The g-kids helped Jim pick out a cake and roses for my birthday, then Craig came to visit. We went to a Cards game, the Arch, to the property, and to a cave. Britt got back from S. Korea and came out to pick up Juno before heading to Alaska. Ash no longer needs our assistance w/ the kiddos, so we went to Michigan for a week, saw some beautiful fall colors and bought yet another camper. For those counting, we now have three (we have a truck camper, too). We got to spend Halloween w/ the g-kids.

We went a little nuts and got a new camper and truck. The camper looks MUCH larger in the pic than it is, we went with a 38′ Brinkley. So, 3 feet longer than the Solitude. I have an OFFICE with a DOOR!! We also have a deck, which the dogs and kids appreciate. We didn’t really want a dually, but the camper is pretty heavy, so thought it was the safest option. The truck Jim wanted didn’t come in red, so we got the package that did, got a black out package, added some stair stepper things, and removed a bunch of the GMC badges. M turned 6, so we went to a water park and had some amazing cake baked by Mama Bear’s Bakery in St. Peters. We also got to hang out with some good friends (Mama Bear herself) on the river and then went to the property for some lake time. Ash and Chayse came down for July 4th, which was really great. Becky ended up taking a turn for the worse and I lost my sister on 7.13.25.

We braved the cold and stayed in STL watching the g-kids. Jim helped them put together some wood kits, we went to Grant’s Farm and saw some retired Clydesdales (and one that was on vacation). We went to the STL aquarium, the circus, the a light display at the zoo and took lots of trips to the park to run out some energy. I got to hang out with Ash at the ER for a couple hours, after she cut her head at work and also met up with my family in Birmingham to see Becky.

We took the g-kids to a berry farm, I canned some chicken (from a store), our neighbors let the g-kids come over to see their piglets, cats, dogs, and calf, work continued on the porch, and took the g-kids to a Christmas parade. Jim pulled the camper to STL, so that I could move off Ash’s couch – then moved up with me, Enolah’s 3rd birthday, and Christmas. We also got to take the g-kids to their first movie theater. Sadly, I got sick on NYE, so no fun pics of that.

Sherry killed a turkey, we plucked, cleaned, and tried to eat it, but ended up feeding it to the dogs. They were very grateful. We got the lean-to finished, got the porch started, dumped Ian in the lake, and bought a JEEP, the Jeep broke down, spent some time with the g-kids. One chicken had a ‘planned chick’, then another chicken appeared with a bunch of chicks after camping out in the unused fire pit. In mid- October, Sherry ‘moved’ to STL to help Ash with babysitting the g-kids. On a trip back, we went to the County Fair, then Oktoberfest with some friends and we got Britt’s first pics of South Korea, where she played with lemurs and tried some new kinds of food.

I traveled to D.C. for work, where we had an event at the Capital Building and the Bare Naked Ladies Performed. We went to STL and stayed in Jellystone park for Mathilda’s 5th birthday. Britt came to the property for a month to drop off her dog, Juno, for the next year while she goes to South Korea. My parents visited and Mathilda had a ‘2nd birthday’. We participated in the annual tow 4th of July parade. Then Britt’s boyfriend, Ian, came out for a week. I killed two snakes that were eating baby chicks and a ton of eggs and we spent some time at the lake.

We’re parked for a bit, Jim’s cleaning up the property and we’re getting used to chickens (I even baked them a treat). We expanded the outdoor part of the coop and lost three chickens, one to a snake, the other two disappeared. We went on our first hike in a while and rode our bikes around Ozark Isle. We decided to expand the building and contracted to have a overhang built off the other side and a patio with a roof off the front. In preparation, we found some logs from the property to use as the support of the roof. Construction will hopefully start in June, but we’ll see. Willow cemented his status as a mighty hunter by turning up with blood splatter on his face. Mom and Dad came out for a week – we got to see the full solar eclipse from the lake and did some target practice. We went to STL to help Ash for a couple days, Becky and Jim came to visit, then the g-kids came to visit for a weekend. We found one of the chickens in the outdoor cat box with 11 chicks. The kids were instantly addicted to dozer rides, side-by-side rides and feeding chickens treats. Britt found out she’s being deployed to South Korea, we’ll keep Juno for a year – her roommate will keep the cats.

We spent a cheesecake themed Christmas at the land with Chayse. Early on 1/1, I went to St. Louis for 4 days, before coming back for a day and a half, then going to Miami. I was able to spend 3 weeks there. Jim had a couple snow incidents and some VERY cold weather, while I enjoyed 75 degrees. Then, Ash, the girls and I drove to St. Louis. While she worked to get her new place ready, Jim came up and we spent 2 weeks with the girls in an AirBnB. Jim played with them during the day while I worked. Chayse went to the zoo with us, then watched a movie with Tilly. We got back to the land and decided to get chickens. We got a chicken coop/run with 10 hens and a rooster. A couple days later, we got 5 more hens… so we’re quickly learning a lot about chickens 🙂 We found some Highland cows in Missouri! Britt welcomed Juno into her fur family and has been snowboarding every chance she gets.

We toured the Edinburg palace, abbey and fort, had a proper Scottish breakfast, and enjoyed high tea with Jim and Becky. We tried clotted cream for the first time and were able to attend a rendition of Handel’s Messiah in a 1700’s cathedral. We took the train to Glasgow, where we saw one of 5 existing metal tall ships, an auto museum, Glasgow University, the outside of the Glasgow cathedral, construction began in the 1100’s and an incredible necropolis on the hill behind it. Jim found a sausage at the Christmas market, but it was sadly not comparable to Jim B’s find!

Jim continued his favorite hobby, dozer work, before we dropped the animals at a friend’s house and took off for our trip. We had a 9 hour layover in Newark, so we spent some time exploring NY. We were able to tour the Empire State Building, see Rockefeller Center and Times Square. We learned that there is more than one 16th street, which resulted in a bit of panic when trying to find the train station to get back to the airport. Then, an overnight flight to Edinburgh (pronounced Edinbur), where we met Becky and Jim at the AirBNB and started exploring. It was amazing. The history and surviving buildings were stunning. We learned the thistle became the national flower when, in the 1200’s a member of an invading army stepped on one and screamed, alerting the Scottish to their location. We tried haggis, neeps & tatties, blood pudding, and yorkshire pudding. We used the train system to go into the UK to see the AMAZING Newcastle castle and saw part of Hardian’s wall, as well as Roslin Chapel. Jim B found a giant sausage at a Christmas market (in England, before we met up with them).