First Anniversary

Wow, it's already been a year. JoLee and I went out of town last weekend. Her Aunt and Uncle graciously loaned us their condo in Lake of the Ozarks which is about three hours away. It's the resevoir where everyone goes to boat and ski. It's like a Bethel Island on steroids. We didn't do any skiing, because it was winter, but we had a great time. We saw some caves and the ruins of an old castle that was built in the early 20th century. We had excellent eating, and we went shopping in the outlets. We even saw the local bank go up in flames.

The lake is huge and beautiful. Of course it doesn't look like this in the winter. I had to steal this image off the internet.

Several areas carry American Indian names. This place is called Ha Ha Tonka. Don't ask me what it means. Someone bought the land 100 years ago and built a castle on top of the hill (in the background). It burned down, and all that's left is ruins. JoLee and I had a great time hiking the area. We took 200 steps that went down the hill to the lake, and walked along trails next to the natural springs.

This is JoLee near the castle. The sun was setting.

The ruins were really cool. They reminded me of the cathedral in Cartago, Costa Rica.

The whole general area is dotted with caves. Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri all have several. This one is called Bridal Cave, because there is an old Indian legend of wedding ceremonies being held here. It is still used for weddings, and they have hosted over 1000. I went to the caves not expecting much, but I was very surprised at how amazing they were.

The cave is in two sections, and about 8 years ago, workers blasted a tunnel so that tourists like us could go between them. This is the man made tunnel that connects the caves.

JoLee has a thing for state capitols. I like them, too, because of the architecture. The Missouri state capital is Jefferson City, named after Thomas Jefferson. The capitol is nice on the outside, but it was really the inside that we came to see. Thomas Hart Benton was a famous artist who painted a few murals inside the state capitol in the 30's.

This picture is also taken from the internet. We couldn't take our own pictures, because several politicians were using the room to host a conference against cloning. We sat in the back of the room and pretended to listen while we looked around the room.


I think I owe everyone a huge THANKS for being so great to us over the past year. We appreciated all the cards and attention we got for our anniversary (and my birthday). Everyone sent a message, and it meant a lot to me. We miss you all and look forward to seeing you again soon.

--Nate

Savannah's First Ice Cream Cone

We took Savannah to the mall the other day & she had her first ice cream cone.
She was in heaven!!!

Stephens Girls Are Super Hot!!!

Happy Birthday Nate!!!

Happy Birthday Nate!

We Love You

Cool Web Site

You may already know about this, but if you want some pretty good entertainment, check out truthorfiction.com
They address just about any & all main-stream rumors I hear, including all of those crazy e-mail forwards I receive.
Great satisfaction for the skeptics we Stephens tend to be!!!

Mom's House is for Sale!

Anyone looking to buy a house? I know of one for sale:

http://65.74.147.26/index.htm

Karaoke with John

 
JoLee, Donna, and I visited the Hermes last week. John is quite the musical sensation at Narnia. After he karaoke'd for us, it was JoLee's turn to sing. She chose "When you say nothin' at all" by Alison Kraus, and John sang along.

Christmas Climbing

During our January Christmas, we did some climbing

Becoming one with nature...

Sweet Potato Soup!?

Hey Mom!!
I'm dying to make some of your fabulous Sweet Potato Soup & would love to have a copy of your recipe. Will you post in on the blog so that all the kids can have it!?
IT WAS SO GOOD!

Rod at the Four Seasons Gym

Rod was unable to make it to the Stephens Family Christmas celebration this year, as he was recovering from his intense workout at the Four Seasons gym back in September.
We all hope he can make it next year.

Singin'

Savannah decided to karaoke at the family party on Saturday night. She couldn't put the mike down.

California Sledding

JoLee and I are spending our "Christmas in January" at Mom and Dad's home. I've been boring her to tears with all my old memories: "Here's my old high school", "Here's the old dried up lake", "Here's where I learned to play tennis", and "Here's where I road my bike into the street and got hit by a car". Yeah, she's a good wife. She hasn't even complained, but even I'm choking back the yawns while writing about these memories.

There was one memory, though, that JoLee did remind me of. It was the old slide at the park my family used to visit when I was a kid. So when we were in town, we stopped by to visit, and to my great surprise it was as much fun as I remembered it. The slide is made out of concrete, and it works best if you sit on waxed paper and cardboard. Luckily ,we met another couple that was also reliving their childhood, and they loaned us some of their supplies.


The slide is made out of concrete and has a smooth finish. The wax paper creates an extra slick layer on the slide. The cardboard is for keeping your jeans in one piece


JoLee and I are getting ready for a race.


If she looks a little nervous, it's because this was JoLee's first time down the slide. She wasn't nervous on the second time. We must have had a dozen slides.


The slide is made for little kids, but I have a feeling the builders had a good time with it. JoLee and I had to shrug our shoulders to make sure we didn't touch the edges.


Like I said, this was just as much fun as it was when I was a kid. Next time we'll take Savannah.

Nativity

The kids did a nativity at our Christmas Eve party. Savannah was supposed to be the Wise Woman, but she kept taking her robe off. So, she just roamed around & enjoyed being part of the show. She was very reverent & very interested in Baby Jesus.

Savannah's Christmas Breakfast

So, Savannah's favorite part of Christmas this year was breakfast. She LOVES sitting at the big people table & she LOVES eating German Pancakes.
She is such a happy kid!!!

Merry Christmas

JoLee and I celebrated Christmas in our apartment a few days early this year. We hope you're having a good Christmas, too.

Christmas News Letter

Biking

Hey everyone, I think it would be fun for all of us to go on a bike ride when everyone's here in January (if the weather is decent). Brooke and I have four bikes, so we'd just have to rent three, and a trailer for Savannah. What do you think?

California Winters

We took our nephews out on the bike trail. We pushed them in their stroller while we rollerbladed behind them. It was really fun to be babysitting, be outside and exercising all at the same time. We were throwing rocks from this bridge and watching them splash below.
Aaron and Ethan throwing rocks.
I loved watching the salmon thrash around. Half of their bodies are above the water as they swim in the shallow parts. They are really deteriorated by the time they make it this far. They're 3-4 years old by the time they come up to spawn. The gulls come too to eat them.
A dead one waiting for its head to be chopped off by fish and game so they can count them.

I ignorantly challenged Aaron to go catch a fish and hold it in his arms. I didn't know it was illegal. Of course, Aaron took the challenge. Some women came to watch and commented on how cold it was. Another guy was watching from the trail. Maybe he was fish and game? thank goodness Aaron didn't catch the fish, but he sure inspired them to get up the river. It was funny because I thought I would have to pay Aaron $500 to do this feat, but all he wanted was a grilled stuft burrito from Taco Bell. Anyway, this picture is after the challenge was done and Aaron was taking Ethan and Lukey out on a tour to see the fish up close.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!! This is us figuring out the timer on our camera. We were going to use this pic for our Christmas cards, but we chose a doofy one instead (not sure why). Check your mailbox.

Anyway, Merry Christmas. We can't wait to see everyone in January. I'll be sure to have plenty of blueberries for Savannah.