Life with the Houston's

We got out on the ice... finally!!!!

2012-02-05T15:31:00.000-07:00

Friday Clint had the day off with us, and let me just say... it was the perfect day! There were a few hiccups, but that is what makes it so wonderful, my awesome hubby persevered and made it a great day for all of us! We got up at o'dark thirty, hopped in the truck with the kiddos and headed up to Willow Creek to see if we could catch some fish. We got there just when the sun was coming up and Clint headed out with the ice auger to drill some holes while I started the process of getting the kids dressed and ready. I'm not exaggerating when I say process. Dane's getting pretty good. He gets that it's all part of the deal and if he wants to go, he's gotta play by mommy's rules! So, he puts up with me putting 20 layers on him, toasty toes, a hat, gloves, etc. Kimber... not so much. She is still at the age where she doesn't get it and she really feels like I am working hard to make her miserable.

Anyway, as I'm getting the kids ready, I keep looking out to make sure Clint is doing okay. Well, he is fine but the auger isn't cooperating. By the time I get both kids ready, he has 2 holes done, but it is obviously not going well... So, he runs back to the truck and get some tools... But, no luck.

Here are the boys trying to figure out what is wrong...

Perhaps Kimber can help...

So, we head back to the truck and pile back in. Dane was SO DISAPPOINTED but was a trooper and was patient while we tried to figure out how we could save the trip.

A truck had gone by earlier and with hopes that they were fellow ice fisherman, we headed out to see if we could find them. Luckily we did, and Clint worked his magic! They told us we could borrow their hand auger to drill some holes. They had a gas one as well, but I don't blame them for not wanting to give that up. The best part was that they told Clint if we didn't get it back to them right away, we could just drop it off at the buckhorn bar in town! True Montana ice fisherman, after a day on the ice... head to the bar!!!

After drilling our holes with the hand auger. (we both are still sore!) I took the auger back to the nice gentleman (not at the bar). When I got back, Daddy and his two helpers were setting the tip ups.

The hand auger drilled these little bitty cute 4 inch holes.

The fish were biting really good, but weren't too greedy and wouldn't take the whole bait. They were just nibblers. Fortunately, with the help of my special guy, we landed this nice trout!

I really love Willow Creek cause if we aren't catching fish then we go for walks, or go sledding, or something fun like that.

Next weekend we have Friday and Saturday off together and hopefully the ice will hold up so we can make it out one more time!!!! :)

Haircuts, crafts and all kinds of fun.

2012-01-31T19:26:00.000-07:00

Daddy is a brave man... letting Dane cut his hair.

Turned out pretty good!

Ready to go outside

Shep is at work... his kennel is way to exciting to leave alone...

How do I work this lock again???

Dane's new glasses and lots of truffles!

2012-01-22T19:07:00.000-07:00

The past week was pretty quiet. Hunting season has ended... but here is a picture of Brock and Bones on their last duck hunt.

Clint has the opposite days off than we do... so when that happens and it is cold weather, we like to bake and make treats... This time we decided to make truffles. People see to like them and I can do them in stages if needed. (sometimes the kids get a little crazy and we have to stop the project and regroup!) This time I made coconut, mocha, and chocolate and they turned out pretty good. Here are the treat plates I put together to give to the neighbors, Clint's work, St. Thomas, and Grandma.

Kimber helped me deliver the goodies to neighbors...

But I thought for a moment she might just eat all of them!!! :)

About a week and a half ago we went to Missoula to see a specialist about Dane's eyes. Ever since the eye infection that he had last June, he has had recurring eye issues in his right eye. It waters constantly and sometimes gets very goopy. After seeing his pediatrician and 2 eye doctors here in town, they referred him to Missoula. The Doctor there was great. He determined that Dane will need surgery on the tear duct of that eye. It is plugged and will not drain... so they will put in a tiny tube. After about 3 months they will take out the tube and it should drain normally and stop getting all goopy and icky.

More surprising was what they found when they screened his vision. It was obvious right away that he wasn't seeing well out of his left eye. After about 2.5 hours of various tests they determined he has an astigmatism in that eye. The Doctor said that this is a really good time to catch this type of issue though. He said that with treatment they may be able to improve his vision enough to where he doesn't need glasses as an adult. The first step is glasses... which he got on Friday. He is doing really well wearing them and was happy to model his various silly faces for the camera! They will retest his vision when they do the post-op appointment and then determine whether or not it is improving. If it isn't then we will have to patch it for 4-6 hours per day for a couple months. (That will be FUN!) But, I guess research has shown that this works very well, and I have a coworker who has personal experience with it and said it worked great for her sister.

Anyway, that is all for now. We got some really cold weather and snow last week, so maybe when we get days off with Clint we may get to go ice fishing!!! We shall see!

Dane reeling one in!

2012-01-14T19:43:00.000-07:00

It's not ice fishing but it's pretty fun anyway!

2012-01-14T19:17:00.000-07:00

Fishing on the Missouri always seems to be good... at least when you have an amazing hubby like mine! Last weekend it was really windy in town, but we decided to head up fishing anyway. It is a great way to get out and burn off some energy for the little ones, and we were catching fish! Can't beat that! It was actually not too windy when we got to our fishing spots and the temperature on Sunday was really warm for January weather.

Here are my guys with the first fish of the day.

Clint is really good about constantly switching things up until we start catching fish. After dead minnows weren't working real great, Clint changed up the bait and we started catching some nice fish!

Here is a really nice brown trout that Clint caught.

Dane is taking after his daddy and is quite the fisherman. After we set the hook, we usually hand off the pole and he takes it from there!

One of Dane's fish was proving to be quite the slippery little sucker!!! :)

They finally got him settled down!

Right at the end of the day, Clint caught this beautiful, big brown trout! What a nice fish!

That night when Clint asked me what I wanted to do on Monday... I didn't even have to think twice! So, the next day we were back out on the River!

Kimber is usually on my back... she has no common sense or fear of anything yet. When she is off of my back one of us has to be on total kid duty to keep her out of trouble! She does have a good time playing though!!! Throwing rocks, using a stick as a fishing pole, harassing her brother, all of the things that little sisters do!

Just to prove I was there and fishing too... here I am with a small brown trout! Not nearly as impressive as Clint's, but still fun to catch!

We had a wonderful time all weekend long... then it was back to reality! This weekend Clint and I only have Monday off together, so the kids and I are just working around the house and having fun hanging out with Grandma. Tomorrow they are finally calling for some snow and cold weather! Woo hooo!!! Perhaps our next fishing pictures will be on the ice!

A good start to a New Year!

2012-01-01T20:15:00.000-07:00

Today my amazing hubby got up after about 4 hours of sleep and took us fishing on the Missouri. Even though we didn't have ice... we made due! :)

It was still pretty chilly, but we caught some fish and just had a great time!

The first brown trout of the day! Dane actually reeled it in for me!

Dane and Daddy reeling in another one.

Another beautiful brown trout.

Then we warmed up a little in the car, switched spots and caught a couple rainbow trout that we could keep!

What a great start to another great year! We hope everyone had a happy and safe New Year's Eve!

Christmas Fun

2012-01-01T19:13:00.000-07:00

Oh my... we have it entirely too good. We all had a wonderful Christmas filled with delights! Grandma joined us bright and early and we lucked out and had her company most of the day.

We started out the day with stockings and then took a break for some pictures.

Dane was delighted that Santa had enjoyed his offerings of seltzer, blueberries, carrot sticks, and water for the reindeer.

Here are Dane and Kimber with our tiny tree and stack of presents... We were spoiled!

Of course, Kimber is at the age where unwrapping any present is fun, so she was happy to help anyone! Here she is with Grandma.

Kimber is checking out her new toy cell phone! Thanks Porter and Wyatt!

Dane enjoying his new CAT

Dane sharing his new pop gun with Grandma

Dinner was a little different... but was delicious. We had homemade pizza and cranberry salad! YUM! Here is Grandma doing a little prep work.

Dane getting ready to help me make the dough

The weather is so warm lately... We were able to play in the backyard with just sweatshirts... Crazy!

I tried to get some pictures of Shep with the family, but he doesn't stand still long enough... He is such a pup and wants to see what Dane is doing.

and of course we had to play with our new stuff!!!

Hmmmm... Daddy was in charge of bathtime! Looks like fun! :)

Our only wish is that our other family members are closer... but we all send our love and best wishes for the New Year!

Dane and Kimber

2011-12-31T15:00:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to share!

Merry Chirstmas Eve!!!

2011-12-25T06:46:00.000-07:00

Merry Christmas Eve to all of our friends and family. We wish we could be closer, but we send our love! Here are some pictures from the past week...

Last weekend Clint and Dane went hunting with Brock, Noah, and Kailey. I was feeling a little under the weather, and Kimber and I stayed home for a little rest. They had a great time and got a couple ducks... Dane was super excited cause Noah brought donuts and hot chocolate!

Here is Noah with his daughter Kailey and Dane

Clint, Brock, Dane and Bones...

Brock watchin for ducks!

I have been doing a little baking for the Holiday. We have our traditional Kris Krinkle cookies that we make every year. They are my Grandma's recipe and are delicious! I decided to let Kimber and Dane help me decorate... well, it didn't last too long, (I never should have added food coloring... sprinkles, yes... color that will stain the children and everything else... no!) but we did have a great time, and after I sent them to hang out with Dad, I got some pretty cookies to give away!

Here is Kimber applying some sprinkles

Oh my gosh! Look at all that goodness!

Tonight we are just hanging out, having a good time. Daddy played soccer and other fun stuff with the kids outside while I cleaned up the house, so they were happy to settle in for some "toons" after dinner. (Although I think we were actually watching swamp people... Dane loves that show! ) Yes, the coffee table is upside down. I got tired of telling Kimber to quit climbing on it and this seemed like an easy answer for the meantime! Of course, then it became an exciting new place to play!

Dane hamming it up!

2011-12-19T06:19:00.000-07:00

A couple more pictures video from Dane's x-mas program.

They were super cute, the little girl in pink is Dane's friend Quincy. She is a cutie!

The whole group.

So, apparently when Dane is nervous in front of people, he pulls up his shirt and shows his belly. Someone said I should have written "Merry Christmas" on it... Well, I guess I know for next year!

Dane's Christmas Party

2011-12-17T12:38:00.000-07:00

I'll have a few more pictures later, but here is Dane walking out to sing at his Chirstmas program!

Duck hunting and a visit with Santa!

2011-12-11T08:49:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we started the day with a super fun duck hunt. Noah and his daughter went with us and I think everyone had a great time. Here are Dane and Kimber with one of the ducks.

Dane and Noah's daughter Kailey

Daddy's little duck hunter!

