~Petting Smoky the kitty was a huge hit. The kids fear of dogs is slowly but surely disappearing. They are still wary around dogs bigger than them but anything smaller, including the cats at my parents, receive lots of attention.
~ Uncle Brian took Evan around and around and around on the four wheeler so after watching from the window Hans wanted a turn on but with Dad. We might owe my parents a tank of gas after all the riding was done. 
:)
I know I'm a little late for the Easter greeting but Easter greetings shoud last all year right?
We had a great time on our five day trip to MN and WI. 
Good Friday we celebrated with my family at my parents house. We ate too much crab, shrimp, and ice cream. After that we packed the tiny church my parents attend with the 20 of us taking up a third of the pews.
Over the two days we were there we saw all of my Mom's family. The pictures are of our family on Good Friday, Lydia with my Grandpa, and Hans reading with his Auntie Katy.
We have a new camera! Nathan was trying it out the other night and the kids
were having a great time hamming it up for Dad. The bunk beds are still a big hit and they are used as a place to play more often than they are used for sleep. Very often the kids are playing "farm" as you can see Evan with Piggy, Goat, Horse, Farm Puppy, and Hans has Blue Horse. Lydia is just happy because she can climb on the bottom bunk to bounce and in these pictures she has yanked out her hair ties so her pig tails are now crazy hair!
I'll post again next week. We've got a busy day tomorrow with me subbing for our principal who is with his wife in the delivery room right now and then we're off to Minnesota and Wisconsin for five days.
A Blessed Eater to you all. :)
It's been awhile since I posted without pictures but that is my only option right now. Last Monday when I was taking the pictures of the kids splashing in the pool I left the camera in the middle of the picnic table and went inside to answer the phone. When I peeked back out about five minutes later Lydia was walking around holding the camera by the string with it turned on and the lens completely zoomed out at a rather precarious angle. Suffice to say the camera is no longer in working condition. Ugh.
We've still be having a delightful taste of spring with or without pictures. The tulips are all popping up, we have a few robins around, the boys were watching sparrows gather twigs for a nest in the birdhouse on the patio, and we had one entire day of rain last week. I know that last one might not mean anything to you in MN/WI but it is never rainy here for more than and hour or two so an entire gloomy day puts both Nathan and I in a surprisingly good mood. Call it reverse seasonal depression.
Today we took good friends of ours, the Maertzes, on a geocache on the Flume Trail. Many of you have been on the Flume Trail during one visit or another in the past few years. It follows an old flume bed that was used to transport logs from the Hills to a mill. The entire trail is 13ish miles and we did about a four mile loop today. What is most impressive about that is that Hans is now hoofing it as he's getting to heavy to pack. That's a BIG hike for a little guy. By the end he was hungry and tired so he bummed a few brief carries but did great. We've got to keep in shape as we look forward to a summer of caches and some time in the mountains for vacation.
That's about all that's new here. The kids are doing great, Nathan has 45 days of school left, and I'm enjoying a weekly pottery class right now. Drop us a note, give us a call, or just pop in anytime. See you soon. :)
Here is what we did just before lunch today. Hopefully you are enjoying the first tastes of spring/summer just as much. :)
into your GPS, and follow the arrow until you reach the exact location. Then you begin searching for the cache or as the boys call it, the treasure box. You then record your visit in the log and can trade cache (little trinkets). This weekend the boys traded some of their matchbox cars and accessories for marbles, a toy lion, and a toy seal. When finished you hide the cache again so the next hunter can find it. We were able to get in four different caches with Mom and Dad. Three were Saturday in town at a large city park. The fourth was about 20 minutes into the Hills on the top of Boulder Hill. It is a lot of fun and I'm sure we'll be doing it for years to come. The pictures are:
1. The kids on top of Boulder Hill. Evan hikes all the time now, Hans is about 1/2 hiking and 1/2 in the backpack on Dad, Lydia is still on my back in the pack.
2. My Dad on the ledge finding the cache.
3. The kids eagerly searching for their treasures.
hikers-Joanna, Denise, Jenny, and Kelly. This was the first time I'd ever done this hike but I think it'll be added to the list of favorites so if you are headed this way during hiking season consider yourself forewarned.
Now you understand one more reason why we love it here. Breathtaking. :)
Joanna arrived here just before bedtime on February 23 and just departed this morning about 9:15am. Her official reason for being here was EFE (early field experience-required my MLC of education majors). She spent her days this past week in Nathan's classroom watching, helping, correcting, and a little actual teaching. She did have the thrill of getting to sub for our 5-6 grade teacher for a few hours Friday morning.
Her evenings have been spent being bombarded by three tornadoes. She has been, as Nathan said, "an extra Mom to our kids this week." She even babysat the kids overnight as Nathan and I escaped to a little hideaway in the Hills for the night Friday.
