first word

Joachim says 2 words that divide his world into one of two categories.

He's been saying "h-o-t" for a couple months now. Some kids learn "cat" or "dog" because they hear them a lot, my son learned "hot" because of our wood stove. Until we put the gate up, Ben and I were drilling him with "hot" and gestures of burning ourselves.

For Joachim, "hot" means both the thing that is hot and the concept "hot" including any of the following: fireplace, oven, light, heating vent and mug (because they often have tea or coffee in them). In the back of church he whispers "h-o-o-o-o-t" meaning he wants a candle, he likes the word so much that he literally says it in his sleep. He's been practicing different intonations, sometimes drawing the word out and sometimes using a short whisper and then he repeats the "t" part because he likes the way it sounds.

He didn't want to perform for the camera, but I got a few out of him.

Joachim's other word is "nan" which indicates "I'm hungry" and refers to everything edible or drinkable. He understands other words, but doesn't use them. For anyone who has children this is not so amazing, but because he is my child, I find it utterly delightful

Taos, NM

A few days before Christmas Joachim and I drove down to Taos NM to visit my dear childhood friend, Mhari, and her son Ethan. Joachim tried to play with Ethan, but there is a bit of an age gap.

In the first video below Joachim is happily playing with the sit'n'spin. You can see Joachim thinks it's his. He's not happy about sharing it with Ethan the next morning.

cold... cold... cold...

The two winters I spent it Russia were cold, it was cold the winter I spent in Minneapolis, but the circumstances of my life make this cold beat all. What really makes it colder is having a baby I have to bundle up and heating our house with a wood stove (the house stays toasty, but if I let it go, the chill comes on fast).

Here is Ben splitting wood in the evening (taken from our bedroom window).
Early this winter I had the revelation that we would not have made very good pioneers. We had no wood stored up (because we moved here so late) and on Saturday mornings Ben had to take the chain saw up the hill behind the house to cut enough dead wood for the week.

One day his mom and I took the truck to the wood mill and slugged through 5 inches of mud collecting scrap wood. For a while we were barely keeping one log ahead of the cold, and then we shelled out the cash and bought a cord of dry, split wood. (Most people here cut and split their own wood in the summer). It felt lavish to pay someone for our wood, but still it cost half what it can cost to heat a home for one month and we should be set for the rest of the year.

It may be barren, but I am going to sorely miss this view when we move into our house "in the city".
The fun side of cold is the annual blessing of the snow pack at the Great Divide. Churches around Colorado meet to bless the snow that melts and flows to the Atlantic and Pacific. This is our third year attending and we had to drive iced over roads all the way up, but it was well worth it to see some of our friends from the other side of the mountains. It was bitter cold, but sunny and beautiful, the only day of the week the mountains did not get snow.
11,312 ft. elevation

Here is a pregnant picture from last year.

our house

I am frequently asked how our house is coming along. The honest answer is "slowly" but Ben and Chris diligently plug away at it on Sunday afternoons. They've taken out a few walls, taken down cabinets and a ceiling and have cut holes for the new wiring which they will finish installing this weekend. Beyond the renovation you can see how sunny and cheery the kitchen and living rooms are.

Below is a picture from one bedroom into the other. On the right is the huge "walk through" closet that connects the bedrooms
This is the backyard into the ally. Just imagine green grass, flowers a garden and little Joachim toys
We look forward to hosting all of our friends and family who find themselves in thi small part of the country.