Heading South

We are heading south and leaving the great white north behind. We are moving to Utah in less than a week. We are so excited to be close to family and old friends. We have to leave before Seth because school starts so early and we want Maia to start off the year in her new school. Seth will follow about 6 weeks later. We are excited for the new adventure.
We will not miss the winters, but we will miss some great friends we have made. We are looking forward to shopping and restaurants being in close proximity, warm weather and plentiful sun, and less call for Seth.
We will send the new address when we are settled which may take a while because we are renting until our home in Montana sells. Oh the fun.

6:00 am Wake up Call

I love easy going, unplanned summer days! The kind where you get to sleep in and take a nap. Now that school is out instead of waking up at 7:00 am. Sophie has been waking up between 5:30 and 6:00 am.!!! Why?! OH WHY! It has warmed up here to a scorching 70 degrees, so today we set up our deluxe wading pool to cool off in. Three hours later it had a crack in it. We will try to patch it with our super human parent powers. Sophie just figured out how to climb the stairs. She looks out the window at the top of the landing to try and find Maia who is usually out playing on the monkey bars.

Early Morning Expeditions


Chillin in the Sun



Looking for Maia

Winter Wonderland

Beautiful Spring Weather in Northern Montana


While most of you are enjoying warm spring weather we are still experiencing winter. It has been snowing for the past three days, about two feet so far. I spent a half an hour shoveling our drive way and walk way this afternoon. I was wearing my pink plaid pajama pants tucked into snow boots to give my neighbors something to talk about. Two weeks ago we went to Lethbridge Canada, just an hour and a half away, to see the Galbraiths. We had fun swimming at the indoor water park at the Ramada and went out to dinner with Mike and Kelly that night. We loved seeing you guys! Sophie is finally sleeping like an angel. I have finally trained her to fall asleep by herself. HALLELUJAH!

Canada with Mike and Kelly



Sleeping Beauty

Maia's March

Yeah! Maia turned eight! We were looking forward to Maia's party almost as much as she was. Charlie's Pizza was the perfect location for Maia and twenty five of her closest friends to celebrate "the big 8". Everyone had fun. A few tears were shed when one six year old boy asked for money to play the video games lining the wall and was told no. $4 video games in this economy are definitely a no-no. We had 20 balloons as table decorations intended to be party gifts for the guests, but they were all tied up and I did not have scissors or time to cut them loose and hand them out. They ended up floating all around our house. The Mylar variety float forever.
Maia's Party


Three weeks later Maia was baptized by her dad. It was such a wonderful occasion marred only by the tantrum I had after Seth locked me out of the house. Here is the scoop: I thought we were all driving together as a family. Seth had packed up both cars. Maia was in his car and the cake and cookies were in mine. We walked out of the back door together and he proceeded to get into his care. "Aren't we driving together?" I asked. "No. See you in a minute." Confused I started to put Sophie into her care seat , then realized that I did not have my keys. I tried opening the back door, but found it locked. With Sophie in my arms I marched over to the church and down the hall to where my unsuspecting husband was checking the font. Then I proceeded to let him have it. Poor guy. He really did not deserve it.

Maia's Baptism Day


Sophie and her favorite snack


Sophie Crawling

Goodly Parents

My parents flew up to visit on January 1st for a few days. Shortly after we drove the 2 hours from the airport to our home, a large snowstorm came through and dropped about 2 feet. In addition to that the wind was howling and the temperature did not get higher that -20 for the time they were here. Despite the cold and the weather, we had a great time. I am so thankful for my parents. They are such great examples. They are currently in Malaysia on a mission and will be there for the next 18 months. It will be their 3rd mission since I was in medical school. We miss them very much, but I am so thankful for their faith, example, and service.

Christmas Pictures

We had a very simple Christmas this year. Seth was on call, so it was just our family of four. On Christmas day we added a few and had the missionaries and a few other people from our church over for dinner. We are so blessed and thankful for all we have.

Sophie and the tree




MAIA AND SOPHIE