wrapping up the month of birthdays

january 13th - henry's birthday.

february 1st - owen's birthday.

february 16th - my birthday.

february 25th - gary's birthday.

we have wrapped up the month of birthdays around our house.  the lanterns have come down.  the birthday treats have been gobbled up.  yet, owen still sings happy birthday sometimes.  ha!

my birthday was wonderful - gary made my favorite meal {breakfast}.  we were all home and enjoyed good tunes, good company and good times.  that saturday i ran in the Love Your Heart 10k ... it rocked!  that's one race in auburn i have not yet run.  one word: thankful.  well, two words: thankful and excited.  gary had a wonderful birthday too - we went to our first {and only this year} auburn basketball game.  the tigers did not win, but we all enjoyed the game.  we met up with good friends there and then they all came back to the house with their kiddos to visit and have dinner.  the bushes trekked down from birmingham - great to see you guys, as always!

also in february, gary and i took henry to the storybook farm cowboy round-up {that's another post}. 

we continue to "unpack" and situate things here ... that will continue it seems. 

 thanks to greg, brett's dad, for the delicious peanut butter and chocolate cake!

 above: from our front porch.  our "neighbor" across the street turned the cows out in the field next to us ... when we drove in the driveway for the first time after turning them out, henry exclaimed, "we live on a farm now!  there are cows!"  he and owen LOVE these moo cows.  there are a handful of calves and the boys enjoy watching the calves frolic and follow their mommies {and, get out of the fencing}.  gary and i both grew up on land with livestock {cattle and horses mainly}, so we have certainly enjoyed having them close by too.  there is one bull amongst these cows ... what a life, right?  poor guy. 

 and this is the view from our deck/porch that overlooks the pond. 

see that bench in the middle left of the picture?  that is the bench on which gary asked for my hand in marriage - june 29th, 2003.  the bench sat in his dad's yard in anniston at the time, but several years ago when his dad moved to auburn, he moved the bench to the ponderosa.  for christmas that year he gave us a plaque for the bench, "the betrothal bench," with the date of our engagement.  quite thoughtful.

that is our driveway there on the right.  our sits a ways from the road.  when they were adding the gravel and making the driveway way back when, gary and i said, "we like a snaky {curvy} driveway."  henry quickly said, "i do not like a snaky driveway."  ha!  will never forget that.

we are able to witness the sunset every day.  gorgeous.  in all honesty, what a blessing does not seem to truly capture our emotion, for all parts of life.  not sure how one would describe it, really.  undeserving? unimaginable? utterly thankful?  

for now, let's just say that if you are ever on our end of town and want to stop by, we would love to visit with you.  come and check out the cows, pull up a chair on the deck and watch a spectacular sunset.