February and March in the South

As I said last time we have been enjoying the winter months as much as the summer. It has been a little chilly at times, down into the 20's but it hasn't kept us from heading down to the lake every weekend.
We did take one week in February to head to Phoenix to see Leah. It was fun for Jim to show up her at her first grade class at St. Agnes. She was surprised to see him. The kids were excited and happy to have him teach a little and be the all time quarterback at recess.

Jim takes charge on the playground

We stopped to see the new kids at the Tomko-Thompson farm.

We also saw my parents who were in AZ for a couple months, my sister Lisa's family and new home and my brother Bob came down from Baton Rouge LA. It was a fun Kooima family reunion.

Family dinner at the Nilsson's

Lunch at Joe's BBQ
 

I got Jim a very romantic Valentines gift - an axe, well actually a maul and a wedge. We certainly have more wood than Jim desires to chop but it can come in handy. Of course when Eric came to visit for Presidents Day weekend they had to try it out.

The first weekend of March we headed to the lake on our usual Friday nite. When we got there we noticed it was dark at our neighbors house. It usually has a lot of lighting around the yard. As we got ready for bed we could see from our bathroom an active fire on their yard. Jim checked it out to find the entire house was burned. We learned that the home had burned early Friday morning, but it was definitely burning again. We reported it and four fire engines arrived. (The morning before there were ten fire engines.) Everyone got out safely thankfully but the entire home was a loss.

We are still keeping busy in the yard and waiting for some warm weather to try out some planting. In the meantime, less tleaves on the trees gives a more chances to enjoy the sunsets.

Christmas joy and winter time

Christmas came and went so fast this year.

 It was nice to be able to decorate the house using holly from our yard.

Table center piece with a candle and holly

Decorating the doors with holly wreaths

Putting our dated ornament on the tree, this year we bought it at Notre Dame.

. We had a nice time, spending the weekend at the house. Leah was in town for the holiday and Eric drove up from Florida. We were all together for Christmas eve and Christmas day.
Jim got a new Notre Dame corn hole game. Just what we need for all of our tailgate parties. :-)
We enjoyed it inside and when the weather warmed up a little took it out to the the driveway.

We enjoyed the fire pit and the weather was cool but not freezing. It was colder than the usual Arizona December weather but comfortable, especially when the sun was out.

S'mores by the fire

Yes, we roasted taquitoes!!

Leah stayed the week returning to Arizona the early morning of the 31st. Jim and I both worked that day and we planned to spend New Years Eve and New Years Day in city. But... Jim got off work early on New Yeas Eve, he called to see how my day was going ad found out I was getting off work too. He said "Do you want to head down to the lake?" My answer was "YES!" so we left immediately. We are so much more comfortable and relaxed at the lake, it made for another nice couple of days. Even the neighborhood gunshots and fireworks couldn't take away the relaxation of being by the water.

Sunset view from the house

One of the great things about winter at the lake is the views. We can see more water without the leaves. Also we can see frequent visist from the white tail deer.


 Cardinals are everywhere and we have discovered the eastern blue bird! What a beautiful bright blue they are. one morning we saw a cardinal and a blue bird on the same branch. Unfortunately we couldn't get close enough to get a decent picture with the phone camera. It was so amazing.

We couldnt get a picture but this is what they look like.

At any rate, I'm sure you can see, we are enjoying our first winter on the lake as much as the summer.
Hope you enjoy the blog and we'd love to have you enjoy our lake soon.

Chili cook off, bonfires, falling leaves and Notre Dame football

Isn't fall the best season ever! We have had such a great time this fall, so much has been going on.

First right after Labor day we took a family trip to watch our beloved fighting Irish play in South Bend against the Purdue Boilermakers. It was a close, exciting game


Notre Dame student section

Jim and Eric enjoy some pregame activities

Eric demonstrates the Fighting Irish receiver gloves

family photo on the Irish practice field

Leah and Jessica

. It special  because it was the  first time Eric was with us on campus for a game. Leah flew to Chicago and spent time with her college roommate Jessica and then they both took the train to join us . We also spent time with our great friends the Stabile family.
We continue to spend our weekends in Lagrange at our lake house. The drought has led to an early dry bed at our dock so the boat has been out of the water since September. We still enjoy the quiet of our home and small town life in Lagrange. We joined a chili cook off in the town square and tasted some great chili.

Town square chili cook off

 Eric came for a weekend and Jim put him to work building a large fire pit in the yard. What a nice place to relax and enjoy the fall weather.

At the start, just a lot of grass

Almost done!


 They also put in an area to play horse shoes, but they still need to work on some leveling and sand pits. We could still play a game or two.

We also took time to brew our first Riverpoint Brewing home brew, with Eric's help.  We are calling it the Five o'clock.

Our yard has been so beautiful this fall, the colors very vibrant. We have really enjoyed the warm days and the cool nights.

 Hope you enjoy the video, It's the view from our porch!

Visitors for Labor Day

We had a nice surprise for labor day. My sister Lisa and three kids came from Phoenix.

Lisa and I in my backyard.

 

We took the jet ski out, it was a big hit. Every one enjoyed a turn "driving" The weather was great and the water was warm.




Vance driving with Eric and Ellie

 

Eric and Matt



Motorboatin'

We also toured the lake on the pontoon. It was fun to stop for a jump in the lake. All the kids enjoyed showing off their diving skills by jumping off the back of the pontoon


Eden enjoys a float on the water

AHHH, the sun feels great!!

We enjoyed their quick visit and I think they did too! We look forward to having them come back for more lake fun!!  We hope you can come soon too!

Our New Home!

We bought a home!!
As I mentioned at Easter we were looking at a property and at the end of April we bought a house. It is actually near Lagrange GA - southwest Georgia near the Alabama border.
We were looking for a lake home, everything close to Atlanta was too crowded, had low water levels and was over priced. We drove to check out West Point lake and fell in love with the area.



 

So we found a house, it's on the lake with a nice dock. It has 3 bedrooms, 2 baths and is is only 5 years old.

Spring dogwoods and azaleas in bloom

Sunrise over from our dock

Sunset on the lake



Enjoying an evening beer on the dock

 

We live seven miles out of town in the county, our property is a woodsy acre. Much of it was not cleared and we have spent the summer working on that. I got a nice case of poison ivy while getting rid of some brush. We hope to build a garage, have a fire pit and a garden.

With the color of the cabinets the kitchen reminds me a lot of our AZ kitchen. They are actually a ivory color. It's more of a great room concept, open to the living areas and we have nice wood flooring in there.







Part of the kitchen



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We love being at the lake and spend most weekends there.  This summer has been busy working on the property, having guest and getting out on the water



Leah loves the jet ski

So does Eric and his friend Matt

Jim and Matt floating off the dock

Jim and Marv enjoy the back porch

Taking a tour of the lake with Marv and Pat

Cathy takes a dip

Marv, Pat and Cathy came over the 4th of July. Leah visited for 2 weeks in July and Eric has been up from Florida twice since he returned from Afghanistan.

We hope you can come visit soon!!

Lagrange square
Memorial Day 2012