Camp Thorkildsen

Update our URL!

2010-11-21T15:52:00.003-06:00

Hey friends! Just a reminder we have moved to www.campthorkildsen.com I keep updated here so we pop up on your google reader again. Please remember to change our URL on your blog rolls. We are so grateful to be on each of your blogrolls and love that you are keeping up with us! We miss you all.

Keri

Our new website...CampThorkildsen.com

2010-11-05T16:04:00.002-05:00

Some readers are thinking we fell off the face of the earth so I thought I'd give a little visual reminder that we have a new website. Luke did an amazing job creating the site. Check us out.

We've moved

2010-09-26T22:56:00.002-05:00

Since we've been moving so much lately we decided to relocate our blog.

Luke has been working on some web design and wanted to have a family website. Please check us out at

http://www.campthorkildsen.com/

The Little Moments

2010-09-23T23:37:00.004-05:00

I think it's the little moments that make up the sweetest parts of life. Not just the big grandiose moments that are so obvious, or even staged. The state of a child in their essence is timeless. I love these...

My evening

2010-09-23T23:24:00.002-05:00

I have had the nicest evening. Fall weather is settling in here & it makes me so warm & fuzzy on the inside. My house is cleaner & we bake more, trying new recipes or making up our own. I am so inspired & on a role with some new craft projects. Previews to come shortly. It's so nice to have the time & the inspiration to try some new art projects-some of which have failed miserably & some that have been great successes (at least in my personal opinion!). Maybe even a few Christmas presents, who knows . I bought Jossi a new package of brightly colored beads & fuzzy sticks as she calls her pipe cleaners. It turns out I have quite the crafter on my hands. Every 4 beads she stops & shows me, saying "mom look at these great colors mom!" I have been told "not to argue" when I encourage her to keep adding beads & she says she's focusing on making a pile of beads. Hmmm...that sounds familiar, where have I heard that before? Oh yes, me! I've been hearing alot of me-isms repeated back to me lately. "That's not appropriate momma" "Can you say 'yes maam'?" & give me some "privacy" have been popping up in conversations lately. But she has been giving me positive feedback too-just to keep it balanced. "I'm so very proud of you momma" & "good work on dinner tonight" have been a few highlights. Miss you all-just thought I'd write a little blurb tonight.

~KJ

Sunday Dinner

2010-09-22T23:08:00.004-05:00

Today was a dreary day in the valley. The rain drizzled down in slow motion all day. Hubby is on the road again for a few days. So I thought a post about home might be a nice daydream. I must've been having a hankering for some southern vittles on Sunday. We went to early church, since little man still hasn't adjusted to the time change & wakes up by 6am. We thought, might as well go to the early service since he's tired by 10:45. I decided to make fried chicken (which I've never done), mashed potatoes, grilled corn on the cob & gravy. YUM! It was amazing, I have to say. Of course Joss didn't touch it. But it didn't even bother me. She was missing out poor girl. Trip did pretty well-I was able to bribe him with "dessert" of sweet paonia peaches. It was altogether a lovely Sunday dinner. The first & only one I've ever attempted. I can't imagine cooking that way every day-it took me hours! The kids were out in no time, so I settled in on the couch, with a clean kitchen & a house smelling like home cooking. The dull roar of a football game eased me into a lazy Sunday nap. It was almost like being home again.

~KJ

She's acting positive here, unaware of what's coming her way...

Trip's new hobby

2010-09-21T15:06:00.003-05:00

For those who might need a little Trip...

This is my baby. Crazy hair, on a mission of childhood whim, chasing flies. Trip is like a whirlwind in our home. He runs everywhere his chubby feet take him, shouting names & baby jibberish as he goes. He is all boy, noises of crashing & growling; chugging through the house like my own personal little locomotive. People say he is all me, but he must be mostly Luke on the inside. He has no fear. He will climb anything, jump off of it & run back shouting "I do! I do!" Trip is such a free spirit, dancing to his own music with perfect rhythm. He inspires me to relax, live a little & enjoy every moment. Even the challenging ones!

Uncle Jake visits Camp Thorkildsen

2010-09-20T15:26:00.007-05:00

Uncle Jake, who some time ago was renamed by Joss "Big Buzzard" came to visit last weekend. Joss & I baked a cake for his belated birthday. Then daddy & Joss decorated it. It was quite a sight. I know Jake loved it even more for it's uniqueness!

We had to check out the Black Canyon again-this time we took a 2 mile hike with the kids in tow. Every one was a trooper-Jake included. He even carried Trip the 2nd half of the hike when I couldn't last another step.

For some reason Joss insisted she carry her walking stick over her head. I'll never understand this girl!

I know you think this is a dinosaur egg-but it is not! It is a mushroom we found in the forest. And we all knowhow fascinated I am by flora, fauna & fungi!

I put my foot next to it so you could see how big it was. Cuge! As Jossi would say (that's a combination word for huge & cute that she uses often).

Boys will climb...

The pack mules

The man about to become a real man (Jake's getting married in less than 2 weeks!)

For the faint of heart or those who posses weak stomachs skip this one (mom that's you).

Trip fell asleep right at the end of the hike. He was pooped & Jake was a sweet uncle to put up with him!

More of the House

2010-09-19T17:07:00.005-05:00

Ok here is the rest of the house...

View from the front porch. That grassy area is where we play soccer & chase. It makes up a little for not having a grass yard. And we don't have to mow it!

What a model!

Jossi's castle

I don't have tiebacks yet for her curtain so i'm constantly stuffing them behind things to let more sunlight in.

Jossi's room is the same as it was in Denton. I wanted everything to be as familiar as possible when we came to Montrose so the kids could adjust quickly. I've been dying to decorate her room for some time now, but it will have to wait a while. Just 2 nights ago Joss informed us, in a wave of tears that she just needs a bigger bed. So yesterday, that was our project. She was pretty excited about it all & I let her help me take the screws out of her little bed & make the new bed. She went to bed last night with out one little complaint & slept all night. So hopefully it will last!

Her little bed turns into a headboard/footboard for a full size bed, but we were given everything for a twin, so we'll use it until we get a full matress & springs.

This is the view from the front room.

We took this bed out of the front room to put in Joss's room, so now it's a big empty place where we have family wrestling time.

The dining room where I have done nothing. I'm just grateful to finally have a beautiful table-thank you Emily & Jonathan! We eat family meals here & love it!

The guest bathroom...

Ok that's all for now. Trip's room will have to come next!

A Friend is coming by for coffee...

2010-09-17T15:29:00.009-05:00

...Come on in! I'm so glad you came by-I know it's a long drive. The kids are asleep, this is great timing. I can't wait to show you the house & I'm so excited to catch up. Come into the kitchen & let's grab some coffee & sweets! Jossi & I bake a lot-so take your pick. She insists all muffins are better as mini-muffins. No, we didn't make the bread. It's chocolate zucchini from Great Harvest Bakery in town-it's our new favorite. Check out my cute new little owl friends. They are salt & pepper shakers from Pier One. 5 bucks! I love them.

This is the kitchen (Scentsy Scent of the room: Exotic Vanilla blended with Banana Nut Bread)...

Yes that is my stack of junk! You know me, I have piles of ideas & things to do sitting around every corner.

...and this is one of the dining rooms that we've designated the kids corner-not unpacked or organized yet! This is where we learn a new letter each day, have our snacks & just general daily mayhem goes on here. I have my eye on a great piece from Ikea with fun baskets to get this area under control.

This is the back porch...a great play area for the kids. They play out here in the late afternoons when I'm getting dinner on. They love working in their "rock garden."

Our room is back here...we love our view from bed. This room is so relaxing & fresh-it's a nice get-away for my quiet time or to read while the kids nap. (Scentsy Scent: Vanilla Suede)

I love the window over the bed. It lets in so much bright sunlight.View from our bedroom window

Here is our bathroom-Luke thinks this is his personal resort. ;)

I'm so glad you came for a visit. We have so much to catch up on...

10 Things that are different in my life these days:

2010-09-16T21:41:00.004-05:00

We don't have cable TV! I know, it's sad. I've been having foodnetwork withdrawals for days now. And we don't watch a single TV show since we don't have Tevo.
My hands & heels are cracked & peeling every day. Very annoying & painful!
We only eat out once a week. (It helps that there's no Chic-Fil-A)
We all eat breakfast together on the weekdays which has been a super fun way to start off our day.
Both kids will now run around barefoot with out whining about it.
We sleep with the back door open! (Don't have a panick attack grandma's. That's just how it is here. And the screen door is locked if that makes you feel better.)
Luke runs a few times a week. I don't know what's come over him! Fresh mountain air makes a man wild.
I have much more time on my hands (maybe it's the cable package that's missing in my life?)
We eat sweet Olathe corn twice a week. Luke insists because he loves it so much. And it's so cheap!
I try to avoid Walmart & Target at all cost. I'm loving all the small town, fresh-made options too much to succumb to the the super-stores. I do confess I had to go last night for dog food & toilet paper though. We get bread at the bakery; produce at the stand; wine at the vineyards. I know I probably could've done all this in Denton too, but it's so easy here bc it's so small. Maybe that's what kept me from living this way at home. It was all so spread out. Who knows. The downside to that is: ITS SO SMALL!!! OMG! The kids & I "ran to Grand Junction" to look at curtains. No way will I ever do that again! An hour & 20 minutes of desert drive. I was about to have a panic attack realizing how truly in the middle of no-where we are. That was an experience for sure. But hey, it was all worth it. Why you ask? Because the kids got to eat at Chic-Fil-A! And it was a good night. :)

Sorry I have no pics to post. Luke has been out of town for several days & I'm just too tired to snap shots when I'm with out my partner & helper. He'll be home in the next hour or so-whew! I hope you are all enjoying the blog & seeing what we are up to. It's been a really great outlet for me to stay connected to so many people. Love you all!

