Sam and Kaitlynn built what they thought was a decorative birdhouse for the top of the new bird feeder post. SURPRISE! A happy blue couple decided this was exactly what they were looking for! We have been watching them all morning fly in hay and straw to build their nest. Above, you can see her peeking out of the hole.
There is now (new) light at the end of this tunnel. The MRI results have come back negative for the problem she suspected last week. YAY!!!! That means I can restart physical therapy. YAY!!!
The one and only picture from VBS this year. A one day VBS. What a nice break that was. Today was all the lessons and crafts, tomorrow is swimming and fishing. When all these past years I have taken 500+ pictures for the slide show, this was simple and sweet. I did not have to walk around, which was a good thing. This year, Collin was a helper. He was assigned to a younger group and did a great job. It was so weird having him to old to sign up. He loved it though!
I asked Sam for another post to hang some more bird feeders, so this is what he made me! I love that he added the places we have lived. We need to move the Louisville sign so it can be seen better. The hummers found it even before we were done with it. They do not seem very scared of us!
Another picture of those beautiful red flowers. I think they are Bee Balm.
The humming birds!
This Idaho birdhouse was given to me the day we left. I thought it would just be decoration, but this beautiful yellow bird is now calling it home. Can you see that his beak is open? He just sings and sings!
Anybody know what he is? I got out our bird book and thought I had him pegged, but he is missing the black on his head. Isn't he cute??
Ours is growing very well! Thanks to Sam's hard work and big help from the children, things are thriving here at Wildwood Ranch. Above is a new flower that has bloomed outside the kitchen window. I have two people trying to find out the name of this exotic looking flower. I really like it!
The hummingbirds just love this salvia.The side garden is full of them!
We just love the blue hydrangeas. They remind us of Sam's mom. They are planted behind the guest house, so you can't see them unless you walk around back. I think I want to plant some in a different place so they can be seen. I guess I will have to put that on next years to-do list.
The fruit and vegetable garden is growing quickly! I can't wait until things are ready to be eaten! Look closely here and see our first tomato! According to Kaitlynn, now there are 4! Sam has planted enough tomato plants that I am sure we will be sharing with friends!
Corn, carrots, broccoli, radishes, pumpkin, watermelon, cantelope, spices, garlic, and many more things I can not remember are all growing quickly in the garden beds.
Kaitlynn has taken great care of the gardens since Sam has been gone. He gets back from Germany tonight and I think he will be very pleased at her hard work. So far, the fence has kept out any garden eating critters, though our outdoor cat has been spotted wandering through the tomatoes. :)
Kellynn is the reason that Kaebrie wants curly hair.
Spoke (well, typed) to soon. Mondays Dr. visit showed a possible problem. An MRI on Tuesday will give an official diagnosis. So I will wait to write about that if it happens to be true. So, it is back to full time boot and bye bye sneaker for two more weeks until the test results are in.
Friday, Christopher graduated from Kindergarten! He has had a crazy year. He did his first 6 weeks at the base school in Idaho, and the last 7 weeks at a private school in Mississippi, with bursts of homeschooling for all the time in the middle, but with the cross country move and the ankle fiasco, I really felt like I had gotten so far behind. He did not love it at first, but by last week he was so excited about school! We have a lot to do over the summer to get him geared up for first grade but now that he is ASKING to do school, it should be fun and I am looking forward to really working with him.
This morning, Kaebrie graduated from Preschool. She was the first Smith child to ever go! She spent 7 weeks at Tutor Tots and loved it. She misses the Mississippi cut off for starting school by 13 hours, but Covenant School is going to let her in. So watch out Kindergarten, here she comes!!
Well, better late than never! 
I was excited about spending time with Daddy and using my birthday present, my new hiking polls!
This was a ten foot high fallen tree over a river that we had to cross.
Daddy went first so he could take pictures for Mommy. Here is Mr. Greg crossing it.
This is right out of the big squeeze cave we had to climb through and this is a rock on the other side that I climbed up.
This is called Fat Man Squeeze and we had to go through it. It was easy for me and James and a lot harder for the daddies.
Crossing a river, the water was COLD!
We took a break in this pretty spot.
I really liked this waterfall.
Mommy likes this picture. 
Daddy likes this picture!
The 4 campers!
It was an excited, scary, amazing, beautiful hiking trip. I had a lot of fun and I think James liked it too. My favorite part was when we got to Big Tree because the waterfall was there and I got to go rock climbing and use some fancy footwork. My least favorite part was the river crossing because I got my pants soaked.
