The Chou Life

Who is this person I love so dear

We are so closely bound but never near

For I love her and she loves me

We are but fruit from the same tree

The things to her I wish I could have said

As she lay there in her hospital bed

Rest your head, lay down please, be still

Nai Nai, I love you and always will

How I wish we had more time together

Yet my heart sings thinking of when we’ll have forever

To praise our God and walk in His kingdom hall

Every step we take is firm, never a fall

Now in the care of our Savior and Lord

Our debts were paid for we could not afford

The blood of our Redeemer, the Christ, the Son

It’s only by grace and mercy that we have won

For now your journey has come to an end

This little note I wish to send

Until the day we meet again, Nai Nai

Wuo ai ni, bye bye

This morning, in a little town called Divide, all the townspeople woke up to a winter wonderland.  Eric had to go to work, but Abby, Calla, and the Keuma boy got to stay home and play in it a little.  We got 6-8 inches and it snowed on and off the whole day.  When the sun came out, the snow melted really fast…so that’s encouraging.

We haven’t installed the plow onto the ATV yet.  I guess we better get on it.  This weekend, Garry and I are gonna go cut wood out in Pike National Forest.  Permits are $10 per cord with a 3 cord minimum.  We are hoping to rely mostly on our 75% efficient stove to warm the casa.

-Eric

We went out riding our new quad for the first time this past Saturday with Mom, Dad, and the boys.  We all went out for a little bit then Jonathan and the girls came back and the rest of the boys headed out for some more serious trails.  It was an absolute flipping BLAST!  It’s nice to be able to play with my toy a little bit before I’ll be doing nothing but pushing feet upon feet of snow.  Anyway, here are some pics.  I’ll try and get the video of me going through the puddle from the parentals and post here asap.

-Eric

Pictures of the new house and us outside today.

After running a few errands in Woodland Park, we set out for a drive on Rampart Range Road.  This road is basically the backway from Woodland Park to Colorado Springs and spits you out at the Garden of the Gods.  The drive took almost 2 hours but alot of that was very slow driving and lots of stops for pictures.  The drive provided almost constant views of Pikes Peak speckled with snow and daunting clouds hovering above.  There is a shooting range about 3/4ths of the way in that I am eager to check out.

First pic is of Pikes Peak through some pines and aspens.  Then we have a close up of a little late bloomer along the road.  Abby and I at a look-out point overlooking…uh, I’m not sure where.  This was just after we passed a bunch of sheriffs and mountain rescue in full climbing harnesses.  By the time we got back to our car, a coroner’s truck drove by…I’m thinking the rescue was somewhat…unsuccessful.  The next pic is of a little part of Garden of the Gods.  This area was up away from the uber tourist part.  The next two are of Calla being Calla on the beautiful rock formations.  ROFL!  I set Calla up on that ledge and she hung on for a few seconds and then let go.  I was proud of her for trying.  Me surveying the land and seeing that it was good.  Next we have Calla working on her “model face.”  We have some work to do yet so as to not have her look “special.”  Um, the next one doesn’t really fit in the series but I liked it.  This was on our way back to the house on CR5.  It was pretty dark out and I had to slow the shutter speed down and take the pic freehand so it’s a little blurry.  The next two are back at G of the Gs.  We are not sure how the “thank you” sticker ended up on her end…at least it doesn’t say “juicy” or “jam packed full of poo.”

Calla recently discovered a small statue of three little monkeys one on top of the other in our yard.  Well, actually, BaBa showed her where it was and I just happened to have my camera and ridiculous zoom lens ready for a mini photoshoot.  We are still working on Calla’s “model face.”  However; she does a pretty good llama face bit from Emperor’s New Groove.

Oh, and now our car is officially a Coloradoanian.