A Verse for today

Psalm 92:1-2

"It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord,
and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High:
to shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning,
and thy faithfulness each night."

Mikki

HAPPY 13TH BIRTHDAY, MIKKI!!


Today our youngest son turns 13 years old. No more "babies" in the house. sad sigh :(
Only young men now!







From Mom- My, how the time has flown since you were born, my son! I remember how your favorite position was to lay across my tummy when you slept as a baby! You are still my cuddly bug, and I love when you snuggle up next to me with hugs and kisses. Now you are growing into a young man, and learning to be a diligent and hard worker. You are my yardwork and gardening partner, chef-in-training, animal husbandry helper, and assistant laundry care, as well as my travelling buddy, companion and good friend!


You are also Ben's technician friend-always ready to help tear apart some tool, appliance, plumbing, electrical or whatever project, and sometimes even pretty good at putting it back together again! You are TJ's "hold the end of this" and Daddy's "go get me a____" person!


You are always up for a good game or activity, you are adventurous, fun-loving, and full of energy! Being still and quiet just isn't one of your most obvious traits yet!!

Your name means "One who is like God" and we chose this name for you on purpose. We hope that you grow in God's grace this year, and become in your heart and actions a man after God's own heart.


We love you very much! Happy Birthday to you (in four-part harmony, of course!) !!!




"Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life- in order that I may boast in the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing." Phil. 2: 14-16







10 Special Things about Mikki:

1. His real name is Mitchell Albert Greer. He is named after his dad, Mitchell, and Amy's dad, Albert.

2. He loves strawberries, but is allergic to them!

3. He likes to study plants for their edible and medicinal properties.

4. He is the BANDAGE KING!

5. He has developed an ecosystem in our yard: He catches flies to feed to the spiders, then feeds the spiders to the chickens, then feeds the chickens to...well, you get the picture!

6. He knows all of the tools in our shop AND what they are for and how to use them!

7. He is the smallest boy we know in his age bracket!

8. He is the youngest southern gospel singer that we know of in southern California!

9. He can make all kinds of strange sounds with his voice-birds, cars, animals, etc.

10. He is very adventurous, and he likes to talk a lot!

A Family Favorite

One particular section in the Bible that our family likes is the first chapter of Psalms.

It says:

"Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.

He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, which brings forth its fruit in season, whose leaf also shall not wither, and whatever he does will prosper.

The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away.

Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgement, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish."

Our New Puppy

Our dear friend raises Australian Shepherds. This month we were blessed to have her give us this pretty little female, our newest member of the family. Her name is Lizzy, and we just love her! She is a fuzzy little ball of fur (this the nicknames such as fuzzball, wookie, and walking carpet!), and full of energy! I especially like her "eyebrows", which give her face such personality! We were told this breed especially likes to be with people, and we have found that to be the case, as she follows us around most of the time. Mitch likes the name "Velcro" for her, 'cause she sticks to us so well!! LOL!




Nose Kisses!

Finishing up the details!

With the "old" small "ship" deck now demolished, progress has begun on the "new" "ship" deck.
It's a simple design, a little bit bigger than the previous one, with a little creativity added! The new style gives this deck a curved bow to which we added a place to hoist a flag, cleats to hold the rope, and a brass bell for signalling when the captain is aboard!
The homeowner is a retired naval captain ( highly decorated I might add!) who kept us entertained with his stories the entire time we were working there! A very delightful couple indeed!

Below, a long view of the now-painted second deck.









The completed upper deck, with slats installed for shade at just about 10 am daily, but still open and airy with a wonderful view of surrounding area. Also included was the new bench seat and seat back which runs around the entire perimeter of this deck. This allows for not only a comfortable place to sit and talk, but also a nice place for the many beautiful exotic plants the owners have!










I have yet to take the final pictures of all three completed decks, but will post them when I can.

New Railing

Remember the "old" railing I showed you last post? Well, it's on its way out now! The new railing has a Japanese flare to it per the owners request. Ben in his creativity came up with the design idea and they loved it! So now he gets to built it!
And here's another view of the nearly finished upper deck, with the unpainted middle deck coming along. The small "ship" deck will get demolished soon.


The view off the newly layed second deck with yet unpainted "new" railing. A lot of work so far, and more to come 'til the job is done!

Deck Progress

Oh! Here's the picture I mentioned before! TJ and all his might!

And this is TJ setting up the "dragon back" boards on the upper deck. These boards will hold the slats used for shading the entire upper deck from the hot California sunshine! You'll see more later how all the parts fit together.

Below is the same view as previous, only without the trash and well, without the deck either! Demo has begun on deck two!









Now this picture is from the ground looking up at the upper deck progress, and again a different angle of all three decks-upper in progress, middle with the "old" railing, and barely able to see that small lower "Ship" deck! But wait 'til you see what they do next!...