For Valentines Day I took Phillip on a picnic. We hiked 7 miles at Lake DeGray and had a lunch of all of his favorites - including homemade brownies. We are trying to get into shape for our summer trip, so we added books to our backpacks to get used to the weight. Before hiking into the Grand Canyon, we had many weekend hikes at DeGray - with our backpacks loaded with books. It is a great way to get into shape!

Another weekend in NWA

Phillip wanted to finish putting in the new heat pump in the guest cottage, so we headed north again (yes, I know, my husband can do absolutely anything....that he wants to). Saturday afternoon I took the boys to see "Hotel for Dogs" which they loved. Right before the movie began, I gave Kyler a package of animal cookies and at the end of the movie, he was still holding the unopened package. He is so funny - so engrossed in the movie that he never moved or took his eyes off the movie. All three (yes, all three) boys spent the night with us on Saturday night. They were so excited about seeing Auntie M. In fact, when we pulled up they headed straight for her place. Auntie M stayed over at our place and helped with bathtime and bedtime stories. Sunday morning we got up early and walked along the lakefront. Phillip and I had seen some cool rocks the weekend before, so we took the boys. We found a ton of cool rocks - and they literally felt like a ton when I was carrying the bag of rocks up the hill to our house! Another great weekend in NWA!

Ice Storm refugees!

We had a great weekend! However, I'm sure that Melissa is not as excited as I am. After 4 days without electricity, Melissa and the boys decided to come to Arkadelphia for a few days. It was so much fun to cook for everybody and have a full table. We hiked, rode bikes, played on the swingset, rode the 4-wheeler, ran races, cooked, read books and watched movies. Everyone was exhausted by bedtime (children and adults). Mim came up on Saturday and Kara, Nate, Zac, Ben, Pam and Richard all came over on Sunday afternoon for a little playtime. Although the power is not on at the Pitts house yet, Jayden's school is back in session so they headed home on Monday. They are staying at the lakehouse until they have power. I know Melissa is ready for life to get back to normal....