Pictures and an update…

Things in our home life are just crazy as usual.  I did finally get to scrapbook last week at my mom’s house for the first time in almost a year.  I am in between classes at school and had one week to take advantage of the extra “play” time.  Dan is still working 12-14 hours every day at his job, but he at least got to postpone his next class so he will get to stay home through the holidays. 

The kids are fully involved in so much that it fills any free time.  Trent is on the Junior Varsity Soccer team at school and in the marching band at the high school.  He is also suppose to start playing in the Great Falls Youth Orchestra in the next couple of weeks.  Blake is in tackle football, and loving every minute of it.  Kati is still seeing her dyslexia tutor regularly and it is so good to see her improvements.  Cole is just as busy as ever being a typical two year old--in to EVERY thing. 

I will try to do a bit better keeping everyone updated.  For now, enjoy some pics of the last month or so in our house.

Entertainment with Cole

So I took the kids to the mall to finish school shopping. Cole was bored and getting quite fussy. The guy at the shoe place gave him a mini basketball to play with and then put on some dance videos. Cole started to just jam out in the middle of the store. He is always good for a few laughs!


Then he proceeded to drag Kati into it, and followed that up by dancing on the benches.



Sorry the videos aren't that great, they were just taken on my phone.

First Day of School

Just the pics of the kids first day of school….

Cole didn’t start school, but I didn’t want him to feel left out.  :)

July Happenings

We have had a fun busy month.  Here are just a few photos for a recap.

 

Mini Vacation Trips

Over the last two weeks we have taken a few mini trips around the area-Yellowstone, Bozeman, Virginia City, Nevada City, and Idaho Falls.  It has been a lot of fun and we have seen a bunch of cool things.  Here are some pictures of the trip to let you see what we have been seeing.

 

 

    

Kati is 7!

I can’t believe how time flies.  Kati had her seventh birthday last week.  We had a slumber party for her birthday, and the girls all had a total blast. 

Fire in Great Falls

{This first image was posted in the Great Falls Tribune, taken by their photographer}

We have had one of the worst weekends last weekend. Dan and I were called at one am Sunday morning and told that the building that my apartment building shares a wall with was on fire. It was a historic building we bought with my parents three years ago so I would have somewhere larger to move my scrapbook store into. I ended up selling the store about a year ago, but the new owner still has the store there, and we have 16 apartments above the store, with about 20 tenants.

Our building never caught fire (except for a little on the roof), but we now have almost 20 people with no homes due to the extensive water and smoke damge. Red Cross will put them up for three days and that expires soon, then they will have nowhere to go. So far we have been so blessed by people stepping forward to help and donations. We have managed to find temporary homes for everyone, and will try to help them find permanent new residents. Most of these people are low income, elderly, and have no means to get by without ending up on the street.

It was the most heartwrenching thing to watch all Saturday night. If you could mind sending prayers up that we can get help for our tenants to get them through, help them find homes. I woult truly appreciate it. We were told it would take most likely between 6-12 months to have the building fixed.

I am including some photos.

{This was shot on Sunday while they were still putting water on the building to keep fires from restarting. Our building is the one that is three stories tall. It looks like the fourth one in the line, but the first three, even though different colors on front, were all one building.}

{This shot is from the roof of our building looking into the Public Drug building.}

{This is the inside of one of the apartments on the third floor.}

Giant Springs...

Took the kids to Giant Springs to play at the park.

Happy Easter!

We hope you all had a great Easter holiday!

Love being in Montana

On the way home from a road trip this week, this is what was on the side of the road! I just love getting to see this beautiful country and the wonderful creatures that live on it.

Warmer Weather...

of course to Blake, means more time for ball.

Trent is turning 14!!!!!

Can you believe how time flies! Our Trent turns 14 tomorrow. He had a paintball party with his friends and family. The kids had a blast and got thoroughly dirty. A perfect party for boys.

Blake in all his gear, waiting to practice fire his gun.

My dad, Garry, giving me the "look". LOL

Trent and Andreas picking teammates.

S'more Time

To go with my Photo of the Day I have been trying to take. I got some fun ones of the kids eating smores. It is always such a nice treat on a cold night.

Our Dear Addy

This week has been a rough one for Addy and our family. Our beagle of seven years, got very sick on Sunday. Monday the vet diagnosed her with acute pancreatitus. After three days of IV fluids and meds she is now home and doing much better. This afternoon she even walked back to the vets office (less than two blocks away) and got her IV line removed.

Even MORE snow...

Yep, today we got another six inches or more. It is just unbelievable outside. Dan and Kati had a blast out on the 4-wheeler today though.