~KJ

Who do you love to bake with?

2010-09-14T22:49:00.004-05:00

Jossi loves to bake. She asks me every day what we can bake today. We make birthday cakes for any one & everyone, cookies for daddy & muffins "for Trip" (we all know the truth about that one!). As much as I loathe mini-muffin tins & washing them when you don't have any little paper cups, I love Jossi's excitement over them even more. She definitely got a love of miniatures from me. I am obsessed with them & have been since I was little. So we started whipping up a yummy batch of muffins the other morning. She always hugs me while we are baking, grinning & tells me "momma, I love baking with you." It's really so precious. This time, of course since I had the video camera out, this is what she decides to say...

Troublesome Trip

2010-09-14T21:57:00.004-05:00

I hear silence this morning & have the 2 usual thoughts that follow the recognition of silence: "I'm about to either be so pleasantly surprised at how good the kids are playing by themselves or find a disaster." So I come around the corner & peek in their rooms...no Trip. (He's the one missing at the moment). But I do notice this:"That's weird, why is the soap on the very edge of the counter like that. The stool is hidden in the bath tub, so how did it get there???"

Oh, yes, a caterpillar has inched his way up the counter top-I have no idea how! And he is eating toothpaste. He must have been a hungry little caterpillar! (Notice in the mirror the Scentsy warmer positioned precariously behind his head-AND IT'S ON!)

Busted. See that grin? He was pretty proud. And saying "CHEEEEZE!"

I'm thinking this is how he made it up there. The toilet, the tp holder, the counter & then some how across the sink! I mean really! What am I supposed to do with this kid?!

Black Canyon

2010-09-13T15:50:00.005-05:00

The Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Forest is turning out to be one of our favorite family outings. It is a gorgeous canyon area just outside of town with many great hikes & views. This was my first trip out & my mom's too. My dad & Luke had gone out on a hike the day before & returned insisting we all go back the next day. They were right! It was so spectacular. And the lighting was amazing since we went in the late after noontime.

For the nature lovers:

I don't know if you can tell by these shots, but the distance down to the river is about 1/2 a mile. (The river is barely visible in the very bottom of the valley-it's the white spots.)

Who's your daddy?

Mom pretending to be scared.

Family shot, amazing backdrop.

A Thorkildsen classic family photo-Joss being difficult & Trip in lala land.

Trip took a Fall

2010-09-12T15:32:00.003-05:00

Poor Trip-it was a rough afternoon for the little guy. On top of new little canine teeth coming in & a snotty nose, he had his first bloody indecent. He was figuring out riding the little tricycle on his own, and doing quite well really. But all the sudden his weight just slightly shifted & that tiny bike popped right out from under him & he went over the handle bars to land on his face on the back porch. He was just shaking & screaming & we thought for sure we were going to have another snaggle tooth on our hands. But once the bleeding slowed down we could see his teeth were intact. Saved by his lip! These pics were a few minutes after it happened. Luke took a few yesterday that I'll have to load later. It turned into a giant blood blister after a day or 2. He is healing up quite well. Aside from looking like a duck with a little beak for a few days, you'd never know what happened!

Ice Cream You Scream

2010-09-11T19:17:00.004-05:00

We all scream for Ice Cream! Jossi loves chocolate ice cream with chocolate sprinkles. So after a very brave trip to a new doctor in a new town we had a date to Cold Stone (the only Ice cream shop in town-side note). She was so thrilled when she saw blue ice cream. Blue is by far her number one favorite color right now. So she got a mixed scoop of blue cotton candy & chocolate ice cream with rainbow sprinkles-they don't have chocolate sprinkles there! She was the happiest girl on the block. I had to get a few iphone shots.

For the record I got coffee & chocolate ice cream with almonds mixed in on a cone-amazing!

~KJ

First Farmer's Market Outing

2010-09-10T15:40:00.006-05:00

And the first of many! I LOVE the market & picking out fresh produce to cook with. I am so hooked. There is so much great produce to choose from. You can just pay for it & eat it on the spot because everything is organic. "Just dust it off & pop it in your mouth" an old farmer told my mom about her purchase of little cherry tomatoes. There is a Saturday market & a Wednesday one too, but last week Wednesday was a poor showing. I don't know if it was the rain or what. But we ventured out anyways, ever-ready to meet people & make friends (and pet new doggie friends-Trip's favorite part). These shots are of Saturday-perfect weather.

Thanks dad for introducing us to chocolate bread-the kids don't know & what they don't know won't hurt them. They love it! So I was inspired that I tried some banana bread & added freshly grated yellow squash & an extra bit of brown sugar. And they LOVE it! The smell of sweet success. Who knew it smelled like yummy fresh bread?

Oh p.s. I am trying to get a Scentsy booth lined up so I can get some business going out here. Wish me luck!

~KJ

This goes out to the Brothers of the Duckhood

2010-09-09T15:32:00.008-05:00

On Labor Day once my parent's sad departure was over we headed out to the local pizza joint to cheer ourselves up. The food was amazing at Phagre's-the kids ate sooo much! Then we went to the park for a little fresh air. We came around the corner & you would not have believed your eyes! The wild geese had taken over the pond at the park. Kolbe & Luke were both at attention & drooling instantly, Luke yelling "Ker! Get the camera! You gotta get a picture of this for the duck brothers!" It was so awesome to see so many big birds all in one place. The honking was defening & the feathers & poop covered the ground. Then we had to head over to the river

so Kolbe could have a swim (which Luke thinks is the equivalent of a bath!) ICK! So I thought you might enjoy these shots. Miss you guys!

On a more personal note, here's a few shots of the kids for all the women-folk.

2010-09-09T14:21:00.007-05:00

I sit here at my computer, in a town far away from home, wondering how I managed to miss the birth of my best friend's 2nd baby girl. April & I began a friendship long ago, probably before she & Chris even knew they were destined to be together. We met Valentine's Day in Frisco at the Stonebriar Mall for a triple date with Brad & Jenny (then just dating). I always tease April on Valentine's Day & make a big deal of our "friendship anniversary." She laughs, calling me cheesy-but I know she secretly loves it! So April & I began a long distance friendship, chatting it up on the phone almost daily. Then in no time Chris was being transferred here & they picked up life with us here in Denton like they'd always been here. Over the years, we have had our differences, but come to appreciate them & the honesty we know we can count on from each other, no matter how brutal sometimes!

When I had Joss, April had just taken a pregnancy test that resulted in a negative result, but she knew it was just too early for the test to tell. Sure enough she was pregnant with Avery Kate. So 9 months later Ave came into this world, born to be Jossi's bestie. Luke & I rolled into the hospital with 9 month old Jossi in her stroller to visit brand new baby Ave. We stood there at the window & Joss got so excited over seeing her, I said to Luke, "aww, see Joss needs a sibling. A baby brother!" Everyone in the nursery laughed at my insanity. Turned out we were pregnant with Trip & just didn't know it yet! 9 months later, Trip Henson entered this world. I was just waiting for the Lord to take charge of Chris & April's timing & for her to tell me she was pregnant (they were admittedly "not ready"). It was all apart of my plan. My plan, no one elses! So FINALLY on Trip's first birthday party at Chris & April's house, Ave comes out in a new outfit & April has this funny look on her face. She just stands there staring at me, about to burst, until I read Ave's shirt & it says "Big Sister" on it! I just about died! It seems like that was just weeks ago & here we are with Allie Grace here already! And I'm not there. I know the Lord's timing is perfect, but I still wish I could've been there to hug April & cry as I always do when babies are born, tell her how proud I am of her & of course how excited I am for Trip to have 2 amazing wife prospects out of her & Chris now. ;) But I'm not there to say it in person. So I'm thankful that April is a blog-a-holic & I know she'll see this eventually.

Brand new Ave & 9 month old Joss (we called her babyzilla because she looked so huge next to Ave!)

Us girls at the hospital when Trip was born.

April Holding Trip on my 27th birthday. He was 5 days old. She made me chicken pot pie for my birthday dinner.

Ave & April arrive at the hospital to see Trip.

The girls celebrating with a little dance!

April & Ave at when they told us they were pregnant with Allie at Trip's 1st birthday.

I can't wait to meet Allie & to see Avery in action as big sister. I'm so excited April gets to live her dream & be a stay at home mom. Life is such an adventure & ours has taken us far off at the moment, but I know we will still journey together.

~Keri Jo

Monday, Monday. Wait is it Tuesday?

2010-09-07T09:33:00.004-05:00

Does any one else feel this way? I don't know if there is enough coffee in this little town to get me going this morning. I think sleeping all night for the first time since we moved here had a weighty effect on me. Last night Luke & I were in the study & we heard a noise in the house. We looked at each other, silently asking did you hear that? So Luke went towards Jossi's room & found her getting back into bed. He said "Joss are you ok?" To which she replied "Oh sure. I'm just getting back into bed. You guys are going to have to use the gate." Luke could hardly contain his laughter until he got out of her room. We used a child safety gate at home in Denton to keep Joss from sleep roaming & have just been testing out night time with out it here in the new house-hence the sleepless nights & wandering Jossi! So we put up the gate & went to bed. It was her suggestion! And we slept all night.

This is an older pic from back in May, at the cabins in Texoma. But I couldn't resist posting it, as it's a true personification of Morning Jossi-no matter how little sleep she gets. Sweet & sassy.

Pop & Honey Visit: Around the house shots

2010-09-06T15:15:00.008-05:00

What a blessing to have my parents come to Colorado for a long weekend. We had such grand adventures with them here. We took so many pictures & did so many things together. They came in on Friday & left his morning. They brought the last load of our belongings from our Denton home. There was still some unpacking to be done & lots of decorating fun to be had (for me & mom). For dad & Luke it meant lots of hanging, assembling & handy-man work. The house is really coming together & feels so homey already. Here are just a few shots from around the house, in our downtime.