Waiting for some to come in. Noah said he had to get a picture of me shooting with Kimber on my back. But, she has ear protection, and it doesn't bother her... so why not! :)

Noah and Kailey

Then we went to the annual kids Christmas party. Dane got to see Santa and actually sat in his lap. Kimber just looked at Santa and that was enough for her!

Dane kept asking Santa where his reindeer were...

Then we got to spend the evening at the adult's Christmas party. We had a wonderful time and the kids did good with the babysitter. I think it's time to get our Christmas tree put up... so that is the goal for today!

Thanksgiving and Birthday Fun!

2011-12-09T14:12:00.000-07:00

Over Thanksgiving, Sam, Shannon, Porter and Wyatt made the trip from Oregon to spend the Holiday with us. It was a wonderful time. Clint and his brother got to catch up, the kids played really well together and Shannon and I went shopping on black Friday. It was a fantastic time!

Of course we took the kids down to feed the big trout at the hatchery. It was SO WINDY that we didn't stay too long.

Uncle Sam with the boys

There is a little park right there, so we let the kids burn off a little energy on the play equipment.

They had the best time with this game! Sorry the pictures are a little blurry, but I think you still can see how much fun is being had!

The three troublemakers!

The boys got along really well.

Last weekend we went out for the first duck hunt of the season. I bought these balaclavas for the kids. Dane's is just plain black and really great for keeping him warm. Here is Kimber showing hers off before we head out duck hunting. Okay, I will admit... I thought it was cute. However, Clint looks at her and says "you aren't going to make her wear that are you?" to which I reply. "She really does need to wear snow pants!" :) You will notice in the duck hunting pictures, she is not wearing her balaclava... he won. What do you think? Doesn't she look cute?

Here are the boys waiting patiently for some ducks. Unfortunately the right decoys were out at the property (a point we didn't remember until we were all dressed up and ready to go) so the hunting was great... the shooting left something to be desired.

Kimber decided to catch up on some sleep.

My mom's birthday was the next day, so we took her out for dinner that night. We had a wonderful time and I LOVE Chinese food!

Here is my Mom with Kimber... Doesn't my Mom look great. This is less than 2 months after having open heart surgery! She is my hero!

Then I had to get a picture of my two favorite windburned guys!

An Amazing Elk Hunt

2011-11-25T20:39:00.002-07:00

Last Saturday, Mom and Aunt Jeanne graciously offered to watch the kids so that Clint and I could go elk hunting. I really was hoping to harvest something and had decided that if the opportunity arose, I would definitely shoot a cow elk so that at least we would have some meat. We were up and on our way super early. It had snowed for about the last 24 hours and the temperature was hovering in the single digits so we were hoping the elk would be up and moving around.

When we were about 10 miles from the trailhead on the gravel road, we came upon a gentleman who had lost his 4 wheel drive and was stuck on a hill. He asked us to pull him out of the ditch so he could turn around and park his truck. Of course we assisted him and were able to pull his truck free. He was also headed out to go elk hunting and was very disappointed that he would not be able to go. We offered for him to get in with us if he would like... he seemed like a nice guy and we were headed in that direction... He declined but asked us where we were headed. We told him, and he said we might find some elk in that area, but then told us where he had been headed. He said that his friends were finding elk in Willow Creek and that is where we should go. Thanking him for the info, we left. Chatting about our options, we decided to follow his advice and head to Willow Creek.

It was just getting light when we were pulling over the ridge into Willow Creek. Clint (my rockin' awesome hubby!) spotted two elk in a clearing and as we got closer we started seeing several other elk, including one large herd of cows. Of course, where you find elk, you find people! There were already hunters on the large herd of cows, so we headed on a little further. Stopping to talk to some other hunters, they pointed out 3 bulls that they had been watching from the road. They only had a cow permit, so they couldn't hunt them. Getting excited Clint and I pulled forward to make our plan. The bulls were about 460 yards from the road at one point. Obviously, that is too far for me to shoot, so we saw two options. I could get out of the truck and try to crawl closer, or we could go around, drop out of sight and come around them on top of the neighboring ridge. I told Clint that I thought it might work better to go around. The elk were watching us and would be able to see me get out and start crawling... perhaps they wouldn't run, but I thought it might be better to try the other route.

Of course I ended up kicking myself later... it was so cold and there was 6-8 inches of snow that was SUPER SQUEAKY! There was only a light wind, so every step was super loud. No matter how quietly we tried to walk we were announcing our location to the whole world! The 3 bulls were smart enough that they turned around and headed in the other direction.

Clint had been carefully watching another herd of cows that had come over the ridge and had formulated a "plan b" for us. (Have I mentioned my husband rocks!) They were slowly making their way towards us and if we headed up the ridge we might be in a good spot to intercept them. As we slowly peeked over a ridge we realized that they had bedded down in a perfect spot... for them! They were really spread out and all facing in our direction. Staying behind some pine trees we watched and waited to decide what we wanted to do. A little later, we spotted 2 hunters on the ridge across from us in a different direction. So, essentially the elk had hunters on both sides of them, and they were bedded in the middle. We thought perhaps the other hunters might push them towards us so we waited to see but then we decided they were probably waiting for us to do the same thing cause they weren't moving!

After about an hour or an hour and a half of standing in the cold. (it was really cold!) We decided that we needed to make a move, so we dropped back out of sight and headed up the ridge. Once we had gained a little elevation, we were stuck at about 500 yards from the elk. So, we started crawling from one dead fall to the next. Staying in the cover, we were slowly working our way towards them when I spotted one laying closer, which happened to be a bull. I pointed him out to Clint and we ranged him at 306 yards. Since that is in my range, I took the lead and crawled forward to try and get a shot. He was bedded in some brush and I couldn't get a clear shot from that angle, so I had to crawl to a different log. Staying low, I shimmied up to the log. I had to keep moving until finally Clint helped me find an angle that gave me a clear shot at his vitals. Then it took me FOREVER to make the shot. A lot can go wrong in 300 yards and I have so much respect for the animals we harvest, that I wanted to be sure I did everything I could to make it right. So, after finding a rest on the log, using my pack to help prop myself up and calming myself down, I touched off a shot.

He stood up at that point and we could see that the off shoulder was broken. He turned around and faced the other direction and Clint told me to shoot again since he wasn't down. I actually ended up putting 5 rounds in him before his legs started giving out and he went down. I must say I am proud of myself. All 5 rounds were in a decent spot, but a little higher than they should have been. For 300 yards you have to consider the drop of the bullet and I should have held a little lower, but it all ended up just fine. We just aren't used to such great big critters!

In this picture you can just see him laying on the other ridge.

We were stoked! Clint was so patient with me while I took my time to make the shot. I don't think either of us had any idea how big he truly was! We were just thrilled to be successful! Here I am after he went down.

After some "high fives" and some pictures we started gathering up my gear and hiking towards our critter. All the sudden we hear the other hunters shoot. At first we thought they were shooting at another elk that was in the timber or something. But then I see one guy take off running towards my bull. I tell Clint, "they are going towards my elk". He replies "no, they wouldn't do that". But then we realize that is exactly what they are doing. So we take off running too. There was a really sharp incline right below our elk and just as we get to the bottom of that we hear another shot. Clint starts yelling for them to quit shooting and gets to the elk before me. As I get there I hear the guy say "my dad just shot this elk". Clint tells him that I shot the elk way before his dad did. (sometimes even when an animal goes down, it can still take a little while to expire... he wasn't going anywhere but wasn't 100 % dead, so the guy shot him in the back of the head...) This guy introduces himself to us and says, "well, lets see if there is more than one round in it. If there is, it's your elk because obviously you did shoot it first." I am close to tears... I am thinking that we are going to get totally skunked and not even get any meat, because some guy wanted a bull elk. Just about then the dad walks up and doesn't seem nearly as nice as the son. He is assuring us he "shot the elk when he was bedded down" and we are telling him, "he was bedded down because I had already shot him". The son explains that we will look for other rounds and if we find them, then it's my elk. If we don't then it's theirs. When he asks if his dad thinks that is fair his dad says "well, it depends on what we find".

Fortunately, we find two shots in the shoulder on one side, one was his, and one was mine. (there were actually 3, but we only could pick out 2 right then.) Then we rolled him over and there were 3 entrances on that side. (none of my shots exited.) Fortunately, the man looks at me at that point and says "enjoy your elk". They then told us that he had shot 31 elk and this would have been his biggest. Apparently he had been watching this bull for hours and he tried to shoot it twice but his bolt had frozen up. I can say in all honestly, no matter what they think, our intent was not malicious. We waited to see what those guys were doing when we first spotted them, and when they didn't make a move, we decided we needed to before something else happened. I am honored to have harvested such an amazing old warrior of a an elk. He is a beautiful bull and I don't know that I will ever take another in his class. I can also say in all honesty, I couldn't have done it without my husband. He is the one who watched this herd while I was focused on the other 3 bulls, and I think we make one heck of a team. His aggressive approach and my "let's wait and be patient" approach seem to balance each other and it worked out amazingly well for this trip.

Here are some photos of the beautiful elk that we harvested.

Of course, then the work began. We had him on the ground at about noon. We had to hike out and get the meat packs, and then it took us 3 trips to get him out. It was only about 1.5 miles one way, but that was plenty far! Since we knew it was going to get dark, we took everything halfway out through most of the dead fall and steep terrain and then ferried it the rest of the way.

Packing out a hindquarter

Clint carried the head and cape for the first half... Then when we went back to take it the rest of they way, I decided I wanted to finish the job!

I am still excited about our success that day!

Time to catch up!

2011-11-23T17:10:00.002-07:00

Well, the last couple weeks have been a blur... exciting and eventful, but super busy! I will probably do a couple posts to catch up, so here is the first!

The first weekend in November I headed out to see if I could find an elk. I got a really great permit and wanted to see if I could find something. The first day I went by myself and hiked a lot, but only saw one herd a LONG ways away. The next day one of Clint's coworkers went with me and we had a long cold day hiking in the snow. We did get into some cows, but I had an either sex permit and we ended up not getting an elk that day either. The visibility that day was kind of tough as you can see in this picture.

Clint rolled in Friday the 11th at about 10 pm. We were all so excited to see him and get him back to Great Falls! He got Saturday and Sunday off, so we decided to make the most of it. I had spoken with a gentleman who allows us to hunt his property and he had told us we could come out and hunt Saturday afternoon. Kimber stayed with a friend's daughter, and Dane, Clint and I headed out to see if we couldn't get a couple does.

Luck was in our corner and we were able to harvest 3 beautiful does. Dane was with us and got to see the whole thing. He was stoked, as you can see in this picture.

Halloween!

2011-11-06T07:58:00.000-07:00

Things are good here. We are literally counting the days until Clint gets home! 6 days left! Woo hoo!

