July 8, 2003 - HayPatch, UT - Ike took his first birthday in stride.

Birthday cake, while traditionally just a celebration food, became a thing of play as well as a tasty treat for Ike. (Click on Ike's photo below for a demonstration on how you, too, can play with your food.)

Driving under the influence of cake is one of the leading causes of toy-related child injuries. While manufacturers and child protection entities go to great lengths to prevent toy-related injuries, they don't test the toys for D.U.I. of C. In the video below, you'll see Ike getting a good bean on the head from his dump truck.

Note how quickly Hailey and Amber are to help Ike figure out how to react to the driving accident. It's not a painful incident...it's FUN! It's amazing how a little positive encouragement can effect one's reaction. Try this the next time you have a fender-bender on the road! You'll be glad you did.

July 8, 2003 - HayPatch, UT - Good-bye pale institutional green, hello cool white. Renovations of the back porch are under way! Thanks to a thorough cleaning, new window screens and a white priming, the back porch is starting to look welcoming again.  

The next stages will include putting in new windows in the frames recently scraped and repainted (see below for photographic evidence), new flooring, the final coat of paint and other miscellaneous improvements.

More photos of the first stages of renovation:

2008 Crops on the Patch

Planning and planning