We're Having Babies!! :)

. . . . ha ha, gotcha, didn't I? Not us - as in Mark and I -but us, as in the the newest additions to our family, the two sweet little birds who have taken up residence on our deck. For the past couple of months we have watched this mommy and daddy bird carefully construct a nest in the birdhouse we have on our deck, and now it's apparent something is going on in there because the mommy is sitting in there all the time (see picture above), and the daddy sits on the railing right next to the birdhouse. It's the cutest thing! It's highly unusual for us to look out the window and not see both of them - in fact, if they are gone, I sit and worry until I see them back on their perches. We love having them around, and I hope we'll get to see their new little family before they all move on . . . . I'm going to be sad when they're gone!! Here's the daddy on the railing - and he'll even hop on the nest to cover for mommy sometimes (second picture below):

We had the most awesome day Sunday- it was just the perfect day. We went camping over the weekend with some friends and my mom and dad (right by Custer Peak - a really beautiful area), so that was a lot of fun, of course, but yesterday was just a great day. We got up, cooked omelettes in the camper, then the group of us all hiked up Custer Peak - it was GORGEOUS. Perfect weather, amazing scenery, great company - a very nice way to spend a Sunday morning. And of course, I documented it . . . . . .

Here's Jack checking out the view about 1/2 way up . . . .

Noah and Jack and their favorite camping buddies:

Up at the top - spectacular 360 degree views - what a cool place!

My little rock-climber - it's impossible to keep his feet down on the ground . . .

Anyway, moving on - we then packed up and headed home. I managed to unload the camper AND unpack within one hour (!) and then we headed out on a 2-mile run with the kids (them on their bikes, of course). After everyone showered, we had supper and then all watched America's Got Talent together. Anyway, it was just a really fun family day - wish every day could be like that!

Next up: a 3-night camping trip to Spearfish with some friends for the long holiday weekend. Getting ready to head out early Thursday - and this will be our last camping trip until the middle of August! Happy 4th of July!

"Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord . . . " Psalm 33:12

What we've been up to . . .

Wow, I think this is the longest I've ever gone between posts - ! I couldn't believe it when I saw that it had been 2 1/2 weeks since my last one!! Yikes. Anyway, here's a summary of our past couple weeks, and a few too many pictures:
The boys . . . . .
attended a one-week basketball camp at the Y and loved it;
started golf lessons right after that, and love them even more;
had four baseball games, finishing off their first coach-pitch season;
went camping at our favorite campground (in Hill City);

During that camping trip, went biking on the Mickelson Trail:
That same weekend, had yet another birthday cake - we promised them another one when we couldn't have candles on the one at the hotel/waterpark. Candles are VERY important when you get seven of them!! :)
(It's a Wall-E cake - a movie that's coming out on Friday - yes, these movie producers know their marketing - our kids know all about Wall-E and they haven't even seen the movie yet!)

Anyway, after leaving Hill City, we proceeded directly to the Spearfish City Campground - another favorite - for two more nights. Mark still drove into Rapid to work, but we had alot of fun anyway. We rode our bikes everywhere - and Jack and Noah found a muddy jump to run their bikes on - here they are proudly displaying their mud . . .

Moving on . . . . . . after a couple days at home, beginning on the 20th we had a small Concordia "reunion" up in Keystone - 4 of Mark's college buddies and their families met here for a long weekend of reminiscing and touristy activities. Here's the 5 guys (we were missing one from Minneapolis who couldn't make it) . . .

We had a great time - all 21 of us!! Friday night, because it was raining, we went to the Ruby House in Keystone for dinner, then to the indoor black-light putt putt place by Rapid. Saturday morning we all headed for Mt. Rushmore - it's amazing how even after seeing it 5 or 6 times, I still love taking pictures of it - it never gets old! I love this one (taken from a cave below) . . . .

The traditional tourist shot . . . .

And I took this one 6-7 miles away, from a lookout in Keystone:

After Mt. Rushmore, we headed to Rushmore Cave which is always a HUGE hit with the kids - and I have to admit, it's a pretty amazing place! Here's some of the kids in the cave (Jack and Noah are on the left with the baseball hats):

After the cave, we then headed up to the President's Alpine Slide. We got a great photo of the group of us (if you click on this to make it bigger, you can see Mt. Rushmore behind us):
And here's my boys at the top - Mt. Rushmore is way over on the right side of the photo:
Saturday night we had dinner at the Alpine Inn - 10 adults at one table and the 11 kids at another - that was interesting!! :) The kids did pretty good, although I think the other diners in the room with us were rather entertained! Sunday we hit the Big Thunder Gold Mine where we discovered a new family addiction - panning for gold! We got so sucked in we didn't take any photos - sounds kind of silly, but it was truly addicting, sifting through rocks and sand looking for tiny pieces of gold. Loved it!

