Natalie's idea

I was out on a walk today--the weather has finally warmed up a little. It's almost 40 degrees and feels balmy. I took Natalie with me-- I pulled her in the sled some and made her walk some, since the snow was patchy. Anyway, on one of the areas where she was walking, she picked up some long sticks with many branches and said--"I have an idea--I am a deer" and then put both sticks on top of her head like a big buck. So cute.... I love those little moments.

Well, David turned 10 in December, so as promised he got to go hunting with Daddy! He was soooo excited! He had gotten a BB gun for Christmas, so had been busy, shooting targets, and practicing on aiming at squirrels, birds, rabbits, etc. Finally, the weekend arrived that he got to go. The first day was a bit of a dud, it was bitter cold and windy and they didn't see much, so they got to hang out in the deer blind and do some daddy/ son bonding. The second day, he woke up feeling icky and not much later was in the bathroom throwing up. I went up to comfort him, rub his back and see how he was. After throwing up several times, he started crying and saying "Now I don't get to go hunting!". If he could have stood up and walked far, he would have gone. He was so upset to be missing a day. In the end, he went the next day and they got a deer! They had a great time--which included belly crawling across a field to get close to a big buck, who then snorted at them and then ran off. He will have great memories of his first hunt with Daddy!

Christmas in Kansas--08

After we had our own little Christmas here at home, we headed down to my parents to celebrate with the whole family. There was snow on the ground and perfectly white--beautiful!
My whole family was at my parents house--15 children under the age of 12 and 12 adults. The big people were definitely outnumbered, the place was cramped and loud, but we all had a blast! My parents have 3 bedrooms and a bath upstairs--so Ben and his family (pregnant wife and 2 kids) were in one room, Joy and her family (husband and 4 kids) were in one room, and Jeremy and his family (wife and 5 kids) were in one room. Then Dan and I with the kids were in the office area downstairs. Fortunately, my one brother has an RV that's been parked at my parents house and the older kids and my youngest brothers--Michael and Daniel (in college) got to sleep and hang out in it! It became the hang out--thank goodness--otherwise we all might have lost our minds:) Everyone had a great time. It's been quite awhile since we have all been together under one roof. My dad was beaming the whole time. He loves it. We were all there for about 3 days, ate a lot, laughed a lot and were happy to be together.

some Christmas pics

Before we headed down to Kansas to be with all my family for Christmas, we had our own little Christmas here on Christmas eve morning. The kids were up before the sun, soooo excited and waiting for Daddy to get up was KILLING them. Finally, Dan gave the ok and they all got to open presents. It was a fun morning for just our family. Kaylee got her American Girl, David got his spy car, Lauren got her big stuffed bear and Natalie got some Moon Sand--so it will be lots of fun at our house for Christmas break!