Looking for Goats

For those of you who don't know...  Clint won the Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks Lottery this year!  Yes, he got a permit for a Goat.  Lucky guy!  So, last weekend we decided to go do some scouting and see if we could find some of the critters, or at least get a better understanding of the land we would be hunting.  Friday morning we got up and headed South to the Ennis/Big Sky area to find a camping spot.  The campgrounds weren't too busy and we found a nice little spot.  Clint and Dane slept in the tent, and Kimber and I crashed in the back of the truck.  She has been pretty fussy in the evenings and I was afraid that between her fussiness and her night feedings she would wake up Dane a bunch and we would have a cranky toddler.  Plus, our little tent is TINY and with our expanding family, we have decided we probably need to buy a bigger one.  Fortunately, Kimber's tummy seemed better out camping than at home and I got some of the best sleep I have had in a while.  (despite the two vomiting episodes on Saturday night...  poor baby, we are working on the tummy issue...) 

Anyway, Saturday morning we got up and hiked about 6 miles into a high lake that is in Clint's hunting area.  It was so beautiful and the kids were great.  Clint is a total stud and packed Dane about 12 miles total, and it wasn't flat, easy hiking!  I had Kimber on my front and then a backpack with our lunch, water, etc.  Needless to say we were tired kids that night!!!  The scenery was incredible and the weather was really nice.  It wasn't too hot and the sun was shining!  The only downfall was the mosquitoes...  We each seriously had our own swarm following us.  Whenever we stopped walking they would try to find a place to land on each of us.  (I'm not being dramatic, it was really bad.)  We went through about 3/4 of a bottle of Off cause we had to spray ourselves constantly and then we kept sweating it off.  Even with reapplying as often as we did, we all still got a bunch of bites.  I did realize that one downfall to being the sweet girl that I am is that the skeeters REALLY like me...  I must taste delicious cause they found any little spot and got me!  :) 

Sunday we pretty much just packed up and headed home...  it's about a 5 hour drive since we have to stop for the kids, so then we got home, unpacked, showered and relaxed a little. 

Here are some pictures from our trip.

This is Earthquake Lake.  It was created when an earthquake occurred and caused the avalanche you see in the background.  Pretty cool!

Here are Dane and Clint at the beginning of our hike.  Dane has started this thing...  when we tell him to say "cheese" he scrunches up his eyes and says "cheese".  So, now we tell him to wave at the camera so his eyes stay open!

Miss Kimber and I on a well deserved break!!

This is Avalanche Lake.  The hike was definitely worth it.  It was spectacular and reminded me of where I grew up and hiked with my Dad.

One of the high meadows...  the scenery was so incredible, the pictures hardly do it justice

Kimber seemed pretty happy to stretch out on one of our breaks...  She is really good about being in the pack, but seemed to enjoy stretching her arms!

This was along the drive, we thought it was neat and had to take a picture!

As you can see, we had an incredible time.  I didn't do very good getting pictures of our campground, but really were weren't there very much.  We had a little fire in the evenings, but went to bed pretty early and then left early both mornings.  The only bad part is that we didn't see any goats.  But, we met some people who gave us some info and we have a better knowledge of the area.  Now we are working on planning our next trip!

"Monster Fish"

Whenever we ask Dane what he wants to do, he says "go fishin" or "go campin".  Then when we say we are going to go fishing he looks at us and says "monster fish???"  Then when we talk about the fish that we caught he gets all serious and says "monster fish"!  It's so cute!!! :)  So on Saturday we went to see if we couldn't find some "monster fish"!!!!

Clint has been wanting to take the boat and cross the River at one of our favorite fishing places.  He said that the other side of the River was the "promised land" of fishing!  I have been resisting...  I'm not sure why, I think it's just that we get comfortable going to the same places cause I know what to expect and that we will catch fish.  Plus, I was convinced that it would be covered with rattlesnakes and the mosquitoes would be huge and fly in flocks like starlings.  (okay, so I'm being a little dramatic here, but I was convinced that there would be all kinds of issues!)

Well, I must admit that Clint was right.  The fishing was great...  We didn't run into one snake...  the mosquitoes stayed away...  and it was just plain fun!

Here are some pictures of our day.

Here was a catfish that I caught.

A "monster walleye" that Clint caught.  (okay this is probably the smallest walleye that we have ever caught)

and here is the walleye that I caught! 

Another walleye.