Joss working hard in her outdoor kitchen

Kolbe's favorite person-my dad. Have you ever seen a dog smile so big?

Honey & Joss work on a project

Trip-who wouldn't take off his sunglasses, trying to lay a smooch on Jossi

Looking cool for a morning jog

The guys-ready for some cardio

Baldridge Park

2010-09-02T14:49:00.006-05:00

On Monday afternoon we'd about had our fill of the boxes & unpacking so we went to check out the park. We had been here on the 4th of July for the most amazing (and waaay too long) fireworks show ever, but it was dark then. It is a really cool location for a park. The river branches off & an icy cold stream runs right through the play area. The kids love it. I put my feet in to see how cold it was & I had to let out a girly yelp. As did Trip when Luke decided to dunk his little chubby feet in.

You can see the little stream running through the background

"No Doddee that's cold!"

Exploring

What an angel ;)

swinging siblings...Trip has to try everything Joss does these days

Sliding is such a thrill to Jossi

It's nearly impossible to get a shot of both of them together, much less smiling. This is the best I got that day.

"cheese!"

We are enjoying all kinds of new adventures & scenery. I will do my best to post more soon so you can see it all with us. My mom & dad are driving as I type, to come visit & bring the rest of our stuff. So keep them in your prayers & I will post on that soon!

Love to all,

Camp Thorkildsen has relocated

2010-09-01T16:41:00.000-05:00

Yes it's true as most of you already know we have moved. Our new address is 2832 Glen Eagle Dr. Montrose, CO 81401. We are right on the Southeast edge of town, wedged between the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Forest & the San Juan Mountains. I still can't believe it when I run to the store how beautiful our surroundings are. Our house is in a subdivision, but right when you pull out there are horses, sheep, fields of corn so it's this perfect mix of rural, but right in town. Luke did a fantastic job finding us a new home on his own. It turns out he has exceptional deal finding skills & great taste in houses. Here are a few pics he took before we moved in. These pictures are the only thing I had seen until the day we got here & moved in. A little scary but I was delighted when we arrived to see the pics didn't do it justice!

This is our new home from the street

The back yard is so open & beautiful. We see deer here every few days.

My new kitchen-lots of cabinet & counter top space. Yay!

The back porch view

The back of the house. The two big doors are in the back dining room & the living room. Then to the left is our master with a door to the porch. This is the kids favorite eating & playing spot. We've been eating lunch & dinner here every day. It's too cold already to eat breakfast out here in the mornings.

Ok I hope everyone is grateful for this post. I paused in unpacking to answer the call of the masses!

Love you all dearly,
~KJ

Team DBC Outdoors Ministry

2010-05-15T21:33:00.001-05:00

IMG_5125, originally uploaded by LukeT123.

DBC has an outdoors Ministry that allows for guys who love the outdoors, to come together and fellowship around this common interest. A recent event held on April 24, 2010, was 3d Archery shoot. We put a team together and went out to the Cinnamon Creek Archery Range in Argyle. This was a great event at a great venue. We shot at 50 targets ranging from 15 to 40 yards. There was a good mix of animals, deer, hogs, bears, turkey, elk, moose, frog, raccoon, and more. I took the camera out (click on the picture to see more pics) and got a few shots, however, I failed to charge the battery so I only got a few.

Looking forward to doing this again sometime!

DBSM Mud Fest Volleyball Tournament

2010-05-15T21:26:00.001-05:00

IMG_5546, originally uploaded by LukeT123.

Today was the first annual Mud Fest Volleyball Tournament put on by the Denton Bible Student Ministries team in conjunction with the Denton Area FCA. It was awesome!!! Keri reffed most of the games so I had kid duty. I loaded Trip in the backpack carrier and Joss has so many friends at DBSM now that I was able to get a few pics. Some of them turned out really well. This is one of my favorites. Look at all the mud and water splashing. I was able to catch this student mid-air as he leaped onto the dog pile! (click on the picture to view more pics from the event)

This was a really exciting event. The students got ridiculously dirty, and had a blast. There were 2 mud courts that saw non-stop action all day long. The weather leading up to this was perfect. We got tons of rain yesterday and today the sun ended up coming out.

Good times!!!!

Trip is 1

2010-01-06T15:48:00.008-06:00

How is it possible that my sunshine is 1 already? It seems like just a few weeks ago I was holding him, laughing & falling in love the day he came into my arms. God has truly blesses us with such a happy son. Not a day goes by that I don't think how sweet & huggable he is.

My top 5 favorite things about Trip:

1. He lets me hold him as long as I want to.

2. Even when he's trying my patience he is still grinning & so sweet about it-he's going to be so hard to disipline. That is of course if he ever needs it. ;)

3. He says "eeeeese!" for pictures ("cheese!)

4. His soft cheeks & deep blue eyes swallow my heart every day.

5. He promised me he would never grow up.

Ok so the last one isn't true, but a momma can dream can't she?

Baking with Joss

2010-01-06T15:11:00.008-06:00

First let me start off with a shout out to my baker in training who helped me make Trip's birthday cake. Since Trip doesn't care about what kind of cake he has at this point, I let Joss pick. So of course she picked her favorite-chwocwate. She's a smart one. She really just wants to "help with the cake" (read: eat chwocwate batter). We have so much fun when we bake together. I love baking so much & just don't get to do it enough. She insisted we use the kitchen aid mixer-she's a girl after my own heart. I think every young bride should have a kitchen aid mixer in her kitchen repertoire-it makes a world of difference. Thank you to my kindest & dearest Kimmie & Chris Pearson for my "wedding gift" mixer! See the link for Kimmie's baking lessons with Jossi. Here are a few pics of Joss in action.

IMG_2798

2010-01-03T22:55:00.001-06:00

IMG_2798, originally uploaded by LukeT123.

Thought I should put up a recent pic from Christmas. It get so hard to blog sometimes.

Christmas was a blast. First white Christmas ever (for us in Texas anyway)!

Trip will be 1 on the Tuesday!!!

Our house should be ready really soon.

:)

Our Little Guy

2009-11-15T21:54:00.001-06:00

I took a few pics of Trip today. He is so hard to take pictures of. He will not look at the camera. I took 80 pictures to get these 3. I saw this bed of leaves and thought it would be nice for some pictures, so here they are! The first pic is untouched. I played around with some post processing on the last 3.

Brandons Wood Duck 11-14-09

2009-11-14T23:10:00.002-06:00

Brandons Woodie 11-14-09 LR, originally uploaded by LukeT123.

I was playing around with Adobe Lightroom and thought that this would make an awesome computer background for those that like duck hunting.

Chris's Wood Duck

2009-11-14T22:43:00.001-06:00

IMG_0780, originally uploaded by LukeT123.

Chris bagged a nice drake wood duck today. Great shot Chris!

Kolbe

2009-11-13T09:11:00.001-06:00

T1i 11-11-09 020, originally uploaded by LukeT123.

Just wanted to throw a quick picture of Kolbe that Keri took a few weeks ago. He has finally calmed down after 5 years of acting like a puppy. He has also been a really good hunting companion. I think he likes ducks hunting as much or more than I do!

Throwing out the Deke's

2009-11-11T16:46:00.001-06:00

T1i 11-11-09 027, originally uploaded by LukeT123.

Keri took this photo when we went hunting together. Great shot.

Awesome Wife

2009-11-11T16:44:00.001-06:00

T1i 11-11-09 051, originally uploaded by LukeT123.

I have an awesome wife. She went hunting with me. Hopefully we will be able to get out many, many more times together. And maybe next time we will get to shoot.....

New house _ Street view

2009-11-11T16:42:00.001-06:00

T1i 11-11-09 061, originally uploaded by LukeT123.

View From the outside of the new house.

OUR NEW LIVING ROOM

2009-11-11T16:41:00.001-06:00

T1i 11-11-09 058, originally uploaded by LukeT123.

We put an offer on a new house today and it was accepted. More infor to follow!!!!

photos of Cade at 6 weeks

2009-11-08T21:49:00.006-06:00

Well better late than never seems to my mantra in this season of life, sadly. :( But here are some long over due photos I took of Cade (Jackson) who is my 3rd baby from Monday to Thursday. He was 6 weeks old here, right before I started to keep him. {These are not w my cam, they are with mom's}And of course I had to throw one in of my Sunshine.

New Camera Day!

2009-11-06T14:27:00.004-06:00

Finally! A sweet new camera! I've saved & Luke has bargain shopped & the day has come! I wanted to play with it a little so I threw a precious punkin hat on Trip & snapped away. Here's a few of my Sunshine.

Pumpkin Chase

2009-10-28T23:56:00.002-05:00

We had a leader scavenger hunt at church in costume. I was the karate kid as a shower and Keri was a UPS man. Good times. The shower won second place in the costume contest. It was bested by a tornado! They clearly spent a lot more time than I did and she deserved to win!

Nelle & Lizzy-from Luke

2009-08-05T21:45:00.009-05:00

"Awww! Lukey you shouldn't have!" This is what I squealed when I got my gift card to Nelle&Lizzy to pick out my mothers ring. It arrived a while back & I keep forgetting to blog about it. I love my ring I where it every day. It was a move of the grandest husbandry on my man's part. I was so surprised. It took me forever to decide what I wanted & commit. The packaging is so fantastic when you get it you just want to stare at it. It couldn't possibley look as adorable on your finger as it does in that tiny box of lavendar witht the little flower bud...no, wait...it does look as adorable on my finger!!! Yeah! Well here's some pics, although they don't do it justice. I'm sure it's too fuzzy to see "Trip" & "Joss" engraved on the individual rings. (I can't figure out how to do real close up shots on my little point & shoot cam. Any suggestions?)

