rain we've been having over the last few weeks. It's going to a beautiful spring in Southern California and I can't wait to see our flowers bloom!! Today's an exceptionally beautiful day so I took pictures of our slope & the little garden patch we planted 2 weeks ago. The apple/plum trees in the front are sprouting leaves!!!!

I went to an early session today with my friend/visiting teacher Betty. This is the 2nd month we've been going to the temple together. Earlier this year Betty came to my home to give me a private lesson on making cinnamon rolls. I've made it one more time on my own since and I think I did pretty good.

Kevin signed us up to do sealings last Saturday which was a great way to spend our 9th wedding anniversary. We also went to a nice dinner courtesy of Doug who gave us a Cheesecake Factory giftcard for Christmas. Rob also spent a few days with us last week. It's always a treat to have him not just because he makes us waffles for breakfast but because he's such a fun nephew.

Sunday After Church

Presenting...

This is what we accomplished this beautiful Saturday morning (through early afternoon). The tree to the left is the avocado & the leafless one in the middle is the fig. Kevin dug the trench across the back where we planted the gladiolas and allums. After they were buried in the ground, we planted the pink/red/white bellis between the irises, then the deep red sedum above/below it and the scotch moss at the top/bottom. The ranunculas were inserted above the irises - below (hopefully) the gladiolas & allums. We need another fruit tree at the right end but we haven't decided which one to get yet. Kevin dug/removed 2 large plants just outside our bedroom. It seemed like a very hard task. That's where he planted the lime tree. Since he worked so hard, he deserved to have his picture posted here.

More Trees!!

My friend Denise came by yesterday and we went to a couple of plant places. We got 3 new fruit trees: avocado, black fig and limes, 2 more water plants: Anemopsis Californica and Iris Black Gamecock, several perrenials: Gladiolas, Alliums, Ranunculus and Dahlias and some groundcovers: bright light green scotch moss and dark red bellis. We will be planting them in the backyard against the side wall where Sandy planted several irises the 1st year we moved to our home. I think I will plant the Alliums by the pond and the dahlias up the slope. I have 40 gladiola bulbs so maybe I'll plant some of those in the front yard as well. Kevin said he will dig the trench for me but I highly doubt I will actually end up planting all these (gloves and all!). Here's a photo of some of the flowers. I promise to take photos when these are planted and when they bloom so you can enjoy them with me!!

The highlight of our Saturday was a visit from my sister Christie and her husband Kurt. They live in Henderson NV. They took us to dinner at the Korea BBQ House in Irvine.

Bareroot Fruit Trees

We planted these fruit (apple and plum) trees in our front yard today. They are semi-dwarf and my friend Denise chose them so they will definitely bear fruit. She is going to help me spray them. I don't know what that entails. She said I don't have to worry about it. Denise is trying to turn me on to gardening. I'm not sure how she'll be able to accomplish that since I really hate getting my hands dirty. I look forward to posting photos of these trees with apples and plums - hopefully in a few months.

Here's one of the slope in our backyard. It's not as colorful as I would like it to be. The iceplants are once again covering the upper part so I'm hoping we will see color soon. When the flowers of the iceplants bloom, the slope is filled with deep reds and pinks. We planted 2 magnolia trees 2-3 years ago but they don't seem to be growing. At least they are not dead. We planted bouganvillas hoping to have them drape the fence but they've died.

Cattails and Lilies

Here's a picture of our pond this cold morning here in South Orange County. We have about 15 kois in the pond right now. They are all about a foot or more in size. I love the purple flowers in the back. I don't know what they're called but they've been there since we got our home. We planted cattails and more waterlilies (red this time) in the pond last week and I'm excited to see them bloom.

Malachi 3:10

You're probably wondering what my blog title has to do with this picture. If you are not familiar with this scripture, read it and be enlightened.

We've been living on one income since August when I quit my job and have been doing our best to live within a budget until Cooper got sick. My mom gave us $200 for Christmas so I thought I'd take it to pay for Cooper's vet visit. We left the vet with so much more than that in surgery and hospital bills and when we took Cooper home, there was a chance of another surgery should his pain persist (to remove the disc material the neurosurgeon failed to see). We also had a tithing settlement appointment on 12/31 and owed more than Cooper's bill to become full tithe payers. (When I took over the financials from Kevin late last year, I told him he had to continue being responsible for tithing because I relied on his faith completely as far as that was concerned.) We took Cooper home on 12/30 and skipped church the next day to watch over him except Kevin decided to go just before Priesthood ended. It was while Kevin was gone when I took Cooper out and for the first time, he landed on the ground without yelping and walked to the pond area slowly without wobbling. I watched him closely put his weak leg up to pee - to what seemed to me like forever - and I cried thinking he was going to be just fine. Kevin paid the rest of what we owed in tithe and we've been blessed instantly. Now back to the picture. We bought this brown area rug to keep Cooper from slipping/sliding when jumping on/off the furniture. I also got the really nice brown curtains (50% off from Pier 1!!) to put behind the bead curtains. It helps block the sun (making the living room dark which Kevin likes). Then Kevin bought an elliptical machine replacing the treadmill neither of us really used. Kevin seems really serious about losing weight and had heard so much about this machine from his sister Penny whose husband Dave apparently lost a lot of weight using it (and doing other things I'm sure). Kevin spent a lot of computer time researching which kind to buy and I'm just glad the ordeal of searching is over.

Finally, all yarns at Tall Mouse went on 30% off on Superbowl Sunday (yes, I went to the store on Sunday) and I got enough yarn (Cascade 220 Cranberry) for a sweater. I'm still researching which pattern to make. I currently have 2 knitting projects going - a throw for Kevin and this pink cabled scarf (my first cable project). I also have a matching multi-color skein for a nice brim hat to match (yes, a 3rd project to complete before I start on the sweater).