Tiny Tot Tests the Waters

Isn't it a joy to watch a baby discover a new challenge? Even though stairs can be fearful for both child and adults, learning to navigate them successfully is a good thing.

Our granddaughter, Emma, is pictured here getting the idea to attempt something new. She then makes a move to climb up a few steps. Finding out they won't buck her off, she keeps climbing then takes off for the unknown.

Let us all have the courage to keep trying until we get it right or are satisfied. One never knows what the results will be unless the leap is taken first.

"Push yourself, have ideas & the passion to execute them. There is a whole world that can be experienced allowing you to rise to the top. Talent is a gift, but persistence is its own reward."

Bean There, Missed That

Our bumper crop of pole beans has resulted in an overflow on every shelf in the refrigerator. No one asks, 'What's on the menu?' because they know it is green beans, zucchini, carrots or cucumbers. No complaining here since fresh veggies are in season for maybe ninety days of the year. Some produce is given to neighbors and family with a craving for the home grown.

Daily pickings and double searching to get every last bean in its prime is a must. It's a game of 'Hide and Seek' with some beans seeming invisible amongst the leaves. Others ones shouting, 'pick me first', like we did in school for the afternoon Phys-Ed ball game. If I find them grown to 'huge' portions the next day, I marvel how they could have been missed. Production slows when they are ignored and left on the vine.

It's clearly a game of 'I Spy', then I eat. Yum! Yum!

'73 Transposed Was 37 Years Ago

Yes, 37 years ago in 1973 we were married in the Salt Lake Temple for time and all eternity after a four year courtship. That alone seems like forever, but it really wasn't. We would hear people say they had been married 25 years and think that was more than our lives on earth.

It seems now that 37 years is a very, very long time after some days of trying to be patient with one another. Now I understand why Grandma Schmidt seemed a bit irritated with Grandpa after fifty plus years of marriage. Sometimes you just get in each others way. Here are some recent pictures that show how long enduring to the end really is.

All in all, we still love each other and are willing to hang in there until 2023 at least. Hey, that's fifty years and almost an eternity.

Trampoline, Truely Twenty Five Years of Fun

Christmas 1985 our dear trampoline came to reside with us. Many happy bounces have ensued since the first jump took place in early 1986. Everyone has taken a turn or two hundred on it. Some patrons even had sleep-overs, tumbles, fly-offs and more, fortunately resulting in minor damages.

When the grandkids came to visit this summer, it was the popular hangout. ‘Take turns’ we shouted over and over to them, when the smallest ones couldn’t handle the momentum. Occasionally an adult would climb on, delighting the little ones. Their powerful jumps would send all the rest flying high. ‘Dead Man, Dead Man’ was an oft played game, as each in turn tried to find others to tag out. Neighbors commented hearing happy voices spilling over from our back yard. The grass was greener under the tramp do to the many water games played.

No one knows who has jumped the highest. Jory is probably a contender for first place; although everyone who has bounced skyward via the trampoline, feels they are soaring to heaven. What is it that these round, spring laden contraptions do to us the minute we step onto them? Instant childhood returns as our lungs inhale the fresh rushing air, bringing a smile to our faces.

Here is an invitation: ‘Same time, same place next year to all the bouncing boys and girls.’