Goodbye, Dad

Calvin Floyd Zimmer, Jr. (July 13, 1946 - January 17, 2009), my father, died unexpectedly Saturday night of a massive heart attack. I haven't blogged about it sooner because I have been dealing with so many crazy emotions and thoughts. I still am actually, but thought it was about time - so here you have it. In my early years, Dad was a great father. I have many good memories of my early childhood. I remember him taking just me out to breakfast, and taking me rabbit hunting. I remember all our fun summers of camping and fishing. One time, he and another man, Gary Patraw, took me and Shelly (a friend) camping - no one else. Times like that made me feel special. He let me help him build our front porch.He played ball with me. He always seemed to like having me around. But Dad made some bad choices. He bought a tavern; he had affairs; he stole some things; he lied; he left. Dad started another family, and I have 2 half-sisters that I loved being with whenever I went to visit my father. Dad was a good father to them. He was there for them until the end. Dad never met my husband or children. I hadn't seen him since the summer before I got married - 8 1/2 years ago. I have no assurance that I will ever see him again, but I dearly hope so. I desparately hope that Dad had enough time to trust God as his Savior. We had talked about it many times - but my Dad had a hard time with forgiveness, mainly forgiving himself. I know that "God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." And I know that God is always faithful. So I hope that I will see my father again someday...but I don't know. And I hope that I never have to see another loved one die without knowing they have trusted in the Lord.

Kim's First Elk

 

 

I shot my first elk this evening. I had a late season cow tag (private land only) and permission to hunt on a couple of places close to home. I actually shot this cow less than 1 mile from our house. It was by far the easiest pack job that Mike has ever had to do on an elk (Wayne, eat your heart out:) Mike and Lance just winched onto the cow and dragged her on home with the 4-wheeler. We waited until we were at home to get pictures, as I shot her so close to dark. She was very big - Mike said she was bigger than some bulls he has shot. All the more meat for the freezer! Hunter was VERY excited. He said, "Mama, she's as big as a horse!":)

Ice Fishing

On Saturday, we went ice fishing up on Grand Mesa with our good friend, Lance. It was a beautiful day for it, and the fishing was fast and furious - just the way we like it! We caught our limit in 30-40 minutes, and boy were they ever good:)

 

 

 

 

Mr. Snowman!

 

It's sometimes difficult to build a snowman here because it is so dry that the snow does not pack well! So, everyday the kids go outside and try to make a snowball to see if it's a good snowman-making day! This day was:) So, here is our Colorado snowman. The poor guy has an underdeveloped nose - I only had baby carrots to work with!

Gingerbread House

 

This is one of our New Year's traditions - making Gingerbread Houses! We do it on New Year's Day for several reasons. 1 - the kids love it! 2 - we already have enough sweet stuff over the Christmas holidays. And 3 - after Christmas, the gingerbread houses are half price:)

Congratulations!

 

Here is a picture of our adorable, new nephew - Joshua Andrew Sayler. He was born on December 24th! Congratulations, Jeremy, Kim, Emma, and Zachary! Wish we could we could see him in person. Thanks for the picture:)

Also, congratulations to the James and Jodi Randel clan. Their new little girl was born this very morning! Her name (although I'm sure to spell it wrong) is Joashlea Lynn Randel - making it a grand total of 7 "J's" now in the Randel family.

I'd love to babysit for you both, Kim and Jodi. Bring those little ones on over:)

Whence cometh my help - for Wilma

Christmas Day

 

 

 

 

We've had a wonderful Christmas day so far. We started the 12 days of Christmas this morning, and Katie and Hunter got Webkinz for the 1st day (thanks to Gram Gram:) Katie's big gift was a Singer Sewing Machine for kids. Her piano teacher is going to give her sewing lessons each week. She is very excited! Hunter's big gift was Kota the Triceratops. He's been wanting one "SO BAD", but we told him that it was just too much money. UNTIL, one day I found it online for 1/2 off, plus I had 2 coupons codes for free shipping and another discount. I think this might have been the cheapest Kota on the planet - YEAH for sales and coupons! We've had our Christmas dinner and gone sledding - even Mama:) Tonight we will watch a Christmas DVD and play games. And of course have special "Christmas devotions". We like to do "What God wants for Christmas?" each year. It's a neat teaching tool. Hope you all had a wonderful, blessed day. I will never get over the wonder of Jesus leaving the spendours of Heaven to be born in a manger. He is our Immanuel - God with us!