Here are some pictures from our past week!
Kimber looking like such a big girl!

Painting pumpkins

Our finished product

For Halloween Kimber was Snow White. When I put her in the costume she sat down and started sobbing. But, she is such a little ham that when I got out the camera she quit crying and looked right at the camera. Then she started laughing. She ended up wearing her costume all day long! :)

At my work, our division's theme was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Here is my Supervisor. She was Violett and did such a great job dressing up! She had just taken a bite in this picture, but she looked so great I just had to share!

A couple others dressed up. Including one of my fellow Oompa Loompas.

Here I am in my Oompa Loompa costume with my coworker Janelle. I made my costume myself so I was pretty darn proud.

Dane's Halloween Party. It seems that Spider Man was a popular costume this year!

Kimber telling me that she worked hard for that cookie, so there is no way she's giving it up!

Me and my little Spider Man!

We had a great time for Halloween!

Brave or insane?

2011-10-28T21:53:00.000-06:00

Dane has always loved to cook with me. Kimber recently figured out it can be fun, so now I am lucky enough to have 2 great helpers in the kitchen. My first cookie project with both of them was last Sunday and I think we were pretty successful. The kitchen was a mess, the kids were a mess, the cookies were yummy, and everyone had fun. Here are just a couple pictures of the chaos!

Right at the beginning of the project, Kimber had just figured out what we were doing and scooted her own chair over to the counter.

Flour was just added...

Gotta lick the beaters... that's my favorite part!

A great visit!

2011-10-22T20:29:00.000-06:00

We had a wonderful visit with Grammy and Gramps for the past week. I am bummed out because I hardly took any pictures, but here are a few from one of our evenings together.

Then Dane and I went hunting this morning. Saw some deer, but we didn't harvest anything. We did have fun though. Here are a couple pictures of Dane right after first light.

Missing Clint...

2011-10-10T21:35:00.000-06:00

Last Sunday Clint left for North Carolina for 6 weeks. He is getting his new K-9 "Shep". They will go through this 6 week training together and when they return they will have a great foundation of skills. When I talk to Clint, it sounds like he is having a good time, learning a lot, and figuring out how he and Shep can work together. I think they will be great! But, we sure do miss him.

I took Dane antelope hunting today. We had a really great time. We spotted a herd of antelope but they were being worked by 3 coyotes. They were super flighty; running one way, then turning and running the other. I wasn't sure if we could even get close, but since we didn't have anything else going on, I figured it was worth a try. Hunting with a 3 year old is fun, but challenging at times! As I was loading my rifle and grabbing my gear, he was fixated on a large beetle that was under the truck. But, when I told him it was time to go, he grabbed my hand and off we went. He hiked like a trooper, but our journey through the stubble field was a little slower than usual. Probably because of our slower pace we had a coyote within about 75 yards checking us out. Dane got a kick out of that.

A few times I found myself wanting Dane to walk quieter, but I reminded myself to relax... with the wind they probably couldn't hear us anyway. We reached the hill that I thought they were just on the other side of and I filled Dane in on the plan. We would sneak most of the way up together and then he would need to wait for me while I crawl up over the top and see where the antelope were. He agreed and the plan played out just like I hoped. He was super quiet and waited just like I asked. When I peeked over the hill I had a whole herd of antelope looking straight at me from 100 yards! I was in long stubble so I had to crawl to a spot I could get a shot from. Even though they milled around a little I couldn't get a clear shot. They sprinted about 150 more yards before stopping again. I had one picked out and was just about to pull the trigger when they all took off again at a dead run. Welcome to antelope hunting! As I watched the last goat disappear over the hill I was super disappointed. I really wanted to harvest an antelope with Dane. But, I had told myself that it needed to be right and I didn't force a shot...

Dane was thrilled, not necessarily about the antelope, but about the 2 beetles that he found while I was crawling up the hill! Go figure! :)

We had a wonderful time, but I miss my best friend and other amazing hunting partner... Clint.

We have been staying very busy though. Here are some random pictures from the past week and a half.

Below is Dane helping Clint move some rocks before he left. Look at the size of the rocks he is moving!

Kimber loves her ear muffs!

We have been doing a lot of art projects. We walked around the neighborhood collecting leaves.

and then we had the best time doing different leaf art. I forgot how fun this stuff can be!

Kimber didn't really need leaves. She made her own art! :)

Getting ready to go to the park.

We all had a great time there as well!

Then there were some other art projects!

Now I'm trying to get my house in order since Grammy and Gramps are coming this weekend. We are all very excited to see them and I really appreciate them coming to spend some time with us!

I really liked this!

2011-09-30T18:39:00.002-06:00

A hike into the Beartooth Mountains

2011-09-25T08:10:00.000-06:00

Two weeks ago, (during the workweek) we had a pretty big week. Clint interviewed for a K-9 slot at his work and was chosen for one of the handlers. I am so proud of him! I must tell you (he is too modest, but I can brag!), he is very good at his job. He has that wonderful balance of empathy and strength that enables him to handle situations and people in an intelligent manner. This is a really neat opportunity for him! But, it does come with some new challenges! The first being that he will leave for 6 weeks on October 2nd. This is for his K-9 training school and he will return with his new dog, Shep.

Then on that Friday, we closed on the sale of our rental house!!! Woo hoo! We had the rental for a couple years and decided with both of us working full time, the kids, and all of life's other challenges it was too many irons in the fire. The market isn't great right now so we were a little concerned about getting it sold. Plus sitting on an extra house and making all the payments for an extended amount of time can be tough. But, we did some work to get it pretty and then our awesome realtor had it sold in just over 2 months. What a relief.

With Clint's impending 6 week absence, we are trying to get a lot of things done, including a scouting trip to the area that I have my elk permit. Clint unexpectedly got last Sunday off, so we took advantage and headed up to the Beartooth to take a hike. The weather was a little cloudy and cool, but it was a wonderful hike! Here are some pictures!

A couple fawns checking us out.

If you look right above the timbered ridge line in this picture you will see the Golden Eagle.

No eagle in this picture, just beautiful landscape!

The whole way up there Dane kept asking "can we fish there?", "how about there?", "Daddy can we go fishing?" Never one to disappoint, there was a little creek and Clint took Dane down to see if they couldn't catch a fish.

Success! A beautiful cutthroat. The boys caught several and they were pretty good sized for how little the creek was.

The hike in is actually a closed road. So, Clint had the great idea to take the baby jogger for Dane when he got tired of walking, and Kimber rode in the Kelty! My hubby is so smart! It worked out really well.

Daddy and Kimber

It was actually a little cold and Kimber was a little tired of the Kelty. So we squeezed both kids into the jogger!

The hike was super fun, and although we didn't see any elk, we were able to scope out the land and talk about how we could hunt it! It was a great day!

Snipe hunting with the family

2011-09-22T20:37:00.001-06:00

About a week and a half ago we were were able to head out and do some snipe hunting. There were a fair amount of birds, Clint and I were both shooting well, and the weather was fantastic. All of this equaled a great time for us and the kids. Here are some pictures from the day.

The kids were excited while we were getting ready. Here is Dane wearing Daddy's vest.

Kimber traipsing around with her ear muffs.

Kimber rode on my back and Dane walked with Clint for the hunt. This is one of the first times we didn't even bring the Kelty backpack for Dane and he did really well. It's not easy walking, cause it's swampy and the grass is really long so we were proud of him.

Starting the morning off right with the first bird of the season!

Clint and Dane with a snipe that Clint shot.

Dane posing

Dane using the "over the shoulder" carry for one of the birds.

Later in the weekend Dane and I made some cookies! Yummy, chocolate chip cookies. Reduced fat, whole grain goodness!

Mommy's amazing helper.

That was also the weekend that I did the Kickin' Assphault 1/2 Marathon. It was a great run and I ended 4 minutes faster than the last time I did it... Even better was the fact that Clint and the kids were waiting and Dane ran across the finish line with me! Woo hoo!!!

A weekend at the cabin

2011-09-16T20:42:00.001-06:00

Well, I'm a couple weeks behind on the blog... but I will catch up! Two weeks ago, we made it up to the cabin on an overnight trip. We got a little work done and had so much fun! Here are some pictures from the trip...

Clint and Dane checking for loose screws in the siding... however I'm pretty sure I know where to find some loose screws and they have nothing to do with the cabin! :)

The weather was perfect for spending the afternoons at the water. We caught crawdads, swam, and just had so much fun!

Apparently there was a spot on my lens... sorry about that.

Kimber with a little bitty crawdad... and she didn't even try to eat it!

So, I'm inside with Kimber, Dane and Clint are out doing some "man work" and I hear the dog going crazy... Whining and carrying on. Which is very unlike Bones. So, I peek out and this is what I see. A pine squirrel on the ladder.

I called Bones back and then was able to sneak up and get a couple pictures. Clint and Dane showed up about then and Clint said it was hiding under the outhouse and booked it back to the cabin when then disturbed it. Poor thing is a LONG WAYS from any pine trees!

Then we were out on a walk, and I spotted a horned toad (aka horned lizard) I told Dane he could hold it for a minute, but as soon as it dropped on the ground he would have to let it go. Surprisingly it stayed put for a while. He thought it was pretty cool!

Dane helping Clint with some very important "man work".

That is one big crawdad!!! Yes, we did eat them both nights. Their little tails are tiny and I struggled to get the meat out, but they taste fine once you get it out.

Just having a good time!

22 Miles of Fun!

2011-09-09T21:02:00.000-06:00

First I have to thank Lisa, I didn't take my camera on this run and my brother took a ton of pictures. All of these pictures were poached off of their wonderful blog! Thanks guys!

As I said in my previous posts, Dad, Erik and I ran a 10 mile run one day as a "warm up" for this run. This run was to the top of the Matterhorn. 22 miles total and we will climb to about 9830 feet. This is my dad and I at the beginning just arriving at the trailhead. Erik is behind the camera!

There is one place that the Forest Service had to take out a bridge. Fortunately a nice big tree fell right in that area to cross. This river is really cold so I was glad that we didn't have to wade across.

Here we are going up... there is a lot of that on this run!

My awesome Dad...

8 miles in is Ice Lake. It holds fond memories for Erik and I. He came home on leave from the Navy when I was about 14 and we backpacked in and spent the night. We caught fish and just had a great time. Those high lakes are so beautiful, I never get over it.

Erik (my amazing brother) and I with Ice Lake behind us. Actually the Matterhorn is also behind us, but I don't think you can see the top from this angle

Two great guys!

Although we are about 9 or 10 miles in... I apparently still have a little sass!

There are notebooks on the top of the peaks that you can write messages in... It is a neat opportunity to look back and see who has been there in the past and read what they wrote.

