Hiking "Blackie"

As if the stupid time change isn't enough. My legs are aching (still!) from our "family bonding" time on Saturday. We hiked up "Blackie." That's one of the smallest mountains here at the lovely Fort Irwin. Let me put that another way... it LOOKS small from down here. It gets larger and steeper as you climb it. Don't get me wrong. The view is fantastic... you can see all of the post and then some. The weather was beautiful. And, we did have a good time. But, I am still in pain from the climb and from the mini-tumble I took trying to set up my camera for an automatic picture of the three of us. Those of you that know me best will have no trouble envisioning that. As you can see from the photos, there are big sharp rocks everywhere. Lots of them. Imagine me...trying to balance a ridiculously expensive camera on one of these rocks while pressing the button and then running to jump into the shot in a somewhat flattering pose. I fell. But, I managed to get into the picture and smile! (We'll put that one in a later post. It requires film developing... that ancient custom.) So, it was a good and tiring time. Then, we had to set the clocks forward. Dang it. I do enjoy the sun being up a little later in the day, but that does not make up for the dark mornings and the week of feeling tired. And, there's the joy of waking up a grouchy 8 year old when all I want to do is crawl back under the covers myself! I was late for church yesterday, and as I sit here typing and doing laundry, it feels like 8:00 am... but it's not! It's already 9:00 am. OK, enough complaining about "springing forward." I will celebrate in the Fall when time is back to normal.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Monday was my Dad's birthday. I called to sing to him (a family tradition on BOTH sides!), and he was out of town with work. But, I chatted with my mom for a while... always nice. At the risk of sounding so cheesy and hokey, I am very blessed. I have two great parents, a wonderful husband, an amazing son, a healthy brand-new nephew, a brother and sister-in-law (sister) that I adore, loving in-laws, the best friends in the world (yes, I'm referring to you, Wrenns!), and a pile of awesome "girlfriends" here in the desert. I know, that was pretty cheesy. I guess I'm just feeling grateful today. I think I should probably feel this way more often. Or at least admit it to myself! Anyway, the picture is from last year at this time. We spent the day in Big Bear... eating out, shopping, eating candy, and drinking Starbucks. "A good time was had by all." And, for that, I am grateful.

Low Flying Chaplain

Oh my. As if the world isn't dangerous enough. Yep. That's Dan. Danny. Chappy. Daddy. Flying, I repeat, FLYING in a helicopter. A friend of ours who flies here (as his job!) asked Dan last week if he'd like to go along on a ride one day. I actually think Dan got to the air field before the pilots. He was so excited. This guy flies "patrols" here in the early morning hours. He flies all over the desert to make sure no civilians have wandered onto base land. He has to do this before the troops in training start their "shooting" (for lack of a better term). "Shooting" is putting it mildly. Judging from the way my house shakes, I would not want to be "out there" when it actually happens. Anyway, this guy let Dan go along. And then, somewhere over the desert, he snapped this picture. I'm a little impressed and a lot scared. I'm concerned that the chaplain who got a special license to drive giant Army trucks though Iraq won't just be content to sit at his desk anymore. The thought of going "Airborne" or "Ranger" has always been a dream for him. And now, he's flying in a helicopter. Lord, help us!

#1 Nephew

How is it possible to love him so much when we haven't even met him? Noah Emerson Rogers made his grand entrance into the world on Tuesday, February 12. He is healthly and well, and so is his mommy. We can't get pictures fast enough, and we keep harrassing the sleep-deprived parents for updates. "Cute" doesn't even come close to describing the boy! We are making plans to go and see him during Elijah's Spring Break, but that's not coming fast enough for me! I have taken to showing his picture to innocent bystanders in the grocery store. (Now I know how those poor souls in Pensacola react when Nana and Pops whip out the 8x10's!!) And, if no one promises to harrass Elijah about this... I'll let you in on his little secret. The proud big cousin keeps kissing the computer screen when we look at Noah's pictures. Now, that's cute!

Snow in SoCal

That's what they call it here..."SoCal." I believe it's short for Southern California, and yes... there's snow here. We've seen enough winter weather to last us for a while. And, I am a fan of winter weather. There's usually snow in Big Bear, and Dan has a friend who invited us to go skiing in Wrightwood. It's between here and LA, and they've had HUGE amounts of snow lately. We actually didn't get to purchase lift tickets, because they were sold out. Our friends didn't get to rent equipment, either. Sold out of that, too. Needless to say, they were a zillion people there. We found a deli, bought some lunch, and had a snow picnic. Then, we pulled off the road and played in the snow for a few hours. Elijah even got to put on his skis and give it a try. At the risk of sounding like an obnoxious, braggy mom... he did great for a first timer. He's annoying like that. Good at stuff. And, if he's not good at it, he keeps at it until he is. That part isn't annoying. That "driven-ness" is what I love about his personality. Dan and I always laugh and say he doesn't get it from us! My daddy used to say that I'd be dangerous if I would "apply myself!" And Dan, well... if he couldn't master or ace something the first time around, he gave up and declared the thing "stupid" or "for wimps." Thank God we have matured! But, it's the young one in the family who is the natural at whatever he puts his mind to. Sickening, I know. So, skiing didn't turn out exactly the way we planned, but we had fun anyway. And, now Elijah has "the bug." He keeps asking when we can go back. If he could have seen me on skis in 199?, he would be praying for Spring. It wasn't pretty. And, wisdom tells me it would be even uglier now.

No Scrawny Babies?

OK. For those who may not know. We are EAGERLY awaiting the arrival of the newest member of our family. Little Rogers. Or Peanut. Or Baby Cousin. That's all we can call him at the present moment. He won't have an official name until his mommy and daddy see his pretty little face and decide what he looks like. I know he'll be cute, but what if he looks like none of the cute names they have on "the List?" It's not that I don't fully trust Daniel and April. I just need my details... as my dear friend, Shannon, would say! Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, no skrawny babies? Yesterday, we were having a family prayer. It was Elijah's "job" to pray for the new baby and Daniel and April. So, this is what he says: "Dear God, Please help Aunt April and Daniel figure out what the baby's name is. And, please don't let the baby be skrawny. Amen." After we gained our composure (sorta), we asked him what that was all about. His reply? "We don't like skrawny babies." OK. Enough said.

Are You Ready for Some Football?

Watch out, Tom Brady. You have competition. He's 4'7'' and weighs 72 pounds. Elijah and Coach Dan played their first flag football game yesterday... and won! It was a pleasant 34 degrees when the teams took to the field. Yes, that's darn cold. During the very first play of the game, Elijah caught a pass and ran all the way down the field for a touchdown! It was all a blur after that. The team was unstoppable... scoring so fast that even the coaches couldn't keep up with the points. Not that they are supposed to. There is no score kept at these games. (Thank goodness.) Dan did ask one of the referees (one of his soldiers) after the game. The final was 37 to 14. The cutest thing to me was the irony of the team names. The kids, as a team, vote to decide their team name. All the players on every team wear the same "jersey"... just in different colors. So, the team name is really just for fun. Our team chose the "Fort Irwin Patriots." The team we played chose the "Fort Irwin Giants." I don't know if the Big Game "gurus" take this kind of information into account when they make their predictions, but... We'll see. As far as this family is concerned, the biggest game of the year has already been played. And, the Patriots won! But, I'm not keeping score.