32 weeks and counting!!!

For those who aren't able to witness "the belly" first hand... Here are a couple pictures! As you can see, things are moving right along, and little Dane Jakob (we think that is going to be his name) is growing like crazy. I'm very fortunate and the pregnancy is going really well, I'm only suffering from some minor pregnancy discomforts that I think are pretty normal. Clint is probably about the best hubby a girl could ask for and is so helpful and understanding!

Need I say more?

Winter in Montana?

Today the temperature is a little higher... it should be in the 30's. Unfortunately, the wind is blowing steadily at 35 + mph and is gusting above 50 mph. Ice fishing in that kind of wind is rather challenging (chairs, buckets, tip-ups, etc blow away if you haven't weighted them down, so you spend a lot of time chasing things) I think we are going to work on getting some stuff organized around the house. (okay, nesting!)

Starting tomorrow night, it is going to dip back into the single digits and below zero after that. It is also supposed to snow all week after today! We are actually happy about it. This is what winter is supposed to be like, and the snow is imperative during the long dry summers. I thought I'd show you who else is happy about the snow!!! Bones loves it and the cold doesn't bother him at all!

For those of you who know and love Rebel... He has had a large "change" take place. We decided with the baby coming that we would get him "altered". He is now officially an IT. He got the surgery yesterday and as you can see from the pictures he is perky and happy this morning. (I don't think it has sunk in yet.)

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr....

Well, Montana is finally giving us a little taste of winter. We have a fair amount of snow, and it just keeps on coming... It's also about -2 degrees. The good news is that we are going to be getting some thick ice for future ice fishing trips! (maybe I'll try to take some pictures and post them later)

Yesterday, we processed about 60+ lbs of meat. We made about 35 lbs of salami, 15 lbs of German sausage, and 15 lbs of burger. Today we have to finish smoking/cooking it and then it will go in the freezer to be enjoyed in the weeks to come. I think with that project and the current weather conditions, we may hunker down and spend the day working inside!

Awesome sights on the Rocky Mountain Front

Yesterday, we went up to the Front and really lucked out. Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks was netting mountain sheep for a relocation program. The helicopter pilot was amazing...

In the first picture he is swooping down, picking up this guy off the ground (without really landing) and then seamlessly taking off!

Once they successfully catch the sheep, they put them in these bags and airlift them to another area where they have horse trailers/biologists/veterinarians/etc.

You can see the blue bags in these pictures!

In another area, we were able to find these sheep. The rams are still rutting a little as you can see from the pictures. This time of year the sheep aren't very flighty, so we were able to sneak in for a couple great shots!!!

Another picture of our beautiful baby!

Here is a picture of our wonderful baby boy! We are at about 28 1/2 weeks and he is just under 3 lbs! One thing that surprised us was the fact that he already has hair, and we could see it on the ultrasound! (you can't see it in this picture, but it's there!!!)

I think we also may have a confirmed thumb sucker!!!

Another great day on the ice.

Clint is home for a couple days, and we were able to sneak away to Lake Francis for some ice fishing. The weather was superb and the fishing was great! As you can see from these pictures, the sunrise was really great and the view of the mountains from the lake was awesome!

This is a really nice perch that Clint caught. Probably one of the biggest that we have ever seen. It was our first fish, so we figured it was going to be a good day.

We quickly realized that the fish were biting really well. I lucked out and caught a really nice Northern. She later weighed about 18 lbs and was 38" long. The tricky part was pulling her out of a 8" hole in the ice! Clint did a phenomenal job gaffing her at the critical moment to assist me in landing her.

As you can see, Clint followed this Northern up with another couple beautiful HUGE fish!!! First it was a mammoth perch...

Then it was a Northern that rivaled the 18 pounder! (yes, this is the same kind of fish!!)

Clint is always a great one for "giving the fish a little love"!!!