She also got to experience our Pre-k to 4th grade play night last weekend along with the Chili/Hotdog Supper, our Lenten service, eating out for supper twice with our whole family, Junior Choir singing for Life Sunday, a movie at the Elks Theatre, and a whole lot more.
She had originally planned to leave after church yesterday but with the skies clear and the temps reaching 60 or so she decided to take up an invitation to hike Little Devil's Tower with the Smiths, not us the Smiths but another family from church who had taken a shining to Joanna and happen to share our last name. About 1:00 Joanna, Denise, Kelly, and I all hit the trail. Ah, glorious hiking. I'll have to post pictures of that later since 60s in Rapid does not mean 60s in the Hills.
Overall it was a wonderful 10 days ending with Nathan finding more reasons to be increasingly proud of his littlest sister, with our children becoming very enamoured with their Aunt Joanna, and me becoming closer to my youngest sister-in-law. We are too blessed. :)
and Holly was catching a nap the kids and I enjoyed the beautiful day. It was sunny and in the low 40s. The 8-10 inches of snow we had was perfect for packing so we packed and packed until...vwaa-lah, a snowman and fort appeared. Here is the evidence. Hopefully we aren't the only ones who had the chance to enjoy the wonderful weekend. :)
vacation with us last weekend. Don't laugh, it was 58 degrees and sunny on Sunday. The kids have been experiencing "family attention deficit" since they left. They had 10 days strait with some extra family around to lovingly give them loads of attention and now it's just Mom home during the day again.
The picture is evidence of the boys holding Holly hostage on the couch and making her read book after book. Check out the stack on her lap. Hopefully your days are just as love filled. :)
Tuesday evening all of us (minus Nathan and Bill) were back at Mom and Dad's house for dinner together again. That is when the cousins picture was taken. My nephew Joey will be four in April and Jesse will be two in July. To those of you doing the math, yes in July the kids will be a 5,4,3,2, and 1. Happy grandparents. Wednesday after James finished work around noon he took us down to the Smith's. We had a lovely Valentine's dinner with Kevin, Mary, G'ma & G'pa Zemke, Jordan, and Katie. I'm sure it wasn't too romantic for any of the couples in attendance but considering the amount of attention the kids lavished on them I'm certain they all felt well loved.
Thursday afternoon James and Holly came back down and we all headed back to Rapid City. We made one long stop in Mitchell and were back home by about 10:30pm. Home Sweet Home, Dad Sweet Dad, and Husband Sweet Husband. Ahh. :)
My two brothers and sister along with all our families did some sneaky planning and pulled off a surprise dinner for them at a nice restaurant near their house. Most of us arrived at the restaurant ahead of Mom and Dad in borrowed vehicles while James and Holly picked Mom and Dad up for a quiet dinner for four. Little did they know that it would actually be a boisterous dinner for fifteen!
The pictures show Mom and Dad's reaction-smiles of surprise and then the whole crew around the tables. Dinner was fabulous, the occasion was special, and the company was unbeatable. I love my family! :)
First off, it is ALWAYS windy here. When whoever named Chicago the "Windy City" obviously hadn't visited Rapid City. The winter winds can drop our temperatures from moderate 
to down right cold. The summer winds turn average days into scorchers as they drive out every bit of moisture. Second, it doesn't really snow here before February. Every Christmas spent here has been brown. Last year on December 26 we were playing Frisbee in the backyard in short short sleeves. That might be a nice feature for attracting some folks but have I mentioned that whole state is brown the entire time. Here we do really only dream of white Christmases.
Now you'll understand the rarity of the pictures in this post. The wind has stopped. It has been snowing sporadically the last few days and we currently have nearly six inches on the ground with more scheduled to fall over the weekend. The wind however has called in sick or gone missing or just decided to take a week long vacation in the tropics. This means we are white. Snow white to be exact. It has been a very light, fluffy, powdery snow that gently covers all below. The Hills that dot our town and surround us are all covered with beautiful pristine white coats of snow. The foliage everywhere looks as if a baker has decorated with a thick dusting of powdered sugar. Ah. Now there is justification for leaving our Christmas lights up until mid February: it looks beautiful.
Have a wonderful weekend. :)
It was sweet to see them caught up in each other. Makes my heart happy. Dancing helps keep you warm and since most of you are probably cold you should try it with someone near and dear to your heart. :)
(www.locksoflove.org) This was actually the third time I've chopped and donated it since we lived here, but this time is the shortest it's ever been. This is the shortest hair I remember having-ever. I like it a lot so far but I will admit my neck has never been so cold. Usually I end up tucking it behind my ears so it doesn't look as wedge-ish. Anyway, just thought I'd share. Stay warm. :)
