Another month has passed.  And somewhere in that time, I decided to be crazy and sign up to run a half marathon at the end of June.  I ran my first race in forever (a 5k) the weekend before St. Patrick's day with two girlfriends.  It was a great experience and it inspired me to keep running.  Now I'm officially into my half-marathon training.  And because I love company, the dogs are getting into shape too, although Drake begins to drag after 3 miles :)  We're having a lovely spring in Montana this year.  Last spring didn't begin until June so seeing apricot trees blooming in mid-April is a delight!  We had the chance to go climbing outside with friends last weekend (really Justin and the kids had the chance to climb...it's still not on my must-do list but I loved being out with the family).  It was a great adventure taking 5 kids (2 five-year olds, 2 three-year olds, and a 1.5-year old) up a scree field to reach a narrow ledge where the fellas set up a small climbing route for the kids.  After the kids hit their limit on being contained, we headed down and found a grassy spot where they were free to run wild and explore and where we could enjoy a beer.  Spring and summer are promising to be a busy and fun time for us!

Parts 2 and 3



The three dogs learning to play nicely (Odie's crazed look is due to having another big dog to wrestle with).



P loving life at the bouldering gym

J showing his stuff

Emily helping P negotiate the wall

J helping Aaron figure out a route

Loving life

Emily and Aaron

One major reason why I'm not interested in climbing: look at how much space this guy can cover?  My shorter frame would require a lot more time to cover the ground this guy makes in three moves!

Aaron helping M up the wall

M and P on the kid wall.  I was ousted as the spotter b/c P loved Emily more!

Gearing up for our x-country ski outting at Lolo Pass



One of the 100 falls P took that day.  He was a trooper though and he and M both loved skiing 2/3 of the 2.2 mile loop!






Aaron's visit: day 1

J's brother Aaron, his girlfriend Emily, and his dog Buoy arrived late last Friday night for a 4 day visit. On Saturday, we did the obligatory trip to the carousel and they got their first taste of Missoula culture at Tamarack Brewery where we had a delicious lunch and watched the snow squalls pass over the mountains.

The kids outlasted everyone riding in circles!  Later in the afternoon Aaron took some time to give the kids their first swimming lesson at the Y.  The kids proudly showed off and keep begging to go back.  We also spent a large part of day 1 trying to get the dogs acclimated to each other.  Aaron's rottie is a very sweet girl who didn't know what to do with our two fur buckets.  Fortunately they figured out their roles after the first two days and were able to spend lots of time chasing each other around the yard and house.

The hiatus is over

That was unexpected! We are still here without too much change. Canning season finished and we've already eaten all but one jar of homemade salsa. We opened a jar of my experimental German red cabbage and I was delighted with how yummy it was! Last weekend we also opened our first jar of brandied cherries to eat with homemade ice cream. They were delicious, although next year I'll add a bit more brandy :) My desire to become a two-dog family manifested itself when I drove to Helena, MT to adopt a 1-year old gun-shy English springer spaniel.  We named him Odie and he's kept me on my toes since day 1.  He and Drake get along great, he's great with the kids, and his energy level helps motivate us to get out and let him burn some of it off running on the hill behind our house.  In November Justin moved forward with opening a private practice, in addition to continuing to work at the Vet Center. It's been a slow start but he's in it for the long term so hopefully by this November he'll have a consistent set of clients. I took some time to think about what my professional future holds and concluded that I'd like to pursue becoming a doula. My training begins the first weekend in March with a two and a half day workshop. It's been almost a year since J's shoulder surgery. He's recovered completely and continues to test his abilities at the local boulding gym where he passionately practices his climbing skills with the expectation of tackling some serious rock faces this summer. The kids continue to enjoy preschool, climbing at the YMCA with J, going to gymnastics, riding the carousel, and playing at the Children's Museum.  That's the cliff-notes version of the last 5 months or so.  Now to the pictures :)

Odie

Parker's birthday

Parker's birthday party

One of our countless hikes this fall

A gorgeous fall in Missoula

Getting ready to trick-or-treat with friends.

Watching the Macy's parade on Thanksgiving (while Parker listens to Radiohead on J's ipod)

Deciding that it's worth sitting with Santa if that guarantees getting a princess dress for Christmas

Christmas tree hunting

Loving his new Christmas toys!

After our big snow

J's granddad fell and broke his femur while visiting us in early January.  He had to have surgery in Missoula and spent a week at our house recovering.  We enjoyed some special time that we otherwise wouldn't have had the chance together. 

 

Fun at the bowling alley with friends (and sporting our shaggy hair)

Mom got out the scissors and hacked away. 

P-p-p-p-p-p-p-projects

Shhhh...don't tell Justin but I may be in over my head with the projects I've taken on.  I snagged this wooden captain's bed with mattress for $35 last week to replace M's broken particle board one that we bought new almost a year ago.  I've actually already sanded, primed, and painted this bad boy but I'm going to attach the old ends of the kids' crib to be the headboard and foot board.  Sounds weird, I know but in my mind it will look awesome.  You'll just have to wait and see. 

I snagged this 3-piece old kids' kitchen set from the front yard of a person who was going to toss it.  I left them a note with my name and number on it and a day later I had inherited this laminate mess.  I've done a lot of work trying to assess whether it's worth my time (and money) to "refinish" it.  I'm hoping to keep the cost of re-doing it to under $25 (with the help of coupons from Michael's and Ace).  Quite a few pieces need to be replaced with plywood but with a recycling home store in town it shouldn't be too expensive, especially if I can learn how to use our neighbor's jigsaw and borrow a friend's circular saw.   

Not pictured are the new desk and chair for my sewing room.  And the dresser I'm taking the legs off of and turning into a dresser/window seat for our bedroom.  And all of the pear, apples, tomatoes, beets, etc. that I have to can.  But who's counting?  It's fall and this is the last hurrah before snuggling in to hibernate through winter.