Little Girls are just special.

Kayla, although follows her older brothers and tries to do

what they do, loves her dolls and her bows and her shoes

She is all girl. She pushes Baby Ema or Baby Alli

around the house in a stroller. Tucks them in their bed

and tenderly cares for them.

God placed a mother's heart inside little girls.

THANKSGIVING at THIRD PLACE

Two weeks over all making memories, playing games wars (boys against girls), making discoveries, Star gazing, taking long walks, having long talks, laughing,

praying, watching movies and Football, Cyber Monday shopping, cooking, eating, crafting and more. Mom Collins spent some time with us. Travis came but Christin had to work. Jonnie flew with Kayla. Brad, Kristina and the boys drove two days there and one going home.

We have so much to be thankful for. Family tops our list. We are all very thankful for each other and love being together. Of all the adventures Rick and I take our most favorite is anything we do with Family.

Brad was the first to discover a baby Kudu, about three weeks old.

Daily Kudu hunts took place allowing all of us to find the little one

bedded down while Dad and Mom - Zulu and Venda - grazed.

'Anthony's Zoo' lets us get up close

Andrew getting licked by otter; Nathan by a tiny Muntjac

Bottle feeding a tiny baby Muntjac and baby whitetail deer

Kayla joining the fun on the Ranger. She likes the Bumpy part of the ride.

Riding on the Ranger - Nathan at the wheel.

Throwing corn to the deer

Helping Papa cover the hay.

Playing on the Ranger

Putting Hay in the Feeder

Game Challenges - racing to pull tissue from the box.

Hanging with Uncle Travis in the swing

Until the hook broke in the tree branch

Swinging on the Disk swing.

While Mommy and Daddy go to Argentina with High School Ministry, we get to hang out at Nana's house and play with Papa. Everyday as filled with fun but we have our Favorites.

Favorite playground when it is 105 outside. Balls, cars, trikes, tools, tent, beans, and best of all, Papa's Motorcycle.

Favorite daily fun - swimming with Papa. We learned to swim like 'doggies' doing the dog paddle.

Favorite book: Nathan - Mittens by Jan Brett; Favorite puzzle - Fish and Cars; Favorite game -

The Match Game.

Favorite special place to go - Aquarium- a maze of fun views of fish, sea horses, jelly fish and baby Nemo. The water tunnel was fun - walking on water with fish swimming under and over us.

Favorite ride at Chuckie Cheeses.

Favorite rest time movie - Mission to Mars - Backyardagains. "De Mars" We watched it every day and laughed through the whole thing. We especially like the part we can dance to.

Favorite position - upside down. Nathan is on his head most of the time, Andrew is getting the hang of it and Kayla is trying to be like big brothers.

Favorite cookie to bake - Chocolate chip because we can eat the chocolate chips while we measure and mix.

Favorite Snack at Nana's House - little boxes of raisins.

Hanging out with Papa at Nana's House

Nathan, Andrew and Kayla love to spend time at Nana's house, but it is Papa they love to spend time with 'cause Papa has all the cool places to be and things to do. While Mommy and Daddy celebrate their 10th anniversary in Hawaii our Three Little Smiling faces keep Nana and Papa busy. Sweeping the garage was a lot of fun.

Now they have a great place to ride trikes, throw balls, play with play dough and beans. Of course garage doors open to expand the ball throwing and bike riding area.

Some of the fun things we did were filling the bird feeders, wagon walks to the mail box before bath time, Picnic breakfast on Nana's bedroom

floor watching a movie. The favorite of this week is a Veggie Tails -The night before Easter, with a big robot rabbit. Eating dinner outside on the patio, making animal stamp pictures and getting ink all over our hands.

Every day we went somewhere. One field trip was to the airport to watch the planes and play in Papa's airplane. Sitting in pilot seats and pushing buttons. But they are not ready to let Papa turn the plane on. That would be too noisy. They will wait until Daddy can go with them on that first adventure.

A Field trip to the Railroad Park for a picnic, train ride and a carousal ride.