Here are the three of us on top! It was so beautiful. It totally reminded me of goat hunting with Clint last fall. Made me wish he was with us so I could share the experience with him as well.

Dad always tells us to "suck in our gut and stick out our chest" when a picture is about to be taken. It always makes everyone smile!

Views from the top

Erik on top of the world!

Erik remembered this little arch from a past trip he took up there. He found it again and we had to get a picture!

On the way back down to Ice Lake

Our trail back down. If you look hard you can just see us towards the bottom of the switchbacks.

Erik on the way down.

The downhill is actually kind of tough as well. You aren't really breathing that hard, but your quads take a beating and your legs can feel kind of shaky after that many miles. (Okay, mine did. There was no indication from Erik or Dad that they felt anything but amazing... they both have this incredible toughness that goes way beyond the physical component. It's this amazing mental drive.)

We did it! I wish Erik would have told me he was taking my picture and I would have mustered up a smile or a thumbs up or something. (Okay maybe he did tell me and I flipped him the bird. He may have waited until I put my hand down to take the picture! Ha ha! Just kidding!)

Truth be told, I was spent. I have never ran that far and honestly I'm proud of myself for doing it. However, my quads were pretty tight for a few days! (everyone got a good laugh every time I went to sit down or go down stairs... )

I can see how my dad and brother enjoy it so much though. It is a completely different style of running that is really fun. I look forward to the next time I can do it with them!

Oregon Trip - Post # 2

2011-09-07T21:20:00.000-06:00

The other butterfly picture that I promised!

What adventure is complete without a ride on the CAT...

I think that the looks on the kid's faces in these are priceless!

The hike to Slick Rock is quite beautiful, so everyone decided to do the hike one morning. Some of the little ones decided it was just a little too far and after hitching a ride for a bit, Courtney, Marsha, and I turned around with Dane and Chloe.
Here are a couple little ones being carried by the guys!

5 Beautiful girls! Marsha, Courtney, Naomi, Chloe, and Olivia

Gramps entertaining Kimber... or Kimber entertaining Gramps!

Evan and Clint really enjoyed shooting together. Evan did a great job and picked it up quickly.

On one of our trips to the lake we spent some time on the River as well. We caught sculpins and minnows... then we built a little "holding pond" for our catch. Here are Evan, Gramps, and Dane checking out what we had caught so far.

Kimber and Dane enjoying a little mud!

Dane and a "toad frog" that he caught. Look at the size of that thing!

Then there were the little baby "toad frogs" as well.

A nice trout

When Clint and I met, he was in Joseph for the summer working on a neighbor's ranch. While we were there we went over to the ranch to reminisce a bit. Here is the "cabin". It is truly beautiful.

Clint has such fond memories of the people he was working for, Richard and Debbie Surface. They owned a very successful nursery and he worked there for about 7 years. Sadly, Richard passed away, but Clint still has such wonderful memories of the things he learned, and the time he spent, with these great people. Debbie is doing well, and we just missed her when we arrived for our visit. Maybe next time we can connect.

Richard, Debbie, and Clint 7-25-00

Clint said he got to have some fun on this!

The trip to Oregon was wonderful! We had such a good time and although I wish I could, I can't possibly include pictures of every moment or every experience. It was great to see all of my family and spend some good time together doing things that we all love. Now we just have to let Marsha and Dad recuperate so we can do it again! :) Or perhaps everyone can come to Montana!

A trip to Oregon - Post #1

2011-09-03T20:42:00.000-06:00

It has been a long time since Erik (my brother), Courtney (my sister), and I have all been in the same place at the same time. In fact, I have been with Clint for about 11 years and he had never met Erik. Crazy!

Early this year we decided to make it happen. So, we all picked some dates and decided to meet at Dad and Marsha's house in Oregon. It is the perfect place for all of us to meet. Lots of outdoor activities, lots of great memories, and just a beautiful place.

There ended up being A LOT of us. There was Me, Clint, Kimber, Dane, Courtney, Olivia, Naomi, Chloe, Erik, Lisa, Evan, Owen, Erica, Dad, Marsha, and Mom. WOW, what a group!

Luckily Clint and I just purchased a new (to us, but certainly not new! More like a 1992!) pop up tent trailer. We weren't in the market for one, but we had outgrown our tent and the price was so good we couldn't pass it up.

So, we hooked it up and used it for the 8 days that we were there! It worked like a dream! Dad and Marsha live way out in the woods (no electricity, snowmobile home during the winter, etc.) so it was a great place to set up "camp".

Of course Dane loves the tractor, as did all the kids. Gramps was super good to them and let them go for several rides. The act of riding up and down in the bucket is now known as "the redneck carnival ride"!

Dane and Gramps

Don't look down!

While we were there some of the neighbors came over and got a picture of us. Mom hadn't arrived yet, so sadly we missed her in the picture. Kimber wasn't really cooperating, but amazingly enough the rest of us came together and stood still long enough to get some pictures!

My Dad is an accomplished roper (From actually roping cows in Nevada. He was a cowboy for years.) Olivia worked hard to figure it out and made some definite progress.

How were they doing that???

A couple of the days that we were there, we went up to the State Park at Wallowa Lake. It was a nice place to hang out, visit and let the kids play. Here is one of the resident deer that hang out in the park. The tourists really like them, but they actually can be real nuisance, so we always chase them off and don't feed them. Too bad there is no hunting in the park! :)

Our poor deprived (yeah right!) child Dane had never roasted marshmallows before. In a moment of weakness before the trip I bought these monster marshmallows thinking they would be good. They actually were too big and didn't stay on the sticks very well. Dane took about 3 bites and was done. But, he was so excited about it and did seem to enjoy the experience!

While at the Lake there was a lot of fun to be had. Here they are playing Frisbee... poor Kimber is always behind, but she kept at it!

Bones getting some love from Evan

Wrestling also proved to be a lot of fun. I think poor Gramps was getting ganged up on!

Dane trying to out run Uncle Erik and Owen

Wasn't quite fast enough! Here is Uncle Erik tickling Dane!

Some of the days we split up and did things in different groups. One day Dad, Erik and I took a 10 mile trail run up Slick Rock while everyone else went fishing at Salt Creek Summit. Clint is so patient and was able to help the kids catch some trout. They all had a great time! Below is a picture of Clint showing all the kids how he fillets the fish. Dad, Erik and I had a great time as well. This run was a warm up for the longer trail run we did later in the week! Both Erik and Dad are in amazing shape. I know that they had to slow down a little for me, but they did so without complaint. Erik took his camera and did a great job taking pictures. He is going to send me a jump drive with those photos so I will have to do another post later with some of those pictures.

That day Marsha, Lisa, and Courtney did a bunch of laundry. But, then of course I come home with my icky running clothes. I know I will need them again soon and I don't want to bother Marsha to do more laundry (it's a pain with starting the generator, pumping water and such) so I decided to do it the old fashioned way. Yes, with a baby on my back! Clint had to take a picture cause he said that anytime you can take a picture of your wife doing laundry in a bucket... you just can't pass it up! (Marsha was so sweet though and assured me that in the future she would happily do another load for me! She spoiled us!)

While I was slaving over the laundry, this butterfly came and was drinking the water from the pavers. Since Clint had the camera handy, he was able to get a few great shots. Lisa also took some wonderful pictures of this visiting friend! I will have to post the other picture on my next post because my computer is a little temperamental and didn't feel like cooperating on that download.

Kimber was quite fortunate on this trip and all of the kids (and adults of course!) treated her wonderfully. Here is Naomi watching over her!

Fishin' the Missouri

2011-08-16T20:40:00.000-06:00

This is just a quick post to share some of the fun pictures we have taken lately! Here is Grandma getting a little Kimber love! :)

Last weekend the boys hiked down on the Missouri Thursday afternoon/night while I was finishing up work. They had such an incredible time that we went back down Friday afternoon and then Saturday morning. Here are some pictures from the trips.

Dane with a bass and Clint with a Sauger

Kimber having fun in the mud

No mom, I wasn't eating dirt... why do you ask?

This was the biggest walleye that we have caught down there. Clint did a great job catching it!

A nice Pike

Clint's friend Noah with a very nice sauger.

Airshow and a picnic!

2011-08-05T21:01:00.000-06:00

Last weekend was the airshow at the local Air National Guard. It was really great, but our kids are a little young... Dane was a intimidated by all the big helicopters, planes, and jets and it was really hot so we had to cut the day short. But we still had a lot of fun and enjoyed our time. Mom has this wagon that we loaded the kids into, and it worked great! They got to ride together and a good part of the walk was through a mowed pasture, so it was nice that it had bigger tires.

I think Kimber may have been more eager to get out and walk around. Dane was more like "no, I'm good looking at everything from here". He did walk through the fed ex plane... I know, we were at a military airshow and the only plane he wanted to go in was the fed ex plane. Figures! But, they were giving away stickers!

After walking around and looking at all the displays, the actual airshow started. We have ear protection for both kids since we hunt with them, so that worked out really well. It was cool to see some of the things those jets and planes can do. We did have to leave before the Blue Angels flew, which was a bummer... but there will be another chance sometime when the kids are a little older.

Here's me and Dane while he is "hamming it up" for the camera!

Today, when I got off work we went for a picnic down by the river. Before dinner we had fun catching butterflies and ladybugs. Okay, now I must admit Clint is a far superior butterfly catcher. I gave it all I had but I just couldn't seem to catch those little buggers. However Clint caught three. It does hurt my pride a little to admit this, on our way there I was imagining frolicking in the grass waving my little net and catching butterflies all over... Not so much.

Dane was a ladybug catching fool and Kimber just had fun taking it all in.

Dane showing off one of the butterflies.

Kimber thought it was pretty cool too!

Okay, so I have never been a squirrel feeder, but you have kids and everything changes. Dane tormented this one for a little while chasing it around the tree before it finally went up. Then I enticed it back down with little bits of bread. The kids thought it was so great!

Kimber also got to chase it around the tree!

Then we went to the River and Dane and Clint caught some minnows. What a great time!

Gotta love these kids!

