It is COLD!!

So we have had some really cold weather. One day there was a high of 3 degrees. So Paul thought it would be really cool to show the kids just how cold it was, just by throwing some water outside, it became snow!!

Now that it some cold weather!

Holiday Program

The first and second graders had a holiday program on Tuesday. It was a really cute program and Tana and Chase enjoyed the show.

Thanksgiving in Montana

So this year we had the priviledge to have Paul's parents here from Arizona to celebrate Thanksgiving. Paul's mom cooked the whole meal and it was wonderful. It was quite relaxing and very enjoyous to spend time with them as they were heading back home the next day.

Little Boy's Nose + Bead

So about 10 days before Thanksgiving, Chase ran straight into the wall and hurt his nose. He continued to complain about his nose since then. Concerned that it was broken, we continued to keep a close eye on it. However, he continuously complaining of his nose and from time to time and his sleeping pattern became worse.

Therefore, the Monday before Thanksgivings I took him to the doctor. As the doctor started examing him he turned him around and asked me to look up his nose. And to my surprise there was something there; I said what is that! He said, we are about to see. It did not take much and there it was: a BEAD!! I was so embarassed. The doctor reassured me that this sort of thing happens more often than I know. Then he reminded me that he was TWO! And that this sort of thing will probably happen again! Yikes!!

Plus, the doctor did prescribe him an antibiotic as was fighting an infection. Anyways, he is perfectly fine now!

Thanksgiving Celebration with School

Kailey's class put on a little show for all of the parents yesterday. It was very cute and fun to see. Here is just a glimpse of it:

Then the teacher handed out awards for all the students. Kailey was recognized as a super student because she has improved greatly in reading and fluency. We are very proud of her and all of her hard work to get to where she is.

Tana and Chase did such a great job watching their big sister. Tana is really looking forward to school and has been working really hard at home with mommy! She amazes me at what she can do!!

Hunting Season

Paul has been looking forward to this year's hunting season, because his dad was going to be here, from Arizona. This year Paul's dad decided not to hunt, but to go with Paul as he hunts. They got up one early morning and headed out to the Little Belt Mountains for the hunt. They got there just as the sun was rising and were driving around and Paul spotted a deer about 100 yards away. With other hunters not far behind them, Paul decided to take a shot. With one hit to the chest, the deer went down. It took him a matter of 10 minutes to spot the deer and then Paul was home by lunch!! What a fun trip for the both of them! Yeah, we got meat for the next year!!

Halloween - 2009

The kids decorated their own pumpkin they got at the pumkin patch and then we finally carved our big pumkin on Halloween before going trick or treating. The girls really had a fun time helping daddy. Chase did not like the texture of the inside of the pumkin at all and I could not get a picture of him and his face, but it was really funny!

Then, we got all dressed up before heading out: Tana and Kailey were princesses and Chase was a lion. The weather was just right for our night out. Here they are all ready to head out for trick or treating.

Pumkin Patch

Today Grammy took the kids and me to The Field of Dreams where they have some fun events for the harvest season. First we played some games . . . (ring tossing game)

(ball tossing game)

(bean bag game)

Chase liked putting the bean bags back through.

(Family photo)

Then the kids went through a hay maze and got to pick out suckers and their very own pumpkin.Then we went on a hay ride! Chase is working on number two sucker.

Grammy and Kailey enjoying the ride!

When we got done with the hay ride, Paul and Grampy surprised us by showing up. (They had just driven back from their Men's Retreat, with Harvest Church.) Therefore, the kids were so excited to enjoy some games with them.

Daddy and Chase being boys with the Halloween toys.

Thanks for such a great day Grammy & Grampy!

We got chickens!!

We have been wanting to have chickens for awhile now, however, we needed to have a home for them first. After Kailey started school, Paul has been slowly putting together a chicken coup in preparation for next spring. (In between everything else he was trying to accomplish before the cold weather.) As the process was happening, a friend of mine offered to give us some of her chickens once we were ready for them. Talk about motivation! Even though the coup is not completed, it is good enough for housing some chickens. Therefore, a few weeks back we called up my friend and she gladly gave us twelve chickens! Thanks Kathleen!

