Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Ramblings...




We literally live in the trees, pine and aspen trees. A forest if you will. There are times I miss cement sidewalks and the jingle of the ice cream truck, but on the whole, living in the woods offers our kids a backyard full of imaginative and creative play.

Yesterday, Em and Syd and their good friend Emma played in a lean to fort for 3 hours. When I sneaked up on them I saw a scene straight from Little House on the Prairie...in their verbage, dress and character. It was one of those moments that I wanted to capture and put in a bottle because I know all too well that in a few years, they will be way beyond dress up and acting like Laura and Mary from Walnut Grove. Here are a few pictures of their time together...





It is warm and sunny today and yet we are thinking ahead to the cold snowy days that will come in a few short months. Jeff has been working hard to get us stocked with firewood since it is our main source of heat in the winter. He heads out to the woods in his Ford F-150 with his chainsaw and country music and gets busy!


By far one of the girls favorite things to do during the summer at camp is the waterslide. As guests have dwindled here in the last few weeks, they have had all kinds of fun breaking all the rules when it is just our family and other staff kids... walking UP the slide, doing trains, damning up the water...


The other day, Emily and Emma were given $5 and the chance to roam the metropolis (ha!) of Westcliffe for an hour. They bought an iced coffee (a girl after her mama's heart) to share and then split their money to buy their siblings and mom and gift. Below is a pic of our goodies... PS Emma's mom Jill is my "live life with" friend. What a gift.

Finally, as I close this VERY random post...can I just say we love living in a place where ranching and haying is a major way of life. We clearly don't know a thing about how to do it ourselves, but we have grown to really appreciate and admire those that do. Emily's horse riding teacher is part of a 3rd generation ranching family here in the valley, so we have gotten to see up close the amount of devotion and work involved in that kind of lifestyle --- and for harldy any money, I might add. They do it because they love it - what a thought. Below, cattle grazing and a tractor at work with Westcliffe behind.


3 comments:

Matt, Katie, and Sophia! said...

Was the purpose of your post to make us all jealous and want to move out there immediately? If so, it worked! :)
Wish we could join you! Looks like a wonderful place to raise a family!
Much love to you all,
The Schaefers

Bob Hansel said...

Can we join you?!

faith said...

i feel at home after reading that. great stories. gosh i love you guys.