2011-07-28T21:11:00.000-06:00

It's been a long week. Last Wednesday I had to go pick Dane up cause he had pink-eye. Well, we took him tot he Dr., got some drops and figured we would be good. Friday he hadn't improved much so he went back to the Dr and got different drops and oral antibiotics. That night his fever climbed to 103+ and stayed there for the entire weekend. When he was medicated it would come down some, but as soon as the tylenol or ibuprofen wore off it would shoot right back up. Nights were super rough and then we added some puking to the mix. He wasn't eating very well and I started getting worried. Monday I was supposed to go to Missoula for work but Clint was working that night. We had made arrangements with someone from his daycare to bring the kids home and hang out with them until Clint got home, but obviously that wasn't happening. Luckily, Clint was able to get Monday off and after getting Dane another appointment to go back in I headed out to Missoula. Good news is that they got him into an eye Dr. and got some different meds to put in his eyes. Turns out it wasn't pink-eye but a different eye infection. Monday night his fever was up to 103.7 when he went to bed, but it ended up breaking overnight and by Tuesday night he looked so much better. Clint had Wednesday and Thursday off, so Dane and him ended up spending some great time together. (even though Dane could have gone back to daycare on Wednesday, Clint kept him home and they went fishing at the River on Wednesday and out on Holter today... Lucky guys!

Kimber is such a cuddle bug... she will climb in anyone's lap who is sitting on the floor. Here she is taking advantage of Dane's lap... as little as it may be!

Tuesday night Clint was cleaning up after dinner and the kids were outside playing. I don't think we have to wonder if Kimber is going to be a tomboy!

I know I've said it before, but Grammy is an awesome seamstress. Here is Kimber sportin' a super cute dress that Grammy made her!

The next few pictures are from the boy's trip to Holter today... here are some crawdads that they were able to catch. As well as a stick and a flower!

Dane showing off one of the crawdads they caught!

Even though he only went a few times, swim lessons really helped Dane's confidence around water. Here he is splashing around and having a great time!

Fishin' the Missouri with Dane

2011-07-19T20:54:00.001-06:00

Monday we decided to give Dane a special day. He's been missing his Daddy since Clint switched to afternoons, so we thought that a special day fishing on the River might be a lot of fun for him. So, Kimber went to daycare and we hiked down to the Missouri for the morning. It is a tough place to take Kimber at this point anyway. She only wants to be on my back for a while or if we are hiking and then she wants down. She is walking but not that great and as you will see from the pictures it was really muddy. Plus, Dane felt pretty special! Here are some pictures from our great day!

Dane's getting his Daddy a minnow.

One of Dane's goldeneyes.

My special catch... yes that's right. It's a carp! They actually fight pretty good!

Dane actually caught the first bass of the day!

Dane's pretend "sailboat". He talked Clint into riding his "sailboat" with him. It was pretty darn cute!

It was truly a little boys paradise. Look at all that mud!

We all had a really fun time. It was pretty hot though, I think it got up to about 104 here yesterday, which is hot for Montana. Luckily we had a nice cool sprinkler to run through last night!

In addition, today I got some good news. I lucked out and drew a bull elk permit for the Beartooth Mountains which is a pretty great area. I am SO EXCITED and can't wait to start hiking and scouting!

An awesome visit and a fun fourth!

2011-07-08T14:21:00.000-06:00

Clint's parents left last Sunday after a great visit. They were amazing and helped us so much while they were here. We did have a little fun as well. Here are some pictures from our fishing trips.

It's a walleye!

Just chillin'

Bill with a nice trout

Sheri and Kimber enjoying lunch

I also picked Dane up a kite one day so Sheri (Nana) and I took him to fly it at a local park. The wind was pretty light so we had to run a little to keep it up, but it was so fun. I think I had as much fun as he did. Plus all the running tired him out! Awesome!

This was taken on Holter during one of our fishing trips. I thought it was so beautiful!

The day that Bill and Sheri left we decided to just hang out and have some fun. So, we headed out to Freezeout for some bowfishing. Dane thought that it was about the coolest thing EVER! He was telling everyone about shooting carp!

Clint ready for a shot

Kimber is quite the walker these days and has a great time trekking everywhere. Here she is bringing me a rock! What a treasure!

and of course, there was the fourth. My mom came over on Sunday night and we lit a few fireworks for Dane. Here he is with some sparklers!

Way Behind!

2011-06-25T20:04:00.000-06:00

I've been up since 4 am after a long (or short?) night with Kimber. So, I'm tired and I'm sorry this post will probably be short. But, I did want to catch everyone up on what we have been up to.

Finally we got some nice weather and made it out on Holter. For this trip we didn't catch too many fish, but had a wonderful time and enjoyed getting out on the water.

Daddy and his princess!

We got Dane a bike and have been having a great time teaching him how to ride/brake/etc.

Clint received a Medal of Honor through MACOP for his response to a particular call last year. They paid for us to go down to BigSky, Montana for the Award Ceremony. I am so proud of him for the amazing work that he does and it is wonderful to see him and his coworkers recognized.

This past week, my Supervisor at work left to return to Michigan and go back to school. She really is an incredible person and has become a good friend. I was sad to see her go...

We did have a nice time at a BBQ last weekend.

Kate, Kimber, and I

There was a pond out where we had the BBQ, so the boys did some fishing and caught some beautiful brown trout! The whole property is incredible and is owned by another coworker of mine who was generous enough to invite all of us out!

Both kids adore Kate, but Dane is especially fond of her!

Dane and Kate

Kate and Kimber

This week Clint's parents are here so we are working around the house (painting) and today we made it out to do some fishing. I will do my best to update again with pictures from their visit soon!

It's a Walleye!!!!!

2011-06-17T19:47:00.000-06:00

Kimber walking

2011-06-11T15:46:00.000-06:00

She is so darn close to getting really mobile. She just needs to get her confidence up, then there will be no stopping her!

Another fun day in the sun... with water too!

2011-06-09T21:20:00.000-06:00

Sunday was another fun day with sun, water, and Grandma!!! Fun was had by all! The only thing missing was my amazing hubby, Clint...

Oh yeah, there was mud too!

At this point Kimber is happy to play on the blanket.

Making her way to the buckets, water, and fun!!!

Time to stop for a snack... in the perfect little chairs that mom got the kids. They LOVE them!

She made it to the water!!! :)

Back at home... this doesn't look like an accident waiting to happen...

She wants to be like her brother so bad!!!

A fun weekend!

2011-06-08T12:19:00.000-06:00

Kimber has really started to enjoy dinner with us... unfortunately things can get messy. Avocado was on the menu this night!

Saturday was "National Trail Day". An organization here in Great Falls set up a bunch of different hikes around the area. Since Clint was working, me and the kids decided to participate in the hike on the river that was designed for kids. It was 2 miles long, and was a part of the River's Edge Trail that we had never been on. It was quite pretty and Dane had a wonderful time.

Then, when Clint got off work we headed out to Benton Lake. With all the water that we have had, there are a lot of ducks in the area. We got a fair amount of pictures that I wanted to share!

Shoveler

Cinnamon Teal

Long Billed Curlew

Yellow Headed Blackbird

Beautiful Wildflower

Walking down the boardwalk

As I said, we have a lot of water in the area... Since we were in the car, we decided to turn around at this point!

Of course we had taken the net, so Clint and Dane caught a bunch of waterbugs. I think that these are water fleas and freshwater shrimp. We took these home and put them in the fishtank for our minnows. They were thrilled, and quite fat!

It was a really great day and we had a lot of fun!

What have we been up to?

2011-06-03T14:08:00.000-06:00

So, it has been raining... a lot. We don't normally get this much rain in Great Falls and I must admit, it's getting a little old. But, unfortunately I don't have a direct line to the Weather Gods, so I guess I'm stuck with what I get. :) With all the rain and Clint working the weekends, we have just been hanging out, enjoying some time with Grandma, and visiting with friends. Here are some random pictures that we have taken.

We went out to a friend's house last Saturday. They have goats and believe me, the goats were a hit with Dane. Here he is feeding some treats with Dad's help!

This baby was so stinkin' cute!

They had a little donkey too!!! It was such a sweet thing with the softest muzzle.

Because of all the recent rain, the Rivers are all high and there is extensive flooding in some communities. Luckily we aren't too bad off in Great Falls,(at least not yet, it does depend on upcoming weather patterns) but the Missouri is really high and muddy. Here is the Black Eagle Dam.

Kimber is so close to walking... She is letting go of things and taking a couple steps before sitting down. Here she is leaning against the cupboard eating a pretzel.

This weekend the rain is finally supposed to let up for a couple days. Wooo hooo!!! Hopefully, we will get out to enjoy it!

Dad and Marsha's visit

2011-05-23T15:49:00.001-06:00

Friday night, Dad and Marsha arrived for a weekend visit. It was such a great time, all of us had a blast. The only downside was that Clint had to work. But, at least he is on day shift so he was home in the evenings. Saturday we got up and it was chilly with cloudy skies. It looked like it might rain any minute. So, we headed down to Giant Springs for a walk. That way if it got too nasty we wouldn't be too far out and about.

Of course we had to stop and feed the fish!

Here is my Dad, Dane, Kimber (on my back) and I on the walkway.

A goose in a tree! You don't see this every day!

Marsha and Dane

There are so many geese and their babies along the path. The River is really high and the current is super fast, so the adults wont let the babies get away from the bank. Here are Dane and Dad herding them down the path. At first, Dane just ran ahead. But, then I remembered that geese can get pretty cranky with little boys, so Dad ran up there to help mediate!

Sunday, Dad and I ran a 10 K together. He is a really great runner but stayed with me and we just had a nice father/daughter run. Here we are after the run. I had forgotten how hilly the course was, with one pretty long climb so my goal for time was not super realistic. I did do a decent job though, and came in at 60:03. (Without walking on the long hill, which in itself felt like an accomplishment!)

Then yesterday evening we just hung out with Clint, played catch, and chatted. Here is Dane and Gramps playing with the football.

Such a big boy! Shaving just like Gramps!

As I said before, it was a super nice visit and we had a great time. It always goes too fast, but whether it's work or play, time has a way of just going so quickly!

Fishin' the Missouri

2011-05-16T17:00:00.000-06:00

We are really fortunate and had another nice weekend. Friday was an award ceremony at Clint's work, and Clint received an Award of Valor. Last April, he went into a vehicle that had driven into the River and pulled a 225 lb guy from the driver's seat through to the back hatch of his vehicle. Although the vehicle was not totally submerged, due to the current the vehicle was continuing to sink and the water would have reached the man's face (he was slumped over unconscious) if Clint hadn't pulled him out. I am super proud of Clint and his coworkers. Two other Officer's received the same award for entering the River and assisting Clint once he had gotten the man far enough back where they could grab him and get him to shore. Nice work guys!

Yesterday Clint had to work a little in the morning but then came home and did a little work around the yard and garage. Dane was right there helping him the whole time!

Today we went down to the Missouri to our favorite spring fishing spot. The River was really high and fast but we were still able to catch a bunch of mud cats, a few goldeneyes, and one trout!

Here is Dane reeling in a fish. You can see how flooded the grass is.

Then we moved down river a little and Clint set up a little bench for us. It was the perfect spot to spend a few hours. Here are the kids checking out a mud cat.

