Merry Christmas to all

Hey everybody...winter is really here now as the first snow fell 3 days ago. The predicted storm was supposed to drop 12", but we only got 2". Darn cold though...it was 3 degrees this morning so we got the woodstove cranking quick, we're already about half way through the wood pile. Since the last post we got to see Amanda's cousins from Texas and their kids, went to Sioux City for Amanda's work conference with a good side trip to see Grandma and Grandpa D. along with Great-Grandma D., Went to the Harless' for Thanksgiving, and are gearing up for Christmas in Okoboji. No tree this year, as we don't want to decorate it only for Eme to tear it down piece by piece. We have been seeing more of the Griffis' as they are in transition of moving to Kentucky. For some reason I've been reading about keeping chickens and goats, even though we won't have them until Spring, I may have early-onset cabin fever along with my second cold of the season. Have a Merry Christmas everyone!!

Eme's first playtime in the snow

Eme with the Texans

Eme with Grandma D.

Eme's sandbox (aka Flint Creek)

Amanda at overlook above Flint Creek

Hey alright! I'm posting another blog in a timely manner! Fall is in full swing and we just finished raking the leaves, with Eme's help. I have to stick it to Delta where is was 15 degrees today...here it was a nice 70, HA. This month the Griffis Family visited from Fairbanks for a few weeks before they get shipped out to Kentucky, much warmer than AK. It was fun to see Nathaniel (NayNay) and Eme interacting and stealing pacifiers from each other. Emeline turned one on 10/27 and enjoyed all her gifts, the most popular so far is the books and cell phones. Book reading has turned to goats...we hope to get some next Spring, fun, and I'm still cracking away at "Liberty and Tyranny". The job hunt continues and has expanded to surrounding towns, might have to commute, ouch. Finally took hunter safety so watch out tasty animals. The Flint Creek Bike Trail got voted down by the Preserve Board again but there is another appeal set for next month, hopefully they'll change their mind. The last Rutledge swap is tomorrow so Amanda gets one more dose of "crap shopping", eh hem, I mean looking for important stuff we really need. Hope all is well this all of you out there.

Eme helping rake leaves

Eme's First B-Day

Long/Griffis/Delperdang Family Photo

Fall at Starr's Cave Park

Cute

October already??

Ok this is embarrassing...almost 5 months since the last post...do you think we've been busy?? Very quick recap and then on to pictures. Had a very good summer with organizing all our stuff into the Starr's Cave House (work in progress), several trips to Okoboji, exploring Southeast Iowa, hiking the trails here, found a renter for the Delta House (phewww), got turned down for several jobs, watched Eme get bigger, and Amanda just had the big 3-0. I now understand why people enjoy the time when their baby is about 6 months old, b/c they are fairly interactive but can't move anywhere. Now Eme will do bouts of self-play but otherwise needs constant supervision. Most of the time she is corralled in the livingroom and we even put a livestock panel fence around the woodstove. Still reading "Last Child in the Woods", book reading time has also diminished. We have been looking forward to the Midwestern Fall, as it will be our first in many years. It still gets in the high 60's during the day and the 40's at night...take that Delta Junction, we haven't even had a frost yet, HA. Now I swear I will keep this blog better up to date.

Baby bathtime

Daddy's girl

Hiking at Geode State Park

Okoboji on the 4th of July

Eme at 4th of July Picnic

Eme on the boat

Eme in the pool

Eme in her boat

The Walker

Going up the stairs

Swing time

We love Iowa in June!

Wow, how time flies. Its already been a month and a half since I last posted and a lot has happened. The trip up to Alaska went well, thanks to all that babysat our little Eme.!! Deane and I spent some good time with the entire Griffis family as Jerry was on leave from Iraq and had fun running around and loading the Uhaul...it took 2 days to load and 9 days to travel the 3500 miles back to Iowa. It was a good adventure with no major breakdowns. Lots of brats, beer, camping, driving, and we even posted an Iowa plate at the sign village in Watson Lake. We saw quite a bit of wildlife through Yukon and Alberta...we chalked up 5 black bears, 1 grizzly with cubs, a lynx!, wood bison, 5 caribou, a few pronghorns, and one near miss with deer. We drove though Montana to see the old haunts and met up with some friends...thanks again Grant for the hospitality...the checks in the mail. We made it back and didn't want to get in a truck for a long time. Apparently we did a good job as we haven't found any broken items yet. Now we just have tons of boxes to go through.

