Pictures!

I got Jen (us) a new camera for our aniversary. So, we will be starting to share pictures on this blog on a regular basis again! ...I know most of you (Pam) just want to see pictures of the kids anyway. Here are some pics from yesterday's birthday party for our nephew, Chase. We went to the Greenville Zoo and then watched the Packer game.

at the zoo playground

Rae getting a good view of the animals

petting the bunnies

Joeli loves the bunnies

Rae and Jen with the goats

Joeli is still in the bunny cage

Rae on the playground

Watching the game with Joeli and niece Sanibel

Rae & Chase watching a movie

More Turkey Antics

The other day, Jen saw our group of turkeys come across the yard and visit our pond. One by one they hopped over the edge and disappeared from sight down by the water. Oddly entertaining to watch!

Today the girls and I saw them coming out of the woods and watched from the kitchen windows. A few of them chased each other - fun to watch such a big bird run so fast and stretch out their legs! They gathered for a while by some bushes at the edge of the woods to eat some berries. As they needed to get to the higher ones they would jump and grab them with their beaks...a group of hopping turkeys - we all had a good laugh at that sight!!

Chasing Turkeys

The highlight of my day, yesterday, came in the morning. I was having breakfast with Rae and Jo when we saw our Turkey family in the back yard - a mommy turkey and 6 babies (although the babies are getting pretty big now). When we were upstairs brushing teeth, we saw the same group again with two more big turkeys in the yard, and most of the babies were laying down sunning on our hill...pretty exciting stuff! The kids wanted to go outside to see them, so I let them out the front door and told them if they were quiet as they went around the garage, they'd be able to get closer and see them longer before scaring the big birds off.

I figured the girls would peek around the garage, get excited and scare the turkeys off as soon as they started running out in the back yard. But, as I watched from the kitchen window, I saw Rae and Jo calmly walking out toward the birds, and the turkeys just kept pecking at the ground, not taking much notice. The mom turkey was the first to get a little nervous and rounded her babies up and headed for the woods. The other two just kept eating. Rae and Jo got about 15 yards to them before the two big birds took off running. But then, none of the turkeys could decide where they wanted to go into the woods, so there was a couple of minutes of Rae and Jo chasing the whole group of Turkeys back and forth across the yard. They got to within 10 yards at one point!!

The flock finally scooted into the woods, and left the girls alone in the yard peering in after them. Rae and Jo were very excited about the encounter, although Jo was apparently disappointed that she wasn't able to pick up and hold one of the babies!!

Gratitude - I am grateful that our children are able to experience and interact with nature on a daily basis.

Cottage Day

What awesome weather to be at the cottage! I brought Rae & Jo up for the day...actually we got there late last night. This morning Grandma Jean watched the girls while I vented a new bathroom fan at her cottage (btw - it doesn't have the easiest attic to move around and work in...a little swearing took place there this morning). She had to leave around noon to go to work, so the girls and I went back to our cottage and enjoyed the awesome weather. We took the paddle boat out to the sandbar/island. Yes, there is now a small, sandy island on Big Newton Lake...its been a dry year with horrendously low water levels. The sandbar is massive though, and lots of fun to go swimming at with the kids. There are some rocky sections, but lots of sandy areas with shallow water to run and play in. Jen had supper ready when we got home to Seymour - I'm so grateful to have such a great wife!

Side Note: I'm listening to a book on CD, Physics of the Impossible by Michio Kaku - highly recommended if you are interested in what kinds of concepts and possibilities physics is currently tackling. He does a great job explaining extremely advanced concepts in a way that can be easily understood without years and years of graduate school.

Gratitude - I am grateful for the perfect home we are creating and finding ourselves to be in. The house is amazing, the town is great and full of friendly people, neighbors, wildlife...everything is surrounding us with wonderful energy!

Moved In

We are in our new house! The house and land are PERFECT! It's an awesome example of working with the universe through positive thought, trust, intent, and gratitude!! We started moving in a little over a week ago, and are now in the monumental task of unpacking and putting everything away. Little by little it is starting to look like a warm home with furniture, plants and family pictures; and less like a storage facility with piles of boxes and stuff everywhere.