The barricade

Modified from Les Mis "Do you hear the babies sing, singing the song of angry men... Will you join in their crusade who will be strong and stand with them... beyond the barricade is there world you long to see." 

So we had got to the point where no surface was safe. Cups of coffee on the counter, plates by the sink, pens on the table, laptops in the desk, and the list goes on. So desperate times call for desperate measures... Thus the barricade was erected. It's possible that our twin tornadoes will outsmart the wall in a matter of days, but our sanity for even a few days is worth every penny (plus it was a fun project with Eli and Eva)

Birthday Girl: Eva is 4!

Our Evangeline Elizabeth is 4 years old!

Oma and Poppi took her on a Birthday Date. They asked what she wanted to do on her birthday date. She said she wanted to go to Target to buy presents for her brothers so they could have a big party with EVERYONE having PRESENTS!  Little sweetheart. We all melted, and she did go and pick out presents for everyone, and even got to go to Freddie's Burgers for lunch. She loooved her Birthday Date.

Whenever we would ask Eva what she wanted for her birthday she would say without hesitation "A bike with PEDALS!" She has been using her balance bike with crazy success, though is now too tall for it to go really fast.  She's been eyeing Elijah's bike for a while now.  David and Tim went out to get her a bike. Pink and purple with jewels on it. Perfect! 

Our little lady was delighted.  "Best present EVER!"

We immediately took it out to the park to try it out. We left the training wheels on, but she is insisting she doesn't need them.

And here is our baby girl on her own set of wheels!

"I think I ride this bike FOREVER!"

David's birthday!

Birthday boy got a latte maker!!

It makes the coffee, and heats and froths the milk simultaneously.  He's used it multiple times a day since opening it.  Eva and Elijah knew what we were getting their Daddy.  Elijah did a great job keeping a secret. Eva said, "Daddy, I give you a hint. It makes lattes!!" 

...and got to do 18 holes of golf with brother Tim!

...and take the family to Putt Putt golf

The little guys were sooo patient in their strollers, and kept shouting "BALL!" and reaching out their hands to hold the golf balls not in use.

Eva was a little worn out...

We just love this guy!!

Duke City Marathon Relay

As I got ready to run this morning's race, it occurred to me that 2 years ago I had to drop out of training for the Duke City Marathon Relay race because I found out I was expecting twins.

Then came a high-risk difficult pregnancy, pre-ecclampsia, bedrest, a double delivery and back injury, baby twins and suddenly a wonderful family of 6.

It made it all the more special today to be able to run my first race since then, the 10km leg of the marathon relay with some special ladies.

4 of the 5 of us at the starting line: Jamie, Katie, Karen and Tiffany

Karen getting us started

Cheering at the starting line (we're on the left of the picture)

Waiting for Karen so I can take the baton for my section of the race.

And I'm off, waving to the family, the signal that they had an hour to split and grab Dunkin Donuts and coffee. David arranged the Donut Dash with the other Daddys and kiddos.  They had a blast! (See the donut box balanced on top of the stroller?) The kids had fun racing each other back and forth on the transition point field, and the little guys binged on bottles and snacks.

And this was my section of the run... the sun came up as I ran, still in the cool of the morning, running alongside the Bosque (trees surrounding the river), beautiful flat course, with 8 hot air balloons in the sky above. It was incredible. Quintessential Albuquerque.

I passed the baton to Katie, who then passed to Tiffany. 

Sarah was our anchor, and we got to meet her for the homestretch and run across the finish line together.

We did it!

The team: Karen, Katie, Tiffany, Jamie and Sarah

Mountains of Gold

We were able to have Tim for one more day after the rest of the family left and we went in search of the golden aspens which were supposed to be turning color in the Santa Fe mountains. We ended up hitting it at peak time with a gorgeous yellow gold of the aspens and a vibrant green for the coniferous trees.

I insisted on taking as many selfies as possible to embarrass Tim, but it was great to spend time with him and capture the moments. 

At the top of the mountain there is a great trail that wraps round the side of the mountain to display more great views. 

This is one of my favorite pictures where you can see the contrast of the green pine trees with the bright gold of the aspens. 

On the hike we discovered a trail that led off down the hill. People had collected fallen aspen branches and make teepee's with them which Eva and Eli loved exploring. By this time Peter and Joseph were done riding in the stroller and wanted to hike by themselves. They loved toddling down the trail after their older brother and sister. 

In all there were 11 teepee's that folks had made. 

Happy Birthday to David, Isaiah and Eva!

One of the great parts of this visit was we were able to celebrate Isaiah and Eva's birthday together (they share the same birthday).  Although we sure missed the other parts of our family that couldn't make it, we loved the time we were able to be together. 

 Renee and Eva had a great time as the only girl cousins reading and playing together. Renee was such a great older cousin!

We went on a hike in the foothills by our house on Saturday. Here's a shot of five of us brothers. Talking to our friends at church they could pick out all my brothers very easily.  

Birthday boy and girl on posts. Thankfully they have pretty good balance and not afraid of heights. 

We had a wonderful time hanging out playing some card games and catching up. Peter and Joseph did great with everybody and loved their aunts and uncles and cousins being around. 

We had a birthday party for Isaiah and Eva with them each opening a few gifts. Here's a princess dress from Grandma for Eva. 

We had a number of great meals together including a great salmon birthday meal for me. Of course no Voss meal is complete with without sweet tea. 

The birthday boy and girl helped make their own cake from scratch. 

Eva got a little shy with all the attention and birthday singing, but perked up when it was time to blow out the candles.