Can you find the birthday cake?

Our neighbor's birthday was January 22nd and mine is January 28th. We decided to have a joint birthday party and invite the cul-de-sac as well as some people from outside. We had a good time, enjoyed great food, lots of beer, and a birthday shot from ole' Jack. What did we have for food? We went back to our roots and did it up Wisconsin style. We had beer soaked bratwurst, cheddarwurst, hotdogs, baked beans, tater salad, chips and some other dishes that the neighbors brought over. Beer? We went with good ole fashioned PBR. That's right, you can actually get Pabst Blue Ribbon here in Colorado. All were well behaved with the exception of Nate and I. What else is new? Christie says we are like little kids and idiots when we are together.

Christie made a camo cake for Nate and I. It was so cool. Everyone loved it. Here are a couple of pics from the cake. The first one is so you can see the camo, the second one is the finished product, and the third one is Nate holding the cake.

Too Young for Makeup!!!

Melia decided that she was old enough for makeup and decided to paint her face. She found some strawberry lip balm and did herself up. Mommy and Daddy were so proud. Notice how she got her eyes, cheeks, and lips. She knew what to do...just went a little overboard.

Josh is Ready for the Races

Josh wants to be a race car driver. He was able to sit in our neighbor's (lil' Bob's) race car. Bob put the helmet on Josh and started it up. Josh was in heaven. Then Bob took him for a ride around the neighborhood! Josh now has a new best friend! We had to pull him away from the car.

"Search for a Church" - Update

Today we tried out Woodmen Valley Church. Amazingly, the Daugherty family made it to the church 12 minutes before the 2nd service started. If you know what it takes to get 5 kids motivated and moving in the morning, you know that we accomplished a major feat for our family this morning. Sadly, we were still too late to get all the kids in their classes and get to service on time. Woodmen has three services (one on Saturday night and two on Sunday morning). They also satellite the services out to a second large campus as well as an overflow sanctuary on the main campus. Because we hit the main sanctuary a little too late we ended up in the overflow sanctuary (which was the church's original sanctuary if I understood people correctly today). In the overflow, there was still a live worship team and the service in the main sanctuary was displayed on a huge screen. Middle school and up stay with their parents in the service as they have their own services on Sunday nights. Jake was both thrilled and wigged out to watch church on a very large screen while sitting in a sanctuary. For a boy that loves our large flat panel at home, he seemed really "confused" at times this morning. It was interesting for me to watch him. The worship was very nice with a lot of new songs. While we did not get to hear the senior pastor this morning, we did get to hear Jimmy Dodd. He was a great communicator and spoke on 9 ways to connect to/be used by the Holy Spirit in 2009. It was a good sermon. The kids programs seem to be great. The church is very large (6000+ if I understood correctly). I really enjoy that and I think Christie is okay with that. The church is also part of the WCA. After church we ended up talking to a nice couple with 3 kids. They are also recent transplants to the Colorado Springs and the wife is a psychologist that works for Focus on the Family. Christie and Julie exchanged contact info. Hopefully the ladies/families can connect in the near future. Christie could us a couple of real close friends out here.

We will be going back for a second try next week and look forward to hearing the senior pastor speak.

Poll Results

Well Christmas has it. Christmas was favored by 2/3 of the respondents in the favorite holiday poll. I will still keep with my favorite...Easter.

All Boy

Caleigh stayed home sick yesterday, so Christie took Josh to school and told him that she would pick him up. Well Josh did not like that idea. After school he somehow conveniently missed Christie and walked home himself! It is only a few blocks, but he just turned 6 and we have only been in CS for a month and a half. Josh's teacher did advise Christie that he is really mature for his age, but still!

Needless to say, Josh made it home safely, but Christie tanned his hide when they got home. He is all boy, has little fear, and wants to keep up with his older siblings which makes for a dangerous little boy!

Saturday of rest and fun

Sadly my holiday vacation is almost over. Today, we spent the day reading, relaxing and enjoying time with each other. We even played family baseball in the snow. Okay...so it wasn't quite in the snow. But we did get some flurries while we were playing. As of January first, we have also started a family "contest". It is for Christie, Jake, Caleigh, and I. Every person that reads 52 books this year gets a $25 gift card to the book store of their choice come the first of next year. There is also a prize for the individual that reads the most books, and another prize for the individual that reads the most pages throughout the year. The books have to be at the reading level of each individual. I am sure that the kids will win these prizes, but that is perfectly fine with me. I must admit that Christie and I will try to give them a run for their money. I am trying to get the kids to read some of my books (they could handle it), but they claim they are "boring". The Bible also counts for everyone, but mainly for the count of pages read. We will see how it goes, but in just a few days I can tell you that the tv and the video games have taken a back seat to books. I am SO HAPPY!!! Yes, it is still early, but we will see how it goes and I will keep you updated.

Also today Caleigh and I saw a Black-billed Magpie on our back deck. It was about 5 feet from the back door. It was about 2 feet long and an amazing bird. As I was just going out to check the weather, I did not have my camera in hand, but here is an internet picture of what they look like:



And their specs:

• Size: 45-60 cm (18-24 in)
• Wingspan: 56-61 cm (22-24 in)
• Weight: 145-210 g (5.12-7.41 ounces)

• Large black-and-white songbird.
• Long black tail.
• Black head and chest.
• White belly and shoulder.
• White patches in wings.

• Glossy iridescence on wings and tail.
• Tail feathers longest in center, tapering outward.
• Legs black.
• Bill stout and black.
• Eyes black.

Garden of the Gods

We spent New Years Eve by taking a family trip to the Garden of the Gods. It is a beautiful and majestic park comprised of sandstone formations. It is out our back door. Okay...so it is 15 minutes north of our front door. It was a load of fun, although the youngest kids had a hard time obeying park regulations and staying on the path. We only saw about a third of the park in a couple of hours. It was a blast and we will soon go back to see more. Here are a few pics.

This is what you see when you walk in the main entrance:



Here is the family (minus the photographer):

The kids in the rocks:

Maci is so excited (really she just loves the camera):



The kids again:



The most wonderful and beautiful wife that this world has to offer:



Another pic of the sandstone ( I have over 100 of these):



And to give you an idea of the scale of the formations here is a rock climber. Yes he is shirtless on Dec 31. It was pretty warm and sunny. There were quite a few rock climbers out.



It really is a beautiful place and it is free. That is the amazing part. People are not trying to make money off of God's natural majestic environment. We might have to make this a tradition for New Year's Eve. Of course, that will depend on the weather each year. I will post more pics on my Flickr account.