This is only the second trout we have ever caught down there, so that was unique. I figured it was another mud cat so when I saw that there was a bite I had Dane pick up the rod, "set the hook" and started reeling. All the sudden he said, "mom it's really heavy and hands me the pole". Sure enough it was a nice trout!

I just thought that Dane's look was pretty cute in this picture! The fish had flipped out of their hands!

Well, on Friday Dad and Marsha will be here for the weekend. We are really looking forward to that. On Sunday, Dad and I (maybe Marsha) are running a 10k. Clint has to work, but will be home in the evenings to hang out so we should have a great time.

What a wonderful Mother's Day!

2011-05-09T20:16:00.002-06:00

This weekend we were hoping to do get out and enjoy some warm, sunny, Montana spring weather. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate and we didn't get any clear sunny days. But, we had just enough nice weather to get out and have some fun. On Saturday we got up nice and early, compliments of Dane and Kimber. I went for a nice run in the rain and then the clouds lifted enough for Clint and Dane to go work at the rental. Here is Dane in his "workin' clothes" getting ready to go help dad.

Sunday I got to pick what I wanted to do, and since it wasn't raining we decided to hike down on the Missouri and go fishing. The water is still a little cold and muddy for some of the fish to be biting, but we always have a good time and this time was no exception. Dane is getting so big, he hikes a good part of the time and then we have the Kelty for when he gets tired or when we are going through an area with a lot of cactus or brush. Here are Dane and Clint headed out!

Dane loves playing with the minnows. He gets one at the beginning, puts it in his bucket and it will entertain him most of the trip. Here he is proudly showing us his minnow!

Two bald eagles hanging out by their nest across the River from where we were fishing.

Pelicans

Dane reeling in a fish

Dane's first Goldeneye!

Okay, Goldeneyes are not exactly a sportfsh, but they are fun to catch... Especially to Dane!

Dane hanging out having a good time!

Kimber didn't really sleep good the night before... Here she is catching up on her zzzz's.

My awesome family! Kimber is awake now and munching on a granola bar.

Kimber taking it all in...

What a great big brother! He said he is going to teach Kimber how to fish when she gets bigger!

Dane and I

Reeling in another one!

After fishing, we loaded back up and the kids promptly fell asleep. I wasn't ready to go back yet, so we took a drive along the River to look at the geese and their babies. They are so stinkin' cute!

When we got home I had to get into gear and get dinner going. Mom came over and joined us for homeade pizza. Once it got in the oven things calmed down and we had a really enjoyable evening. I meant to be showered and dressed nice before mom arrived, but I was running behind... Oh well! Here is a picture of me, Mom, Dane, and Kimber

Grandma and Dane getting a little snuggle time!

I had a really great weekend with lots of good family time. Clint and the kids spoiled me with flowers and sweet compliments and we got to go hiking and fishing on the River. Doesn't get much better than that!
I hope that everyone else had a wonderful Mother's Day as well!!! We definitely send our love to all of the Mom's that we couldn't be with!

Spring fishin'

2011-05-01T13:30:00.000-06:00

Yesterday we finally got lucky with the weather and we were able to make it out on the boat fishing. There was a little hiccup in the morning when we thought that the motor on the boat wouldn't start, but Clint called his Dad who helped get the issue resolved. (aren't parent's great?!?!?!) Then we were off and rolling. Dane was SO EXCITED he could hardly stand it. I wasn't sure how Kimber would do. Last year on the boat she was really little and just rode in the pack or sling. In general we think she may be a little more timid than her brother. He was into everything at about 100 mph at this age and we really had to get after him to teach him "no". She is so responsive to "no" and likes to watch for a bit before jumping in. But, I should have given her more credit cause she did great.

The weather was pretty sunny with rainclouds hanging around the mountains. We did get sprinkled on a couple times and we left just as it started sleeting. However, the sun peeked back out each time and warmed us up. Below is a picture of me and the kids when we were headed out. Dane is getting big enough that the life jacket fits pretty good, and with him being so mobile and excited he wore his the whole time. Kimber's life jacket... well not so much. If you can see in this picture she isn't even really capable of moving her head. I imagine if she went into the water it would make her float, but it is so darn uncomfortable for her. So, since she is little and can't climb or get over the edge yet, I took it off of her once we started trolling. We were all pretty happy and excited to be out though!

The fish were biting pretty well, but it totally came in spurts. We would catch 2 or 3 fish in a row and then it would be dead for a while. I must admit it gets a little chaotic at times with two kiddos underfoot (Kimber literally holding on to our pant legs). But, Clint is seriously amazing! I have noticed that he is so patient with all of us. He is a pretty diehard sportsman and will work hard to try and make sure we are successful at whatever we are doing. He takes really good care of us and has become such a patient teacher with the Dane (and me)! Dane is really getting the whole reeling concept. We mostly fish with bait casters when we are trolling and the trout that we were catching were pretty nice sized, but despite all this he even reeled one partway in all by himself. (without us holding the rod) He did say afterward that it was "really heavy"! Here he is reeling like a big boy!

Worms are a constant source of entertainment when we are fishing.

Clint and Dane with a nice rainbow trout.

I feel like we caught an awesome moment in this picture!

Here I am with a nice trout... Kimber is sound asleep on my back at this point!

It was so much fun that it was hard not to go back out again today! But, with gas prices so high we thought we would stick closer to home. Clint is at Brock's soccer game and we got some other good things done around the house/garage. Clint and Dane got all of the fish (we caught 8 or 9 that were pretty nice sized fish) cut up and in a marinade so tomorrow they will go in the smoker and we will have yummy smoked trout! We hope everyone else had a nice weekend!

Beautiful Easter!

2011-04-24T19:25:00.001-06:00

As you saw from my last post, Friday was a snowy mess of a day. Saturday was beautiful and ended up getting to about 48 degrees. Clint and Dane went down to the River to do a little fishing and Kimber, Grandma and I spent the morning running errands. We had talked about going out on the boat, but part of the road to Holter is dirt and it was probably a mess. So, we decided to stick closer to home. Then we all regrouped at the house and Clint, Dane, Kimber and I headed back down to the River. Here are some pictures from our walk on the River's Edge Trail...

In even such a short time, their was a hatch of some sort of flying bug... Here they are all lined up on a post.

The bugs hatching provide great food for the swallows that build their nests on the rocks. I actually didn't even see these until Dane pointed them out to me.

Giant Spring Park

Today we decided to head out for the annual Easter Egg Hunt. Wow, there sure were a lot of people and kids! But, the kids had a really great time and it was such a beautiful day to be out.

Here is Dane saying hello to the Easter Bunny.

Dane picking up eggs... Since he didn't get any candy in his Easter basket, he enjoyed the sweets that were hidden in these eggs. (he did get cool stuff though... a butterfly net, a "bug keeper", a little fishing set from Grandma, a bubble gun from Nana and Grandpa... all fun things!)

Grandma went with us to the Easter Egg Hunt. She and Kimber hung out while Dane and I did some of the other stuff.

Dane and I at the Easter Egg Hunt

Clint was working for all of that fun but about the time we got home he was off work. So we visited with Grandma for a few minutes and then headed back down to the River. This time we took the butterfly net and Clint used it to catch all kinds of fun stuff... like crawdads, snails, minnows, a bullhead sculpin, waterbugs, etc. Who knew a butterfly net from the dollar store could provide so much fun! Then we brought some of it home and put it in our fishtank! Having kids is so much fun... it totally allows us to be kids again!

Well, the snowy, sloppy weekend really ended up to be a lot of fun. Maybe if the weather holds we can get out fishing next weekend, otherwise we will still find something fun to do!!!

Lots of snow on this Montana morning!

2011-04-22T17:27:00.000-06:00

This morning we woke up to a snowy Montana day. About 6 inches to start and it didn't stop coming down until there was probably more than 10". WOW! So, we stuck around the house with the kids and got some stuff done. Poor Clint even got put to work on some "honey do's"! Maybe we will make it out to do something fun tomorrow is some of this snow melts.

Below you will find a few random pictures and then some pictures showing what our yard looked like today! Isn't is suppossed to be spring????

Grandma and Kimber having a great time!

Kimber wearing one of the "happy birthday" hats that we got for Clint!

View out of our front door when I first woke up! (our neighbor already took care of our walk... we love him!)

Dane practicing snow removal from the trees

Enjoying the snow!

Happy Birthday to Clint!!!!

2011-04-18T19:07:00.000-06:00

Well, it was a nice weekend to get some things done around the house and to celebrate Clint's birthday. Friday he turned another year older... and we had a nice time celebrating. Even though Clint had to work, Mom came over and we enjoyed a nice dinner and evening. Although I certainly ate too much yummy food!

I didn't do well at all taking pictures though... sorry I guess I wasn't in the mood this weekend. Then Saturday was decent weather. Dane played outside a lot and I got a lot done around the house. Sunday was the Icebreaker Road Race...

Clint had to work but I went ahead and ran the 3 mile run. Despite the snow I did pretty well and finished in 26 m. 11 sec. Although not record breaking I was pleased. Thanks again to Carrie, Brock, and Mark for watching the kids!

Anyway, that's about it! Now it's back to work for the week and then maybe some fishing next weekend!

One of our favorites!

2011-04-17T12:54:00.000-06:00

I was transferring videos and pictures to jump drives and ran into this video. Dane was about 10 months old and pretty stinkin' cute! (If I do say so myself!)

Enjoy!

A wonderful trip to Oregon...

2011-04-10T16:44:00.001-06:00

Wednesday afternoon we got back from a 6 day trip to Oregon. It has been too long since we went back to see Clint's family so we set the dates and made it happen. It was really great. We had a wonderful visit and got to spend some good, quality family time. Be prepared... there are going to be many, many pictures of family and kids on this post!

To try to make traveling with the little ones easier, we left Montana at 1 am on Thursday morning. The kids were actually pretty good. Dane was so excited to see Nana and Grandpa. Although I did ride the last 30 minutes in the back seat with them. Clint said he couldn't pull into his parent's driveway with me in the front seat. (just kidding!) The kids had actually reached their threshold so it was time to switch things up a bit. It took about 14 hours and we rolled in at 2 pm their time (1 hour behind us).

The first night we just relaxed and since Clint drove the hard shift (1 am to 5:30 am) he was pretty tired. Here he is with Dane... catching up on some zzzz's.

On Friday, we stopped by Bill and Sheri's cabin and then headed out to do a little fishing. Dane caught a few mud cats, a rainbow trout, and some whitefish. He got a new fishing pole (a real kids pole) from Grandpa and it was a total hit. We got him a fishing pole for his b-day but it was a regular one so this is a lot easier for him to cast and reel. Although we aren't using his new pole, here we are reeling in the "big one"!

