Squarefoot Gardening

So for the last five years or more I have been planning to start a garden. Every year I talk to my dad to get suggestions on how to start one, but in the end I wait too long and then it is too hot to do anything. Siena also decided she would like to start a garden to work on her 10-hour YW project for "Faith" so with that added emphasis, this year I started early. Towards the end of January I called my mom from Home Depot to ask yet again for suggestions from her and Dad. Mom happened to have an extra Squarefoot Gardening book and went to the PO to send it to me that day. (How nice is that!) So the last couple of weeks I have been at hardware stores about every other day figuring out how to make a garden.
I've decided that starting a garden in the suburbs of the desert isn't the best idea because you have to buy everything. I didn't just want to dig a hole in the ground because I actually want my vegetables to grow. So I'm making a raised garden. First, Siena and I cleared all our rocks away.

Then since I couldn't find any free wood as the book suggested, I bought Douglas fir instead of Redwood or Cedar because of the cost and yet I still had to spend about $28 on wood. Next, I had to buy dirt, of all things. What is up with buying dirt? Oh yea, I live in the desert! So I spent over $100 buying compost, peat moss, and vermiculite. Most of the people that worked in the garden centers didn't even know what vermiculite was. So I guess it wasn't just dirt, but special earth ingredients to make my vegetables grow. I've figured out that gardening doesn't save any money, it just helps you know where your food comes from.

In the meantime, I built the boxes, then the kids and I painted them to make them especially pretty. That was a lot of fun, actually.

Now I've just got to get Paul to help me figure out how to install the irrigation drip. We had the line run years ago when we put in our yard. See, we actually have been planning on doing this for years and years. I'm going to try to get him to help me today. I'll keep you posted on how it continues.

First Talks

Siena gave her first sacrament meeting talk a few weeks ago. She did such a great job. We were very proud of her. Spencer gave his first primary talk today. Here is a video of it. I don't know why he was playing with my hair. He did it much better in Primary.

Here's more of less what he said, "My name is Spencer Krey. This a picture of my family. Here's me, Lily, Siena, my dad and my mom. I also have a brother named Andrew. He died when he was a baby. He lives with Heavenly Father and Jesus in Heaven. One day we will all be together again because we are an eternal family. God loves us and wants us to be happy. That is why he gave us families. I am thankful for my family. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

I asked Siena for a copy of her talk so that I could type it up. She said she thinks she ate it after it was over. She must have been pretty nervous. Her talk was on pondering the scriptures. I sent her to go look for it and she found it. She had only eaten the edges. Here it is:

"Good morning Brothers and Sisters. I'm Siena Krey and I have been asked to speak about pondering the scriptures. I'm actually glad I was asked to talk about it because it is something I, myself, would like to work on. My parents most of all have helped me to be able to ponder the scriptures by telling me what words meant or what verses were about so that I could picture it better. During family home evening, try to think about the lesson and the scriptures you read instead of thinking about who you have to call or what you're going to wear because later on in your life it will help you to be a better person. In 2 Nephi 4:15 it says, "And upon these I write the things of my soul, and many of the scriptures which are engraven on the plates of brass. For my soul delighteth in the scriptures and my heart pondereth them and writeth them for the learning and profit of my children." I love the scriptures and I feel that we are so lucky to have the chance to read them and ponder them. If we do not listen to what the prophets and Heavenly Father are trying to tell us; if we don't ponder the scriptures, how do we know what to do? It's like an open book test, all you have to do is follow through with what the scriptures are asking of us and we can already do so much better. I know that if you think about the words of the scriptures you'll find something there and you can gain your testimony. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

Andrew's birthday

Eleven years ago, our son Andrew was born. Each year we write birthday/love notes to him on helium balloons and then release them to soar into the heavens to wish him a Happy Birthday. We also make him a chocolate cake and sing to him. It has been very cathartic for our family and a good way for his younger siblings to know who he is. It is a happy way to celebrate his short life.

A tour of history

A couple of weekends ago we went out to the airfield to tour a B-17 bomber, the "Sentimental Journey," from WWII that was manufactured too late to see any action. It was interesting to see one so close and to imagine what it would be like to be an airman during that time in history. Spencer loves all things with guns, so he was pretty excited.

Afterward, we went to the DQ for a banana split. Yum!

Washington snow

I have one more entry for our Christmas break. These are pictures that Paul's brother, Dan, took with his awesome camera. After seeing these pictures compared to our own, Paul wants to get a nice camera, too. That will go on our wish list under all the other stuff we want. The problem is that there are so many cute pictures that it is hard to choose which to post. Believe it or not, I cut out hundreds.

Superbowl Sunday

We had a Superbowl party at our house on Sunday. There were about 30 of us, so it was pretty packed. Football is always more fun when you are with friends and when you have a team to root for. Oh, and when there is a lot of good food.
Siena was the only Steelers fan and she only wanted them to win because she has decided that she doesn't want anything to do with AZ. We were proud of the Cardinals for putting up a good fight. If the game could have ended 30 seconds earlier, our crowd could have gone home much happier, but as it was, we still had a good time.
Beckie has all the pictures and details. So I'll let her tell you about it.