Thursday, November 30, 2006

Snowing in Kansas

It's been snowing all day, by now I think we have about 6 or 7 inches. It's so pretty.

The kids just had to get outside today eventhough is was below 20 degrees with a windchill making it feel like 1 degree. They had fun out there for about 20 minutes, then just got too cold with the bitter wind.
Gloria figures if she doesn't have a sandbox to play in, then snow can be just as fun with bucket and shovel...
It might be a little bit late for raking the leaves, but it's very important to rake the snow.

Helping Decorate the Tree

Here are the kids decorating the tree we got at the woodlot in Colorado. For the most part they did well although they did break a few ornaments, but no favorite ones - I made sure I put those up myself. The tree reaches almost to the second floor ceiling. This year's tree is taller and thinner than last years, which is about perfect for that spot in the hallway. You don't need a ladder to get to the top, just a staircase.

Little Turkeys

Yes, this is after Thanksgiving, but that is why the singing turkey in JB's arms is so happy and dances and sings "It's A Holly Jolly Christmas"...he didn't get slaughtered for Thanksgiving day.

This is Monday, the day we got out all of our Christmas decorations and Max set up the Christmas tree in the morning. Max had to fly that night so the kids and I decorated the tree. These are hats that I bought after Christmas last year. Gloria wore hers (and her pajamas) for almost the whole day.

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Isn't he cute?

A package

This is a side view of his leg and tush and abdomen. The little "doop" you see shows he's a boy. We are very excited to have another boy in our family. We have another picture of his boyness but its a little too "showy". JB didn't act too excited when I told him he was for sure having a brother because he already knew it was going to be a "brodder". He likes to tell everyone about the "baby in Mommy's tummy." Gloria is still clueless when it comes to the concept of having a new sibling. JB claims he wants a big family with "lots of brodders and sisers". He doesn't remember when he was an only child, so for him, the more the merrier.

Sunday, November 26, 2006

Thanksgiving Day

This is what we did most of Thanksgiving Day...processing elk meat. We are thankful to have all of this meat filling almost two chest freezers (both venison and elk) with 200 lbs of elk. Be assured that if you come visit us you are going to have a taste of some yummy game meat. Today Max cooked the elk heart with bacon, seasonings, and a sauce. I was skeptical at first but it tasted good. Max likes the challenge of making different parts of his kill taste good. He also likes the thought that he is not wasting any part of the animals that God provided for us to eat. It took from 10am to 4pm to butcher, cutting unwanted parts off, package and label stew meat, roasts, steaks, and jerky meat. Then it took yesterday (saturday) from 9am to 2pm to grind the ground meat pile, package, and label it.

We were also thankful to have been invited over to our friends', Jeremy and Kristin's, house for Thanksgiving. We had all of this meat processing to do, unpacking from our trip to Colorado, and we didn't have a working dishwasher at the time. It was a wonderful meal with lots of food and good friends.

Nuts

Gloria and JB are sharing in the mixed nuts on a picnic table at the nearby park. JB and Gloria both rode their tricycles all the way to the park, about a mile, but they were getting tired on the way back and wanted me to "carry" both trikes and themselves. It took a lot of coaxing to get them all the way home. I'm not sure how long it will be before I try this again. The other reason this picture is "nuts" is look at the waterbottle that is about to tip over. There goes mommy's drinking water. Kind of a cool angle on the waterbottle.

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

A Bitter Sweet Goodbye to Faithful, JB's pony

While we were in Colorado we found out from a vet there that the pony that JB calls "my pony", Faithful, has cancer and probably only months to live if not less.

Michele, Max, and I have all had conversations with JB explaining that Faithful is sick and is going to die. He is sad about that, but took it well, and knows that he can still ride Grace, which will be his new pony. Faithful is called that because he is what Michele calls "bulletproof", a very good pony for kids to ride. Grace is three and is not at that point yet, but she is being worked with to train and do well with kids.

These pictures are on the last morning we were in Colorado right before leaving to go back to Kansas. JB is saying goodbye to his pony. Bye Faithful, you've been a good pony for JB to learn to ride on and call his own.

The Elk at Home (CO home)

Max and Nathan with their elk before taking them to the taxidermist to get mounted.
Processing the elk meat so that we can take it home and eat it.
JB with deer antlers on his head and Max's elk head in the background.

