Home Sweet Home

Ahhhhhh. Home again.
I am home in Colorado. After being home in Iowa for two weeks in mid-late July, I truly came to appreciate the dry weather of Colorado. Every day I was in Iowa, the temps were 100+ degrees with a heat index that hit 115+ degrees. I didn't know that it was possible for it to be too hot to go swimming, but it was. Driving through the rolling hills from Osceola to Des Moines, I forgot how lovely the fields of corn are. I do miss the family-ness of a small town. Catching up with a bank teller, laughing with cashiers at the local (Casey's) gas station. Waving to folks you know as you pass them on the road. Bumping into folks you know at the local (Fareway) grocery store. Getting you meat cut and packaged exactly how you want it from the meat counter at the grocery store. Nobody is in a rush to get where they're going---heck it takes 10 minutes or less to get to one side of town to the other, so why be in a rush?

Te best part of my stay was when Kari came home from the hospital! She is recovering from the virus and the Gall Bladder surgery. She came to mom and dad's Wednesday evening, so I was able to see her before I left come back here.

The other best parts of my stay were just being with my family. I just do not get to see them often enough or spend enough time with them.

I love you Mom.
I love you Pop.
I love you Kim.
I love you Kari.
I love you Johnny.
I love you Bubba.
I love you Nick.
I love you Jellybean.
I love you Karina.
I love you Sammy-Wammy-Bam-Bam


Say prayers for Kelli (a.k.a. Jellybean or Bean). She is in New Orleans competing in the Junior Olympics for Gymnastics.

I finally got a new camera!! Now I have no excuse not to blog a little more often.

These are some pictures of my family from Christmas.

Don't let these pics fool you though. Mikey really is a tad bit taller than his dad!

The nice family pose :)


The "do we really have to do this?"


The "who just farted" pic


The "you're so skinny" "you're so short" pic


The self-portrait at the Hoover Dam



Hope everyone had a blessed Christmas and fine and fabulous New Year!
May we find the love, joy and peace of Christmas every day.

Love you all.

Kaite

SNOW DAY!!!

We had a two hour delay yesterday. Today we are enjoying the first SNOW DAY in about four years!!! If I remember correctly, the last snow day was on my 27th or 28th birthday---my first year of teaching at FFC8---when my sisters and the kids came out to visit me...They got stranded in Nebraska a few times.

More Pics of McGoofy's Garage

McGoofy's Honky Tonk Garage

For just about every holiday and non-holiday, relatives and friends from near and far gather in McGoofy's garage. What is so special about McGoofy's Garage? Is it the horrible ventilation, the stench of beer, cigarette smoke, a wood burning stove and a fishing pond? Is it the fridge full of fish guts and fish bait? Maybe the decor that is made up from old magazines and treasures found at flea markets, auctions, garage sales and swap meets. Really, I think these things just add to the atmosphere of McGoofy's Fishin' Shop where nothing is for sale. There is no other place in this world where people from one to 100 anxiously gather to celebrate birthdays, holidays or just celebrate the day from dawn til dusk. In this honky tonk, there are no brawls, you will hear no complaints. You hear laughter, you hear banjo, guitar, singing, drums. You see smiles, you see embraces and you see love. You feel full of life, you feel like dancing...even to an old honky tonk song. This is my family. Making memories in McGoofy's Garage.

Uncle Chuck and Kari


Pop singing and picking


Karina and Katie monkey pile on Uncle Chuck


Katie getting comfy on Uncle Chuck's lap.

Karina and Uncle Chuck making faces at each other

Uncle Chuck serenades Karina

Lake Ahquabi 2

I just wanted to share more pics from Lake Ahquabi.

Karina...I think she is growing into that budda-belly of hers!!

Kelli and Nick

Austin and Karina

Kelli and Karina

Nick

Backyard Sparkles

This 4th of July was...strange. The entire week was just did not eminate the excitement and anticipation of upcoming holiday carnival and festivities. Maybe it was because the week of was somewhat on the chilly side. A typical Iowa summer is hotter than blazes laden with enough humidity to hydrate the desert. 4th of July 2009 was the opposite of hot and humid. The parade was delayed about two hours due to a down pour. I think the high temp may have been about 57. I don't recall the sun really showing its shining face. It was just down right weird.

