The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The Lord look upon you with favor and give you His peace.
We had heard that another 8 year old boy lived across the street, but it took some time to actually finally meet him. A couple weeks ago, we ended up connecting with him, and these two have been inseparable ever since. From about midmorning until dinner time every night, they are riding bikes, petting cows, building their fort, playing LEGOS, teasing sisters, shooting arrows, building obstacle courses, or doing whatever else it is that 8 year old boys do… They are already planning their campout sleepover! I am so happy for Malachi to have a good neighbor friend. I can only imagine what he will think when he is older and looks back at these days of childhood in our forest home with his buddy! Welcome to the family, W!
As much as we love a good hike or a cool dive in the lake, it’s also been fun to do a little exploring downtown. Coming from a city of endless strip malls and apartment buildings, having a “real” downtown is quite exciting! As I was driving home one day, I spotted this quaint bookstore just off of Main Street, and knew it would make the perfect girl date for the girls and me.
The next day, we drove around town looking for said bookstore. I couldn’t find it; ha! After a few detours around the block, we finally came to our destination, but had to walk across the street for coffee, first. As we were waiting for our drinks, the barista asked what our plans were for the day. When I told her we were headed to the used book store, she got excited and gave us some advice.
“The owner has been there for 40 years. Make sure to laugh at his jokes, and he will give you a discount. Oh, and here…” (She handed us his favorite coffee drink.) “Give this to him and he may give you an even bigger discount!”
We walked in and I delivered the drink. Allison and Natalie were giddy over all the books. Sierra managed to find a couple horse books, as well. We finished our drinks and got ready to leave. Sure enough, we got quite the deal. Eleven books for $22! (Did I mention there is no sales tax in Montana?) This will definitely be a favorite place to return to!
It’s been sweet having a lot of intentional girl time. We have had countless walks, breakfasts on the deck, games of Rummikub and Scattergories, and we finally taught Sierra how to play Canasta so we could have canasta dates. The boys both have neighbor friends they play with daily. (More on that to come!) And, the girls are starting to meet friends at church and youth group. But, I plan to enjoy as much girl time as I can while I have it!!
Good morning from the cows!! Yes, it is a good morning; unexpectedly good after little boys with bad dreams and cats who want to go outside kept me up half the night. Yet, God’s mercies are new every morning!
After breakfast, one daughter walked by with a load of laundry — off to an early start! A minute later I heard another daughter emptying the dishwasher and cleaning the table; also without being told! And, the third daughter walked into my office and asked me to read Revelation with her to help her understand it. She asked amazing questions and had insight beyond what I could have given her. “We should do this together every day! It gives me such peace'” Yes, God’s Word is alive and brings peace beyond understanding.
I am now listening to the quiet hum of the washing machine… the boys are playing outside, and the girls having a friendship bracelet making date. My heart is full!!!
Oh, and guess what? I figured out a way to download pictures all by myself! Feeling pretty proud for accomplishing what my techie husband couldn’t do. (But, so thankful for the time and effort he spent trying). I actually don’t have a solution, but at least it’s a temporary fix so I can start blogging again! For now, I better start on some of my house projects while the kids are occupied, the windows are still open with the cool of the morning, and my body is caffeinated with two cups of coffee!
We had donut holes with our tea party the other morning. (Not sure why donut holes make me think of fall, but they do!) Walked into Target yesterday and the summer patio furniture was replaced with back-to-school supplies. My trip to the Dollar Tree was immersed in all things orange/ pumpkin/ leaves. Fall is coming… and I am thrilled! Don’t get me wrong. I am NOT wishing summer away, (for once). Summer here is a completely different season than in California. Yes, it gets hot — but not scorching to the point where you don’t want to go outside! But, fall… I remember back in my college days, fall was so cozy and beautiful. It was an actual season, though short it may be! Yes, I am excited — thrilled — but, for now I am enjoying every last bit of this summer weather! (I even got dumped on by a quick passing thunderstorm on my jog this morning; glorious!)
Sadly, my husband is back to work and he was unable to fix my photo downloading issue. Hoping to figure something out soon because I have more thoughts and pictures and stories to tell!!!!
One of the best parts about living here is all the walks I’ve gotten to take with my girls. For one thing, it would be too hot to take walks this time of year back in California unless I could convince them to wake up at 5am with me. (Nope!) For another thing, the older girls haven’t met any friends yet, so they are usually up for some “mom time.” (Woohoo!) On this particular evening, Natalie convinced me to turn right instead of left. (She wanted to see the horses!) So, we turned right…
I took a walk with Allison and we turned left, as usual, but I haven’t been able to download those pictures yet. Once I do, I will let you be the judge… right or left, you really can’t lose when it comes to beauty!