There is a cliff that all the swallows build their nests on.  It was pretty cool.

Saturday was Clint's last day on paternity leave.  We had a really good time together and as you can see we got a lot done.  The last few days have been a little different with me home and him working.  It's going pretty well so far...  Kimber is still pretty fussy every evening.  She definitely has some gas issues and just cries so pitifully.  I have cut nuts and dairy out of my diet and I think it has made a difference but it certainly hasn't gone away.  We are also trying a few different things with hope that she will feel better.

Next weekend we are going to go check out Clint's goat hunting area and see what we are in for!  I'm really excited cause I love any excuse to get to the mountains, so we should have a great time. 

Had a great visit with Grammy and Gramps.

The last visit we had was from my Dad and Marsha.  It was so fun to see them and Dad helped Clint finish the windows.  I have to say the new windows are SO NICE!!  Thank you to everyone for all of your help. 

Dane wanted to help so bad!  Here he is with Gramps!

Kimber and Gramps

One of Kimber's smiles!!!

Kimber with her Grammy.

Marsha with the beautiful quilt that she made.  She is a very talented seamstress.

Here is Dane after he "painted" his legs with a delightful mud concoction! 

Hanging out relaxing in the evening!

Enjoying the sunshine and good fishing!

Yesterday we went to Holter (yes, again).  We talked about trying something else, but we know we will have fun at Holter, so we went there again!  The weather was spectacular and the fishing was great.  We all had such a good time.  Here are a few pictures from our trip. 

There are some nice trout there! 

Dane now loves to pick up the fish...  he is becoming such a big boy!

Dane and Clint catching crawdads! 

One of the walleye Clint caught.

I wore Kimber most of the time, but here she was checking things out from a little bed I made her.

Dane figuring out how to pick up the walleye...  They are a little more challenging for him because they have spines on their back, so they poke him if he isn't careful.

Having a great visit!

As our visit with Nana and Grandpa is coming to an end, I thought I would share some more pictures of the fun we have been having!  As I said before, we have been getting some work done, but have broken it up with some play as well. 

Kimber is doing pretty well.  She has had a few tummy issues and we had one long night with Clint making a midnight run to Walgreen's for some gripe water.  But, I am eliminating all dairy from my diet and with a few other tweaks, hopefully we should be good to go!  She also has just hit her first growth spurt and has been nursing a ton.  In fact everyone else went fishing today and I stayed home cause I was dragging some major bum due to lack of sleep.  Between that and the fact that Clint and I both have ear infections, I decided it would be best to lay low.  For those of you who know me...  you know this was pretty hard for me to do!  But, Dad and Marsha will be here on Saturday, so we want to be well rested and ready for them as well!

Here are some more pictures of everyone! 

Of course, here are Dane and Kimber.  He is such a proud big brother and wants to help so much!  I am very proud of him and how well he is transitioning.

Grandpa, Nana, and Kimber

The other day we decided to go to the CM Russel museum.  It was bigger than I expected and was actually really interesting.  It is one of those places that you could spend a fair amount of time, but with a 2.5 year old we had to remember he only has so much patience.  He actually did very good though, and at the end there was a place called the Discovery Gallery.  It was really hands on with things he could play with and touch. 
The horses were a total hit...  not just for Dane but for Clint as well!!!  :)  lol

Dane and Grandpa in CM Russel's original log cabin. 

Our family...  all four of us!  (okay, you can't see Kimber cause she is in the carrier, but she is there!!!)

Clint and Dane messing around outside!

Getting stuff done

Sheri and Bill are here visiting right now and we are having a very nice visit.  They are helping us with some projects while they are here. 

We were so fortunate to get some clothes from several different friends.  It was so nice of them, but I was a little overwhelmed.  So, with Sheri's help we went through all of them and got them organized by size and boxed back up.  The next step is to fill one friend's boxes with Dane's old clothes since she recently had a little boy.  What a great swap!

We also have replacement windows for the house, so Bill and Clint are working on those.  They are doing such nice work and the new windows are looking really great!

As you can see, Dane is having a great time helping as well.

Sheri and Bill are also getting to spend some good quality time with the grand kids. 

Here is Sheri with Kimber. 

Kimber at bath time...  She slept clear through me wetting her head and didn't wake up until I started scrubbing. 

Sweet girl!  She is growing like crazy and is really pretty easy.  We feel so fortunate to have such a great girl!