Inspiration all Around

2009-08-04T21:20:00.009-05:00

Well I'm addicted. I've found myself lately using words that I often tease April for saying 10 times a day: "on this blog I read..." So now I can no longer poke at her, for there is a log in my own eye!

Aaahhh, back to the inspiring. Well, there has been this air of creativity floating all about me for a few weeks now. I have most recently become fascinated with pinwheels. Jossi calls them "round & rounds" because they go round &...well you know the rest. So this has become the theme for her birthday bash coming up on Saturday. Yeah! We will have pinwheel cupcake toppers, a home made cake from scratch (pictures to follow) made by your truly, complete with fresh marshmallow fondant! I have found pinwheels to be particularly mesmerising as of late. If you get a puff of wind in the sweltering summer heat & your pinwheel begins to turn, it's bright colors whirling into one...you can get lost in a stare. I can relate to Joss on so many levels when I get down on the floor & take in her view. It's just taking that time to get down there that is the challenge. I am very excited about her 2nd birthday party & to see how all my fun little details turn out. Stay tuned to find out yourself! (Actually I'd better see you all there to find out in person!). Pic of hand made pinwheels is from Twirlie Whirlies Etsy shop , romantic pinwheel shot from Dana & Jeremy Photography

Every day life #1

2009-07-27T13:58:00.004-05:00

Some times you just want to post a few pics of every day life. So I'll just call them Everyday life & # them from now on.

This made me nervous but Trip seemed to love it!Little Corn eater
Pushing babies with mommie
My little blue bell boy
This is Trip's blue steel pose with peas on top

Joss caught taking off her make up

Weekend Fun

2009-07-27T13:12:00.005-05:00

Caden's 2nd birthday party. (thank you Monica for these beautiful pics!)

Joss waving at her Lolly (Kelli)
On the steps (in the wonderful shade)
Joss in Trip's floatie
Luke & I before Brittany & Matt's wedding Sunday night.

So this weekend was packed! Just the way I like it-makes for good naps on Mondays. We headed to Austin & Kelly's on Friday night for fajitas & a baby fix. Baby Cade is too precious-already growing & changing. I got to swaddle him up & get him put down for the night. (I can't locate my camera at the moment so I'm missing out on good pics. Ugh.) Then we had Caden Wardlaw's birthday party on Saturday morning. We had such a good time visiting with old friends. Monica Higgins was there with her camera (and precious baby Luke) capturing all the best moments. Check out her blog or facebook to see more of her incredible photos. Saturday afternoon we had a swim day with my family. Joss was quite the fish in her new suit with the built in floaties. Then she got over it & decided to go nude for the rest of the time. Crazy girl! Sunday night was Brittany Stull & Matt Vinson's wedding. It was beautiful, an intimate setting & great food. All around a good weekend. Oh except little Trip who's skin is awful right now. Poor itchy little guy.

Joss' Birthday Party

2009-07-21T15:49:00.005-05:00

Come one, come all! Joss' birthday party will be here soon. I have created an invitation & decided to use the convenience of the internet to save monies. The cake will be yummy mint chocolate chip (from scratch of course & with home made fondant-my new obsession). We will all be in our swim gear so wear yours too & don 't forget floaties, sunscreen & hats for the little ones. There is an excellent kiddie pool as well as a large 3 foot to 4.5 foot pool for older kids & parents. We're so excited to see everyone & celebrate Joss' big day.

Le Tour

2009-07-18T14:56:00.004-05:00

Not being able to watch the Tour for the first time in 8 years is tough. We cancelled our cable to save a few dollars..... Well that may have been a mistake (not really in the big picture). Most of you probably don't really care about the worlds longest race. I do.....

This years tour is headlined by the comeback of one of the greatest athletes of all times - Lance Armstrong. This guy is amazing. He already has the record for the most Tour de France wins and after several years in retirement he has come back to the sport he loves pro bono! That's right he is not getting paid by his team, Astana, he is riding for free. Well, he's got Nike, Oakley, Trek, and a few other major sponsors but still, he is not drawing a salary. He is doing it for the love of the sport and to raise awareness for his booming cancer research organization, Livestrong. His dedication is amazing.

He is on one of the best teams in cycling with 3 guys that could be contenders to win. Alberto Contador won the tour 2 years ago. Levi Leiphimer was runner up last year. Andreas Kloden has always been a solid rider. This year it will be hard to tell who the winner is going to be. The mountains will decide over the next few days. Imagine riding your bike over 100 miles then doing an all out sprint for 1000 yards. You'd be pretty tired the next day right. Well these guys are doing it 21 days in a row covering over 2,200 miles, with only 2 rest days.

Tune in and watch history in the making. Will Lance be able to beat his teamate Alberto Contador who has a 2 second advantage right now and more than a decade less wear and tear on his body. The next few days will tell. I'll be watching.

Someday the Thorkildsen family will go to France to watch this race. Until then I guess the TV will have to work.

Cade's Shower

2009-07-06T13:35:00.006-05:00

Cade's shower seems like it was months ago! The anticipation of his arrival is getting to be too much to bear! Kelly is very busy with pedicures, floating in the pool with Jossi, resting up for the coming days & of course shopping! She is going to be an amazing mom & I cannot wait to see her in action & to meet this lil buckaroo.

The shower was at Julie's parents house-thanks so much for being amazing hosts! Spec worked really hard by staying out of the way & playing video games all afternoon. Janet saved our chocolate dip from certain demise, so then we had to eat it until we were all sick. Julie did what Julie does best: looked good, made unsweet tea for Kel & told us all what to do & where to go. ;) Kasey was super sister this day coming in with food & gifts & the whole nine yards. Trip was well entertained by friends of the female persuasion. Kelly looked beautiful & of course DeeDee was giddy & Coach was tearful, hiding behind his camera. The food was in abundance, the house was wonderful & the people came in droves. Here are some pics of the day of fun. (Debbie, Kasey & I made the diaper cake. I made the wreath & the little cactus party favors-it was such a fun theme!)

Julie & Trip
DeeDee & Trip
Lil cacti with a prayer for Cade
Western Cowboy Cake (yes I can/will make these for your showers too!)
Wreath (new idea I found on online-so fun!)
Yummy chocolate muffins with whip cream & raspberries. These sadly withered before the shower began. :(
The girls
Austin had a big honey do list at the end of this day. Good work daddy-to-be!

the cake

2009-07-01T14:24:00.003-05:00

The finished cake
The mess
Home made vanilla strawberry buttercream icing
Dyed fondant
Marshmallow fondant

How could i forget the most important pic?! The cake!

April's Birthday Bash

2009-07-01T13:54:00.004-05:00

Moment of hilarity
Ole buddies
cool guy

Chris in one of his finer moments...
Yummmmyyyy!

Colorful drinks-we all tried something new. Except prego of course.

Well I think fun was had by all this weekend in honor of April's birthday. Here are a few pics. Some how I didn't get any pics of Sunday night except for the cake. Bummer. I always seem to do that. I loved the cake. I searched around online for ideas, found a fantastic fondant recipe (that actually didn't taste bad), made the cake & icing from scratch & did all the art work myself. I was pretty pleased with how it turned out. It was a really fun learning experience & I've been dying to play with fondant for a while. I think over all I use 6 pounds of powdered sugar. 6 sticks of butter, 3 pounds of marshmallows & a big bottle of tums. Ha! I didn't even eat any of the cake at the party. I was so sick of tasting & testing I didn't even want to smell it. Although I must admit it smelled pretty nice. It was a vanilla layer cake with strawberry preserves between layers and vanilla strawberry buttercream icing between the cake & the marshmallow fondant. Whoa! Make your tummy ache thinking about it? Me too! Well April adores her birthday & looks forward to it all year & I love that about her. She always has a way of making holidays so special & I am inspired by that. So Happy birthday April-hope it was a good one!

Vintage Photos

2009-06-29T11:10:00.002-05:00

A "Vintage Photographer" accosted me at Sam's one day & I succomed (he was very cheap-how could I resist?) So here they are. The photographer was a grumpy bald guy & he wasn't very patient with us. Joss didn't want to have anything to do with Trip. So we could only get pics of them individually that day. She also wouldn't keep on her precious hat or beads. So then her hair was down-which we never do & the photog wouldn't give me time to fix it! But she still look slike a little angel I think. Trip was about 4 months

& 3 weeks old & Joss about 22 months.

Caught!

2009-06-29T09:27:00.003-05:00

Here is Grant, caught in a tender moment with Joss-busted. We always knew he was a secret softy. He & Joss were trying to get Kitty Cat to come over to them. It was so cute. They just sat out there bonding for a long while. Good Job "Gant"-Jossi loves you.

(The photos are fuzzy because it was getting dark outside.)

2009-05-25T10:23:00.001-05:00

This is my business-I should've posted about it long ago. It's fun& easy & a great way to make friends & extra money. My website is www.scentsy.com/kerijo so take a look, shop around & let me know what you think!

On a more serious note...

2009-05-25T10:13:00.002-05:00

Proverbs 11:15

"He that is surety (collateral or like a co-signer) for a stranger shall smart for it: and he that hateth suretiship is sure."

This is a tough lesson Luke & I are learning right now. In our nightly devotion last week this was the verse. The way they explained it was so concise & clear-I thought I should share it with every one so those who may wonder what we're doing & thinking might understand better.

"Credit is necessary in order to live in this day & age, but credit is a tool. It is to be used, not abused. To purchase beyond our means is to steal. We are not entitled to something for nothing. It is much better to buy that which we can pay for. Debt is a trap. We can be swept in before we know what is happening.
Only God should control our lives. Certainly, we should not sell ourselves into bondage to material possessions. Being debt free makes us able to follow God and all His commandments. When we fall into debt, we must turn our attentions from God to the almighty dollar. When we are solvent, we are free to focus our attentions solely on God."

