Last summer at the farm continued

Maddie and Kadee really enjoyed getting know each other!

Kadee is so adorable and the girls had a great time together!

Maddie, Din Din might think Kadee is his dinner!

Hey, your Nana loves you!

LAST SUMMER AT THE FARM

MADDIE AND KADEE AND DIN-DIN (SHORT FOR DINNER)

Lifes Canvas

I would like to dedicate this post
To a very special friend
VAUGHN HARPER who has helped us
all to be artists and whos own portrait shows so well.
He is father of blogger
The "artist Daughter"
who is also an artist..


Sunshine and shadows and laughter and tears,
These are forever the paint of the of the years,
Spashed on the canvas of life day by day,
We are the artist, the colors are they,
We are the painters, the pigments we use --
Never we're wholly permitted to choose--
Grief with its gray tint and joy with its red
Come from life's tubes to be blended and spread.

Bare at the easel, the brushes at hand,
each for a time is permitted to stand.
White was the canvas when first we began,
Ready to picture the life of a man.
Now we are splashing the pigments about
knowing the red and the blues must give out;
Soon we must turn to dull hues of gray
painting the sorrows that darken the way.

Now with the sunshines and now with the shade
Slowly but surely the picture is made;
Even with gray tints with beauty may glow,
Recalling the joy of the lost long ago,
but when the last bit of pigment is dried
let me look back on my picture with pride.

Let me when trouble is mine to portray
dip with good courage my brush in the gray,
After the tears and the griefs let there be
something of faith for my children to see.
Lord let me paint not in spite or hate,
Grant me the patience to work and to wait,
make me an artist, though humble in style
and let my lifes canvas show something worthwhile.

Alex Gerrard (my greatgrandfather)

Neat Little Message from Paul Harvey

We tried so hard to make things
better for our kids
that we made them worse.
For my grandchildren

i'd like better.

I'd really like for them to know

about hand me down clothes and

homemade ice cream and left

over meat loaf sandwiches,

I really would.

I hope you learn to make

your own bed and mow the lawn

and wash the car.

And I really hope nobody gives you

a brand new car when your sixteen.

It would be good it at least

one time in your life

you can see puppies

born and your old dog

put to sleep.

I hope you get a black eye

fighting for something you

believe in.

I hope you have to share

a bedroom with with you're

younger brother/sister.

And it's all right if you have to

draw a line down the middle

of the room, but when he

wants to get under the covers

with you because he's scared,

I hope you let him.

When you want to see

a movie and your little

brother/sister wants to tag

along, I hope you'll let

him/ her.

I hope you have to walk

uphill to school with your

friends and you live in a

town where you can do it

safely.

On rainy days when

you have to catch a ride,

I hope you don't ask

your driver to drop you

two blocks away so you

won't be seen riding with

someone as uncool as

your mom.

If you want a sling shot , I

hope your dad teaches

you how to make one

instead of buying

one.

I hope you learn to dig in

the dirt and read books.

When you learn to use

computers, I hope you also

learn to add and subtract

in your head.

I hope you get teased by your

friends when you have

your first crush on a boy/girl,

and when you talk back to your

mother you learn what ivory soap

tastes like.

May you skin your knee

climbing a mountain, burn

your hand on a stove and stick

your tongue on a

frozen flagpole.

I don't care if you try a beer

once and I hope you don't like

it... And if a friend offers you

dope or a joint you realize he

is not your friend.

I sure hope you make time

to sit on a porch with your

grandpa and go fishing with

your uncle.

May youn feel sorrow at

a funeral and joy at the

holidays.

I hope your mother punishes

you when you throw a ball through a

neighbors window and then she

hugs and kisses you at

christmas time when you

give her a plaster mold

of your hand.

These things I wish for

you-tough times and

dissapointment, hard work

and happiness. To me,

its the only way to

appreciate life.

Written with a pen. Sealed

with a kiss. I'm here for you.

And if i die before you do,

I'll go to heaven and wait

for you.

"We secure our friends

not by accepting favors

but by doing them."

Welcome Home Monica!!!!!

We welcomed home Monica on December 2oth, from serving in the Fort Worth Texas Mission.

Well done thou good and faithful servant! It is wonderful to have her home.

The Whole family
came out to see our daughter, sister and friend.

A four generation picture. Rod, Kadee, Grandma, Todd with his adorable son, Ryland.