Little House in the Big Woods

When we bought this property, three years ago, we knew it was a perfect fit.

We purposely chose a reasonably sized house, went from 140 acres to three, and became 

positioned in between two towns. 

PLUS, it had gorgeous trees all over the property!

We have tons of trees!  They are so beautiful both in the summer and in the fall.

And the evergreens are especially gorgeous with the snow on them!

But with this many trees comes maintenance.  After a storm, the boys go around

and pick up the small dead branches and limbs that inevitably get broken off.

And some just need to be cut off.  So this weekend, the boys and Joe worked on

some of the higher up branches.  They didn't get them all, but it was a start!

Isaac used the pole saw, Joshua cut up the limbs into more manageable pieces, and

they both loaded them into the wagon.  Then Joe drove the load to our ever-growing

burn/log pile.

We have beautiful trees in our backyard also!

This is my view from the kitchen sink.....................I am blessed.

Willie's 16th Birthday

 

This is Willie.  Joe, Jonathan, and David found him and his brother as six week

old pups on our dirt road in Arizona.

We immediately thought they had escaped someone's fenced area, but after

talking to neighbors, and the town vet, we quickly decided they had been

dumped.

We estimated their birthday as July 4.  Some friends took the other puppy as

a surprise for their kids, and they just had him put down this past

December.

Willie has been bitten by rattlesnakes twice, ripped up skunks and jackrabbits, eaten

poisonous lizards.........etc.  And here he is, living in the good life on green

grass in Nebraska.

Happy 16th birthday, Willie!

The Fourth of July

 Seward, Nebraska, is known as Nebraska's Fourth of July city.  Up to 40,000 visitors

descend on the small town of about 7,000 people.  It's so wildly popular

that small towns all around Seward have their celebrations on July 3!

The fireman's hose contest is always a favorite!

So many people!

A huge number of antique cars.

We went to the National Guard Museum (ahhhh, air conditioning!) and had

delightful conversations with President and Mrs. Lincoln, and General Grant!

We also enjoyed a nice concert (also in air conditioning) put on by the Wissman

Family!  Such great music!

We were all hot and tired, but we had to stay for the parade at 4:00.

It was a great day celebrating our nation's 246th birthday!!

An Arizona Visitor!

We were all very excited when our good friend, Nancy, drove up to visit us over

the Fourth of July.  She had several stops along the way, but made her way to us

after visiting Iowa.  Her family was one of the first we met when we moved

to Arizona in 2005.  We've all been great friends ever since!

The boys decided that they wanted to do tent camping while she was here.  They

gave Nancy their bedroom, and moved outside!  They had a blast, and only had one 

wet morning after some nighttime rain. 

On Sunday, the 3rd, we headed out to Rachel's for the afternoon after church.

The boys helped David work on the tunnel slide and definitely made some progress!

We all had a wonderful time at Rachel's house!