Shed the Parka, Whip out the short!

Ok I am not quite whipping out the shorts yet (they are packed for our trip) but some people are whipping out the shorts. I am about to shed my heavy parka and pack away my long-johns. 28 degrees outside and some wonderful sunshine!! I know in many places that is still winter but the sun is glorious and warm. We went for Choose Respect walk today and I was sweating in my parka by the end of it. But of all the seasons of the year this is one of my favorites! I know there are only 4 seasons but I can't choose between fall or spring. Most of you would think being the Christmasholic that i am would love winter but after the winter we had I think I like this season best. Snow on the ground and the blue sunny sky. Yep it is lovely! Right now there is the warm sun shining, longer days, and the snow is perfect for snowball fights. With the heat the snow gets sticky and packs really good..... Ask Keith he got some good snowballs yesterday. He thought he would be funny and try to get me on the porch where Isaiah and I were standing. Well lets just say I had a supply of snow and it all ended up top of him. It was fun! But the weather is wonderful. Wearing small jackets, lighter hats and gloves, opening the front door to let in fresh air is something I love!!! Can't wait to see the flowers and leave branching out!

7 DAYS!!!!!!!!!

7 DAYS! YAY!! 7 DAYS!!! Can I say it again! We leave in 7 DAYS!!!! I know that is still a week, but the excitement is bubbling up in me that I just can't stand it. We will be staying Florida for a week and then we head home to ZAMBIA!! Oh the joy in my heart!!!! Can you tell my excitement??

Well I am one person who really HATES to wait till last minute to pack. It stresses me out and then I don't do well while traveling. Keith on the other hand packs about 2 minutes before the flight. Drives me crazy, So to avoid stressing myself out at the last minute I start packing early. I got my suitcase out yesterday and started washing clothes and picking clothes that I want to take. Now that is the HARD PART. I never really knew why when our family would come back to the USA that one of our first stops we made was to WALMART. Well let me inform you as to why. After living in the bush, Alaska or Zambia, your clothes become a little grungy looking. You don't really notice that out here until you decide to take a trip to town or to another location. And when you start to really look at your clothes you realize they are not as fresh looking as when you bought them. White socks become beige, red shirts more pinkish, black just looks a little more faded. My once blue jeans are faded, but since faded jeans are the style now I will fit right in! hahah SO right now I am looking through my clothes and trying to find the nicest ones to take to town. The other thing that is hard to do is planning clothes for summer weather when you live in a state that still has 4 feet of snow on the ground! I don't even know if I have a pair of shorts. hehehehehe Kaden was excited that he gets to wear his shorts and sandals. I am excited that it won't take 15 minutes just to get coats, boots and snow gear to go outside. Kaden and I have a count down to leave and we are super excited. 7 DAYS!!! Got to get back to packing! Can't wait! 17 DAYS till I get HOME!!!

Spring Has Sprung....Again!

It amazes me how time flies but this week we celebrated our 3rd Spring Carnival here! Can't believe it! I know I have posted about Spring Carnival before but I am posting again. It is one of the most fun events we have and after the winter we had this year, we were all ready for Spring to arrive. This years plan was to start on Friday since that is a school day off for Spring break. But the weather man decide to send us a winter storm! REALLY STRONG WIND and blowing snow. We don't get much wind here but this was a doozy! Since the carnival takes place on the frozen river, the wind is even stronger there. So the "officials" decided to postpone all events to Saturday in hopes that the weather would clear. So the Potluck at the community hall was the kick off instead. It was a fun event with food, cake walks, music and dancing!
Saturday afternoon began some awesome races. Dog races, Money scramble and snowshoe races for all ages. And what BEAUTIFUL weather we had too! It warmed up and the wind died down. It was so nice out. I even got a sunburn!

3 dog race~ these are kids driving the team. Very impressive!

Women's snowshoe race

Madeline with her welcoming crew at the finish line!

Kids snow shoe race

Kaden's snowshoe race

He was sad he didn't come in first. Had to explain that everyone wins in these races. As long as you try hard and have fun you get a prize. And every kid does, they get a free meal at the concession stand.Big Kids ski racesOur friend Jacob

Aubrey trying hard. She did great for being her first time to ski in a race!
Way to go Aubrey!!

Kaden's ski race
In this race you don't really have to be the fastest, you just have to be the one NOT to fall down, because getting 4 year olds to stand up after they fall is quite the challenge.

Kaden made it all the way to the finish line with out falling down. We were proud of him and he was proud he finished 3rd and didn't fall at all!

Snow machines are not only for riding on. They make good chairs.

Little kid/ little snow machine races. These are small snowmachines and the kids riding are about 5 years old. It was fun to watch. Future Iron dog racers in the making. If you are worried they might get hurt....DON'T! I can run faster than any of those machines. =)
Ice picking.... This activity show what REAL MEN are made of... or just how dumb we are! Let's dig a whole in the ice and weaken it while we are all standing on it and see who reaches water first. Yeah I sometimes question our logic but it was great fun! Any people thinking this is easy, the ice in some spots is 4 feet deep! I am working my strength up for Next year!=)

This is the returning champ. He must know what he is doing!

Our pastor, Chris Kopp, giving it a try this year

Here comes the water

Since Cara and Isaiah were not old enough to participate in any of the races, they created their own...Who can lick there way to the ice first!
The final event of the Spring carnival was the Kopp/Hornfisher Barrel Blast extravaganza. Must be a Louisianan thing, put some gun powder in a tennis ball with a fuse wrap it with duct tape and other stuff, then stick it under a barrel and see how high we can blow it. And just for fun lets do it 3 times! Be it from Louisiana or Germany, It was exciting that is for sure! And a great end to a fun weekend! Welcome spring! Now lets melt the snow and see some grass please!=)
Oh and here is a picture Keith took. Makes me laugh! This is a sign for a road going on to the airport. It says "yield to taxing aircraft" but as you can see the road is not used right now it is under 4 feet of snow!

Birds of a Winter

I am not very good at bird names besides Penguin, Flamingo, Puffins, Ravens, Cardinals... you know the birds that I can't get wrong. Well I married Keith so I wouldn't have to remember all those names. He is an avid birder. He is one of those people that can hear a bird a mile away and tell you what kind it is. Or he can see a bird and just by the way the wings flap he can tell you the species. I can tell you they are LBB... Little Brown Bird.... hehehe. I am learning slowly and I enjoy watching birds. The weather has warmed up a bit and Keith and Kaden set out the bird feeder in our yard. The birds are flocking to it. The boys and I have fun watching them fly around our yard. It amazes me that such small birds can survive harsh winters here. Keith got out his camera and got some pretty shots of birds in our yard. I am very proud of my husbands pictures. Here are some he took. I will "try" to tell you the correct name of them.... I might be editing this post a few times with the correct name of birds.

Common Redpoll,
though if I were to name them there would be nothing common about them.
They are very beautiful Birds!

Pine Grosbeak- one of my favorite birds that we have here!!

Check out those feathers!

Female Pine grosbeak

Gray Jay

Black-capped Chickadee

Ptarmigan- eating Willow buds