Little Helper

2009-05-19T21:07:00.002-05:00

Joss is so excited every morning when she wakes up to see "baby chipper" as she calls him. She puts her hands up as if to say "where is he" & gives him such a big slobbery kiss & head lock-style hug. The other day I came around the corner & she had the colander in Trip's face & she was saying "stir, stir, stir baby chip." He's so good natured. He just takes it all in. He gets laid on, sat on, smacked, poked & "teeko teeko" (tickle tickle) at all day. These pics were taken with my blackberry so they aren't very good, but they still captured the moment.

My retirement

2009-05-18T23:11:00.004-05:00

Meet the future Dr. Thork...

This is Joss with Dr. Tom, our favorite doc in the world. She loves him so much! We were there for Trip's 4 month visit & Joss wouldn't even let us visit until he checked her heart. She kept saying "ort, ort, ort" (heart) & "ears, nose, teeth." So he gave her the once over & pronouced her beautiful, healthy & a very big talker & we finally moved on. Until she decided she needed to listen to Dr. Tom's heart, and Trip's, and mommie's. It was a hoot. Dr. Tom said Joss will be one of those rare 2 year olds you can have a full conversation with. Oh, and a doctor too.

a few pics

2009-05-18T22:09:00.012-05:00

here's a few random pics

~kj

Trip in his usual camera-in-face pose
Joss dying Easter eggs

Joss in her usual state of excitement

Crazy times

2009-02-10T13:43:00.002-06:00

I find it funny that as the Senate passes the Economic Stimulus Package the stock market tanks. The markets are not closed yet but so far the DOW is down almost 4.5 percent and will probably close at its lowest point since we started this "recession". What does that tell you about what the people that really run this country think about government intervention?

Lukes first post in a long time!!

2009-02-09T22:52:00.004-06:00

Click the collage to make it full size. I think it will look better that way.

What a Trip

2009-01-27T10:52:00.003-06:00

This little guy is just a pleasure! He is so mellow & chill, like daddy. Here's a few pics.

Kel's return from Oz, or is it Aus?

2009-01-24T15:40:00.005-06:00

Mom, Kelli & Trip (Trip is smiling for the cam)
Riley in his usual spot (on the couch)
Do you see the family resemblance?
Austin & Kel, feeling good! (15 weeks pregnant)
The boys in their usual spot...planning the next adventure (or fiasco, depending on who you ask)

Baby brown eyes

Kelli finally cam home from Australia! Yes, she does talk a little differently, but didn't entirely pick up the accent. She rushed straight from the airport to our house to meet her new nephew. She could hardly contain her excitement at seeing him for the first time & getting a big hug from Joss-who she said had grown so much in the month she was gone! Austin & Kel (aka "Kelly Goode") joined us of course for the reunion, we ate Carino's, heard some great stories about Kelli's adventures in a new land & stared at Trip until Kelli-sister couldn't keep her eyes open. She brought Trip the cutest onesie with a Kangaroo (or "skippie" as the locals say) on it & a little stocking cap & Joss a pink tee with all kindsof Aussie animals on it-thank Lollie, we missed you & you're never allowed to leave for that long again! (Sorry Grant!)

Update on Trip's weight

2009-01-24T15:20:00.004-06:00

For those of you who didn't know, Trip has been having difficulty gaining weight. At his 2 week visit he was the same weight that he had been 8 days before at his last appt. This caused us some concern, so we brought him back to weigh again 3 days later, to find he hadn't gained even a tenth of an ounce. So Tom recommended that we start supplementing after every nursing with 1-2 ounces of formula. I hated to do this because I didn't want to mess up nursing & his schedule & my supply, but we didn't have much choice. So in 48 hours we went back to weigh again (this morning) & he had gained 6 ounces! I was so relieved. So we will continue supplementing for another few weeks & then he should even out & we can phase out of it & continue with just nursing. Whew-I guess he just has daddy's ridiculous metabolism!
Taking brother to the doc to weigh in.

Trip's photo session

2009-01-24T15:11:00.002-06:00

Well Emily Thurmond has done a beautiful job capturing this moment in our lives. Click here to see Trip's session & be sure to also check out my maternity session. I can't wait to have these gorgeous photos all over my walls! Thanks Emily for your hard work & talent.

My birthday

2009-01-16T14:51:00.003-06:00

Reading with her uncle/crush. (She has a crush on Riley, we don't call him "Uncle Crush").

Well I can truthfully say that 27 really feels old. Maybe it's more because I have 2 kids now. My birthday was great-these pics are at mom & dads where we did breakfast for lunch, one of my favorites. Then April made us dinner & a strawberry birthday cake. That cake made an excellent 4am nursing snack! Luke even taught Joss to say Happy Birthday-that was a moment I'll never forget! Oh & a got a chair massager from Luke & Joss which is so relaxing. Definately one of the best gifts I've gotten. I have more pics, but Luke stole the camera & my little hard drive today so they'll have to wait...

Trip Henson

2009-01-15T22:03:00.004-06:00

1st attempt at a family photo. Joss was not so into it. She was hungry which is way more important to a 17 month old than a new baby!
Our new little man just a few hours old.
Hanging out...he does this alot.
Just born, love at first sight.
I just love this picture.

Our new baby boy has finally arrived! (5 days late-he takes after momma already!) He was born January 5th at 2:35pm weighing in at 7lbs & 12 oz (3 oz lighter than Joss), and 19 & 3/4" (just under an inch shorter than Joss). He is beautiful & healthy-with blue eyes, at least for now. Maybe I'll get my blue eyed boy after all. He has a kind spirit ( I know this because he came quick & easily). He is quiet as can be & sleeps like a champion. Joss is quite the big sister, giving him his passy, patting (smacking) him on the head, telling us to "shhh" when he's sleeping & pointing out his eyes, ears & nose every chance she gets. She's such a character. She is adjusting really well.

I woke up Monday morning & just didn't feel very good. I had an appointment with Jenny so I dropped Joss off at mom's & went on over. Byt the time I was walking in to her office, I could hardly walk & breath at the same time. I went on in & laid down & Jenny knew right away I didn't feel well. After about 15 minutes she knew I was in labor, even if I was in denial. So she worked on me for about 45 minutes, at which point the contractions were about 5 minutes apart. She called her next appt tp cancel, but they were already there so I told her to work on them & I'd hang out & sit on the birthing ball & drink water & chill. Right, chill, in LABOR hello. I called the doc & filled them in & they instruced me to get to the Women's Center NOW. Sowe Jenny ended that appt & drove me over. We got there at noon, I was dilated to a 7, Luke got there at 12:15 & he was born at 2:35. Whew, it's over. I'm so greatful to everyone who played a crucial role in our big day, juggling Joss, taking pics, picking up food, keeping us company-it all made the day so easy to enjoy. It is a 3 way tie for the best days in our lives.

Cutes lil hunter ever!

2009-01-15T21:55:00.003-06:00

So we got a big load of hand-me-downs from my dad's cousin (who's a horse trainer & has a little boy about Joss' age). The stuff was for our soon to arrive baby boy, but of course Luke intervened when he saw this hat. Funny thing is Joss loves it! When it come soff she'll bring it to you for assistance in putting it back on. Tomboy in the making.

Hunting Adventures in 2008

2008-12-28T21:41:00.004-06:00

I've not posted any pictures of hunting trips this year. I'll try not to bore you. It has been a great duck hunting season so far. Kolbe has really become a great hunting dog. Last year was his first full season of hunting and he did pretty well. Pretty well meaning after a duck was in the water I would have to throw a rock at the bird for him to see it, he would see the splash and go get the bird. Fast-forward to this year; Kolbe usually sees and sometimes hears the ducks well before I do. After we have a duck on the water I send him off. He knows what to do. Several times this year we had a duck land in the tall grass and we could not find them. After giving up we would send Kolbe in and he would smell them out. I did not mean for this to become a "my dog is awesome" post but he his.

I took this picture this morning (12-28-08). Thought it looked really good.
Kolbe watching some ducks in the distance.

Good bunch of ducks!!

Kolbe sporting our bounty!!!

This was taken on December 27, 2008. That is Brandon walking. A storm came through wild and fast and we had to walk out in the rain. I stopped to take a few pictures. This one came out really cool.
This was the calm before the storm.
Brandon
Aaron, Austin, and I in the pit blind in Quinlan.

Another cool sunrise.

It is hard to describe the alure of duck hunting. You have to get up earlier than most farmers. You hike long distances carrying your gun, decoys, and other gear just to wait, watch, and hopefully shoot some ducks. Why??? I don't have a good answer for you. I know that it is not shooting ducks. It is not "getting away from it all". It is not because I don't have anything else to do, Lord knows I have more than enough to fill 2 peoples plates. I think that it has something to do with the adventure of it all. I like getting up early, throwing on 4 layers of clothes, loading the truck, driving out to "the spot", hiking with 10-40 lbs on my back, wading out in the water to throw out the decoys, setting up a blind, and then waiting. I like the time between being ready for the ducks to come in and sunrise. I like talking with my buddies, being able to hear ducks whizzing by but not being able to see them. I like watching Kolbe search the dark horizon for flying birds. I'm sure that this all seems a little bit silly. I know that it is. I can't wait untill Joss and Trip are old enough that I can take take them with me. I hope that I can teach them an appreciation for the things that I love about hunting. Before I end this post I have to extend a big thank you to Keri for putting up with my crazy antics. I know she thinks that I am like a little boy playing fort. She is so good about trying to understand my crazy habits.

