Veggie Garden Update

We have had a lot of rain in Niagara! This has been great for our veggie garden, which seems to have good drainage. Here is how it is looking now:



We have been eating Emmi's lettuce, and her beans are just starting. And we have had 2 small zucchini out of my back quarter. Lots of green tomatoes are on the vines, and the basil is going crazy! Unfortunately, the carrots and peppers in Emmi's quarter have been overshadowed by the monster beans and tomatoes - I'm hopeful the carrots are still working away under there.

Tim's corn is getting taller and taller. Here he is standing in his corn patch:

Kimora's Home

Well, we sent Kimora home last Thursday. Unfortunately, she came down with chicken-pox near the end of her visit here. This was a terrible blow as she loved swimming, and the doctor forbade swimming, so she wasn't able to finish her lessons. But we tried to do some other activities to make up for it. Here she and Emmi are on the Port Dalhousie carousel.



Here is Kimora before the pox, doing what she liked best:



Overall, having her here was a good thing. I think Kimora would say the same.

Front Page News!

Apparently, we are the only family in Thorold hosting a Fresh Air Fund child this time, so we got to be in the Thorold News! Here's the picture that was on the front page:



And here is a link to the full article:
http://www.thoroldedition.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1116770

Visitor from Brooklyn

Our Fresh Air Fund child is here, and we are having a good time! Her name is Kimora (we had a change since my earlier post), she is 7 years old and seems to be fitting in well with our family. We are enjoying her a lot, and Emmi and I are being trained to skip double dutch (not sure if we will master this) and are learning new hand clapping games. On Kimora's side, she is enjoying swimming lessons, bike riding, little brothers (her brother is older), playing in the sand box and seeing some of the sights. Here is our gang eating ice cream cones at Niagara Falls.

Emmi is enjoying having a sister for a couple of weeks. Here they are, eating breakfast, and working on Tim's puzzle book. So far, this has been a good experience!

Marshes Celebrate 40th Anniversary!

David's parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary last week, and we had a nice party for them. Here is a photo of the happy couple, featuring THE CAKE, which I made. I must put in a note of thanks here to all the people who helped me with THE CAKE, I had friends who loaned me the cake pans, and the cake stand, and gave helpful advice and sympathy as was required. It turned out well, and tasted good (big sighs of relief). Another note, the cake topper is the original from 40 years ago!



David gave a great speech, highlighting the grace of God on his parent's marriage, with some great statistical facts and funny anecdotes thrown in. Most people were impressed, but one was not.


I think it was less the speech, and more the fact that Ben was sitting still for a few minutes that led to his nap. He woke up, very refreshed, and spent a lot of time at the chocolate fountain - which was disasterous for his white shirt (the bow tie came through all right), but which made him very happy, and made his Grandma laugh.