Introducing....Conservationist of the Year for 2010

I don't stop often enough to brag on my man.  Well this post is all about him.  Don't let the tie fool you, it really IS my man (in disguise).  I think he chose this interesting facial hair to try and counteract the effect of a tie and dress shoes. :)

Saturday we all drove to the Lake of the Ozarks for the annual banquet for the Conservation Federation of Missouri.  This was a first for us due our special invitation to award my man the title of Conservationist of the Year.  This was a pretty big deal as the federation is made up of many different agencies in Missouri (I have to brag a bit here).  It was wonderful to see him get noticed for all the amazing work he does day in and day out on the job.  It was even more special to see the respect he has from his peers and superiors.  Way to go Babe!

The kids had a great time and thought that the 300 person banquet in the grand ballroom was the "FANCIEST" thing they'd ever seen.  Good thing they had kid meals on hand as the "Fancy fare" would have been a disappointment to them (though quite delicious).  The best part of the night was seeing him grow in their esteem, especially Goose's.  Let me explain...

(Below is my man with Goose as they headed out to their 3rd annual Daddy Daughter Dance together the night before.))

You see, he was supposed to receive the award the previous evening but he told them he wasn't able to attend because he had a date with his daughter.  It was a sacrifice at the time but he knew this little girl (who had been planning this Daddy Daughter Dance with him for months) would be heartbroken if he cancelled.  What a gift when they told him they would move the presentation to the following night's banquet.  Goose was clueless about the decision, until....

Everyone we encountered at the banquet approached us and asked, "so who were you on the date with last night?"  After this scene repeated itself a few times, Goose asked me quietly, "How do all these people know I went on a date with Daddy last night?"   I had the pleasure of explaining to her how her Dad thought their date was more important than accepting this award and that it had been announced to all these people the previous night WHY he couldn't be there with them.  I swear she walked even taller the rest of the evening as she knew how much her Dad valued her.  I had known for a week the sacrifice he made and knew he made the right choice but I was so impressed to see and hear how much people respected him for putting his family priorities first.  Yep, that's MY Man!  Not just Conservationist of the Year but maybe Daddy of the Year as well.

Congrats Babe - I'm so proud of you!

Welcome to America

We recntly had a special day with some special friends.  We cancelled school and went to St. Louis with "just the girls" for the day and witnessed a new soul become an American.  My dear friend brought home her newest daughters around Thanksgiving and Hope now has two sisters.  Aren't they beautiful?  Due to her age, the oldest needed to come in person to swear the oath of citizenship and we got to be there to celebrate with them all.  Congratulations Yordie (& Hana)!!!

After the event, we visited the Gateway Arch and the museum underneath.  Goose and Boo were glad to come along for the day and I got to spend many hours talking and laughing with my friend during the long drive there and back.  How precious to make such memories together.

Though they didn't choose to eat lunch there, we stopped at the Ethiopian Restaurant and purchased a BUNCH of injera to bring home for the kids.  Spiderman was thrilled when I made his old favorites the next day and had the authentic injera for a change.  Just icing on the proverbial cake.

Some momentus firsts

I just wanted to congratulate some special kids around here.  Though he's been hunting with Dad many times before (and for various animals), Spiderman finally shot his first animal.  The funny thing was that this time he just took the opportunity to hunt in the backyard and it worked!  He was so proud to be added to the ranks of "the mighty hunters" and even better was that Dad used it to make a big batch of "baked bunny beans" to serve at the Super Bowl party.  Way to go!

Here is Goose after her first ever basketball game.  She's been working hard since summer learning some skills and practicing drills and it has finally culminated in "the games".  We've been blessed with an amazing coach who knows her stuff and is so encouraging to the girls.  It's a home school team of 5th-6th grade girls but they let Goose on the team even though she's a year too young for it.  I could see this really being her thing and the outlet of playing with such a good group of girls has been so fun for her.

How fun to celebrate these milestones with my kiddos.  Great job you two!!!

Blizzard of 2011

I love a good snow storm!  Growing up in Utah gave me a deep appreciation for lots of snow.  In my book, you need 8-10" to count as a "good snow".  God gave us a doozy this time (14 inches) but it was wonderful to stay in the house, have the man around during work hours, laugh together, cuddle and marvel at the turbulent world outside the window.  Of course I can romanticize the storm when I didn't HAVE to leave the house, didn't lose power, water or other "necessities".  The only unpleasant part for me was that it was followed by extreme cold the following days (down to -10 degrees).

No matter the temperature, neither the kids nor Frisbee wanted to come in the house.  Our dog is such a snow beast that she sometimes refuses to come in the house when we call her and she'll go sit next to her cable "begging" to be tied up and left outside.  She frolicks like she's a puppy again when the snow is on the ground - silly dog!  You can see she offered to help Spiderman with his tunnel just to be in the mix of things.

The kids were so excited to play in the snow that they tried it out during the worst of the storm.  It was much more fun for everyone once it had all arrived, the sun came out and they could dig tunnels in the big mounds left behind by the snow plow.  From the looks of the weather report, it won't be melting anytime soon.

The local public schools cancelled school for 4 days thanks to the storm.  Usually we don't take snow days since I'd rather take off time in the spring for some fun but this time I decided to give my kids one full "snow day" and they made good use of it.   There's just nothing as great as making some special memories together.  What a gift!