Another day we have the local park all to ourselves to swing, slide, climb up and down the ladders, pull each other up and down the slide.Nathan and Andrew laugh hard trying to get up the slide. Nathan keeps slipping down on to Andrew so then Andrew decides he is going to help Nathan by sitting/laying at the top and pulling Nathan up.

Kayla just loves being outside doing anything and

loves it even more if she can watch her brothers or do what they do.

Cabela's, allows Nathan and Andrew to sneak up on some geese outside the

front door. It is a little scary and exciting until they realize the geese are not real. They see an elephant up close and personal, it is real but not alive, like all the animals in Papa's office; play in the little tents just their size with window to look out and seats to sit on. Kayla got involved trying to find where her brothers were hiding.

One day we went to the Library to get new books, reading several before making their choice of 2 to 'check out. The Librarian shows them how to check out their own books.

Happy New Year Nana and Papa style

Big parties are not our style. So this year we offered to take Kayla, Nathan and Andrew for an over night. Only almost three and almost one, this annual event is unrecognized, giving Nana and Papa a chance to create from the beginning a tradition to bring in the New Year with our favorite little people. And this allows their Mom and Dad a chance to do what they may want to do. Our simple version was to listen for the grandfather clock to strike a pre bedtime hour, put on hats, blew whistles and spray silly string. While it only lasted a few minutes and certainly the purpose was not understood by our little party attenders, in years to come we will add to the celebration. We built gum drop towers, played magnet puzzles and had a special outing with Papa. Game wars, cooking kid friendly special dinners together, creating fun desserts and toasting drinks and a special project might become part of our style as our little 'guests' add a few more birthday candles and at the same time a few more 'bringing in the new year' celebrations.

Bless the Lord Oh my Soul and all that is with in me, Bless His Holy name. Bless the Lord Oh my Soul, and forget none of His benefits. Who ....... satisfies your years with good things. Our God is so good. I wrote Kayla's name in my Bible beside this verse back in January. I felt so loved by God when she was born. Another baby was a gift from Him, but He chose to give us a little girl - just because. That same month, I asked God to give us another girl - a very special one as a life partner for Travis. He gave me a confidence that He was going to do that before the end of the year. And He has. Travis has asked a beautiful young woman to be his wife - and therefore a part of our family.

Christin is everything and more that we could dream for Travis. She fits into our family, has instantly become Aunt Christin to the boys; sometimes even favored over Uncle Travis.

As a Mom, I may no longer parent. But as a parent my children are always on my heart and in my prayers. No matter how old they are, I still hurt when they do, cry with them or for them, enjoy their experiences and delight in watching them in their accomplishments and in their journeys. I still rejoice when they experience joy.

What has surprised me these past few months, is how quickly and deeply Christin, has become my 'daughter'. I think and pray, and cry and rejoice with her and for her just as much as I do Kristina, Travis and Brad. I am honored to be 'Mom' to her and have her in my life.

THIRD PLACE THANKSGIVING

Thanksgiving at Third Place was filled with family;

certainly a reason to give Thanks.

Travis and his fiance, Christin, Kristina and Brad,

Nathan, Andrew and little Kayla,

and Brad's mom, Jonnie filled the house and newly finished cabin.

We created great memories.

We initiated Third Place as a place for family gatherings

a place for part of all of us to come for retreat and rest.

Rick and I are excited that the family will use and enjoy

this beautiful quiet place.

Having Christin with us was a joy! She has become part of the family.

She has become Aunt Christin to Nathan, Andrew and Kayla.

The boys try to fly little planes with Daddy and Uncle Travis.

Does Papa have a hunter in training? At least a little boy who

loves to be outside exploring.

Riding around in the ranger was a high light for everyone. Travis, Brad and Papa had it out often and they always had passengers to ride along.

Beautiful skies, not a drop of rain, but cold temperatures, keep us inside

much of the time. Andrew and Aunt Christin color, Kristina and both boys make hand print turkeys

Kayla is all smiles in the center of attention; in Aunt Christin's arms

or reaching for Papa's glasses

Nathan spends most of his time helping Papa with projects

like racking the gravel and loading the feeders

especially if it involves driving the ranger.

Andrew joins in on a project with Papa.