The warmer days of June

My jolly-jumping son. :o) 

Some friends from Denver are here in Edmonton for about 6 months of work, so we took the opportunity to get together.

 Their little Daniel is sooooo cute. Oh my word.

 The first strawberry from our little strawberry patch. All in all, we got about 7 lbs from the first picking of the year, and we have a few plants getting ready to produce a second crop of fruit now. We ate them as fast as we picked them.

 Especially these two kids. They looooove strawberries.

 And smiles. Lotsa smiles. Philip automatically brings out the grins whenever he sees me with the camera, no coaxing needed.

 Summertime meals... out on the deck as much as possible.

 Beauty out front.

 This is my experiment this year - pole beans in a pot. So far, so good. :o)

 Hansen roses.

 Look! It's a bean! Half of our bean seedlings died when we transplanted them into the garden this year, but those that survived are bearing veggies! :o) Not enough to cook for a meal, just enough for fresh eatin'. I love it that Hope and Joy will eat anything straight out of the garden - kale and parsley included!

 Wakin' up from a nap in his stroller.

 The long boardwalk part of the deck that goes by the house comes in handy when I want to put some distance between sleeping and awake children. :o)

 Why not?

 He loved it.

 Except for the shoes part... he's not too keen on shoes just yet.

 Digging in their bucket of sand.

 Thankful for happy, simple days of summer.

 Look who came to see us!!! :o) That's right - it was Pilar, along with her sister Chenoa. They were in town to shoot a wedding that weekend, and graced us with their presence, staying in our guest room downstairs.

 Joy and Pilar had talked about painting their toes the same yellow ever since we saw Pilar at the farm earlier this spring.

 Getting more independent, as in, more able to do things independently. :o) Pilar and I were playing Boccee ball with Joy at the other end of the lawn. :o)

 "Can you give me an unner-duck?"

 The girls still fit in the baby swing too... yus! We actually have two regular or "big girl swings," as we call them, and a baby swing, but only spots for two, so it changes what we have up there day by day, sometimes minute by minute. :o)

 Chenoa obviously had the camera at this moment.

 And this one... I wouldn't think of a pose like that. :o)

 Surveying their work.

 Pilar and Chenoa were out all of Saturday, shooting the wedding, and we had a normal/busy/laid-back, Daddy's-home-odd-projects-and-Tim-Hortons kind of Saturday.

 It was just what the doctor ordered.

 The days and weeks are long without Daddy as he works many, many hours these days, so it's always special to have time during the day with him.

 Another shot of the roses out front.

 Picking strawberries together on a Sunday afternoon. :o)

 Yum, yum.

Pilar and Chenoa were able to come to church with us, and stay for lunch after. We were so blessed to have them. Joy fell asleep on Chenoa's lap during church...so sweet.