We pointed out the "pokeys" on the catfish for Dane because he really likes holding them and we don't want him to get poked. Funny story... Sheri, Kimber and I ended up leaving the boys to finish fishing. When Dane got home he said that one of the fish "wasn't nice and poked him, but Grandpa poured beer on it, so it didn't hurt anymore!" Now I know why it's so important to always have beer when we are fishing!

That night (Friday) Sam, Shannon, Porter and Wyatt headed out to Bill and Sheri's after Sam got off work. They came out for dinner and ended up spending the night. As you can see Bill was cuddling with the boys and we just kept adding kids...

Bill, Dane, and Wyatt

Bill, Dane, Wyatt, and Porter

Added Kimber to the mix

Then we woke up on Saturday and all of the boys went fishing. Here is Porter with one of the mud cats.

After they got back, we went down to Sam and Shannon's house for a night. It was nice to catch up with them and the kids had a very fun time playing and hanging out.

Here are some pictures from our visit.

Aunt Shannon, Wyatt, and Kimber

We put Dane to work mowing the yard...

Clint and Wyatt

We only suffered one injury over the weekend. Dane got about 3/4 of his big toenail ripped off. But, by the next morning he had bounced back and although it was sore he still played and had a great time. Here he is cuddling with Daddy.

Uncle Sam, Kimber, and Wyatt all snuggled in!

Kimber enjoying the nice weather.

Wyatt and Porter do SO GOOD for pictures. Dane, not quite as happy to oblige. He was being kind of obstinate, but we did get one where they all sat still and looked the right direction. Except for Kimber, and once we added her, things went downhill again. Too many kids to organize!

Sunday afternoon we went back to Bill and Sheri's for the remainder of the trip. They have a new house and it is truly beautiful. It was also very comfortable and they did a great job baby proofing so the kids could just play inside and out. Here are some other pictures from our stay.

Grandpa and Kimber

When I told Dane (2 weeks before the trip) that we were going to see Nana and Grandpa, he got really excited and asked to make "hands". They had made jello hands the last time she visited and he thought that was super fun... I passed on the request and they got to make cookie "hands" several times. Here they are cutting out the dough.

One morning after it rained, Grandpa took Dane worm hunting. Here was the harvest! They did quite well!

The next 3 pictures are of Porter, Wyatt, and Dane. Can you say "trouble comes in 3s"????

Kimber hanging out in the grass

Then it was time for the trip home... Since we stopped at Cabelas in Post Falls it took us about 14.5 hours. A long ways no matter how it goes. We did get up super early and were on the road at 1 am their time so that helped. Here is Dane at one of the stops burning off some energy. Both he and the dog would run like crazy every chance they got!!!

I know that I'm repeating myself, but it was an incredible trip. It was so fun to catch up with family and let the kids hang out. I really look forward to the next opportunity to see everyone.

Besides that, not much is new. Now it's just settling in and getting back into routines. Spring looks like it might be coming soon and Clint is on day shift, so we are all pretty excited about that. Here in a couple weeks we will start having days off together so then we probably will start taking some fishing trips! Gotta love Montana!

Before our Trip

2011-04-09T06:10:00.001-06:00

I meant to post before we left for Oregon, but we were SO BUSY trying to get everything in order that I just couldn't find the time. So, here are a few random pictures.

Dane got his new "big boy" (twin size) bed. We went and picked out sheets and a blankets together. Spiderman it is! He loves it and is doing great. It is just on the floor at this point so that if he falls out, it isn't too far!

Craft time! Dane is working on his birthday thank you cards. With Dad and Kimber helping, of course!

Kimber and I began our battle with thrush. We both were on antibiotics for a while so we got thrush really bad. With Dane I found that Gentian Violet was the only thing that would really get rid of it, although it is exceptionally messy. Kimber and I had a whole lot of purple going on for a few days!

My Apologies!

2011-04-07T20:05:00.000-06:00

I'm sorry it has been so long since my last post! Clint and I just returned from a trip to Oregon to see his family. It was so much fun, and I can't wait to share all of the pictures and stories! However, it will have to wait until the weekend. So, please tune back in this weekend and there should be an update!!!!

Dane's Birthday and a fun weekend!

2011-03-18T20:43:00.001-06:00

March 9th, Dane celebrated his 3rd Birthday! Holy cow, where has the time gone?

He had a wonderful day, treats at daycare, then I picked him up early and we went to feed the ducks, went and picked up Kimber and then headed home for pizza. Clint's still on overnights, so he had to sleep, but about the time we got home he was ready to join in the fun! So, we ate pizza, opened presents and then had some cake! Here are some pictures of the festivities!

Dane really enjoyed this gift... I'm not sure what you would call it, but he loves it and it was from my supervisor, Miss Kate, who he adores!

My pictures are a little out of order, but here is Dane blowing out his candles. It did take a few tries, but he finally got them all out!

Another favorite... a forklift from Grandpa and Nana. This is a pretty darn cool toy and he would have taken it to bed it he could have!

Another tractor... this kid is all boy and loves his tractors and dirt!

Playing with his new forklift while wearing his new backpack that was a gift from Aunt Shannon and Uncle Sam.

Dane had a great day and Clint and I really enjoyed it as well. This was the first year that he got the concept that it was his special day... and that was pretty fun!

On Sunday, we headed up to the Rocky Mountain Front by Dupuyer to hike around and look for shed antlers. It was Clint, Brock, Dane, Kimber and I. Although a little chilly, the weather was actually pretty nice and we had a wonderful time.

Now we are headed into another fun weekend. Clint gets off Sunday morning for his weekend, so tomorrow I think we will spend some fun time with Grandma, get our shopping done, and then on Sunday or Monday head out to do some hiking or fishing with the kids.

Here is the "Seal Pup"!

2011-03-08T06:09:00.000-07:00

Gotta love those kiddos!

2011-03-06T21:04:00.000-07:00

This weekend we decided to make some sausage. 60 lbs of polish sausage to be exact. Yum! Brock came over to help us so about 10 am yesterday we started rolling.

We have realized there are 3 ways to get something done with the two kids. You can send them away... but what fun is that? You can lock them in a room... but the neighbors start wondering at all the yelling (Mommy, Daddy, LET ME OUT!!!!) Or, you can involve them (Dane) and give him a job. Well, I was kidding about the first two so we gave Dane tasks and got him involved and we had a great day.

Here are some pictures from our fun, productive day!

This is Dane cutting his own little pieces of meat. He was right next to me so I could closely monitor what he was doing. But, he did great, was very careful, and learned a lot.

Everyone's working hard and having a good time. Brock was so much help. He jumped in and helped with every part and then played with Dane during the down time. We really enjoyed having him!

I look a little crazy here. (you would too at this point! lol) But, Kimber was tired from all of her hard work!

Stuffing the sausage into the casings. Everyone is posing.

Brock was working hard! I was sneaky when I took this one so no one posed!

Then it was time for baths! Dane is so good to Kimber. She was splashing, stealing his toys, and crawling all over him but he just kind of ignored her and kept playing or would hand her a toy he didn't want. He is a really great big brother. Here are some bath time pictures of our kiddos!

As I'm writing this, Clint is finishing the last batch of sausage. We had to smoke it in four batches. Then we bake it to make sure it gets hot enough. Lastly, we vacuum seal it and put it in the freezer. Now we will have lots of yummy sausage for months to come!

Sledding Fun!

2011-02-27T15:57:00.000-07:00

Another great weekend.

2011-02-27T15:43:00.000-07:00

I've decided weekends at home can be kind of fun. I get SO MUCH stuff done around the house. I spend a lot of time playing and baking with the kids. Last night I even got to read about 2 pages in a book. (it wasn't a children's book) Of course it's a book I have read like 5 times and it just happened to be under my side of the bed so I picked it up and started to read. After about 2 pages I found the book (and my eyelids) became very heavy so I had to put it down and go to sleep.

The plan this weekend was to stay home and make sausage, but the local meat markets (all 3) were out of the pork suet that we use. Now the plan is to do it next weekend.

We decided not to even go anywhere on a daytrip due to the nasty weather. On Friday, the high was something ridiculous like -10. Saturday it was a little warmer but the wind was blowing like crazy. Today it's probably about 30 but the wind is blowing pretty hard again.

It ended up working out that we stayed home. Friday night Kimber woke up with croup, and when I took her in she had an ear infection as well. Poor babe. Now, we are really hoping that Dane doesn't get it. But, that is hard since they are always playing with the same stuff and she drools on everything. We shall see.

Anyway, here are some pictures from the weekend...

Probably about a month ago Kimber really mastered this movement we call the "seal pup". I am trying to download a video of it, but I'm having trouble so here are some pictures. It's kind of like a pushup position and then she pushes herself forward. I think she may do this instead of crawling cause she gets where she wants to go and isn't really trying to crawl anymore.

Our little "seal pup"

Dane found Dad's drill and thought he might do a little home improvement. He offered to fix the toilet, but luckily Clint had already done that. Aren't I lucky to have 2 helpful guys in the house?!!?!?

As always, we had some fun making muffins. Here is Dane scooping out the pumpkin for me.

These our the little "Dane muffins". He helped me fill the tin and everything. We made some big ones too, but Dane really likes these little ones.

and then there's Bones. He is such a good pup. He isn't allowed downstairs unless he is invited. But, if we forget to invite him he will remind us.

First, he starts at the top of the stairs looking down sadly.

Then we will notice him peeking around the corner.

Looks pretty comfortable...

and who wouldn't want to come join the fun downstairs... Kimber has discovered him and thinks he's quite intriguing!

A trip to the cabin... but no ice fishing!

2011-02-22T20:53:00.000-07:00

Friday we arrived at the cabin around 11 am. We ate some lunch, played with the kids a little and then headed down to the Lake for some ice fishing. Imagine our surprise when we saw open water. Lots of it! Most of the open water was in the middle of the lake with the ice still pretty thick and sturdy in the protected coves. But, with the kiddos, we didn't want to chance it. (Okay, I was super nervous and Clint is a great hubby, so we decided not to go.) Well, about a week ago the weather really warmed up and we had super high winds. The combination of the two ruined our ice fishing plans!!! Although it is still about 2 feet thick up at Lake Francis, so all may not be lost!!!

Since we couldn't fish, we took another nice drive and admired the beautiful landscape and wildlife! Then we just enjoyed hanging out with the family up at the cabin and at home!

A whitetail doe checking us out.

The beautiful Rocky Mountains

Dane LOVES setting up his tent in the cabin and "camping". Here he is having a great time. I could hardly get him to hold still to take his picture!

A coyote hunting in the fields.

Kimber playing

It was a long day

Another view of the Front.

