Holy Smokes!

I can't believe how much time has flown by since I last posted anything. Sorry! I have been super busy, but have lots of fun pictures and have been multiple places since last time - Seaside Oregon, Tucson, Arizona...and now back to Pullman.

I promise to write stuff soon...but gotta work on that pesky Senior Paper rough draft, which is due Thursday!

Summer Visits

We have been so fortunate to have Keith's family visit this past month. First, Keith's parents Doug and Beth came out to help us with the huge basement project. Keith and Doug worked relentlessly on putting up new walls, wiring, and plumbing. Beth worked out in the yard, trying to tame the wilderness. Where was I? At school working, working some long hours in the Orthopedics department! It was such a wonderful surprise to see all the work they had done to help continue to make our house into our home.



Next Keith's sisters, Cheryle and Teresa, and our cutie-pie nieces, Jayden and Sierra, visited for the annual birthday celebration. We had a great time catching up and seeing the girls after they have grown so much! We celebrated Sierra's second birthday with a Kitty Cat cake, where some memorable quotes were made. My favorite is from my neice Jayden, who was talking about Sierra: "Maybe she'll want the head!" Little did she know that her sarcastic Auntie Liz had said that only hours prior.

That evening we enjoyed some fireworks on Sunnyside Hill and especially had some fun with sparklers and our cameras. Keith was very creative and we got some great photos. I had only played with sparklers once before, and found them lots of fun. Hopefully next year we can share our July 4th with C, T, J and S - wherever we may be!

Overall it was a great time, and we miss them already! Although I have to admit, the first night everyone was gone - I took a 3 hour nap on the couch. Who knew that a 5 year-old and a 2 year-old could wear someone out so much!?!

Our First Garden

Today we finally got the wire frames to help support our first garden crop - tomatoes! These are the first tomatoes I've ever grown, so I am quite excited that they have been doing so well. We have had success with herbs in the past, but I've never attempted anything more. But after all those articles about "green living" and friends growing such spectacular gardens, I figured it was time to give it a try!


We bought most of these from the WSU Hort Club fundraiser, which was great since we also bought pepper plants too. These didn't last long, since I planted them too early and a late frost/cold spell doomed them. But after a quick trip to the store and a couple starters from friends, gave us a grand total of NINE tomato plants, three pepper plants, and one cilantro herb. I decided to get a bunch of tomato plants, in the hope that one would survive my first attempt at a garden. Little did I know that so many would grow so well.

Keith has been wonderful and taking wonderful care of these little guys while I have been living at the VTH. Thanks to him they are thriving! We even have some new little tomatoes trying their best to grow. Keep your fingers crossed that our pesky neighborhood squirrels leave them alone!