{Harvest 9-7-2011}

{Happy Anniversary}

It all started with a date...August 2006

And then a baptism...April 2007

Which obviously lead to a union...August 2007

Where 2 became 3...

Then 3 became 4...June 2008

But wait its not right, we need something more...September 2008

Oh boy! We decided we wanted more than just four...July 2009

That's our story...until we open the next door! August 2010

I started uploading a bunch of pictures of Tyler and I through out the last 5 years but I accidentally pushed the wrong button and closed the whole thing! I was so frustrated so I decided to just whip up a quick short story of how two became 5. In a few minutes my frustration went away and joy filled the space where anger had been. So what if the computer died on me...I had a great time looking back at all of our most memorable moments. While I am not going to redo it all, I will share this last photo with you. Whatever may shut down in your life just remember to always....

{august 2010 photo by Keriann Simpkins Photography}

{Memorial Weekend}

Our family tradition is to spend Memorial Weekend enjoy the spring at Crowley Lake and the Mammoth Lakes area. We like to head down to Bishop to enjoy the Mule Days festivities as well. We had a lot of fun but to say this year was a bit different than usual is quite the understatement. We headed down to Mule Days, walked around as planned and sunburned all our little noses then headed back to camp and just enjoyed the view playing around the grass and completely soaking up early days of spring...

maybe a bit premature...

We woke up to SNOW?!! Everywhere!!

And kept coming down the for the rest of our trip! Certainly unexpected but what a treat!

We love this area and snow or not we will enjoy ourselves!

Oh boy! did it get cold!

Dear Mammoth Mtn,
We will be returning this friday for an entire week. We've missed you so much and just can't bare it any longer! I know you will be happy to have us and you've been preparing for our return but if you could kindly have a chat with Mother Nature just to make sure she knows we're coming we would surely appreciate it! We are so badly in need of new pictures of the boys and their mom really could use some June Lake beach side sun so please make sure she knows this time!

Love truly,
The Simpkins Family

{Simpkins}

A few Sundays ago we were able to spend time with family! Tyler's Aunt Becky came down for a summer visit with his cousin Kim and her two boys. Both of his brothers and 2 nieces were there too! We were excited to all be together! It had been a long time since the "younger" cousins got to play and play they did! It was so much fun to watch them! I sure do love my family! I'm so lucky to have married such a great guy with a great family!

{Good Morning}

I love that he loves his Stuffed animals so much!

"No more pictures Mom! I want breakfast!"

{Garden Update}

Look what I found...

hiding right under...

these...

Can you believe how big that thing is?! About 8 inches around and more than a foot long
I need to find me a country fair quick! Win me a blue ribbon! haha

 Oh and do you see my sad corn in the back ground? Yeah I don't even wanna talk about those

Here's my jalepenios: 

My roma tomatoes hiding

My nectarines

The sunflowers, green beans and cucumbers

And lastly my abundance of tomato plants

3 jellybean, 2 celebrity, 2 roma and 1 champion

Happy Gardening! I've already started preparing for next years really BIG garden! So exciting!

{4th of July}

Most of you know the ward we live in is a residents ward. Meaning we are close to Loma Linda Hospital/Medical schooling so a lot of the residents coming in from other states end up in our ward. About every 4 years we have to say sad goodbyes to dear friends as their residencies are over but we get to welcome just as many new family! In the last few weeks we've gotten about 7 new families/couples in our ward! Some of them aren't even residents! They're permanent! Yay!

I do love meeting new people and getting the chance to make new friends build new bonds! I am one who truly lives the concept of "diving in head first"! Reading the last page of a book gets me even more excited to find out the whole story no matter how sad it may seem. So with that being said we've started our adventure of getting to know this new group of residents. I can tell you already that 4 years from now is going to be really hard for us!

Let me introduce you to the first of many new friends we hope to acquire!

Meet the Russel's

They are super fun, super cool and well..Super silly! We are so glad they are here!

We had a small BBQ, then went to a look out spot near out house and watched about 20 different fireworks shows light up across the valley! It's one of our favorite places to watch fireworks! James was very happy this was a family tradition, he was mesmerized! After the show was over we came back to the house and played with sparklers. My lens was broke and my tripod lost a leg last year so I could get the pictures I wanted but I definitely capture the fun!

Mom kept getting duds that burned out in seconds...James was very sad about it

Wyatt wouldn't hold still for a picture its so much fun waving those sparklers around,

but I promise that blur of blue shirt is him!

And now I must brag about my smart kid...he's starting to write his name and doesn't even know it!

J is for James!

Then last but not least it's a full moon tonight! Megan's "heart" looked more like a bum than a heart!