I cherish this beauty… but even more so, I cherish this time with my beauties!
I’ve never lived very close to my extended family. Even in California, my parents were over 400 miles away. Now that I live in Montana, I have not one, but 2 aunts and uncles close by.
One aunt is on my mom’s side — the other, my dad’s.
One is an aunt by marriage — the other an aunt by blood.
One aunt took me for a hike…
It was so fun to see her again after so many years and to exchange family stories and enjoy God’s creation!
One aunt took me shopping…
It was so fun to get her opinion on a couch and to have her show us which shops to go to!!
Both aunts suggested we stop at Ceres Bakery; (both have good taste!)
Both aunts stay young an active; (is it the Montana air, good genes, or both?)
Both aunts have been welcoming and encouraging and I feel so blessed to call them family!
I can’t wait until I’m typing “Family Hike 100.” With all the beauty surrounding us, that could come sooner than later!
We heard of this park from some people at the mattress store, and saw signs for it, as well. I decided to try it for our first hike because it was fairly close to our house. It also turned out to be a fairly simple hike, which was great. Xavi ran most of the way, and only complained the first few steps out of the car… silly boy!
Chipmunks… bugs… butterflies… and deer! Not to mention rocks, wildflowers, trees, a beautiful sky… Oh, and cute kids. 🙂 It’s going to be hard not to take a million pictures on every hike we go on!
Honestly, this is how I pictured our lives in Montana. Through this screen, you can’t hear the argument of which trail to take or who gets to lead… I will admit, I was discouraged at first. But, it didn’t take long for us to find our groove and get excited about God’s creation surrounding us. Looking forward to exploring more and more and more of this incredible place!
Once upon a time, two sisters went for a walk. Meanwhile, their mom went to the grocery store for a few items. While driving home from the grocery store, the mom spotted her girls in the distance and drove closer to see if it was really them. She was concerned because the girls were walking on opposite sides of the street; A on one side with the dog, and N on the other with something in her arms…
The mom’s heart sank… what was N holding? As she approached the girls, she rolled down the window to ask if everything was ok.
“Mom, we found a kitten!” exclaimed N.
“Oh no,” thought mom. “Tomorrow I am going out of town. Not to mention, we already have 2 cats and a dog still recovering from the trauma of a 3 day drive from California!”
But then the mom saw the kitten.
“It’s name is Frappucino!”
“It already has a name,” thought the mom. “I am doomed.”
N hopped in the car with the kitten, and A walked the dog home. The 2 of them drove around to ask if the kitten belonged to anyone. No luck. And so, they took the kitty home.
The next day, the mom had her daughter S and their great aunt, who would be watching them while their mom was out of town, go to the shelter and turn the kitty in. That way, it could be looked over, fixed, given shots, and they could adopt it once the mom returned home.
A few days later, the mom returned home, and the two older girls wanted to go for another walk. “Of course,” responded the mom. 45 minutes passed, and the girls came running home.
“We found another kitten… in the exact same spot!”
“You have got to be ‘kitten’ me!” thought the mom.
The second kitty was equally adorable, but more playful. It was also brought to the shelter to get checked out. Now a decision had to be made… which one would they adopt?
Sadly, it turned out Frappucino was a very sick kitty and died. And so, they adopted Ember:
Ember is super playful, but also very sweet and cuddly. The dog and one cat, Angel, have accepted this little turkey, despite the scratch on Boba’s nose and the constant chasing of Angel’s tail. Midnight is still not so sure about the newcomer, but seems to have begrudgingly have accepted him.
I am happy to report, Ember has won over the heart of the mom , who was not wanting to adopt a third cat. In fact, the kitten is on the mom’s desk as she is typing, sniffing her coffee and swiping at her plants.
The moral of the story is: Never let your girls walk together alone. Now they have to go with a chaperone so they no longer find kittens. And, here he is:
Here I go again… beginning my 5th new blog. You can see where it all began by clicking here. After four years at that site, (2008 – 2012), I ran out of picture space and moved to blog number 2, which can be found here. Somehow I quickly ran out of space there and had to move to blog #3, which was my home from 2012 to 2016 and can be found here. Last, but not least, blog #4 which brought me from 2016 to the present. You can find that here. For me, blogging is therapy. It helps me see the joy and blessings and even humor in the often challenging days of motherhood. I began when I had just two toddlers, and can hardly believe they are now tweens! I am excited to have the opportunity to continue blogging… it is my spot to record my favorite recipes, funny kid sayings, adventures in home schooling, special blessings, random ramblings, and everyday pictures of life. Right now, I honestly am having trouble figuring this all out once again. They’ve changed things up a bit, so bear with me as I learn. And, thanks for once again joining me here!
Livin' the Yeh Life 