Before the kiddos went off to watch the fireworks, they lit up the backyard with some sparklers. Due to the dampness of the day's rain and drizzles, it took some effort to get the sparklers to light. But in the end, the kids lit up the back yard with their smiles, shrills, dances and sparklers.

Kelli and Austin showing off their sparkler-ing tae-kwon-do-ish moves


Nick and Austin lighting each others fires.

Karina followed Nick up and down the side walk
with her hands reaching for the sparklers. So close, yet so far away.

Since Karina could not have the pretty sparkly sparklers that she tried to mooch from her brothers and sisters, she resorted to her ingenious one-year problem solving abilities. She picked up the water noodles and attempted twirling them around like the others were twirling the sparklers. Very adorable.

When she got tired of that she found a ball and chased it around the yard.

Candid Pics from Lake Ahquabi

Lake Ahquabi

Yesterday, I was a very brave soul and took all four kiddos up to Lake Ahquabi for a day of fun in the water and sun. Karina loved the water, although she was not real steady on her feet in the sand and water. The waves would knock her off her feet and she just wasn't sure what to do about it. Austin, Nick and Kelli all fought over Karina and she just smiled and went from brother to sister to brother to sister and to Aunt Katie.

Karina and Austin just floating around

Austin, Karina, Kelli and Nicholas

Nicholas and Karina

Kelli and Karina

Country Roads

fall is here---except for the crisp fall temperatures that i am eagerly awaiting.

leaves are turning colors...mostly a flickering golden yellow among the dark green.

i miss iowa, the midwest in the fall.

don't get me wrong, autumn is beautiful here, but the color changes here hold nothing to the vast contrasting colors that you see in the varitey of trees back home.

i have been ever so gently suggesting to michael that we need to get up to the mountains and see the leaves change before we miss them for all the fallen brown crunchy leaves that flutter around until the snow falls.

so...this weekend when we have the kids, that is what we are going to do, among other things.

i see these two pictures and a john denver tune runs through my head. then i get a little homesick and question why i chose to live in big cities.

country roads, take me home

to the place i belong IOWA

i hear he voice in the morning hour she calls me

radio reminds of my home far away

driving down the road i get the feeling i should

have been home yesterday yesterday yesterday

take me home, country roads

to the place i belong IOWA

take me home country roads

Headin' South (remembering the music and the band)

Uncle Chuck, Aunt Carmen and my pop.

Merle Haggard is one of my favorite singer/songwirters. I am really not sure if it is because he is such an excellent singer/songwriter, or it is because his voice and music are so familiar to me. For those of you who have no stinkin' clue who Merle Haggard is, tune your radio or television into an old classic country music station...There is bound to be a little Merle mixed in with some Willie, Waylon, Johnny and George.

Holidays (especially 4th of July, Christmas and New Year's Eve) are always a honky tonkin', foot stompin' good time around my house...or mom and dad's house. Dad's garage is the place to be for a good time and mom's kitchen is the place to be for the good food. Coming from a large family, family gatherings are never ever boring.

My dad's family is a musical bunch of folks. Some of my fondest childhood memories are of family gatherings where dad was playing in the Headin' South Band or the Panhandlers or whatever group of pickers got together to make music...When I was in high school, New Year's Eve as an event to look forward to. The livingroom and dining room transformed into a stage and dance floor. Uncle Bob, Uncle Chuck, Uncle Darrell, Dad, Aunt Carmen, Steve, Kenny, Ike, Uncle Archie, John, Herman and Galen...Just to name a few...singing, picking...dancing...

Uncle Bob

Uncle Darrell and dad

The Headin' South Band...back then

The Headin' South Band...A few years ago

Kari and Aunt Phyllis dancing the night away.

snow for gramps and bubba mater

so last Christmas was the first Christmas in 10 years or more that i can remember having snow while back home in iowa. not only was there snow at Christmas, but there were blizzards. not only in december but both times i was there in february and i believe there was even a bit of snow when i was back home in march...

dad and austin decided to spend some quality grandpa and grandson time together outdoors. they built a snowman, attempted a snow fort and had a snowball fight.

he wasn't that tired...he had enough energy to rund around the yard and have a snowball fight with me and grandpa.

grandpa packs the snowman while austin eats it. another austin antic!

the snowball fight.