During the weekend, Jack and Noah made a new buddy - Zach - he's 10 1/2, and is the NICEST guy - he was so good to all these kids who were younger than him. His dad got this great picture of he and Jack. If you read this, Zach - Jack and Noah are missing you! Churn and Dar - he's a fantastic kid - I hope we can do as well with Jack and Noah as you have with him!!
Whew! I think that's it. We've had a very nice quiet week at home, getting things done around here and preparing for our next camping trip this weekend. Right now I'm sitting on the living room couch watching the most awesome lightning storm out our big window - my own fireworks show provided by God. Reminds me how much I love summer!!

Where do the days go?

I can't believe how fast these summer days are already whizzing by! I always think summer will be a leisurely time - and in some ways it is - but our calendar is just jam-packed for the next 3 months. Amazing. Anyway, I'm absolutely loving having my boys home with me again - I love it that they come and crawl in bed with me in the morning and we just lay there and cuddle and talk and we aren't in any hurry and we don't have anywhere to go - it's just awesome. They'll always do this, won't they? :) They have been spending most of their free time outside - lately on their new bikes they got for their birthday (see pictures below), and have also been spending a fair amount of time at baseball.

We had a refreshing weekend AT HOME last weekend -we'd been gone the previous 4 weekends, and we will be busy the next 7 weekends, so this was our little "oasis" in the middle of it all. We put some heavy-duty work into the yard, but it felt so good to get it done and to just pay attention to some things around here we'd been ignoring. We spent quite a while at Jolly Lane nursery on Sat. morning with the boys, which was actually a lot of fun. I could spend a lot of time there, and the boys like checking out the cactuses and the vegetable plants. Now we're trying to figure out how to put a garden into our hilly yard . . . hmmm . . . .

This week Jack and Noah are in a basketball camp in the mornings, and at Vacation Bible School in the evenings . . .I'm trying to get caught up on housework and preparing for a 4-night camping trip this weekend.

Here's Jack's new thing - when he talks to you, he spells your name - I hear him calling for me "M-O-M-M-Y!" and I here he is talking to Noah - "N-o-a-h!" It's so funny, I don't know where he picked this up, but I guess it's good practice. We also dealt with his first "questionable" word while we were in Okoboji (!). We were finishing dinner at a restaurant when Jack said "Well let's get the h_ _ l out of here!" WHAT?!?!? Luckily I was the only one who heard it, and after I picked my jaw up off the floor, I explained that we do NOT talk that way. He got upset and said he didn't know - he'd heard it on TV - and I believe him, the way he was looking at me with huge eyes. Anyway, I hope we don't hear that again for several years!!

Here's Noah's new thing - reading. This child can't get enough - he even brings books with him in the car and reads while we are running errands. LOVE it. Here's his other new thing: endless goodnights at bedtime. After devotions and prayers, both Mark and I give him hugs and kisses goodnight, etc.

30 seconds after we leave his room - Noah: "Goodnight!"

Us: "Goodnight Noah"

Him: "I love you!"

Us: "We love you too!"

Him: "Come check on me in a little bit!"

Us: "Yes Noah"

Him: "Goodnight"

Us: "Goodnight"

20 seconds later:

Noah: "Goodnight!"
Us: "Goodnight Noah"
Him: "I love you!"
Us: "We love you too!"
Him: "Come check on me in a little bit!"
Us: "Yes Noah"

Him: "Goodnight"
Us: "Goodnight"

And this literally repeats itself 2 or 3 more times until we finally have to say ENOUGH! Actually, he's not at all mischevious about it - it's really quite cute, but we always have to cut him off . . .

I'm signing off with some pictures of my little rock stars on their birthday:

With the all-important cake in our hotel room:

The gang at the water park:

Jack with his remote control helicopter - he was a litte excited about this particular gift:

And the kids on their new bikes - we were confined to the garage because of the rain:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BABIES!

Seven years ago:

And now:

Today we are in the midst of celebrating Jack and Noah's 7th birthday - wow. Almost impossible to believe. Yesterday we kicked off the festivities with a party at the Watiki water park in the afternoon a few of their closest friends, and it was a blast. Jack and Noah have a great group of friends, and it was a great time. We rented a suite there to stay overnight and had some friends join us, so after the party we had a great evening of hanging out and playing at the waterpark. This morning we made a few more runs down the waterslides and then headed home, totally exhausted. The kids are now crashed on the couch watching some TV . . . and I'm fighting the strong urge to crawl in bed and go to sleep! It's one of those rainy, cold days (having too many of those around here lately!) and a long nap sounds good. However, my "to-do" list is calling . . . Next up is supper tonight at Pizza Hut (the kids' choice) and then home to watch a movie.

Last weekend we had a fantastic mini-vacation in Okoboji, IA for my mom and dad's 40th anniversary . . . lots of great pictures I have to post, but no time now . . . maybe tomorrow!