This was a fun day outside for all of us. We swung on our mega swings, we ate a picnic lunch of smoothies outside and Max worked on building a tree house (not a fancy one since we only have 5-6 more months here). I'm envious of the people who get to move here next and I hope they are able to enjoy this place as much as we have.

The weather teased us with a 70+ degree day and then it got cool again. I keep feeling like a wimp here in the South because it IS JANUARY!, but I keep expecting warmer weather than 50 degrees! What has become of this Northern girl?

JB's video of Benaiah

JB has his own digital camera that we got for $50 on ebay and it takes videos. Here is one of the videos of Benaiah that JB took that I thought was just cute...Benaiah's fake smile and he still loves to say "here kitty, kitty" even though the kitty now lives in Colorado and not with us.

Last day in Colorado

JB retrieving a rocket balloon from the tree.

JB jumping into Grandude's arms after retrieving a rocket balloon from the chicken coop roof.

Gloria's "on the fence" regarding her princess status...at least she's not trying to do this in her new princess dress.

A sweet picture of Granddude and JB and Gloria.

Gramma Shell explained that catching the biggest goose is the best way to keep the geese from chasing and intimidating them.

This is the last day we had in Colorado for our Christmas/New Years break. The kids had lots of fun catching geese and chickens, "launching" rocket balloons with Granddude, and riding horses.

Random, but sweet Colorado pics

Benaiah loved to watch for trains from the living room window.

Going for a ride on Uncle Eli's legs. He must have a really good belt on...

Father-Son walk down the driveway

Benaiah checking out nature...

Riding a Donkey

Cute and fluffy baby donkey, "Rosie". She was born without anyone having known that her mother, "Daisy," was even pregnant...a huge surprise! She's a few months old now.

This reminds us of the donkey that Mary probably didn't ride to Bethlehem. Mary and Joseph couldn't afford to sacrifice a lamb so they sacrificed doves...how would they have been able to afford a donkey? How did Mary walk all that way?...must've induced labor...hence Jesus born in the manger in Bethlehem...a wonderful gift from God!

JB and Gloria rode on the donkey for the first time. You can see Sunflower Velcro in her new surroundings (and her new home) in the background.

The donkey foal follows close behind her mother.

Christmas Day

Benaiah received a lot of things with wheels this year. JB and Gloria both got lots of cool things in their stockings as well as presents. Grandude read them some Christmas story books that helps to direct their attention toward Jesus rather than just themselves. We have had a wonderful time visiting and being with family!


Gloria got a new princess dress, which Gramma Shell so lovingly sewed as a Christmas present. We'll see if this one lasts longer than the other one she received last Christmas. It is meant to be a little bit big for her so that it fits her in case she grows, given she doesn't wear it out like she did the last one. I think Gramma Shell is just happy she gets so much use out of them.

JB's Birthday

Hold Your...Chickens?

JB and Gloria have a thing about chickens. JB comes a long way since the Rooster "got him" (after he got slightly attacked by a rooster, but still traumatic for a three-year-old JB).

Here Kitty Kitty

The kitty was in the barn earlier, but ran away when I came in the barn. I heard Benaiah saying "here kitty, kitty" and I just had to record him saying it.

Having fun wears him out...

Benaiah loves to pour things into things. Since he kept wanting to pour things on the side of the tub and would sometimes miss, I put a table in the tub so that he could do his pouring on the table instead of on the bathroom floor. This is only his second bath since he got his bandages off. With the bandages we pretty much only bathed him once a week by putting saran wrap on his leg and "sealing" it with medical tape. Then we stood him up in the bath and soaped and rinsed him quickly. He much prefers the traditional bath. His leg is healed but still looks bad since different parts of his skin are all different colors depending on the depth of the burn on different areas. It's so good to see him get new skin...Who (or what) other than a Divine Creator of our bodies could design so well? no one, nothing.

Enjoying the train

Old Train

This train set is at least 75 years old. Max and his brothers played with it when they were little and got it from an older man that played with it when he was a little boy. Looking at how much dust had collected on it (and considering that it was the Bremer boys that had played with it) it was hard to believe that it would work again. But, my husband is talented and did some electrical rewiring and got the electric trains working again. Here is a video of JB and Gloria enjoying the newly set up old train. What a treat.

Ready for the Christmas Party

Max and I went to the SAASS Christmas party on Friday night. The babysitter's mom took these photos after dropping off her daughter. I rarely take a lot of time to do my makeup and hair and Max rarely wears a suit, so this was one of those rare opportunities for a picture in front of our fire place. I'm not sure why the second photo has spots in it, perhaps we need to clean the lens.

This Christmas party was different. It was semi-formal with a cocktail time, a dinner, then just socializing. Normally with the Air Force, the Christmas parties are packed to the brim with activities and by the last one or two activities you are wondering when it's ever going to end. This time I was surrounded by many people (SAASS guys, their wives, and SAASS faculty) that are way bigger thinkers than me, but it made conversations interesting.

Just Swingin' in the Forest!