This entry added on:

4-14-07

The first few years that we lived in Colorado we belonged to a WWII living history group.  Everyone in the group maintained a few old WWII planes and traveled to air shows to show off the planes and discuss aviation history.  That's David in the middle, facing left.  Joan is to the right, facing the C-45 transport.

This entry added on:

12-11-06

Dirt Digger - Dirt Eater

This entry added on:

11-29-06

Svea - 2001

Yes, she really was that adorable.

Spaghetti

The first bubble machine that I made was in our bathtub in Colorado Springs.

Svea and I had a blast.

Svea used to organize and arrange things all the time.

Although she has a stuffed bunny in this picture, she really loved wet wipes. 

Every night she would sleep with one in her hand.

Most of the snow in Colorado Springs comes in March.

Svea took to cross country skiing.

She would trudge around our backyard for quite awhile.

At one she didn't quite understand how or when to turn.

Her snowman family; this was us because she knew that Joan was pregnant.

Easter 2001

A rocking horse that her godparents built and sent her.

Svea loved milkshakes

Svea's favorite movie was "Singin' in the Rain".  She would watch it almost every night and would try to imitate Gene Kelly's dance moves. 

The only kitchen cabinet that we gave her access to was the one with the pots and pans

Svea would wander out to the garden to pick and eat fresh tomatoes.

One day Joan was cleaning the downstairs shower and Svea just stepped in...

... demanded soap, and had fun

In the summer I made an outdoor bubble machine.

Svea and I had a blast.

One little kid; so many bubbles.

August 7th 2001; Svea's second birthday.

Our $27 ice cream cake... 

The only time we have ever ordered anything without first asking the price.

We took Svea to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo above Colorado Springs. 

The zoo had a working restored carousel that she got to ride. 

Swinging into the leaf pile in our backyard.

Svea strikes a pose.

Waiting for snow.

We carved three Jack-O-Lanterns for that Halloween.  Svea was creeped-out by the insides and didn't have the guts to reach in and pull some out.

Svea was Tigger for Halloween.

Svea's favorite toy was this house and family, a hand me down from her cousin's Robyn and Kevin in Alaska.  She was usually quite docile while playing with it; I can't explain the growl.

Svea's other favorite toy was trains. 

She's wearing a popped glow-in-the-dark moon ball on her head.

On the homemade vinyl slide.

This entry added on:

11-29-06

Svea's Parents  - 2001

Joan and David in front of a P-51 Mustang at an Airshow.  We belonged to a living history group and had authentic WWII uniforms

Our family

Buckethead

At Lincoln's farm on our way back to Colorado after an Ohio visit.

I had been looking for a reasonably priced replica of a WWII B-3 bomber coat for years and finally found one for a song at a garage sale.

This entry added on:

11-29-06

Alaska Trip - 2001

Robyn, Svea and Kevin at Mom and Dad's house between Palmer and Wasilla.

David and Svea at 75 degrees in Alaska.

Svea and Kevin; whose hugging who?

A visit to Goose Lake, Anchorage.

At Anchorage International Airport, about to catch the red-eye home.

This entry added on:

11-29-06

Our Home and Gardens - 2001

The first home that we owned: 1819 Wooten Road, Colorado Springs, Colorado.  We lived there for two years and fixed almost everything before we moved to Ohio.

The back of our house.

Our kitchen after remodeling.

The house has an unheated enclosed porch.  We refinished it with reed matting. 

Gilligan would have felt right at home.

We made built-in bookshelves the entire length of the downstairs.

Our gardens were covered with soaker hoses on timers and landscaping fabric.  Once it was set up we never had worry about weeding or water; we just picked our vegetables.

This entry added on:

11-25-06

   We practice being parents with a nasty old stuffed... "thing" known as "The Blue Guy".  Looking back I'm glad that we waited a few years before having Svea. 

   Grand Canyon National Park - Fall of 1995.

When we first moved to Colorado we were very poor and unemployed.  As frugal as we had to be we we still managed to buy a cheap live tree and a couple of strings of lights.  We made decorations by drying thin slices of oranges and hanging them in front of the lights.  It was a beautiful and memorable tree.

We found jobs about a month after moving into our rental home, which had no washer or dryer.  Once we we sure that we would be OK financially we bought a washer and dryer from an ad in the paper.  I bought a handtruck and some lumber so that we could load the items onto our VW Rabbit Convertible.  We even splurged and bought a $20 TV from the same person.

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Our first year in Colorado I built an RC glider.  I flew it often.

East of the Colorado's Front Range is desert and natural life is sparse. You can see the edge of Colorado Springs in this picture.  By the time we left this very spot was residential and a major high school had been built just to the left.

For all seven years that we lived in Colorado Joan worked for the small architectural firm, "Bryan Keys and Associates".  Every summer the employees and their families would go on a camping trip and use llamas to haul in most of the supplies.  It was beautiful country.

You can tell by the way that she sits that she has taken ballet most of her life.

Minutes later Joan and her bike fell off the edge of this trail and slid down the rather steep incline. 

I guess balance and coordination learned in ballet doesn't necessarily translate to bicycles.

Svea's first Halloween.  Less than three months old she could fit into a medium size pumpkin.

Svea was the kind of baby that made us want to have more.