Weekend-ing

Wedd-ing

Kristi and Kevin's wedding was last Friday and provided a great opportunity to get together with friends. I didn't get any good pictures of the bride and groom together, but as you can see, Kristi was beautiful!

Carolyn and Kristi

The 5 Plus Carol

Carolyn with Wyatt, me, Charity, Jenny, Kristi, and PaulaAnd we mustn't forget the cake!!

Visit-ing

A few more visiting pictures from the weekend....

Lots and lots 'o babes!! Between December '07 and December '08 there will have been four new babies in the group!

My girls are so lucky to have Aunt Charity.

Jen modeling her new baby sling with Hadley. Baby Kroetch will be here in September!!!!!

Delous-ing

Yep, that's right. We recently had the highly enjoyable experience of head lice and spent all day Sunday trying to rid ourselves of them. Fortunately, only Guildy and I actually had them. Josh and Hadley didn't appear to have enough hair to provide adequate habitat for the little critters. But Josh was a sport and went through the whole process just to be on the safe side. Here we are in the "soaking your head with Listerine" phase of the project, which was followed by the vinegar stage, the meticulous combing stage, and the obsessive laundering and cleaning of the house stage. Good family fun!!

Toothy Grin

Hadley looks like such a kid now that she has teeth!She loves playing on the porch. There's something very novel about picking the shubs through the railing.And the neighbor dog's water bowl is a popular attraction as well!

Tubby Time!

Nothing cuter than tub pictures!

Bear Canyon

We spent a few hours last Saturday hiking in Bear Canyon east of Bozeman. It was your typical cool, scenic, pine-y smelling outing in the Gallatin Valley, but always a good time.

Uncle Lee and 'Cousin' Jim joined us.

Lee climbed a big rock, which looks way more impressive in the picture!Taking a break before heading back down.

A-Bee-Bop-a-Ree-Bop-a-Rhubarb-Pie

Those of you Prairie Home Companion fans out there will appreciate my recent gluten-free rhubarb pie success. My Mom gave me a gluten-free cookbook, and the recipes actually work! Pretty novel find in the gluten free world!

And for your reading enjoyment, here are the words from the Bee-bop-a-ree-bop Rhubarb Pie song:

"Yes, nothing gets the taste of fear and humiliation out of your mouth like Beebopareebop Rhubarb Pie.

But one little thing can revive a guy,

And that is home-made rhubarb pie.

Serve it up, nice and hot.

Maybe things aren't as futile as you thought.

Mama's little baby loves rhubarb, rhubarb,

Beebopareebop Rhubarb Pie.

Mama's little baby loves rhubarb, rhubarb,

Beebopareebop Rhubarb Pie."

Sure Shot Lakes

Last weekend, we went camping at Sure Shot Lakes about an hour west of Bozeman. The weather and the company were perfect! It has been so wet this year that everything was still green with lots of snow in the mountains.

Below is the group. The couple in the middle is Jeff and Bonnie. They have been good friends of ours since we were all in college. The other people are Bonnie's parent's, Bill and Mardie, and her brother, Bill.

Charity spent a great deal of time whittling and honing the perfect marshmallow roasting stick.And the kids had lots of fun. Hadley commemorated her first camping outing by crawling around in the grass, eating some dirt, and sleeping like a champ all bundled up. And of course, she enjoyed the attention of all the baby admirers. And, since there were new people to meet, Guildy was quite in her element. Bill and Mardie brought their dog, Rocky, but he was never actually on his leash. The aforementioned leash was used primarily by Guildy walking her pretend dog, the very patient and accomodating Bill. It worked well to wear her out, and she slept great!Nothing like the Montana outdoors in the summer!

Big Girl

Guildy is turning into such a kid. A couple days ago, she gave her Sucker (pacifier) away to Baby Wyatt. For those of you familiar with the Guildy/Sucker relationship, you know this is a huge deal. The first night was pretty rough, and the next day was nap-less, but the situation seems to be steadily improving. During the day, she proudly tells everyone she meets that she doesn't need it anymore, but when she gets tired, she is still a little weepy about it.

In addition to being Sucker-less, Guildy is also taking swimming lessons, which she is enjoying immensely. I'm not sure how much actual swimming she is picking up, but it's a start.

Below is a picture from our camping trip last weekend. Guildy proudly announced as we walked around the lake that she was "learning to be a hiker." And here are a few more recent Guildy quotes for everyone's enjoyment:
1. My parents visited a couple weekends ago, and Guildy was looking at my Dad's sleep apnea machine, wondering how it worked. When he went to turn it on, she covered her ears and said, "Is this going to be obnoxious?"
2. She was looking at one of Hadley's chew toys the other day and asked what it was. When I told her, she said, "Hmm. Clever."
3. Last weekend when we were camping, she very sweetly picked a flower and gave it to me. Then she said, "It's soft and beautiful, just like me!"
4. The other day, she peered into the toilet after I had rinsed one of Hadley's dirty diapers and said, "Hey, did Hadley crap in there?"

Nothing like a 3-year-old to keep you one your toes!!

Home Depot

One day last week, we journeyed to Home Depot to get a couple pots to plant some lettuce and spinach in. I just happened to have the camera in my purse, so I got a couple pictures of the girls having a fun time driving the cart.

Rob and Lacey's Wedding

My cousin Lacey got married last weekend here in Bozeman, so we got to see the whole fam-damly without even travelling. The wedding was up at Bridger Bowl, which is the local ski hill, at one of the lodges. As you can see, the weather and scenery were amazing!

I'm not sure who the other little girls are, but Guildy had a great time with them pretending to be brides:o)Gramma Susie and Hadley Susie having fun at the party!

Me and My Girlies

Before the wedding on Saturday, Josh said he wanted a picture of us "all dressed up before the kids destroyed themselves." While we were unable to get one of us all smiling and looking in the same direction, what we ended up with was cute.

Almost.....The hair fix.....Hadley trying to escape....

Not sure what we're all up to here....

And the hair pull, a classic little sister dirty trick!

Lewis and Clark Caverns

Josh's Dad and stepmom and little sisters came through town last week, so we got to spend a day together touring Lewis and Clark Caverns and visiting. Below is the whole group at the entrance of the cave. The grown ups are Mike, Lisa, Josh, and me. The kiddos are Sydney, Cade, Guildy, and Hadley.Sydney, Cade, and Guildy"Hey, wanna get milk shakes after this?"As you might imagine, cave photography is challenging for the novice like myself, so the photos don't do justice to the cave. We were there 5 or 6 years ago, and since then, they have updated the lighting in the last part of the tour. The new lighting shows the colors way better, so that was a pleasant surprise for the repeat visitors.