This might be Max's most expensive birthday present ever...

Pop-up trailer/toy hauler we got yesterday, a used one but in very nice condition.

All popped out...

 We set it up on our land to make sure all the "kinks" are out before we take it far from the house (and before Max takes it elk hunting in the Colorado mountains).  And also because it was a fun thing to do on Max's birthday.  It is beautiful fall weather here today, nice and calm and in the 80s.  We are looking forward to taking it out as a family.

Now we just have to get further than our own backyard, and we'll be camping for real...

 

 

Evelyn flooding, I mean, watering the "fwowers"

The chicken coop...

I know, a very romantic place to declare my love for Max.

So that's where all the ducks have been laying their eggs...Before it just looked like a pile of feathers...  Not sure whether to take them inside or leave them for the ducks to hatch.  There is a male duck, but we've never witnessed him doing his male thing with the female ducks.  Hard call...

Got him...

This is the monster that killed our chickens.  Okay, he may not look that ferocious, but ask the chickens, they'll tell you...5 left out of 20.  Let's just say they were traumatized for a while, but a cheer went up from the chicken coop when ten .22 shots went into him and 4 shots from a 20 gauge, all under the barn (not an easy task...that sucker did not want to die!).  Can't say that I'm sad....

Exploring Colorado...

I guess this one deserves some explanation...It was actually my fault that JB ended up dressed like a wild boy raised by wolves or something...I was foolish and put my unopened can of  Hansens soda on a slanted rock, which almost immediately rolled off into a little pond at the bottom of a little waterfall.  Max told JB to get my drink while still in his clothes...usually obedient and energentic, especially when it involves adventure, JB jumps into the water with his clothes on.  He rescued my soda but ended up taking off his shorts and underwear to let them dry in the sun.  He didn't want to walk around buck naked (a change for JB), so he wrapped his shirt around his waste.  Of course he had to have a weapon to defend himself against any peepers...

 Now JB has shorts and no shirt...

Evelyn sings 'Jesus Loves Me"

I sing Jesus Love Me to Evie whenever she goes to bed and Max finally got it on video...

Outside on a beautiful fall day in Oklahoma...

Nature...but mostly a silly kitten...

A monarch butterfly on wild, OK yellow flower on our place.

The kids call this kitten "Tiger Face".  One of the seven kittens that were born at our place.

Darn it! That's a very realistic-looking plastic bird...and now I'm stuck!

4-wheeling cuties...

...don't tell them I said that:0).  JB got a new 4-wheeler, so his got handed down to Gloria, Gloria's got handed down to Benaiah and they all had a blast tearing around on their new wheels.  Evelyn's not quite ready although she does take rides on the 4-wheeler with Mommy sometimes.

Dove Hunting as a Family

Max and  I had been together in Altus, OK 3 or 4 times before for 3-4 months at a time for training in the KC-135.  The first time we were in Altus together when Max was learning to fly the tanker was before we had any kids so we went hunting as a couple.  Who says there's nothing to do in Altus, OK?  This dove hunt as a family was the first time we did that and it actually worked out well and was fun.  Evelyn sat in the Suburban on the other side of the road, close by, watching DVDs and was perfectly happy.  Max, JB, and I had shot guns to shoot at birds.  We eat the doves when we have about 20 or so after Max marinates them, wraps them in jalapeno halves and bacon, then grills them...very tasty!

At the Rodeo Back in August

How much better can it get than a tractor on either side of you...at least for a 4-year-old boy obsessed with tractors...and the color green...

Benaiah was checking the level of JB and Gloria's feet to make sure he wasn't standing any higher than they were.  Obeying his Daddy.

I can't decide if Benaiah looks really sleepy or like a macho cowboy.

I think this was our 4th or 5th time at this rodeo in Altus.  We always have a good time even though it's usually hot.  It gets more fun to take the kids as they get older. 

Happy 7th Birthday to Gloria...

Tea anyone?

Gloria using and sharing her new china tea set from China!  Gramma Shell got it for Gloria a while ago during the Beijing Olympics in 2008.  She was waiting for Gloria to be mature enough for it.  Now if we could just get her to wash her face and don a little more formal attire....  As you can see, she got to swim on her 7th birthday!  I actually kinda think the disheveled look is kinda cute in this picture.  This is what tea time looks like in our household..:).

Gloria's first present opened on her 7th birthday...

This is after unwrapping her long-awaited birthday gift from Gramma Shell.  She was on speakerphone with Gramma Shell when she opened it.  Gloria loves it and takes good care of it.

All I want for Chrithmas...

...to lose the other tooth now!