Josh's wedding

On July 7, we had the privilege of attending Tom's cousin's wedding. It was a beautiful setting with a gorgeous view of the Bridger's and a creek running through it.




We got to see some great old friends, and Eva got to meet her Nanna and Papa and Auntie and Uncle for the first time.



It is great to be back home in Montana so we can enjoy occasions like these!

Leaving town

This photo isn't the best, but it represents a good memory. We were on our way to Montana (for good this time), and Eva was so relieved to be out of her car seat, which she would barely tolerate. (She does much better with it now). We had stopped at a hotel in Butte after a drive that took nearly twice as long as normal. Sarah and Eva were so cute visiting on the bed and enjoying a break.

Goodbyes

***post edit: Sorry, there was a problem with the photos. Fixed!

Our last week in Utah was spent saying many special goodbyes. One afternoon we met these dear friends at the park for a picnic.


Charlet and I had fun being preggos together and comparing notes. These little critters were born only 2 weeks apart. I wish they could play together when they are older, but hopefully we will still get to see them once in a while! Miss you already!

^ Nicholas and Eva

red, white, and blue

Here is Eva sporting her adorable red, white, and blue plaid dress (Thanks, Jordan and Erin!). So patriotic. I should take a photo of her in her car seat now so you can see how much she has grown!

By the way, if you gave us a baby gift for Eva, you haven't received a thank you note. Yet. I have big plans to get announcements and thank you notes out one of these days and I haven't even started. Nor have I unpacked the boxes that contain the supplies to make them. But I have good intentions! I'm sure they will arrive in your mailbox before she goes to Kindergarten.

In the meantime, thank you all for your generosity. Love ya!

Catching up

My card reader just blinked "CARD FULL". And then it said "REPLACE BATTERY BACK". Not a good combination when there is a new baby in the house. There were photos like this one from when Eva was only a week old. That means I have a lot of catching up to do!

^ Notice the blue glow under Eva's blanket—evidence of the Photo therapy light treatment for her jaundice. It was a relatively painless experience this time thanks to a blanket style that we could use while holding her (instead of a bed style like we had when Abby was a baby.)

I'm going to postdate some photos to go up each day so I can ignore my blog for a couple more weeks. What??? You think I have time to blog with a new baby, a house to unpack, swimming lessons to attend, laundry to do, and harvest meals to cook?

No, really, I know some of you are anxious to see photos of our new old house and life on the farm so you can better picture how crazy a couple of city geeks like us look in the midst of it. I promise they will come soon.

Until then, this blog is going to be dedicated to baby bragging. With that, here are a couple more photos from the first week Eva was home with us.

^ Note the adorable Hanna Andersson polka dot jammies. Love these. Thanks, Paula!

6 weeks old

This is one of Eva's sweetest times of day. I was sitting here enjoying her sweet contentment and little smiles when I finally decided to get up and get the camera. This is the only photo I got though. Because every time I get the camera she gets this look on her face like "that's lookin' a little sketchy. Can you get that thing outta my face?"

And sure enough, the next photo looked like this:

She's saying, "Let's get on with this business so I can go back to sleep".

Wait a minute. That's my line!

Did I mention it was 4 AM?

We're goin' on a bear hunt

...and we're gonna catch a BIG one!

Read about our latest adventure on my mom's blog. We live only a couple of miles from the neighbor mentioned.

This doesn't happen every day around here!

Settling in

Greetings from Montana! We have been here for nearly a week so I should squeeze in an update. The settling in part is proving to be a challenge amidst busy summer farming schedules and adjusting to life with a newborn, so it looks like the process is going to take awhile. I promise to start posting more often as soon as I can get me feet under me. There is much to share!

So far mosquitos and moths top the list of My Least Favorite Things about Living in Montana. I can't go far without my can of Off or a Bounce dryer sheet (who knew? Jury is still out on whether or not it works well enough). And Tom and I are a sight as we declare war on the moths every night. We turn the light on in the kitchen to draw them to one room, then I hold the vacuum and Tom mans the hose as we suck up as many as we can find.

Fortunately my list of Things I Love about Living in Montana is much longer. At the top is sharing meals with my parents and seeing extended family more often. Between a church convention and cousin Kristi's beautiful wedding, it's been like a family reunion!

We've had plenty of adventures so far. One night a big storm knocked out our power for an evening so we cooked dinner in my parents motor home. That night I tended to Eva by candlelight, and we were sure glad to have our power back on the next morning.

I also made my first major grocery stock-up trip to Great Falls. I was so glad to have my mom along to help me because as it was, it took about twice as long as we planned on with 3 kids in tow. I want to know how anyone manages to accomplish anything with more than 3 kids. Spill it. What's your secret?

Eva is doing great, although I'm looking forward to days when she doesn't wake up every 2 hours at night. Nanna came yesterday and took the older girls to Bozeman for a week, so we will have 2 less to keep track of.

Tonight we have a big dinner with family and I made red velvet cake from scratch to celebrate Mom's birthday tomorrow. Happy birthday Mom! It's so fun to have time to bake and to celebrate with you!

Happy 4th everyone!!! Let us know how you are celebrating.