SW Kansas

We've been here in Holcomb, Kansas, at Jordan and Abby's, since December 3rd.  

I've given a little of the history of the places we've stayed so far, so here's the (in)famous history of Holcomb, according to Wikipedia:

"The town of Holcomb was thrust into national and, eventually, international notoriety on November 15, 1959, when four members of the prominent Clutter family—Herbert, 48; his wife Bonnie, 45; their youngest daughter, Nancy, 16; and son Kenyon, 15—were found bound and shot to death in various rooms of their home, on the family's River Valley Farm on the outskirts of Holcomb.

Two ex-convicts, Richard ("Dick") Eugene Hickockand Perry Edward Smith, were soon arrested, tried, and convicted of the killings. It started when both Hickock and Smith were released from prison and, acting on jailhouse information by a fellow cellmate of Hickock's named Floyd Wells (who had worked for Mr. Clutter in 1948), made plans to rob the Clutter household under the mistaken belief that Mr. Clutter, according to Wells, kept thousands of dollars in cash in a safe at the residence. There was no Clutter safe, nor any substantial amount of cash in the home. Upon this discovery, and after killing the captive family to eliminate any witnesses, the pair fled with around $42, a portable radio, and one pair of binoculars. They were arrested on December 30, 1959, in Las Vegas. Following their convictions and several appeals, Hickock and Smith were hanged for first-degree murder on April 14, 1965.

The murders, arrests and convictions of Hickock and Smith were the basis for author Truman Capote's acclaimed book, In Cold Blood, which was serialized in The New Yorker magazine in 1965 and first published in book form in 1966. Capote actually began work on the book several days after he read a news article in a New York paper in 1959 about the murders.

The best-selling book, in turn, spawned several filmed versions of the story: director Richard Brooks' theatrical feature film In Cold Blood in 1967 starring Robert Blake, Scott Wilson and John Forsythe, and a two-part 1996 TV miniseries adaptation starring Eric Roberts, Anthony Edwards and Sam Neill that aired on network TV in 1996. Portions of the 1967 theatrical film were shot on location in and around Holcomb and nearby Garden City, including the actual house where the crimes occurred."

We got to spend the first few days we were here with Abby, Jordan, and Jackson, but our days since then have been filled with toddler activities, along with getting ready for Christmas.  Just a few pictures from the first few days.

Parked at Jordan and Abby's for awhile.

Added some lettering to the side of the rv that we've been wanting to do.

We picked up Jackson from the daycare before Mama and Daddy got home, and he busied himself checking out the RV.

Jackson and Daddy went out to hang Christmas lights.

Jordan got a deer on the first day out, so everyone had work to do.

The Garden City Christmas parade was Sunday night.  We met up with some of Jackson's friends to watch.

We've had lots of fun adventures while Mama and Daddy are off at work.

Today we watched Papa Brad work on the RV, while we sat outside barefoot.  65 degrees in December is awesome!

Papa Brad hasn't been feeling well, so he's been hanging out in the rv away from everyone else for the last couple of days. We came out to visit with him, since Jackson woke up calling for him after his nap.

Western Kansas sunset

Christmas lights at Jackson's house

Little guy running FAST