Building Walls, or Fences...

So we were inspired by the recent change in leadership for the United States, and as Donald Trump was inaugurated last week, we were building our own wall down here close to the southern border. Actually, since the wind never stops here and the soil constantly shifts, our old fence was pretty much a goner and about to tumble over, so we had to tear it down and start from scratch. Thankfully, the boys are here to help carry boards and tools for me, as it's going to take a lot of wood to get this done. The fence is only maybe 50 feet, but that's a lot of pickets and posts when you try to fit it all into a minivan. As of now we're about half done, but progress is going well. The weather has been fantastic of late, so it's made for good work days outside. Better to do it now while it's manageable.

The assistant fence builders.

Toothless.

Rock on!

Sandy Sunny Winter

It's a new year! And it's the middle of "winter" in Texas. By winter I mean sunny, humid at times, and never cold. Grandpa Jim and Grandma Cindy came for a visit in December for the Christmas holiday and it definitely wasn't a white Christmas. We went to Aransas Pass to check out the wild alligators and then hit the beach on Padre Island, because it's not a vacation down here unless you go to the beach. I took an access road I don't think we'd taken before and it had steeper dunes than we've seen at other parts of the beach. Either way, the water was a tad cold at first, but it didn't take long to get used to, especially for Nolan who always prefers to get soaked.

Adam about to jump off the top rope and body slam his poor unsuspecting brother.

 

Nolan wasn't too sure about the pokey things in the sand during his hike in the dunes, but it was an enjoyable day nonetheless.

Another Year in the Books

There were a lot of complaints about 2016, or at least a lot of people whining about it, but for us, it wasn't half bad. We kept working on our house remodel, kept watching the kids growing up and playing sports and doing well in school, and went on a fair share of adventures along the way. I look now at the blog and see I wasn't nearly as active as I have been in the past, which is unfortunate. Maybe social media has changed the world since I started this blog, and in many ways it's easier to connect with people around the country in so many other formats. The world is not as small as it used to be. When I started this blog, the intention was to share photos and memories with family in Montana from our new lives in Florida. That was five states and eight years ago. Now I find myself working on another blog book for Becky and I realize how important these posts are to us. They capture snap shots of time periods and memories we won't get to experience again. If I have a resolution for the new year it will be to make sure we use our real camera more than our camera phones in 2017. Getting the camera out means we're getting out, together, doing things we won't want to forget. We're thankful for everyone we get to do those things with and we wish we could do more. But more than anything, we're thankful for these three boys, and the memories we'll always have. So here they are for the holidays, and we hope everyone out there is enjoying the season and looking forward to a new year!

Another Miller Thanksgiving!

A couple of years ago we went up to Missouri to celebrate Thanksgiving with the Miller Family, and since the colder weather is far more enjoyable in Missouri than the hot and humid weather, we thought we'd do it again. Besides, we don't get a lot of "winter" down this way, as in... none at all. It really wasn't winter there either, but it was colder, thankfully. It was a great time in Keytesville and the boys loved hanging with their many Miller cousins. We ate turkey, threw the football around, and I schooled Grandpa Jim and the boys in Risk. Unfortunately, Rowan was able to embarrass me in Connect Four multiple times, but we'll just forget about that. We also took the drive up to Swan Lake, and enjoyed hanging out with the oldest Miller boy before he heads off to be one of the few and the proud. Say what you will about rural Missouri, but we have thoroughly enjoyed our times there.

Big Rocks and Dinosaur Tracks

We took another road trip in November and it passed us through a couple of Texas State Parks, including Enchanted Rock and Dinosaur Valley. We'd been wanting to check both of them out for a while, so while we were headed to Missouri, we thought we'd take the time to finally do it. Enchanted Rock is a massive dome of rock pushed out of the Earth by some sort of volcanic activity. It was a pretty decent hike to the top of it, but not too difficult, and this was probably the perfect time of year to do it. We went to the summit and braved the winds, then hiked down the rocky canyon and around the base of the dome. The following day, we stopped in Glen Rose at Dinosaur Valley to check out the dinosaur tracks preserved in the icy waters of the river that flowed through. Apparently, some massive long-necked dinosaurs migrated through the area followed by some smaller raptor-like predators and left footprints in the ground that were quickly filled in and petrified (in ways I can't explain). Either way, we saw footprints the ranger said were dinosaur footprints. It was cool. And by cool, I mean COLD. I had to wade barefoot through the water carrying Paul on my back to see some of them, and the water was a little frigid. Good times.

Foreign Travels

In late August and into September, I was fortunate enough to get to travel overseas for work (with a little free time...ok, quite a bit of it). I'd never been out of the states, so it was a new adventure. I traveled to Norway for a week or so, and then on to the UK. It was an incredible trip I'll never forget. I wish Becky and the boys could have traveled with me and I'm sure there would have been far more pictures if they had. Unfortunately, the plane tickets alone were a little outrageous, so I'm not sure when we'll ever be able to take five of us on a trip like that. Either way, I had stories to tell and souvenirs to bring back, so it all worked out. Here are just a few pics to remind myself to add this to the blog book I'll inevitably make at some point.

The Fjord in Oslo, Norway.

Trondheim, Norway.

After tea with the Queen at Buckingham Palace.

Viking burial ship in Sweden.

Tower of London.