Spring is here!

 

The sun is out!  It's come out from behind the clouds this week and I am LOVING IT!  I started taking walks outside again, and couldn't help stopping and capturing these pics, including my own shadow that I hadn't seen it what seemed like months!

 I love seeing the grass glisten when the sun hits it!

The ducks are loving this weather too.

Thomas and I stepped outside in our backyard to observe more closely the changes in nature with the warming weather.

 He was as fascinated as I was in observing the process of how pine cones grow.  Where I grew up in California, I don't remember being this close to pine cones, and certainly don't remember being around them in Spring.  

So we figured out that this is step 1, with cream things growing out of these little dark brown things on the branch.

Step 2:  The cream things shedding or growing into green pom pom like things. 

Step 3:  Flowers growing out of the pom poms.

 Step 4:  Lastly, the flowers slowly grow and then harden into pine cones!

Nature is truly fascinating, and there is nowhere better to go than in our own backyard to witness the hands of God and the beauty He created with them!  Spring is the perfect time for this.  :)