An Update

There is something about garden-planting that is good for the soul. It is also good for relationships, if (as I was doing here) you use the time while your brother is planting squash-plants to keep him company and have a nice talk with him. And take pictures of him.

Sadly, after I had succeeded in taking approximately forty million pictures of him planting, him smiling, him talking, him digging in the earth, and him looking at me with that melt-a-sister's-heart grin, there was a camera card mishap and I lost all but just a few pics. :/ Oh well... here are the survivors!

I miss Curtis already... he is four hours south of us right now, in the midst of another med school rotation, and won't be back for a few weeks. Road-trip time!! We've already been down once to see him, with many more plans in the works...

A very happy plant.

Curtis also took advantage of his recent break-week to cook up some absolutely amazing dishes. This guy can really COOK! Here he is making Chiles Rellenos, and on the side, authentic Mexican rice, and a big pan of sweet corn tomalito. It was incredible. I was super happy to let him take over the kitchen. :)

And did I mention that he doesn't mind washing the dishes?? :)

We enjoyed a wonderful July 4th fireworks show this year, and as you can see from this picture, we (and a bunch of other people) had front-row seats to the action. It felt like the fireworks were bursting right above us, which was almost the case. But the boys assured me that we would not get pelted with flaming fragments of fireworks, and they were right! Not that I was worried or anything. (ahem :)

I was trying to capture the way the fog hung in the trees this morning, but the picture doesn't do it justice. It was really beautiful... I love the way we get early morning clouds here that rest in the forest until the sun comes up and melts them. It makes for a dreamy sort of pre-breakfast calm.

Enjoying a tasty lemonade on my 22nd birthday!

We enjoyed a relaxing day on my birthday, complete with a hotdog roast and s'mores over the campfire. The pretty yellow flowers on the table there were given to me by an amazing guy - three of them, actually. And one amazing girl. And two amazing parents. Yep, I have the best family in the world!! :)