Springtime catch up!

We have had such a busy and beautiful Spring so far, it has been hard to find time to keep up with the blog! We hope this post will catch you up on the Meyer Family's first spring in Nevada!

We live close to Nellis Air Force Base, so it is not uncommon to see fighter jets soaring right over our house fairly often. But during the month of March, there was a coalition Red Flag exercise on base, so for about 3 weeks we had almost daily "airshows" right above us - we saw fighter aircraft, bomber planes, refuelers, cargo planes, A-10 Warthogs and more.  Usually, it was right at lunch time, so we would just camp out in our backyard for a picnic lunch and watch the amazing aircraft!  The boys have both fallen in love with all things Air Force since we've been here, but especially Jack.  As I unpacked things, he'd take my old Air Power magazines to keep on his shelf and he found a newspaper page from 2004 showing the aircraft involved in Operation Iraqi Freedom, which he hung above his bed.  He's grown fond of B-52s in particular.  So you can imagine his delight when we got a call from a friend of ours who had connections with the B-52 crews who had come to Vegas from North Dakota for the exercise!!!  They offered to take our family on a tour of a B-52 out on the flight line!  We could not have asked for a better field trip....and my little airmen were ready for it!  

The plane's cockpit was much smaller than we ever imagined...but perfect for our little pilots-in-training.  Even Joe got to sit up near the cockpit!

Jack spotted a parachute, so our friend Zac let him try it on....it was MUCH heavier than he thought!

Even the ride on the van out to the flight line was exciting for the boys!

We are so grateful to our Air Force friends for making this happen!  It was a day to remember!

....and it was a day that tuckered out the boys!

 

Mostly, our days consist of lots of sunshine and time spent outside.  We've even spent a little time trying to beautify the dirt corner of our yard with some bird feeders and flowers to attract butterflies.  The boys LOVE the warm weather.  Here was the first day in shorts.  



Lots of playing between these three little men happens every day...and sometimes, the littlest one just has to take a rest! 

All three enjoy playing Angry Birds occasionally.  (I just love how Joe is right in there with the big boys...with everything!)

We do school and crafts and lots of reading.  We recently finished reading aloud Laura Ingalls Wilder's Farmer Boy, which all of us really enjoyed. 

And occasionally we do some fun experiment like freezing water beads overnight!

The boys also love playing with our hose - jumping on the trampoline while the hose is on is a particular favorite! 

With their love of military history already budding (and with the knowledge of the World War II veterans they are all named after), a favorite game to play is soldiers fighting the enemy.  Here, Jack and George created a tank with the outside toy buckets! 

Jack seems to be growing up so quickly. He gets taller every day, another tooth is coming loose, and he's decided he likes to have his hair spiked up!

Also, this week, he has learned to play chess!  He is actually really good and gets better each time he plays against Mommy or Daddy.  The other day I was playing with him and he said, "Mommy, I'm glad you don't just like girl stuff and that you can play chess with me!"  It made me laugh!

For two weekends in a row, we have driven only about 40 minutes west of the city up to Mount Charleston.  It is ruggedly beautiful, and about 30 degrees cooler than the valley.  There has even been some snow left on the ground.  We found spots to explore and have a picnic lunch.

We even stumbled across a kind of structure made of large branches.  Inside were old pots and pans, a quilt and some other things that made it seem like someone had actually used it to live in at one point.  (This slightly creeped me out but made it seem like an even bigger adventure for the boys!)

Joe's favorite spot - hanging from Daddy's arms.  :)  Looks a little familiar?  Check out the photo below from last July!  (He really hasn't changed all that much!)

The second weekend, we had my cousin and his family along with us and we explored a little further and found some more wonderful views. 

We stopped to let the boys (all five of them!) run in an open meadow.  They found pieces of charcoal to write with, piles of snow to play with and large logs to try to move.

(Jack is practicing to be a Navy SEAL.)

The youngest of the bunch:  Joe and Archer.

And finally, the best part of spring:  Resurrection Sunday!  Celebrating new life in Christ!  Our boys had been very sick this week, so we weren't even sure we could make it to church this morning.  But everyone seemed well enough to dress up and celebrate Christ's resurrection with our new church family.  It was a special time and we are so grateful for the gift of salvation and the sacrifice  He made for our sins.  We hope you are all experiencing the wonder of new life, too!