U-Umbrella

I love when we put out the patio umbrellas! It means there will be cook-outs, dinners outside, watching the little boys splash in their kiddie pool, homemade ice cream, etc. Though the heat is a little much right now, we still enjoy sitting under those umbrellas and enjoying the sights and sounds of summer!Ahh.

V-Violets

Violets...lovely sweet violets!

Years ago, my sweet friend, Sherri Luttrell gave me a "starter" of her violets. I had always admired the border of sweet little green leaves with an adorable purple flower in the spring that Sherri had in her yard. I cannot tell you know much joy those violets have brought me. For several reasons:

#1-you can't kill em!

#2-they were free and during those days buying flowers was not always in the budget.

#3-they MULTIPLE!! So, I went from having them around one little flower bed to having them around almost every flower bed in my yard plus I have been able to divide them and share them with family and friends. This spring, I took a box full to Ashley's and she put them to good use! I just divided some to give to Meg today!

#4-in the summer, when they start looking pretty "burnt" around the edges of the leaves, I just snip them off at the ground and about a week later they pop back up and start "smiling" again! They flower in the early spring.

Thank you Sherri! It never fails when I am working in my yard and see those violets, I always think of you and your sweet friendship. 

(Okay, the picture isn't so great but it was the only one I could find! The violets are bordering the walkway up to the boys sandbox in the backyard)

W-William Texas Knight

William Texas Knight joined our family on November 26, 2007 and he is a complete joy!  He is the third son for Zach and Meg and he is so sweet and easy going! He is starting to really get a personality now and has such cute little grins and giggles. He has BIG blue-eyes, dark hair little and is a "chunky monkey". He is well padded and so laid back! He is trying to figure out the whole crawling thing. He loves to lay in his older brothers room and is quite entertained by them. It will be so fun to see what things interest him, what talents he will charm us with, etc.  but for right now, we are just enjoying his snuggles and precious chubby cheeks! How fun to watch these little guys grow up!

X-X-ray

First off, there aren't a lot of things that start with X and besides that we do have a great x-ray film at our house. Once, when Larry was doing a little building out back of our house, he accidently shot a six-penny nail into his foot. Yep...all the way in! He shot right through the boot, sock and even managed to catch the hem of his jeans. When he said he had a nail in his foot...I was thinking in the bottom, like most people do. But, no, his was through the top of his foot. After a little visit to the ER, it was determined it had thankful not caused any major damage. When the doctor walked in with a pair of pliers, I thought he was playing a joke on us but no, he just got a good hold on the head of that nail and pulled it out! Larry said it didn't hurt...I think he was in shock! Either way, later in the day he was certainly hurting! But he was just excited they didn't cut through his work boots! And they think women are crazy about their shoes! Sorry, no picture to post! Just the story was probably a little to graphic for some of you! But we do have the xray if you ever want to look at something both amazing and gross!

Y - Yellow

Though not my most favorite color, it is near the top! It seems to always find a place in our home. Our bedroom is painted yellow, the kitchen has lots of accents of yellow and I do love yellow tulips and daffodils! 

A to Z...in reverse that is!

I decided I would do an A-Z list but I am starting with Z! I know, I am weird...but it is kind of like the way I flip through a magazine...I always go from the back to the front...so Z is where I will start!

Z- Zachary Austin Knight
Our firstborn. Our only son. Our pride and joy. I loved this stage of my life, because now I get to sit back and watch my children be adults. Be spouses. For Zach, we get to watch him be a husband and a daddy. It is great fun. But first let me go back to September 25, 1979. I can't describe the excitement Larry and I felt as we anxiously awaited our firstborn child. We had

 been married a little over 3 years when Zach was born. The nursrey was ready (decorated in lovely checked gingham and ducks) and we could hardly wait to meet our child...yes...in "those" days you really didn't really have the option to find out so the sex of our child was a much anticipated surprise. I actually loved that...one of life's truly best surprises!! We were delighted when Zach made his much anticipated entrance weighing in at 9 lbs and 2 1/2 ounces! He had a head full of black hair and pretty much entered the world ready to take it on! He was a chunky little guy with gusto for life! He quickly became Larry's little sidekick and loved to "go work" with Dad. He basically just loved life...but he was also very strong willed which of course got him in to a bit of trouble through the early years of his life. He had to often learn lessons the hard way and had his fair share of bumps, bruises, stitches and even a few broken bones. When I was pregnant with Ashley, I often thought how he would accept another "kid" in the house but I could not have dreamed how well he "took" to his sister. He immediately became the protector and her best friend. We thought Ashley would never walk, because if Zach saw her trying to get to something he would quickly bring it to her. It became very obvious that her brother could do no wrong in her eyes! Being strong willed had it's advantages as well, he was a quick learner, not afraid to try new tasks and his brain was always thinking up something to do or make. Zach loved being with family, grandparents and cousins! You could give him a piece of rope or an empty cardboard box and he was a happy camper! Zach, loved life, but didn't really see a great need for school. He tolerated it and was actually a good student but he just didn't see why everyone else made such a big deal of it...he had much prefer to be at home or working with his Dad. When Zach reached high school, he went on a Wilderness Trek trip with our youth group and the whole world changed for him. He had always been our child who LOVED to be outdoors but once he saw the mountains, he was hooked. He loved climbing, repeling, rafting, fly-fishing, skiing, camping...pretty much if it was outdoors he was interested. But the thing we also saw happening, was his faith grew by leaps and bounds. As soon as he was old enough to work at Trek (between his Junior and Senior Year of High School) he spent his summers in Colorado. It was hard to be away from him all summer, but then when we would go and see him so happy it became much easier. Working with Trek, he met Meg! So, we really feel like the whole Trek thing was a "God-thing" in his faith and in his future. Fast forward...there was college, marriage, moving to A&M to finish his schooling, moving back to Abilene to take over a business Larry had started when Zach was in High School and then Meg and Zach starting their family. Now we have three precious grandsons and have the pleasure of watching Zach be a dad! It is so fun to see Owen and Clay already following in their father's footsteps! They love being outdoors, love to "build things" and as Owen says "be worker men!".

Zach started life out big and he hasn't ever stopped. He towers over me and his body build is much like his granddad and his great granddad. But there is another part of him that is huge and that is his heart. He has such a heart for serving others. On so many occasions, I am reminded of what a heart of gold he has. He is always doing and giving of himself, his means and his time. But he also has such a funny side, that many never see. Thank goodness we do, because it brings us such joy! I am very proud to call him my son! He is such a blessing to my life! Zachary Austin Knight...thank you for the honor it is to call you son! You have made my life rich in so many ways and I am so blessed by you each and every day!

Here is Zach and his three precious boys! Owen is standing, Clay is sitting on

Zach's lap as he shows them their new baby brother, Will. 

Okay...I promise I won't make ALL the post this long...but after all, 

I am a mom and I do love to talk about my kids!