Adventures with Joss and Daddy

2008-12-09T10:50:00.004-06:00

Well I don't think we ever posted pics from our weekend at 1000 Trails with the family, so here's a few. Joss loved every minute of our time there-even considering the few injuries (she had her 1st busted lip & a good bump on her noggin). She is so active now, Joss & Luke are quite the duo. He finally has some one who can keep up with him. It will be fun when baby boy comes so I will have some one who is as inactive as me to hang out with-well at least for a few weeks! :)

Super Prego

2008-12-09T10:45:00.002-06:00

Well, for those of you who've always wanted to see a whale-here's your chance. I mean when can you ever pull off being this large as cute?! Pulhease! And people insist on touching it, which is the funniest part to me. I don't mind though...babies bring so much joy to so many people, even strangers in line at the grocery store. So, i will probably not post another picture until baby is born, because Lord knows it'll only get bigger from here on out! 3 weeks left...

The Arboretum

2008-11-21T10:08:00.003-06:00

I just love the arboretum, but I guess it's just not meant to be for me to be a regular guest. Papa Danny, Grandma Sue & I braved the traffic & the slums to get down there a few weeks ago, hoping for a pleasant picnic & some great shots of Joss with the pumpkins. But Joss had other plans. So I won't ruin the image you have in your head of her as an angel by posting all the pics. I think the one pretty much sums it up. But the flowers were still just as gorgeous as they would've been with no screaming Joss.

Pregnant in Vegas

2008-10-19T23:02:00.004-05:00

Yes, I hauled my heavy self all around Vegas, seeing the sights, Shirly Temple in one hand, battery powered fan in the other. Yes it was quite the site I'm sure, but it was soooooo worth it. I had an absolute blast. Of course I had the best travel companions in the world (my work buddies). We went for Kimmie (work friend)'s wedding & it was so nice. What a treat to get to be a part of it all. I won't bore you with many pics, but here's a few. And a really neat video of the fountains at the Bellagio. (Don't tell Luke, but I closed my eyes & pictured Brad on one side & George on the other, our casino robbery successfully behind us, the golden future ahead......oh hello, back to blogging).

The Many Faces of Josselin

2008-10-19T22:47:00.003-05:00

Yes, for those of you who know her, she changes with the wind (moods of course). She hates it when you won't let her handle the camera. That's what was happening in this series. Then of course she was distracted by the dogs barking & hamming it up again in seconds. Silly Jossie.

Word update for the week: "bundlebee" bumblebee; "gogogogogo" go, go, go, go, go!; "ot" hot; anything she's not allowed to have, she assumes is hot, because why else would you deny her?

There's a fungus among us!

2008-10-19T22:37:00.002-05:00

Look what I found growing in our yard. At 1st i though it was bowl of swollen, water logged dog food that Luke had dumped in the yard. Then next day I thought, why would Luke have dumped that there? And there's no ants on it, that's odd. So I went out to check it out. And it's a giant fungus forest that has taken over the log stumps in our back & front yard. Fortunately Kolbe & Joss were neither interested in the growths. But as you can see, I was fascinated! It was actually kind of pretty. The 1st pic is after it had been out there for nearly 4 days. Then it opens up even more like the latter pics. Then there's Joss running with the fungus forest in the back ground.

A Walk with Dada

2008-10-19T22:22:00.003-05:00

These are some cute pics I got of Luke & Joss on a walk last week. She finally has some hair-so I love the pic of it blowing in the wind. It is a baby mullet, but we are still in love with it! It goes in a ponytail, so it has it's perk. Luke won't let me cut it-he thinks it's so cute.

Playing Ketchup

2008-10-02T21:28:00.007-05:00

Yes, of course, I know that I spelled catch up like a condiment. I actually started to spell it correctly but I changed my mind. I had a moment where I thought "It is kind of funny that we have so many spellings for so many words. Thru and through and threw. Dear and deer. I'm going to use the wrong word on purpose." Silly I know, now back to the post.

Every nite for the past few weeks I have wanted to make a new post. Well hear it is. So much has been going on but sometimes it still seems like the status quo. Since the last post, I've been to Baltimore, Atlanta, and Tulsa for work. Keri's gone to Las Vegas. Joss has been saying more and more words and is getting more and more coordinated. Hunting season started. We picked a name for Luke Jr. (Luke Jr. is not it) Crazy political business has been going on. Stock market craziness. And on and on.

Baltimore was a cool place. We went to a whole in the wall crab shack that was awesome. They just piled pounds and pounds of steamed crabs on the table and the only silverware we had was a wooden mallet and a strong plastic knife. I learned to clean the crabs and man-o-man were they good. Had it not been for my co-worker who lives there I would have been starving at the end of the nite. We also went to a Orioles game at Camden Yard. That is an awesome stadium. We played the cup game while we watched the game. There were 15 of us there and each person put in dollar in a cup. Basically, you get the cup fore one at-batt. If you batter gets a hit, you get all the money in the cup and everyone puts another dollar in the cup. If your batter does not get a hit you put one dollar in the cup and pass it to the next person. This continues for the hole game. It really gets you into the game. I won the cup once witch meant that I almost broke even for the night. Won guy one the cup 5 times. He won close to a hundred bucks. Cool game. Try it next time you are at a ball game. You can play with as little as 2 people.

Atlanta was a weird trip. I went down there for a sales blitz that was not really a sales blitz because of the economy. I was supposed to be the tool expert to sell local lumber yards our tools. Well it was the same story almost everywhere we went. One place said that they had not shipped a frame pack (a shipment of lumber for a new house - this is a lumberyards bread and butter) in 4 months. I like to think that I can overcome a lot of sales objections but what can you say to that, other than man that is rough. I could not sell these guys anything when it is really questionable weather or not they will be in business in a few months. It was an eye opening experience to see how bad the economy was in Georgia. That really made me appreciate the relatively strong economy we have in Texas.

Keri went to Las Vegas for a friend/coworker's wedding. It was pretty much a girls trip. And while she had a really good time relaxing a bit, I became very appreciative of single parents. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved spending 4 days with Joss. But, man that is some work. It's not that it is hard work, it just does not end. Dishes can weight, I can mow the yard tomorrow, I'll take the trash out in the morning, and I can skip a meal if need to. A baby, however can not do anything later. It must be done now. Hunger, better feed that kid now. Tired, don't miss that window of opportunity for a nap. You just can't put off anything baby related for more that 1 minute. I am not complaining and this was all stuff that I already knew. When your spouse/teammate is not there for a substitution you get to really understand it. Confucius say "Here it and you will forget, See it and you will learn, Do it and you will understand it." I don't really know if he said that or not but I think he may or may not have.

Joss has been a blast lately. She is really developing a lot of personality. She can say google, banana, duck, dog, mom, dad, quack, and several others. She is an awesome sleeper still. Often when I get up in the morning I can here her playing in her bed. I'll call Keri after I get to work and come to find out Joss went back to sleep in her bed and did not get up till a few hours after I first heard her. She loves animals and playing in the yard. She knows where her belly button is and where her boobies are(I might should not have said that but if you ever get lucky enough to see her point to them you will understand.) She has noticed that Keri's belly has been growing and she likes to pull up her shirt and point it out too her. I can't wait two see what she does with a little brother.

I am getting tired now. I will end with some pics you may or may not want to see, but I like them so take a look.Awesome hair Joss

This is the parking lot at Texas Stadium. Check out the Grip-Rite banners.

Camden Yard, Baltimore MD

Fiestas Patrias a Texas Stadium

Our little water bug

2008-08-13T21:10:00.000-05:00

Joss has been in "swim lessons" at the Denton natatorium the last 2 weeks & it's been so fun. It's actually been more like prenatal water arobics for me, since I have to be in the water & holding her the whole time. But hey, at least it's kept my weight gain at bay! (Last time I gained 50 pounds and this time i"m 20 weeks & I've only gained 6.5!!!) Side note there. Ok so here are some pics. We all know that's why everyone looks at blogs anyways. Let's just be honest.

The 2nd pic has Jenn & Caden Wardlaw in the background-our buddies. Caden is a week older & Jenn & I work together. She might kill me for putting her on the internet in her swimsuit, but she's just such a cute mommie I couldn't resist! The last pic is of Zach & Caden on the boogie board. He was loving it. The 2nd to last pic is the dads enjoying "Mommie and me" swim lessons. Such good daddies we have. My Mom and dad were at lessons today so we should have better pics soon.

A few Lake City shots

2008-07-21T17:21:00.000-05:00

The tallest peak in the middle of the pic, to the left of Luke is the one we climbed (Umcompahgre Peak).
Luke heating up water for me to wash my face-what a good wilderness hubby!
Me & Kolbe hanging out
Luke & I on the 4th in the city park before the fire works show in Lake City
Luke & Kolbe while we were taking a break during the climb.

Joss in a box

2008-07-21T17:13:00.000-05:00

Well, for those of you have never seen one, this is what a Joss-in-a-box looks like. (And yes this is generally what my living room looks like as well). We could not have a happier kiddo! She is just a hoot. This is a very random post but I feel like such a bad blogger, I thought I'd throw it on here.

independance day

2008-07-06T08:55:00.000-05:00

we made it safely to lake city yesterday. we are having a great time. we camped last night right next to henson creek. it was so nice sleeping with the sound of the river. it got pretty cold but we were prepared for it. this is such a fun towm to be in right now. there are motorcycles, vespas, jeeps, dogs, people everywhere. We are already trying to plan our next trip with Joss and luke jr. for next year.

don't forget to click the link to view the pictures posted from my blackberry.

Posted near: CR-21, CO 81235 US
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are we there yet?