It was great to get back to see Iowa in June...a lot warmer than Alaska, and a lot greener. I could notice Eme got a little bigger and she is very close to crawling. I would like to say that Amanda and I are the motivation for her to crawl across the room, but it is actually the cat she is most interested in. Since I've been back I've been contacting the NRCS offices locally, sounds like I'll be able to volunteer here in Burlington and maybe get my foot in the door...again. The day camps start here at Starrs Cave next week, so Amanda will have her hands full of kids again. I started a Trees Forever class the other night on native plantings that meets monthly and sounds like that will get my mind gearing towards plants and agriculture again. So all in all, life is good...just have to sell a house in AK and a Blazer...anyone interested??

Eme on the Jubilee

Eme about to crawl

Mark and Deane with Griffis family

Sign Village at Watson Lake

Campsite in the Yukon

View of Alaska Highway

6 months old

Emeline had her 6 month well baby checkup yesterday and all is well. She got the third round of shots and gets a 6 month break till the next round. She is 13 lbs 5 oz and is 25 3/8" tall. She was introduced to rice cereal on Sunday and took a great liking to it and the mess she can make. It seems to keep her full longer which is good for mom and dad. Maybe it will be barley next week. She has preferred the boppy play pad lately over the exersaucer lately, and likes rolling around with toys and grabbing at the dogs. She hasn't quite laughed yet, but we're looking forward to it!
The bees have been installed and are doing well, much better than in Alaska. We still haven't thought of a name for our Apiary...so suggestions are welcome. The garden is planted and the hops are in the ground, now its just time to grow. Still trying to read as much as possible, Liberty and Tyranny, and books on nutrition, food, and farming.
We are noticing more wildlife than we ever have before, probably b/c we've never lived in the country before (Alaska didn't count, it was "wilderness"). We're trying to learn the wildflowers that are popping up, and I'm even eating some, yum. The great horned owl fledglings seem to have left the nest, there is a fox den not 200' from our front door with pups, and I've learned a fear of snakes as I've seen them crawl into our awnings! There's less mice now.

Exersaucer Days

Emeline had her 5 month Birthday on March 27th, a day before my 29th Birthday. My oh my she is really grabbing at things now...she almost grabbed Mom's coffee cup during the Birthday Dinner of BBQ and too much Austrian beer. She is spending long periods of time (15 min.) playing with toys in the exersaucer and is really becoming interactive, we're still trying to get her to do her first laugh or giggle though. We picked the Long's up at the train station in Galesburg last week, back from their Austrian trip with colds, great. But it sounds like it is a very wide cold as Grandma and Grandpa D. were sick as well in Arizona, I hope we don't get it as we already have spring fever. We get outside as much as we can in between April showers. The Starr's Cave Gate was officially unlocked yesterday, so when Dad gets free time, I think its time for some spelunking. Talk to you guys later.

4 months old

Well Eme had her 4 month well-baby check up last week. All is well and she is 11 lbs 15oz and 24.5 inches. She also got her second round of shots and got through them bravely, there was a bottle ready as soon as the nurse was done. She is getting bigger everyday and is really taking a liking to grabbing at objects and trying to fit them in her mouth. There's a picture below showing this with her new favorite toy, a plastic water bottle. I shouldn't have complained about Spring not being here yet, because since then we've had mild temps and have been getting drenched...we're having Alaska Summer flashbacks. There has been flash flooding on Flint Creek, and when we got back from Amanda's folks' on Sunday, there was water over the road to the park. The dogs and I waded through to see how deep it was, under a foot at the deepest, and luckily we were driving the truck, so we made it back to the house without having to wade everything back to the house. There is more rain in the forecast, so I think we'll be staying here for the next few days. Other then that, we're still ready for Spring, my hop rhizomes came in the mail and the bees arrive in a few weeks, yeah! Deane and I picked up the lumber for the chicken coop last week, and he already put together the base. So when they get back from Austria, I think the bosses will agree that finishing it will be priority one for the men.

Is it Spring yet?