Well, the chickens were slow learners of how to get into the coup, cause our coup is completely different than Kathleen's. Therefore, you guessed it, we were chasing after chickens to catch them and put them into the coup for the night! Although, I laugh about it now, it is hard work.

Then we lost one on the second night of having them. We looked for her all over the place. She was gone for about six nights. We do not know where she went, but she came back!! The whole family was happy!

Now the chickens have learned how to get in the coup (for the most part) so our nights of putting them to bed are getting easier. They have been a success and have been giving us from five to ten eggs a day! Yeah!

The kids are so excited for their new chore of feeding the chickens and getting the eggs. They are looking forward to the spring time, when we plan on getting some baby chicks!

Kailey turns six!!

Yes our baby girl has turned another year older!! We were grateful to celebrate her birthday with a few friends. The momma was really sick this day and Daddy did a great job without her!! Thanks babe!

Our new table

With our family growing and only four chairs that was suppose to be around the table (we managed to put more), we have been in the market for a bigger table for a while. So a few weeks back we purchased this table that seats eight!! (Thanks to our friends the Fulton Family! They were the ones who told us about the table.) It is great to be able to not only seat our whole family around the table comfortably, but we also have room for company!!

This is with the table being fully extended out with the leaves in. The best part about it is that the leaves fold up and hide right under the table!! No trying to find a hiding spot for those big and bulky leaves! We are loving it!!

Capturing the moment

Chase amazes me from day to day. On this day he was watching me make breakfast and with this pose, I could not stop myself from trying to capture his innocence in this moment. I love being a mom!

Chase is TWO!

What?! Chase is two! Time flies when your having fun. So we had some friends over to help us celebrate Chase's birthday. It was fun and Chase loved all of his gifts!

MMMM, cake!!

Here he is opening his "Bat-mobile".

Big Boy Bed

I have been working on Chase's walls for quite some time now and the task is completed (unless we have another boy, then I have to add to it). Then, we finally got him his own mattress and he has been sleeping downstairs for about a month now. However, I have just gotten around to taking pictures of the everything.

Kailey's First Day of School

Kailey's first day of school was August 24th! We can not believe it, she is getting so big. She is doing great and loves every day of it.

On our way home

We headed out of Glacier National Park on Friday and headed to a big water park in Columbia falls. It was so very nice there as well as appropriate for all aged kids. (Thanks Nathan!)

Kailey went on all of the slides all by herself. Tana would go on a few but when it came to the bigger ones, she wanted mommy or daddy to go with her. Even Chase went down slides (with mommy or daddy, of course!).

Mommy and Chase taking a break from the water.

Family picture right before we head out.

After our fun in the park, we headed to Danette's house. She is a very close friend of ours who lives in Lakeside (very close to Flathead Lake). It was so nice to see her, it has been to long. After she showed us around her beautiful home, fed us, and then we hit the sack!

The girls thought it was so cool to play in a tree house in Danette's back yard.

(Tana was just fine, she just "shook it off")

The next morning Danette took us to see a boat show down by the lake and then it was not long after that that we were back on the road heading home. Thanks Danette for all of your hospitality! Actually we were going to Seeley Lake for the night.

We lucked out because it looked like we got the last spot open in the campground. Whew! Anyways, once we were set up, we went swimming for a little while and then had a campfire.

We got up early the next morning (Sunday) to actually go home. There was a long drive ahead of us and we got all the way to Bozeman, MT, and then (we now know) we blew a head gasket in the truck. We pulled over and it was not long that a nice police officer helped us out. He called a tow truck and got us on our way. We took the truck and camping trailer to the dealership and then rented a car to get home. Why? Cause Kailey's first day of school was the next day!! Thank God, we all made it home in one piece that night!!