2008-07-03T09:46:00.000-05:00

so last night around 9pm we left ole D-town behind to do some travelin. but apparently we are older than the last time we took a colorful colorado road trip. we had to stop & sleep for about 3 hrs outside of Capulan. i know-Luke?! sleep?! you're asking. yes, we are aging. or we had a kid, something like that. So no we are not there yet, but we are taking our time (since Lil momma has to potty alot) & Kolbe's dog breath is so unbearable i'm about to spray Car Fabric Febreeze in his mouth while Luke's pumping gas. but we are enjoying every site.

oh and we narrowly missed nailing a deer when a man sped past us, and 60 seconds later we passed him & poor bambi, rest his soul. thank you Lord for your protection. and yes i was buckled up.

to see pic click link

Posted near: SANTA FE TRL/I-25 S/US-85 S/US-87 S/US-85 S/US-87 S, TRINIDAD CO 81082 US
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the shed is finally done

2008-06-26T22:49:00.000-05:00

i finally finished the shed in our back yard that i have been working on since feb. Thanks to the help of keri's grandpa my parents, Jake and Austin. I cant wait to get the garage cleaned out and get all the junk moved into the shed in a nice orderly fashion.

Now i just have to finish the bathroom tile project in the next month :)

Posted near: 100-199 RANCH RD, KRUGERVILLE TX 76227 US
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Old pics of Joss

2008-06-23T16:36:00.000-05:00

These were back in April, but I never showed them to anyone. How aweful of me! Of course now she has more teeth, more hair and still eats flowers. Yumm. So the news is that Luke got an official offer that is in Carrolton-whew. We're relieved just to know where we'll be when our 4th family member joins us. Jan 2nd is the due date by the way. Ok, that's all I have time for.

Negligent Bloggers

2008-06-17T14:49:00.001-05:00

So i guess you could say Luke & I are negligent bloggers: inconsistent, uninformative and boring. Or life is just too nuts for taking 5 minutes to type it all down for all to see. I love reading other's blogs & when they go 3 days with out a new post I think "Come on Jenny! Time for a new post girl-get it together!" or "April, I need to see new pics of Avery. Now get on the ball!" How unfair of me to be so demanding of a blog-reader. So here it is in a nutshell:

Luke: New job, Prime Source; will it be Denver or Carrolton. Denver. No Carrolton. No Denver. No Seattle-just kidding. It seems to change every day. Today it looks like Carrolton.

Keri: working is hard while growing a baby & chasing a baby. But at least I'm still skinny right? Well, aside from the bump.

Joss: man life is rough when you want to walk, but aren't willing to give up crawling. And these teeth that keep coming in are awfully annoying. Especially the 2 latest that have popped in out of order. The 2 laterals are in leaving a giant space for the 2 front teeth. It's so funny looking!

House: Luke has torn out the back bathroom & everything that could have gone wrong has. Poor guy. But progress is being made.

Baby Deuce: growing and sucking the life out of mum. I go to my 1st appt next Monday. I feel great, aside from tiredness.

Is that everything? That's at least the things i get asked about the most. so consider yourself updated.

4th Anniversary

2008-04-25T15:03:00.000-05:00

April 24th, 2008 was our 4th wedding anniversary. I decided that to surprise Keri and take her to the Gaylord Texan. The Gaylord Texan (from here on referred to as the 'Texan' - I don't like typing gaylord over and over again) is a pretty nice hotel in Grapevine, TX. I told her that I was taking a few days off work and that she needed to pack her and Joss up to on a small trip. Well Joss was only headed to Keri's grandparents to stay the night. This part of the surprise was spoiled because Keri could not handle not knowing where Joss would be sleeping. I could tell that her motherly instincts were eating her up inside. She really needed to know where Joss was going to be sleeping so that she could plan accordingly. So.... I caved in and told her that Joss would not be joining us on our little outing.

After we dropped Joss off, Keri kept guessing where we were going. She actually did guess the 'Texan' but I said "I don't think we could afford that." She moved on to guessing other places. I could not blindfold her because she would have gotten carsick so I started thinking that I wanted to throw her off. So as we are headed toward grapevine I pulled into the Bass Pro Shop parking lot and drove towards the Embassy Suites hotel. After pulling through the little check in roundabout thing and after the valet parking guy looked at us like what are you doing, I speed off and said "Well this is not the place." She was just dying to know at this point. So we started toward the 'Texan'. Well directly across from the 'Texan' is a new place called The Great Wolf Lodge. I started to pull in to the check in round about here too and said that "I wanted to stay at the 'Texan' but all the rooms were booked- so this was the next best thing." Psych I pulled a u-turn and we headed toward the 'Texan'. At this point Keri was pretty confused so I as I pulled up to the 'Texan' I pulled the same u-turn trick and she was about to hit me with confusion. We back tracked a little and then I turned around again and divulged the plan. We had a Deluxe Suite, and dinner reservations at Ama Lur.

When I called to get a room I just wanted a normal room because the suites are really expensive. When they asked me why I was staying I told them that we had stayed there on our honey moon back when they first opened the hotel, and that I wanted to come back. They told me they would see what they could do to give me a free upgrade. UPGRADE they did. That deluxe suite was almost as big as our house. We had a great time. Keri was surprised. What a great 4 years. God is good. Thanks.

Here are a few pics

We took a lot of self pictures using the timer:

There was a really big train track set up:

Near the outdoor pool

We took a lot of flower pictures. The flowers were pretty:

This is the restraunt we ate at. AWESOME FOOD!!!

Joss did not go but I love this picture!!!!

A picture of our room on the 6th floor with a balcony.

Another cool flower pic:

Long time coming

2008-04-16T21:30:00.000-05:00

Wow. It has been a long time since the last post. I have been meaning to update this thing but I have not gotten around to it. Here is the quick update. Joss is growing and developing like a weed. She will be walking soon. She now has 3 teeth. Luke is almost done with school. Can't wait for that. It will seem like we have so much more time on our hands. Keri is now working part-time. We are so glad that she can stay home with Joss 2 days a week. Luke has been building a shed in the back yard. Keri has been doing some serious front yard flower bedding (if flower bedding is not a word then it should be...kind of like gardening). It looks great. More detailed post will hopefully follow soon. Here is a compilation of pictures describing the previous ruckus.

I told Joss that she was using to many diapers and she was going to have to start pulling her weight around here. Jenny gave Joss a job as a part time administrative assistant. I hope Jenny likes everything crumpled up and slobery.

This is Lukes shed it is still not done but it is close. Thanks to Papa Danny, Darren and Austin for the help so far.

This is Joss in her Easter dress Keri sewed it herself. Well maybe not.

Joss is actually a pretty good eater. Can one be a good eater??

Here is a pic of Keri's flowerbedding. Now there are more flowers in it. But you will just have to come see those in person.

Joss is sure growing up fast!

2008-02-20T16:37:00.001-06:00

Thanks to Keri's Grandma Sue for taking this pictures while she was keeping Joss the other day.

Joss has 2 teeth already. She has now started eating some semi-solid food. She does it like she has been doing it for her whole life. I know she is only 6 months old but I am telling you that she is already proficient at eating with a spoon, as long as you over look the occasional blob that oozes out of her mouth, and the amount of food outside the mouth is probably more than inside the mouth. It is so fun watching her learn how to use her body. She can scoot really well too.

She can even drink out of a water bottle.

She is so grown up and we are so proud of her!

Bath time with Joss

2008-01-19T14:09:00.000-06:00

This child loves the water more than a labrador retriever. She has found a true companion in her ducky. She likes to suck on his beak. It's so funny! And look, she has hair!

My First Banded Duck

2008-01-15T10:21:00.000-06:00

A couple weeks ago I got a banded mallard. This means that someone caught the duck and put a metal band around its leg. If a hunter gets on of these banded ducks they are supposed to call the band in to the USGS. It provides valuable information about the migration patterns and age of birds. Anyway.... To a duck hunter getting a banded duck is like winning the lottery. There are not that many banded birds out there and some people that have huntere their entire life never get one. Needless to say I was excited. I took the duck to the taxidermist and I should have him back in a few more weeks. I plan to put him in my office. Below is the certificate I got back from the USGS. The duck was banded in 2002 and it was hatched in 2001 or proir. That means that he was at least 6 years old. He was banded in Montana. Since ducks are migratory that means that he has flown back and forth for 6 years and covered thousands and thousands of miles. Pretty cool eh..

Resolve for a New Year

2008-01-07T16:58:00.001-06:00

Some don't believe in resolutions for the New Year, some don't make them for fear of not accomplishing them, some are so busy surviving day to day that a resolution for change is the last thing on their mind. So I decided to resolve for the new year only to make healthy lifestyle changes. Not lose weight, not to run a marathon, not to climb Everest and not to sky dive out of an airplane. Just to make strides for a better, healthier me, living a more simplistic, uncomplicated life. So here's to a life without caffeine, being organized enough to get my recyclables to the receptacles, eating breakfast every day and going back to school! Raise your glass with me, for I shall need all the support I can get!

On another note: Joss has RSV & bronchitis, so please keep our feisty little pumpkin in your prayers, she just doesn't feel very good. But the doctor says, she's very tough because we're through the worst of it & she is still just so pleasant, bless her heart. But it is highly contagious, hence all the catching up in the blogosphere...we're quarantined at home, so we don't pass our cooties to Jack-a-bee.

Creating a Happy Home Part 3

2008-01-07T15:33:00.001-06:00

I think the bedroom should be your secret getaway. We call ours the cave, because its this deep cranberry color & you could literally go in and hibernate for days, which I've done. But I'm in the works of redesigning it, something fresher & brighter. I'm going to have Luke build me a very simple four poster bed like the one posted here. I just love the breezy feeling it gives, like you're not even in Texas!

Alexandra writes the following on bedrooms:

A place to retreat, refresh & renew. Stepping into your bedroom should be like entering a private heaven on earth. Here, you unplug technology without apology; you come together in utter privacy and oneness in love. In this sanctuary you can be restful, sensual, refreshed, revived, and soothed. I adore a four-poster bed that makes me feel sheltered and feminine. What a luxury to have Porthault Linens' hand-scalloped sheets generously dressing the bed. It's always spring!