2011-02-21T21:08:00.003-07:00

It's a very special number.

Today, Clint and I celebrate our 8th Anniversary.

I can't say how much I appreciate the man that I call my husband. He is amazing, hard working, ethical, compassionate, tough, a great dad, an incredible partner, and much, much more.

I think we are a pretty damn good team in this game they call life

I am looking forward to many more innings...

Clint Houston, I love you! Thanks for making me your wife!

Last weekend was really snowy!

2011-02-11T14:11:00.003-07:00

We had record breaking snow last weekend... 9.7 inches in 24 hours. For us that is a lot! Since Clint was working all weekend, we just did some things during the day to stay out of the house and let him sleep. Dane had a good time playing outside and we also had some fun at the museum. Here are some pictures of our weekend!

Moving some snow with his new bucket

Still outside even though it's almost dark!!!

Mom and Kimber at the Museum

Here is Dane on a balancing board... I'm not sure if it's his lower center of gravity or what... but he balances on this thing forever. I suck and hardly make it for any time at all!

This is also pretty cool... The ball is suspended in the air. It floats on a stream of air that comes up through the cone.

Dane made us breakfast this day... I came upstairs and he had got out sugar snap peas and yogurt for us both. Yum! What more could a girl ask for?

Clint has affectionately nicknamed Kimber our "seal pup". She is quiet chubby these days and although I think she is more than capable of crawling, instead she does this weird pulling herself along type movement. Although she isn't moving quickly, she gets were she wants to go so I'm not really sure that she is too motivated to crawl. When she moves along like this she does kind of resemble a seal pup!

Anyway, here is our little girl playing with blocks.

Besides that... nothing too exciting going on here. Today is Clint's Monday, so tonight is his first night back to work. That means he doesn't have to sleep all day so we are hanging out at home getting things done. Dane is a little under the weather, nothing too serious, but we decided to get all of our chores done today and then we can play all weekend while dad is sleeping. Aunt Jeanne (my mom's sister) is flying in on Sunday, so it will be great to see her. She will be staying with mom, but I know that we will all have a wonderful time!

A chinook has come through, so the weather is going to be warm, but really windy... gusts up to 60 mph, so maybe it's a good weekend for Clint to work... it's hard to be on the ice in that kind of wind.

I am also trying to put a couple random videos on the blog, but it's not downloading very well... so we will see!

A little fun with Dane!

2011-02-03T21:01:00.001-07:00

With Clint on overnights I try to get out of the house with the kids so he can sleep. One of our favorite places is quickly becoming the Children's Museum. Dane loves it and they even have a play area for infants in the middle of the toddler area, so both he and Kimber can enjoy their time. Last Saturday, mom offered to watch Kimber so that Dane and I could go by ourselves and have a little Mom and Dane time. It was a lot of fun, and a little more relaxing since I could just focus solely on him.

My mom is also a ton of help right now as well. We often times go over there to hang out and let Clint sleep. We all enjoy the "Grandma time"!

Here are some pictures of our trip to the museum!

This is the dinosaur dig. (aka sandbox)

The water learning area (water table)

Here is Dane playing on the... okay I don't know what it is, but it is in the area with the fake money and calculators. So, we play bank and he gives me money!

Here's the little matchbox car racetrack.

This weekend will probably look a lot like last weekend except tomorrow Kimber and Grandma will join us at the Museum. Saturday is a birthday party and Sunday, well... we will see what Sunday brings. Should be a lot of fun. Then Clint's days off will start rotating to where we will begin having some time off together again. Woo hoo!

2011-01-29T06:27:00.001-07:00

Here is Dane pulling in a pike! It actaully turned out to be the biggest pike of the day! Nice work Dane!

Monster Perch at Lake Francis!

2011-01-28T21:10:00.000-07:00

Monday we were joined by some friends for ice fishing on Lake Francis. Noah is one of Clint's coworkers and the cute little guy is Kyle... his son. Not only did we have good company, but when we got out there the weather was fantastic and the fish were biting! What a phenomenal combination.

Throughout the morning we caught a fair amount of nice perch and a few northern pike. Here are some pictures from our day.

Kyle and Dane with a nice perch that Noah caught

Kyle was a pro... pulling in perch all by himself!

Dane with a monster perch. I think this was the biggest perch I have ever seen.

Noah and Kyle

Dane, Daddy, and the Northern Pike that Dane caught all by himself!

Noah, Clint, and our catch

Clint, Kimber, and I

By about noon the wind was blowing really hard, so we decided to get off the ice. It was super fun though and we look forward to doing it again!

A trend...

2011-01-17T16:14:00.001-07:00

For those of you who follow our blog, have you ever noticed a trend?
Spring - Hiking along the River and fishing on the Missouri
Summer - Fishing out of the boat
Fall - Bird Hunting/Big Game Hunting
Winter - Ice Fishing

I realize sometimes that I fall into a blogging rut. But, I'm not really sure how to change that. I try to sprinkle in some photos of kids doing other things, or nature... but this is our life, and how we spend our free time. Although I really like my job, I don't think that pictures of my office would be very stimulating, and although pictures of Clint's work may be interesting... they frown on that. So, with that said... this weekend we went to the cabin. Now I'm going to share pictures and I hope that is okay with you!

Oh wait... one more thing. I'm sorry about the typos. Before kids I spent a lot of time making sure my posts were perfect. I wanted the wording right, and no typos. Well, now it's a matter of getting it done when I have time, so please excuse the mistakes!

Kimber and I getting ready to go for a ride!

I didn't go all the way to the top, because the weather had warmed up and created a layer of ice on top of the snow. I anticipated I may go pretty fast...

In case you can't see my face... I should have a thinking bubble that says "oh shit". Cause we were going pretty fast!

Safely at the bottom!

We will never get over the scenery and we must be instilling our appreciation in our little ones. One day I was driving with Dane and there was a pretty sunset with lots of colors. I was distracted and not necessarily appreciating it until he says "mama, that's beautiful" and I realize that yes... it is beautiful!
Here is a picture that Clint took. I thought it was pretty incredible!

Haystack Butte

Rocky Mountain Front

Now, you can't see him... but, Clint is just off to the left, cracking his bullwhip. :) Dad always said a tired kid is a good kid! :) Notice the rocks in front of the sled. We figured that would slow him down!
Okay, I'm just kidding. Until Clint told Dane to pull it with the rope, this is how he thought he should get the sled around!

When we weren't on the ice, we were at the cabin, or taking a drive to look at wildlife. Here is Kimber.

A Bighorn Ram

White-Tail Deer

We ended up spending Saturday and Sunday night up there and coming back this morning. It warmed up a bunch and then rained all last night so we headed back and got some things done around here. Now both of my guys are looking pretty slick with nice haircuts!

A little ice fishing, a little duck hunting, a lot of fun!

2011-01-11T20:45:00.002-07:00

Clint is now on overnights which is very bittersweet. He gets to see us all more; in the morning when he gets off work and then in the evening he is home for dinner and the kids bedtime. I really like those parts, but he doesn't sleep as well, so that is hard on him. Then on the weekends we get all crazy and do what we did on Friday. Clint got home and we decided to head straight out to Willow Creek for some ice fishing. It was supposed to snow and rain on Saturday and then get subzero temperatures again. So, we decided to get out there before it got too nasty.

We had a great time, Dane pulled in his very first fish. He has helped us before, but his fine motor skills were still developing, so it was hard to grasp the line and pull the fish in without dropping the line a hundred times or getting wrapped up in it. When this would happen he would get frustrated and tell us to do it. Well, this was about a 12" trout and he did it all by himself! I didn't get it on video, but I will try to the next time we get out. He was so stinkin' proud.

He was almost as excited about pulling Sis in the sled, and I did get some pictures of that.

Daddy and his Princess

A nice trout on a sunny day!

Then on Saturday we snuck down to the Missouri for a little duck hunting. We had both kids, so the kids and I were Clint's cheering squad. It ended up getting really windy and cold, so Dane didn't last too long before saying that he was done and wanted to go home. Clint did shoot a couple ducks while we were there... Here is Dane with one of them!

A golden eagle that flew over checking out the decoys

Lastly... here is a picture of Little Kimber. She is getting SO big and fun. I think she will be mobile sooner rather than later... not necessarily good news for us. :) Cause I think we will have our hands full once she can get where she wants to go!

Wearing Papa's hat!

A nice long weekend!

2011-01-02T15:47:00.000-07:00

Despite not getting to go ice fishing at the cabin... we had a fantastic weekend! I took last Thursday off so that we could spend an extra day out at the cabin, but the weather was really cold and snowy... I mean subzero temps, about 8 inches of snow in about 24 hours (for us that's a lot) and wind... too much for us to take 2 little ones out on the ice. As you have probably noticed, we don't have an ice house, so we are kind of at the mercy of the elements. The cabin is only a place that we go when we can get out and recreate. 16 x 20 feet is not enough room to stay sane when you are trapped inside with the kids all day... so we decided to stay home and make sausage. Woo hoo! Not necessarily the most fun alternative, but we always enjoy the end product.

I had told Dane he didn't have to go to "school" on Thursday (and Friday) so even though we were processing meat, he stayed home with us. So with Kimber on our backs and Dane on the chair next to us we got started!

I wear gloves when processing... mostly because that makes it is easier to go from meat duty to baby duty. The burger really sticks to your hands and with gloves I just have to wash, not scrub and scrub.

Well, Dane thought he needed gloves too!

Here is Dane helping grind. We ended up making about 100 lbs of burger and sausage!

We did the grinding on Thursday and then we stuffed on Friday. Here is Dane... once again a great helper!

Stuffing the summer sausage

Then on Saturday we went shopping, made our thank you's for Christmas, baked bread, and hung out! I got a new vacuum for Christmas and one of the parts was broken. So, we took it back and got a good one. Holy crap! I know I'm a weird girl, but I'm so excited about my new vacuum! It rocks!

Dane showing his artistic side!

Of course we played in the snow!

Dane holding his sis!

Today Dane wanted to bake, so we made some muffins. Here he is filling the muffin tin.

Kimber is doing well. She is a good baby, but doesn't sleep like Dane did. Up until a few nights ago she was waking up numerous times a night, with teething, a cold, and growing she just wanted to nurse a lot. Between work, trying to run, keeping up the house, etc, I had reached that point where I was just exhausted. When I'm that tired I cry too much. I'm not mean, I'm not really witchy... I just cry. My Dad had a saying when I was a kid... he said "just go to sleep and everything will look better in the morning." So true. Anyway, this weekend, I got sleep. Lots of it. Like 10 hours two nights in a row! Kimber settled down and is only waking up once or twice! Woo hoo! I feel like a new women! It's amazing what a little sleep will do!

Now we are back at it for another good week!