Yep, I'm getting antsy...I know its only February, but I'm ready for Spring. I think Alaska made me scared of winter. Soon enough, it'll be here and I shouldn't complain, we've had a good past few weeks. I went to Cedar Rapids a few weekends ago with the Long's to attencd an ISU Extension/Master Gardener Winter Fair - learned more about bees, composting, etc...maybe that's why I'm ready for Spring? We made a quick drive though Coralville, but we still haven't made it into Iowa City to see the old haunts. Last weekend we went to visit my sisters in Kansas City, my folks were also there on their way down to Arizona for a few weeks. It was good to see them all and I even got yelled at, at the Gates BBQ restaurant. There's a picture posted below of Amy test driving the Boppy with Emeline, as she is due in June with a cousin for Eme. The other picture is me looking "gothicy" in front of the American Gothic House, painted by Grant Wood...I couldn't find a pitchfork around, and it was too cold for Amanda and Emeline to pose as well.
Other than that, not much new...got a bad offer on the house in Delta, started looking for a J-O-B, started planning the great adventure in May to get our stuff down here on the Alaska Highway, and getting ready for Spring!

Our Little Emeline

Well Emeline and I have found some sort of routine. Between bottles, diapers, and naps she sometimes lets me get stuff done. Sometimes she simply demands the colic carry and loud bluegrass. I try to read in the mornings, I just finished "The Omnivores Dilemma" a good look at our current food system. Now I'm reading "Thinking like a Mountain" a biography about Aldo Leopold. I'll probably be reading all the books about Aldo, as the Nature Center has a large collection on the Burlington native. Otherwise time is spent organizing our boxes 'o' stuff and looking up stuff on the Internet. We've also been walking and driving around the area as Amanda plays tour guide. Weekends, we've been working on projects at home and spending time at the Long's (Amanda's folks) doing laundry and taking walks. Also eating all their food, as Amanda's Mom won't stop cooking for us. My parents visited two weekends ago, also cooking for us, and we look forward to visiting my sisters in KC in a few weeks. Here's a few video clips of Emeline being cute and/or fussy.

New life back in Iowa

One of the "deal makers" for the move to Burlington was the fact that we had access to free housing. Amanda's work site is an old farmstead just north of town. It is now called The Starr's Cave Park and Preserve, owned by the State, managed by the County. The area was homesteaded by the Starr family and there is a famous cave nearby in the limestone cliffs overlooking the area, hence "Starr's Cave".The barn was converted first to a restaurant in the 1970's, and than later the DMCCB Starr's Cave Nature Center. The farm house was built in the 1850's, and is now our new residence. Its got lots of character, you can see all the improvements through several of the decades, but its pretty drafty and we've had mice in the pantry, hopefully the cat will track them down. All in all, you can't complain with free and this is a pretty unique area to live.

How the heck did they get back in Iowa??

For those of you whom we haven't been in contact with for a while who are asking "Iowa? Didn't they just move to Alaska?" Short answer, yes. After leaving a comfortable life in Montana with good jobs, good friends, and a new house...we moved to the last frontier for an adventure, with much prodding from me to go. We moved to a small community based around agriculture, the pipeline, the nearby missile base, and we were close to Amanda's sister and her family in Fairbanks. The first summer was fun with lots of recreating, and the first long winter was...novel, I guess, but the second summer was just cold and wet and with the second winter impending with a newborn, we jumped ship. We made some good friends up there, so good luck to the folks up there...stay warm. The pros up there just don't outweigh the cons for us. Plus, for me, working for the federal government wasn't the best. The USDA bureaucracy and the fierce sense of entitlement don't make for a good work environment. Amanda was enjoying her job up there, but when the Education/PR Coordinator job for the DMCCB opened in Burlington (her home town) we jumped on the opportunity. So there's the last 2 years in a small nutshell, there's pictures on my Facebook page but if you want to see more, just ask.

We've finally landed

Well, we've finally landed...actually awhile ago, at the Starr's Cave House in Burlington, IA but now I'm finally getting time to start a blog. Thought this would be the easiest way to keep in touch with everyone. I initially thought that being a stay-at-home dad would grant me lots of time to do stuff...not the case. Emeline is the toughest boss I've had, but the pay is good, and the bene's are priceless...tear. This blog is also going to be dedicated to documenting her through the months and years.