Source:http://lifestyle.msn.com/homeandgarden/home/staticslideshowcl.aspx?cp-documentid=2137328&imageindex=3

Creating a Happy Home Part 2

2008-01-03T21:24:00.001-06:00

Here is the next little installment...

Happiness at home is achieved by your willingness to reveal your personal sense of who you are, what's important to you, and your ability to transform your spaces to accommodate your style for living. The goal for all of us is to be happy and to spread that positive, life-affirming energy as far and wide as possible. Through the environment we create for ourselves and our loved ones, we can increase our happiness up to 50 percent. You can make this happen quite simply: Create meaningful rituals-set a pretty tea tray ahead of time, light a fire to bring loved ones together, or arrange fresh-cut flowers. By your generosity and imagination, you can transform ordinary moments at home into extraordinary experiences. As much as possible, your time there should be a celebration. Your home is the most important place on earth.
A place to gather, sustain & reviveOur living room fireplace is very important to my husband, Peter, and me. We have a loveseat and comfortable upholstered chairs on swivels where we come together, alone or with family and friends. In the winter months, a roaring fire creates a focal point of warmth, energy, and the spirit of the moment. We gather there to sustain ourselves. The purple handwoven throw makes us feel cozy. Here, love is generously shared.

This article is written by Alexandra Stoddard & the link is: http://lifestyle.msn.com/homeandgarden/home/staticslideshowcl.aspx?cp-documentid=2137328&imageindex=2

We forgot to post this...

2007-12-31T13:00:00.000-06:00

Our Trip to Cabellas

Joss in her new Hat

The little girls choir in the background (notice Joss's new hat! Dad loves it:)

Luke and Joss on the bridge

The biggest catfish we have ever seen it was almost 4 feet long fo real

Keri and Joss in the car

Luke and Joss in the parking lot

Alligator Gar

Joss was really into fish watching!

Keri and Joss in the car again! So cute!

Look at all those animals in the background

Family portrait

This was Thanksgiving weekend, but we forgot to put it up. We made a trip to the wild winderness playground that is Cabella's. This might be the best outdoor fun to be had in Texas, (sadly, considering it's indoors!). We took Joss & she loved it. We were there for hours, looking at all the great exhibits and Christmas shopping. Joss really got excited about the big aquariums. Her eyes were as big as silver dollars, staring at the giant catfish. It was altogether a joyous holiday experience.

2007-12-30T22:31:00.000-06:00

Poppie & Josselin in her wintermint hat

Santa Joss
Luke & Keri on the Annual Brookhaven Golf Course Christmas walk. (This is the time during which we try to make ourselves feel better about the amount of food we've eaten).

Jossie the snowgirl. This was the ridiculously cute outfit my mom bought Joss. It was her grand entry getup everywhere we went on Christmas Day.

Time for a new topic

2007-12-30T21:49:00.000-06:00

I told Luke our blog is becoming kind of boring. Hunting is boy stuff. So, I guess it's high time I start contributing, huh? So I found this great little piece on making a happy home (in the sense of decor and ambiance). I just love her thinking on how to decorate the spaces that you live in. So here's the a little intro on the blog entries to come. Let's raise our glasses to a happy home in this New Year.

Creating a Happy Home
"I love quilts because the designs are so fresh, exuberant, and playful," says interior designer and author Alexandra Stoddard. "Quilts bring emotional comfort to your home, and they make you smile." The installments to follow will include some of Alexandra's ideas on how to create a happy home with the things you love.
Written by Alexandra Stoddard. Photographs by Keith Scott Morton.

Source: http://lifestyle.msn.com/homeandgarden/home/staticslideshowcl.aspx?cp-documentid=2137328&imageindex=1

I caught a duck with my bear hands!!!!

2007-12-18T20:19:00.000-06:00

Believe it or not I caught this little guy with my bear hands. I don't think that he was injured or anything. I saw him swimming in the water and I started to follow him. He left little bubbles coming up so I followed the bubbles when he would dive under the water. I eventually figured out how long he could stay under and how far he could go. When he came up I grabbed him. He did seem a little nervous but I did not hurt him. It is odd that he was by himself. They are usually pretty social. In case you are wondering what kind he is. I believe that he is a drake (male) green wing teal. And just for the record I did let him go. I am not cruel. Sorry for the video quality I used my phone.

Hunting and Poaching

2007-12-01T21:28:00.000-06:00

Austin and I took the dogs out early this morning to check out some new places to hunt for ducks. For those that don't know there is a 2 week break in the middle of duck season which we are in the middle of. So we could not legally shoot anything today. Some people might think that hunting is kind of taboo, or that shooting ducks is cruel. I can see how someone might think that. I definitely enjoy just being outside with friends and with the dogs more than shooting. Hunting does serve a greater good though. If waterfowl populations are not kept under control they can and still sometimes do anyway destroy farmers crops. They can do some major damage a freshly planted field. Anyway, Austin and I go out this morning and we do not even take our guns. We get out of the truck, and unload the dogs and then.....BAM....BAMM. There was some one out there shooting at ducks. Remember that it is illegal right now to shoot ducks. There is a break in the season to give the ducks some time to rest. This made me so mad. Could these poachers not have waited 7 more days for the ducks to be in season again? Could they not follow the simple laws that the texas parks and wildlife established for good reasons?
After we got closer to the villans they must have felt guilty because they did not fire another shot. I felt good about that. We did find some great new places to hunt from next weekend when ducks are back in season. The dogs had a great time and we saw 3 bucks out there. One of them was a 10 point. Who knew that Denton had so much wildlife?!!!!!

Luke and Joss have some father daughter time

2007-11-28T22:16:00.000-06:00

I, Luke, gave Joss a bath tonight. She is so funny. I just like to watch her. We took a few pictures together. It was her idea of course. Seriously though. Keri and I are so lucky to have such a wonderful, beautiful baby. She is so happy all the time now. The first month or two was a little rough. But once we figured out the right combination of food, sleep, holding positions and voices it became much easier. I already love her so much. I never thought it could be so much fun to have a baby. People say that she looks like me but I think that she might look more like Keri. I can see that she definitely has my eyes. Hopefully she will not get my eyebrows. If she does I will feel compelled ti get her laser hair removal for her birthdays and every other major holiday. Including Columbus Day (the guy discovered America). I seems unreal still to me that I have a daughter. Even though I see her every day and I hold her all the time it just seems unreal. I was holding her on the couch and I thought to myself I wonder what she thinks of me so far? Which brought on a multitude of more questions. First of all can a baby have an opinion of their parents? Does she know I am her Daddy? Does she like me? Does she have thoughts? Does she wonder where I go between 8 and 5? Does she miss me? Am I doing a good job so far? When will she start to walk or talk? What will she say first? And on and on and on...

I don't know if I'll ever have an answer to most of those questions but I can't wait to find out.

Luke and Kolbe Went Duck Hunting

2007-11-10T13:16:00.000-06:00

Kolbe and I got up at about 4:30 this morning to go duck hunting with Austin Jackson. This was the first time I've been in about 3 years and Kolbe's first time ever. I am so proud of him. He did absolutely awesome. Kolbe was a little timid with the first one but after that he figured it out he did awesome. He was able to bring all the ducks back in from the water. Austin and I did pretty well. There were not whole lot of ducks flying around this morning seeing as how it was 75 degrees. 40 degrees would have been better. However it was nice because we had a couple good fly-bye's and Austin and I were shooting pretty good. We got a couple of 'coots and 3 Mallard's. 1 Drake (male with green head) and 2 hens (females that are mostly brown). Believe it or not we saw 2 deer (one large buck and one smaller buck) swimming across the lake. All of this took place on Lake Lewisville right behind Paloma Creek. Can't wait to go back. All this fun only a few miles from our house!

This is Funny

2007-11-07T21:21:00.000-06:00

I found this on another bloggers page and thought that it was worth posting for more to see. Keri and I watched it at least 10 times and laughed a little harder each time!!!

Thousand Trails

2007-11-04T20:37:00.000-06:00

Lots of Good Food
Joss likes to ride bikes almost as much as her dad!

Ready for the Hayride!

Joss and Lollie

Joss just loves this thing!!!

Keri and I went with her family this weekend up to Lake Texoma to a camp ground called Thousand Trails. We stayed there from Friday night till Sunday afternoon. It was a lot of fun. Joss got to go on her first hayride, first bicycle ride, and her first vacation!! Keri and I took a little while to get up there. We were the last ones there as usual. We arrived on Friday night around 9:pm. We sat around the campfire and hung out. Saturday we played several rounds of putt-putt, rode bikes, went on walks, played frisbee, took naps, played card games and scrabble and ate lots of good food. Needless to say it was a great time.

Joss is growing up so fast!

2007-10-24T22:29:00.002-05:00

They grow up so fast don't they! Seriously.... Joss is almost 3 months old and already Keri and notice so much change and development in her. She is discovering her hands now. She does not have the coordination to hold her bottle but she sure does try hard. This makes feeding time way more fun. She thinks that she can hold the bottle up but she just whacks it out of her mouth and gets formula everywhere! We like to put this hat that is way to big on her so that the sun does not burn her forehead. She forgot to grow hair when she was in the womb. I think that she likes wearing the hat because this way people don't know that she is pretty much bald. This bow is great. It is kind of like those sunglasses that girls wear. You know those huge ones where the person wearing them slightly over estimated the size of their head!
She really is so beautiful and the bow is adorable.

Joss's First Walk

2007-10-16T19:22:00.000-05:00

So Keri's mom, Terri got this sweet baby harness thing and Joss loves it. At first we had her facing us like she is supposed to. Joss did not like that so much. So we faced her out and she loves it. So I think that she will like to travel!!!