Merry Christmas!

 

We finally got our new camera! Merry Christmas from the Colorado Saylers:) As you can see, we definitely are enjoying a white Christmas, with more to come! May your holiday season be filled with God's goodness and blessings! And may each of us, as the Wisemen of old, continue to seek after the Savior!

Try Swag Bucks With Me

Hi, all! Sorry it's been so long. My camera bit the dust, so I haven't had any pictures to blog lately. It is also, of course, a very busy time of year. Anyway, if you haven't heard about Swag Bucks, it's a way to build up points or "swag bucks" to "purchase" new merchandise. I'm just now giving it a go, but have read great things from fellow bloggers. Anyway, if you sign up, and mention that I referred you, I gather swag bucks even faster. So, here's the link, should you care to try. I have another camera on the way (thanks, Mom), so will be posting more interesting things soon.

Cabelas

 

On the way home, we stopped off at the Cabelas in Kansas City. We spent 3 hours looking at the incredible mounts, shooting in the shooting gallery, feeding ducks, eating things like venison brats, and taking pictures of the wonderful Mule deer display (for our neighbor, Chris:) It was a fun way to end our Missouri vacation.

The Rolling Pin

 

Mike's brother, Jeremy, has become quite famous in the Glasgow, MO area for his wonderful bakery. He's had several articles published about him in the newspaper. We're very proud of you Jeremy - and thanks for lunch!

"Hunter" Deere

 

This a one of our favorite pictures of our "Hunter" Deere.

A Day At the Farm

 

Actually, we spent 2 very fun playtimes over at David Shane and Lydia Doctorian's house. Their 2 children quickly became buddies with our 2! The kids rode ponies, jumped in the "Jumporama", picked up hickory nuts, played dress-up, and all kinds of exciting things!

Going Bonkers!

 

After having a Sayler family supper in Columbia, MO at Mike's cousin Regina's house, we all went to a great kiddie playland called "Bonkers". The kids had a blast. Or as Katie said, "Mama, this is the best day of my life!"

COUSINS!

 

Here are Katie and Hunter with their "Sayler cousins". We've been on vacation in Missouri for the past 12 days and just returned last evening. Mike was deer hunting, and I'm sorry to say that I have no big buck picture to blog for you:( But we do have some more meat (of the doe variety) for the freezer. We got to spend alot of time with family, and the kids had so much fun.

Boy in Tree

 

Katie came running upstairs today yelling, "Mama, you just have to come see!" So, this is what I saw - my little monkey up in a tree. I watched and took pictures through the blinds as Hunter climbed down (with some supervision by his sister:)

BULL - BRRRR! - and BARGAINS!

 

 

 

 

Katie walked out the front door this afternoon and said, "Mama, there's a cow in our yard!" Actually, it was a rather large, but seemingly friendly bull. Cattle "free range" on the public land behind our house all summer and into Fall. This guy is apparently a straggler, but I think I found the rancher who was missing this particular bull. He enjoyed munching around in our yard for a couple of hours first though. (You just never know what's going to happen at our house:) We finally have snow on the mountain that has come to stay! And it is a might chilly around here - BRRR! And the final picture is showing my bargains for the day: 4 cans evaporated milk, 1 lb. cottage cheese, 1 box Quaker Oats, 2 juice concentrates, 7 boxes of cereal, 3 boxes of Betty Crocker potatoes, 1 box Hamburger Helper, 3 Powerades, 2 DanActive drinkable yogurts, 1 bottle of Shout, 5 lb. sugar, 1 pkg. Betty Crocker cookie mix, 2 boxes of Toaster Strudels, 2 packs of Duracell batteries, 2 boxes of Swiss Miss cocoa, and 1 lint roller - for just under $25! I saved $63! It's funny - I used to despise shopping, but now it's a challenge - so , it's "kind of" fun:)

Katie's Fall Soccer Team 2008

 

Katie's team finished up a 3 game tournament today. Here team has come a long way this year and has done very well! Katie is a good defensive player, just like her Uncle Mike:) Congratulations, Katie, on a season well-played.

Black Canyon

 

 

 

 

We went to the Black Canyon today. Paul and Dale are heading home in the morning and wanted to see some more of Colorado's beauty. Although they didn't get an elk, it's been a good trip. They hunted hard, and we all had fun. Katie cried herself to sleep tonight - she loves company! I really like this picture of Hunter!