Max's Hunt


The whole purpose of this trip to Colorado was Max's hunt for elk with his buddy, Nathan. Max applied for an elk licence in Colorado early this year and has been planning this trip since last year.

They were about 5 hours away from Monument in Craig, Colorado. Their hunting period for the elk in this area went from November 15-19. Nathan and Max scouted for two days before that so they left on the 12th to get out there.

After 5-6 cold days and nights of camping out in a utility trailer on cots and in sleeping bags, waking at 4:30 to hunt before sun up when it was about zero degrees, both Nathan and Max got bull elks, three and two days before the end of hunting season. This is what Stephanie and I and Max and Nathan were praying for...that they would both get an elk early so that they could come home and have the weekend with us, including a Thanksgiving meal on Sunday with family. God is so good. It could not have worked out better.

Second Visit to Woodlot - Christmas Tree Hunt

This was the very last morning we were in Colorado, Monday, the 20th. We went quickly to the land we own in Colorado to get a Christmas tree to bring back with us right before doing a final packing and driving off. This tree was one that looked like a good shape for a Christmas tree and that was in an area that needed to be thinned anyway to let other trees grow bigger and healthier.

JB at the Woodlot

We're back to the woodlot again in Colorado. We made two visits to the "woodlot" that we own on a mountain in Colorado, and this is the first visit. It was snowing and we were checking out all of the clearing of brush and treesthat Duncan and Michele had done recently. It made it look much more open and not as much of a fire danger - taking away a lot of the "ladder fuel" - brush below big trees that allows the fire to climb.

JB is standing on a rock looking cute and cozy.

Friday, November 17, 2006

Sledding with Mommy

I went down this hill in front of the Bremer house with both JB and Gloria. We mostly took videos, which I am not able to put on the blog. It was a lot of fun. I'm not sure how much sledding we will find in Kansas , so we'll soak it up here while we can. Although lately it has been warm-ish (50s and 60s), not cold enough for a bunch of snow... in Colorado the temps and the weather can change quickly though.

Gloria in the Snow

Gloria is pulling baby Elliott (9 months) in the baby sled. I'm not sure if she got very far, but she likes "taking care of baby Elliott"...maybe good practice for her future baby sibling.

Sledding!

Here's Ian and JB sledding together. We had about 1-2 inches the other day, enough for sledding down the hill in the front yard.

Helping Feed in the Snow


The kids love to help Gramma Shell feed the animals. Now Stephanie, a friend who is also visiting the Colorado Bremers, and whose husband, Nathan, is hunting with Max, has been feeding (she's very good with horses and animals in general) and they also like helping her.

Time to go Outside!

This picture was taken the second day of JB and Gloria in Colorado visiting grandparents on this trip. We had a couple of days of cold and snow. Lately it's been pretty nice here - in the 50s and 60s.

Jumping in the Leaves

JB had a blast about a week and a half ago, helping me rake up leaves and then jumping in them. It's a part of fall, right?

He actually was very helpful in scooping up the leaves with a rake and dumping them in a big plastic bag that I held open.

Thursday, November 09, 2006

November Heat Wave...

It's been in the 80s here in Wichita, KS the past couple of days! It feels like summer except that the leaves have already turned color or fallen off the trees completely. It's nice for the kids to be able to go outside without jackets again. Next we are off to Colorado where maybe it will snow!

Did We Do That??

I guess the kids didn't understand that it's a toy box, not a kid box. They had "fun" putting them all away. At least it keeps them contained.

Four Wheelin' with Friends


Our friends, Nathan and Stephanie, and their two boys stayed with us for a few days. The kids had a lot of fun together and it was fun sharing our home and our backyard with friends. As you can see, JB and Gloria are having a terrible time on this four-wheeler with "Mr. Nathan." No, they had a blast riding slowly in the back yard. Thanks Mr Nathan!

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Gloria helps her Daddy

The kids were very interested in the pheasant that Max shot and then plucked. Gloria was good at pulling out feathers while JB was good at tickling his Daddy's neck with a pheasant wing.

Gloria and the pheasant

This is our hunting "cover girl" with her hair blowing in the wind.

My Pheasant!

Actually, Zephyr was the one that went out pheasant hunting with Max, flushed the bird (made it fly from the ground), and retrieved it after Max shot it. It was a very pretty bird in all of its colors and it was also pretty tasty to eat. Quail is still my favorite. And this coming from a Boston raised girl? I know that's what you're thinking.

JB's next for plucking...

Little Miss Red