Thanksgiving in Arkansas

We had great time with family in Arkansas over Thanksgiving. The weather is usually pretty good this time of year, allowing us to get out and about. It was a bit colder than normal the first few days, but warmed up nicely after that. It was a shorter visit with more time spent at home. Very relaxing and gave Daniel more time with his Granny, Grandpa, Aunts, and Uncles.

On the drive out we stopped in Gallup for lunch with a stretch break.

Stayed a night in Yukon, OK and upgraded to a suite. It was an accessible suite and had this jacuzzi tub in the "living room" part. Richard and Daniel enjoyed that instead of the pool!

Granny got to read Daniel his bedtime or nap time book several times during our visit.

The front yard is always so much fun to play in! The leaves are crazy big, so some raking into piles was necessary. Daniel "helped" until he figured out he could jump into the pile!

Fixing things is one of Daniel's favorite things to do. Grandpa found some tools and Aunt Linda made him a tool box. So he fixed his car and fixed the gate with Uncle Julian. Then Aunt Linda got him a whole new tool kit with a tool belt. He fixed everything in the house!

Since Uncle Julian has lots and lots of tools (though most are very sharp!), we visited his workshop. He and Daniel built a bird feeder from scratch - no Home Depot pre-made kit here! We brought it home and will be hanging it up on the front porch. A masterpiece.

Safety first!

Julian brought the finished feeder over later.  Daniel loved the earplugs!

It was warm enough one day that while at a small park with this stream running through, we let Daniel take his shoes off and get his feet wet. He loves throwing rocks as much as he loves fixing things, and it was much more fun to be IN the water to get rocks and throw them!

On the way home, we stopped at Fort Smith National Historic Site where Richard and Daniel did some re-enacting. Daniel loves guns almost as much as he loves tools and throwing rocks. Boys will be boys!

We were racing a storm on the way out of Arkansas, trying to avoid the ice in the midwest and the snow in New Mexico. We timed it perfectly, though ended up with a marathon 12 hour day from Hot Springs to Amarillo, TX. Temperatures dropped, but the snow held off and we got safely to Santa Rosa, NM at mid-day after only a few hours on the road. We hung out and went to the indoor pool several times that day, including a trip to the outdoor hot tub. It was 19F with a below zero windchill and snow flurries, but the boys braved it, though not for very long. We made it safely home on a frigid, though snow free day.

October and November 2013

Here are some pictures of Daniel having fun in and around the new house!

With cousin Matthew in their "tent."

Getting rid of some trees.

Fixing Walnut's house.

Job done!

Fooling around with Richard and his camera.

Making a sailing vessel at Home Depot.

View from Fox Glenn Park, a less than 10 minute walk from our house.  

Got a cord of firewood (thanks Werner!). It was a dirty job, but we all worked together to get it stacked!

First real snow and the snow ball maker worked great!

Our New House!

It's been a while since I've put up a blog, and reading the last one I realized it's about time!

We survived the government shutdown, including receiving back pay, which made it much easier to actually finalize the purchase of our house in Flagstaff. We've been in the house now for over a month. Daniel, Walnut and I love it! Richard is having a harder time because he has to commute from Petrified Forest National Park on the weekends. It's just too long a drive (2 hours at 75 mph one way) each day. He's realizing how difficult this is for him and is hoping to find work closer to home. Y'all keep him in your thoughts and prayers!

I've been so busy putting the house together and getting into a regular routine with Daniel and Walnut that I have been slack on picture taking. I did walk around this morning and take a few pictures, so the below pics are AS IS, no fancying up the place! We've had snow and rain the last few days, so the outside is pretty sloppy, but you get the idea.

It was too difficult to get good pictures of the upstairs, so realize that it has 2 bedrooms, an office, and a full bathroom. We have the master bedroom downstairs (accessed on the other side of the stairway) with a full bath. The washer and dryer are in the kitchen area next to the back door which I'm finding to be very convenient!

The previous owners left the house in such good repair that we have been fortunate in not having any big projects to worry about. Even the outside landscaping is perfect - native and low maintenance plants, with some really nice flower beds and a "kitchen" garden off the back patio with herbs and other wonderful smelling stuff! I've got 2 raised beds for a vegetable garden next year and 4 compost containers to make the good stuff for them. There are even plenty of rain barrels so we can use fresh water for the dry times in early summer.

The whole property is on a hillside, so the driveway is really steep. A small price to pay for the privacy around the house!

The backyard. Not very pretty this time of year, but you can see the super nice FLAT patio and one of my raised garden beds. The front porch has a walkway all the way to the back on the left side of the house.

The living room. I cleaned up the toys. Wood stove in action on this cold and rainy day!

Looking across the living room at the front entry. The front door is to the left of the garage door that you can see.  The master bedroom door is on the other side of the stairway.

The dining room and kitchen, complete with Daniel's toolbox and hard hat under the table - his new favorite work area.

View out the the front door window.

View out the back door window. 

Daniel - hiding under the pillows, being very silly today.

September and early October 2013

It's been so long since I posted any pictures! Where has the time gone?
Right now we're in the midst of the government shutdown, freaking Richard out because he is on furlough with no income coming in for a week, and now starting another week....   This is really bad timing for us because we are about to close on the purchase of a house in Flagstaff. Yep. You read that right. We may finally own our own home! It should be a joyous experience but the shutdown and the upcoming battle over the debt ceiling has definitely dampened the joy. It's bad enough that Richard would be "commuting" on weekends from Petrified Forest National Park to Flagstaff, not being able to come home each night during the week. Having a possible economy collapse hanging over our heads just as we're investing all our savings is not helping. Our close of escrow date - Oct 18. Possible economy collapse - Oct 17 or 18, I can't figure out which. Any advice is appreciated.

So, to remember happy times in pictures will help! Here goes....

Daniel and his friend Isaac love to play in the tires at the Holbrook playground!

We tried "flyswatter painting" for the first time one hot day. It was super fun and very messy! Finger paints worked great.

We did a yummy brunch one day at La Posada in Winslow and then played with the blocks in the great room. They have a large round table and lots of colorful, various shaped, wooden blocks. Daniel loves them. We move them to the floor to make it easier to build.

On Richard's shoulders after a lunch in Flagstaff. Daniel's getting so big we'll have to switch to piggy back soon!

A weekend in Phoenix and pool time! Daniel gets better and better in the water every time we go swimming. He has no fear. We will do more swim lessons next year for sure!

Also in Phoenix is the Children's Museum with the most awesome "treehouse" every built! It is 3 stories high, with only 2 ways in and out - both on the lower level. Daniel and Richard spent quite a bit of time inside!

Daniel also liked this "machine" that spit out handkerchiefs. The hankies go into one of 2 holes then a strong air current pushes them higgledy piggledy through the tubes and spits them out at various places. 

Daniel, Walnut and I went on a hike at Petrified Forest National Park. It was such a beautiful day, except for the wind, which almost blew us down a few times. Daniel had to hold onto his hat! Look at Walnut's ears! We did cut the hike short, but still had a nice time exploring a new area of the park.

And in October, we managed a couple of hikes last week. One down in the Show Low area, on the Timber Mesa trail where we hiked along the mesa ridge for a round trip of about 3 miles. The other was in the Flagstaff area, ending up in our own private aspen grove. Picnic lunches taste best on a hike!

Daniel cannot resist a stick.