An Early Christmas Present

Our tangelo tree gave us some beautiful pieces of fruit this year. Maybe it won't always be such a big deal in years to come but, considering it is its first year, we were incredibly excited to have five whole tangelos! One came off early, but the other four were enjoyed this last weekend, right when we needed an extra big dose of Vitamin C! We had been cooped up with coughs for a few days and took the opportunity to harvest our fruit and get a little sunshine and crisp fresh air just to mix things up a bit!

Everyone put forth great effort to get those suckers off the tree!

Soon, Dad jumped in to add a little muscle to the mix.

And Bethany came away with a prize.

Then James took his turn with assistance...

and was delighted with the results.

Poor Ben, tired from coughing all night, gave a half-hearted heave-ho!

And due to his Daddy, it was worth the effort!

Of course, Daddy enjoyed the harvest as well!

But, of course, gave Mommy the first bite. :)

2nd

3rd

4th

5th

There was some sourness...

But, mostly, eating from our very own tree made us all feel like this:

James kept doing this jumpy swing thing that made us laugh so hard we nearly choked on the tasty tangelos. I got video of this and can't wait to watch it with him when he is old enough to be embarrassed by it.

When Bethany rides the swing like this, she calls it "being Captain Moroni." I guess because the swing becomes her horse or something. Whatever the case may be, I love it!

Ben and I snuggled in the sun for a few minutes before heading back inside. We got just enough sun and fresh air to lift his spirits and immune system a bit. It's no fun being sick when there is play that could be had! Then again, a moment to bask in the sun against the garden fence while getting in a snuggle is a pretty good way to lift sickly spirits too!

A big thank you to our sweet and sturdy tangelo tree. He's been our strongest tree thus far, never giving us a moment to wonder if he'll make it through the summer or winter. Maybe his sturdiness is why he was a plant that struck me as male right from the start! Among the fruit trees, he and the peach stand as the lone menfolk of our backyard. So far, everyone else are girl trees in my book.
I don't really know why I consider this all worth sharing. But, let's be honest...I've rambled about lesser things.