Justin's Birthday

On Saturday we celebrated Justin's 27th birthday. I surprised him with a new hip pack for hunting (after last hunting season any expression of my support of this hobby is just short of a miracle) and he used some of his birthday money to buy a fishing vest and chest waders. I also got him a North Face backpack for $2.00 at our church rummage sale. He was almost more excited about that than the hunting pack. I should have saved money and wrapped up the backpack; he wouldn't have known the difference.

*I am to note here that Justin was an unwilling subject and violently protested against having his picture taken. Why...I'm not sure. He's getting crotchety in his old age.*

Even though the weather was really cold this weekend, he made it out this afternoon for a quick fishing adventure. He didn't catch a thing but as one of his favorite sayings goes...a bad day of fishing beats a good day at work. He really looks forward to using all of his new gear later this year. If he gets lucky, he'll even get to try out his hunting pack if Junior decided to come either early or late. We'll have to wait to find out.

Confessions of a would-be sneaky mom

Ok, so I don't really have any Easter pictures to post. I tried to take some pictures of her in her Easter dress last Sunday morning but the little bugger wouldn't stay still long enough! This is the only one I got:

(A nice rear shot as she booked towards the mirror. She now likes to lick mirrors, windows, refrigerators, etc. I hope this stage passes soon!)

Now my secret plan had been to dress her up again in the same outfit and take cute pictures outside, just as I should have done on Easter Sunday. Instead, we all got hit by this cold and the temperature dropped about 15 degrees outside this past week. So there you have it...

As the dress is perfectly gorgeous and will fit her for a while yet, I'm hoping to get her into it again one of these days when the weather is warmer and more flowers are out. For now, she's chilling out in her Gap sweatshirt (Justin and I are in our Messiah ones) and we all have tissues hanging out of our noses. Maybe I'll get a picture of that to post sometime.

The family cold

It has finally happened: three people sharing one icky cold. Madeleine has the runny nose, Justin has the sneezies, and I have the perpetual need to swallow. Gross, I know. We make a great threesome.

So what have we done to celebrate our communal sickness? We went and waited for an hour in the cold to see the breaching of the Milltown Dam. Not the smartest thing but it was history in the making. You can go to www.missoulian.com to read an article about it if you want.

After waiting an hour in the cold without any evidence of the supposed wave of water that was to rush down the Clark Fork River, we decided it was time to head home. We were all cold and hungry by then. So now I'm checking out the live web cam from the comforts of our warm home instead. If you want to see the live picture, go to http://www.clarkfork.org/Water-Watch/Milltown-Dam-Cam.html.

Better late than never

I had to put up these few pictures from my trip to Massachusetts even though they're now "old." I personally think I look prettier when I'm with Carol so here I am looking my best! (And not my best but the picture has Soren in it so look at him instead.)

And Easter pictures are on the way...

Birthday celebration #2

On Saturday, we invited our friends Jen and Molly over for another celebration of Madeleine's birthday. This time she tried carrot cake and she ate the whole cupcake, much to Maggie's dismay. We were delighted to see Madeleine enjoying her time with Jen and Molly, especially after going through a very clingy spell these last few months. Our little baby has become a little girl!

Birthday celebration #1

We celebrated Madeleine's birthday a day late since I returned from my trip to Massachusettes late in the evening on the 18th. So on the 19th, Madeleine opened cards and presents (thanks to all) and she had her first cupcake: anglefood with whipped cream. After licking off some of the whipped cream, she proceeded to try and shove the whole cupcake into her mouth. We tore off a few pieces but she was more interested in Maggie who was excitedly pacing below her. She eventually chucked the entire cupcake onto the floor (to Maggie's delight) and then smeared whipped cream all over her face. Maggie scarfed up the cupcake then proceeded to lick off any whipped cream that she could get whether it came from Madeleine flinging it onto the floor or straight off of her hands. We all got a good laugh out of it. I hope you will too.

Still more...

Big brown eyes.

Swinging at the park.

Can you see my two top teeth? I have a gap like my Momma.

Walking back from getting the mail.

A family picture at the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. This was our last day with JoAnn here.