Summer 2009

Wow - where did the time go? It seems like summer just started and now here we are, back from vacations, back to school and getting ready for fall. It went by way too fast but it was great while it lasted.

Mimi & Dude came to visit us for a week. While they were here we went to the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo in Cheyenne, Wyoming - we also spent a few days in Cody, Wyoming and Yellowstone National Park. We had a great time...we had wonderful weather and saw lots of animals in the part. Deer, elk, brown and black bears along with some cubs, antelope, chipmunks and lots of bison are just some of the sights that we saw. Of course, there was no better way to end the trip than the adventure across the Beartooth Pass (entertaining, to say the least!). After their week in the Northwest was up, Mimi & Dude were brave and took both of the kids back to Florida with them to spend a few weeks catching up with the rest of the family. Aside from missing Mama & Daddy, they had a blast and definitely packed some fun into three weeks. They did everything from a day at Wild Waters, a day of fishing and scalloping in the Gulf, a few days spent at the river with Aunt Lacy's family and Grandma Susie, a few days of fun and spoiling at Aunt Lucy's, a day at the beach and several trips to the movies. They can't wait to go back and see everbody again!

So, now that vacation is over it's time to get back to reality. Jake started back to school this week. We officially have a 2nd grader...oh my, that's hard to believe! He has a new teacher, Ms. Stephenson, and so far, so good.

Well that's about all for now. Until next time - we send love to our friends and family across the miles...We miss you all and can't wait until we can see you all again.
~David, Casey, Jakob and Carley

Summer Time Means Sports Time

Well, the kids are out of school and to keep busy they are playing on the local ball team. Unfortunately, there weren't enough boys that are Jake's age to make up a full baseball team, so they took the three boys and combined them with the girls to make a co-ed softball team. Works for me because now I only have one practice and game schedule to keep up with instead of two. And, of course it's Carley's first time playing so having Bubba there to coach her along is a big help to her...and me! When our team is playing the field, Carley would rather play in the dugout. At this point she's only interested when it's her turn to bat. Naturally, at their first game she did the typical bat then run the wrong way. She ran straight to third base. Then, as the coach was yelling at her "Other Way", she ran diagonally from third straight to first base...almost took out the pitcher on her way through! It was cute and gave everybody a good laugh! Jakob is the catcher and he's really enjoying that. He loves being in a position that is constant play and not having to wait for the ball to come to him. I have been given the job of taking individual and team pictures for the softball team. We are all excited and all in all, it's going good.

Jake's Spring Concert

Well, I'm kicking myself in the butt today for speaking too soon in my last blog about Spring being here and the winter gone. You would think that after living in Montana for four years before I would know better. After a rainy night all night, I woke up this morning to raining slush...within five minutes that slush had turned to big white flakes! By about 10:00 this morning everything was white. And yes, for the record, I really am writing this on May 13th! It's about 4:15 in the afternoon now and it's all melted. Let's hope it stays that way.

Anyway - The Elementary Spring Concert was held today at Hysham School. Jakob's class sang "Five Kites", "Little Liza Jane" and "May". At the end of the program all elementary kids (K-6) sang together "One Nation". It was a fun little program and the kids all did great! I wanted to post a few pictures so everybody could get an idea of Jake's class/school size. The first picture is of just his class. The second picture is all kids K-6 grade...yep, all 44 of them!

Photos by Jake

This past weekend, Jake spent a morning with Grandma. They went on a little adventure down by the Yellowstone River. At some point he confiscated the camera and took some really neat pictures. Here are two that we all thought turned out really good. So, do we have a little photographer in the making?

Jake's first taste of farming barley

A few Saturdays ago Jake got to go to work with David. He got to ride in one of the big tractors with the boss man and got his first taste of what planting barley is all about.

A few new pics of the kiddos

Spring is among us!

Well, I think Winter has finally left us until next time. Everything around is starting to turn green...the flowers are blooming...and the animal babies are all around us...I think Spring is finally here. We are loving the weather. During the day the temperature has been in the high 60's to high 70's and then cooling back into the high 30's to 40's at night.

They recently branded all of the calves out at the farm. Luckily, the chose to do it on a Saturday so the kids and I were able to go out and spend the day with them. Jakob jumped right in and helped out. He loved every minute of it! Carley, our little social butterfuly, enjoyed just being there and asking 50 questions to anybody who would pay attention to her!

Getting Settled In...

Well, we made the trip safely and we are *slowly* getting settled into our new home.

Jakob is loving his new school. He says that all of his teachers and classmates are very nice and welcomed him right in. His school is much smaller than what he is used to. His class in Florida had 19 kids...he makes #7 in his new class. There is one school here and it is K-12th grade.

David is enjoying his new job and all of the adventures that go along with it. Right now they spend most of their time tending to the cows that are calving and their new babies, feeding all of the cattle, and working on all of the *HUGE* farm equipment in prepration of the upcoming farming season. They will be planting soon and then they will be very busy for the rest of the summer!

Carley and I are enjoying some long over due Mommy/Daughter together. We have met some other people around town with kids around her age, and we have been doing little things just to get out of the house every now and then....storytime at the library, meeting for playtime, etc. We are having Fun! Fun!

Today we are getting our first "real" snow since we have been here. We have had a few flurries, but nothing enough to actually stick to the ground. The kids are loving it! Every 30 minutes or so they have to look out the window to see how much more has accumulated on the ground. I have already been informed that tomorrow we will be building our first snowman!

Now that we are getting settled in and things are starting to feel like we are at home, I hope to take the time to go out and take lots of pictures. I will be posting some soon!

Packing Up and Moving Along

As most of our family and close friends now know, we, as a family, have decided to accept an opportunity to move to Montana! David is going to work for Kolb Brothers in Hysham, MT. He will be farming part of the year - growing sugar beets, malt barley (you beer drinkers need to pick up a Coors ~ that's who they grow for), corn, alfalfa and wheat. The rest of the year (the cold, winter months) he will be taking care of cattle at the feedlot until time to ship them out to Minnesota.

Although we will surely miss Florida and all of our family and friends that we are leaving behind, we are excited for the change, and for an opportunity to venture off on our own. We have thought about this decision for a few months now, and we both agree that this will help us grow stronger as a family.

Everybody needs to remember that we have an open door policy at our house! :) We always accept visitors. I know from past experience that Montana is a place that you have to see to appreciate...you can look at a million pictures, but they just don't do it justice. It's definately a place that everyone should visit, at least once in their lifetime.

Pictures will be coming soon!