Horse-n-Buggy Christmas-Time Ride

A very cold Gloria after the horse-n-buggy ride. The sun went behind the clouds during the trip on the Santa Fe trail which made it a lot colder. I was jogging along with the horses and buggy, but was usually either in front of them if the horses were walking or in back of them if the horses were trotting. I finally got a run in after not exercising for about a week due to cold, snowy weather, Michele giving away her elliptical:(, and being sick. It felt really good to run again.

It looks like Gloria's tongue is stuck to her zipper (it's not though).

Max was riding "Bunco", a large energetic stallion.

JB is not driving in these pictures, but for about half the trip he was using the reigns and guiding Fly, the young horse...both did very well on the buggy trip.

Fly's santa hat eventually had to come off because it was bothering him, but it was a good effect with the jingle bells and good for pictures...thanks Fly!

Fun on the ice stream

Zephyr was "fishing" for rocks and sometimes chunks of ice...strange dog.

Bundled up to go down to the frozen creek/pond.

Benaiah would not walk on the ice, which is understandable since his feet went out from under him twice when he first got on the ice. I was holding his hand so he didn't hurt himself, but he was very happy riding in the sled. How do kids sit on their feet for so long without them falling asleep...shorter limbs maybe (less distance for blood to travel...I don't know).

The dogs love to come on the walking-on-ice adventure. They tend to walk on the thin stuff and fall in sometimes, which helps us to know where not to walk. Max also got his feet pretty wet because he can't help but jump on the ice until it breaks...still a little boy in a big boys body, I guess.

Some places the ice was so thick and clear that we could look through it and see stuff frozen on the bottom or in some places water still flowing underneath, along with minnows and other fish swimming underneath. The beavers have built a dam on the Bremer section of land, which makes Gramma Shell very happy because it means a nice pond for cooling off in the summer.

Christmas Day

All of the Bremers together. This is at Bill and Lois Maxwell's home where we enjoy food and fellowship on many holidays.

Christmas time pictures

Grungy the Bouvier dog didn't move from his spot even when I put Evelyn in her Jump Up. Max rigged a horizontal post coming out from the loft near the kitchen so that we could hang the Jump Up. Evelyn loves being in the middle of the activity. The rig sounds precarious but Max made sure it was safe for her. We've been using this rig since JB was bouncing in it.

Benaiah was very happy to open his first Christmas gift, a toy chainsaw. He helped cut firewood with it and also tried cutting his toy dump truck in half...didn't work, but it makes a cool noise and the "chain" and "teeth" actually move!

Christmas morning, almost noon, in pajamas for much of the day.

JB's 7th Birthday!

Gramma Shell made a "JB" shape carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. It was also Uncle Justin's birthday on the 23rd (born 28 years earlier) and he got a "Tiger cake" which is Ginger cookies with whipped cream and rum, frozen. Both were very tasty.

Action shot of Benaiah and Gloria playing "keep the balloon up in the air".

JB discovering the fun of static electricity.

Gloria dancing with balloons, Uncle Justin blowing up a balloon for 18 month old son, Mitchell. The kids got to meet their first cousin on the Bremer side and got to spend some quality time with Aunts and Uncles.

We did the same thing as last year with the balloons, which was buy a $20 helium tank from Walmart and a bunch of extra balloons and blow them up ourselves. The Brothers (Max, Justin, and Eli) had fun using the leftovers in the helium tank to sing chipmunk-like Christmas carols. It was hilarious.

"Christmas in the Park" in Altus, OK

Evelyn loved being wrapped up in a blanket as we walked around and looked at lights.

Western Day...

...wait, everyday here in OK is western day...

The chaps are very good quality (real chaps) from their Aunt Kristin (Max's Aunt)

These little John Deere booties match Gloria's and are from her Gramma Lois. They will probably fit her until she's about 18 months or so. What big feet you have Evelyn! Actually, her feet are the smallest of all my babies. Benaiah had the biggest feet when he was born. He got little baby cowboy boots when he was little but I could never fit his feet into them, so they were just for decoration in his room...

Can't you tell I'm a genuine cowgirl? Somebody swiped my hat and now I look bald!

Pre-Christmas in Oklahoma

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JB reading his children's bible to his siblings. He's getting really good at reading and even seems to enjoy it now, which brings warm fuzzies to a mother's heart, especially after working through his attitude issues about learning to read.

She didn't make a peep to let me know she was tired, she just lay her cheek-pillow down and fell asleep.

Benny playing in the back yard.

Since we don't have a mantle, Max figured out a way to put nails in the grout between the rocks. Now we are in Colorado and these Christmas stockings are behind the wood-stove. Unfortunately Benaiah decided to put a leaky battery (which I didn't know he had) in his stocking and it stained the stocking orange. I guess he thought he was naughty this year and couldn't find any coal...

My parents' visit - fun times

Fun on the trampoline.

Dad carefully standing close to a longhorn.

Eating at Meers Restaurant in Oklahoma. We drove through the Great Plains State Park, which has buffalo, longhorn cattle, and lots and lots of prairie dogs, then we ate at Meers, where they serve longhorn burgers on metal plates and drinks in mason jars and yummy homemade (store-made) ice cream.

JB and Grampa Larry being silly.

JB snuggling with Gramma Lois in the morning.

I love this picture of Gloria and Gramma Lois

Grampa Larry was being attacked by a vicious wolf and lion! Gramma Shell made the pajama-costumes. This was the first time Benaiah was willing to wear the fuzzy hat. His face got red because of the wrestling and warmth of the lion suit, so my Dad figured he was some sort of rare breed of Oklahoma Red Faced Lion.

My Dad used the 4-wheeler, trailer, and chainsaw to therapeutically cut up dead trees from across the street. He cut a lot of firewood for us...thank you Dad!

Evelyn and Gramma Lois.

Fun In Snow and Mountains of Colorado

Max's elk hunting trip.

My favorite nature picture taken by Max on his trip.

Max is back "home". Family photo.

Mainly Samantha Reimer built this snow person and I put sheep wool on its head for some hair. The dogs later gave this snow person a hair chop...into many little pieces.

Happy kids and dad with a beautiful background.

Max giving the kids a ride on the 4-wheeler, which he took hunting the previous week.

Yay! Cross country skiing. Had not done that for 6 years and it felt really good!

We are already back from Colorado and had a fun time visiting Gramma Shell, Grandude, and some wonderful Air Force friends, the Reimers. Our kids are around the same age so they had a blast playing together for the week or so that we were there.

Max went hunting with Bob (Reimer dad) for elk about 1-2 hours from the grandparents' place. They saw some beautiful land, saw some elk on private land (bummer), and got to experience the snow also. They did not come back with an elk, but they came back in one piece, so wives and kids were happy about that:0).