Summer Update

We've had a nice Summer. We had the chance to get away a few times also. Our first trip was the first week of July to Forest Home Family Camp in the San Bernadino mountains of California. The camp allows the whole family to have breakfast together and then spend time discussing a core Christian value (for example Integrity was the theme one day with honesty in sports competition being the discussion starter for the family) then there are fun programs for the children while the adults have a time of Bible teaching or an option to go off by themselves. Then everyone has lunch together and then have family time together in the afternoon with opportunities to swim, go on zip lines, play miniature golf, climb on elevated challenge courses, etc. Then the family has dinner together and at 7:30 child care assistants come to the cabin and put your children to bed so you can go as adults and play games, shoot pool, or just get away. Kathryn's sister, Karen, and her family came the same time and we enjoyed spending time with them. We had a really good time, and the boys enjoyed spending time with their cousins. Unfortunately Hudson got sick our third day there and we ended up having to leave early. Here are some pics...
Keaton in his harness preparing for the elevated rope challenge course

Kathryn and her sister Karen getting ready to go on the zip line down the mountain
Us on the walking bridge crossing the river

The boys and their cousins Elizabeth and Jonathan getting ready for the challenge course
Lunch with Kathryn's sister, Karen, her husband, Lee, and cousins Elizabeth and Jonathan
We came back to Arizona and a couple of days had a new visitor to our backyard: a bobcat. He helped himself to a sip of pool water...
The last week of July, Rick and the boys went to Michigan to visit family. They had a great time riding the four-wheeler on the ranch, swimming with cousins in the pool, picking blackberries and raspberries on the ranch, and following cousin Caleb into the woods to see him shoot squirrels and birds. The first Sunday, a lot of family came around to have lunch together...
Caleb build a fort in the woods with Landon first then Hudson and finally Keaton joined in...

They also went swimming and boating at Heart Lake, where Rick's Grandma lived while he was growing up and his Aunt Janet now lives. Hudson and Landon spent time scouting out the lake...
The grass was a little taller on the ranch than we have in Arizona as Keaton found out...
Rick's sister Marti had teddy bears made for the boys out of Rick's dad's signature clothes. The boys called him "Papa" and so Marti called these "Papa bears" and said the boys could now have hugs from Papa whenever they wanted
Bedtime preparations and reading with Grandma seemed to be a little more drawn out than the typical night at home...
But they still got a taste of putting in a little honest work, like going out onto the back of the farm to haul in, split, and stack the wood Grandma had cut down in the woods. Hudson doesn't look like he minds too much here...
They went to visit the neighbors in the "Three Bears Cabin" and here are Hudson, Landon, and Keaton with their cousins Callie and Caleb on their porch...
Lunch with cousins and friends...
And after swimming in Grandma's pool, the boys got into their "Toy Story" character towels. Grandma got three different characters, not realizing the one Hudson ended up with was Jessie, the cowgirl. He was a really good sport and still thought it was cool:
And one day they had a BIG water balloon fight. This is the "before" picture with the containers full of water balloons

Now Hudson is back to school (2nd grade) and Landon has started Kindergarten. They enjoy being in the same school and always make sure they match up their school uniforms (they have a choice of red, white, or blue polo shirts with the school shield on them). They seem to like their teachers (Landon has the same teachers as Hudson had) and still carpool with the twin neighbor girls who are eight and also go to Desert Sun Academy. Keaton seems to like having Mommy (and all the toys) to himself and has been Kathryn's little buddy running errands. He recognizes Kohls on sight!

We love you all.

Ranch Photos

For you, Bonnie, in case you didn't get them all...


"The Bowl"



Stump Field


Stump Field



Sandy hill on Lake Road



Pipeline


Hardwood Lake


Hardwood Lake



East Water Tank Site



Corner along east fence line near the "bowl"



Back Road

Spring Update

It appears that our posts have degenerated into quarterly updates. I guess that makes us stick to only the highlights!

January brought lots of outdoor fun - baseball, basketball, football, and the like. We also went to the Barrett-Jackson classic car auction and the boys had a ball...





February brought trips to the Phoenix Children's museum and birthday's galore. Rick's neice, Rachel, also paid a visit and Rick and Kathryn went to Hawaii while the boys stayed with Grandma. At the Children's museum, they found a ton of fun things to do - even painting a purple castle...











Rick and Kathryn spent five days on Maui and had a great get-away...




Landon had his fifth birthday and Keaton had his third birthday in February and had fun with some good cake and lots of gifts...








March has been a beautiful month with lots more outdoor activities.

Hudson had continued to enjoy school and his first grade classmates. He's reading and writing exceedingly well and even enjoyed an extracurricular art class. He's tested into the gifted program at his school.

Landon is still the entertainer. He's done very well in Pre-K and has learned a lot. But more that compliments about his scholastics, we tend to hear "he's such a hoot!"

Keaton is cute as a button and now that he's three is asserting his independence much more. He really wants to do things on his own.

We'll try to include some quick stories as they happen in the upcoming weeks and months.