Swimming lessons -- week 1

Both Hailey and Ryan started swimming lessons on Monday at the Gymnastics center...they have a WONDERFUL swimming program, GREAT teachers, and a warm outdoor pool. The go Monday to Thursday for two weeks. Hailey is a "starfish" this time, and Ryan is a "goldfish".

This was Ryan's first real swimming lessons without us in the pool with him so I was a little nervous on how he would do. I had NOTHING to worry about!! He LOVED it from the first minute!! His teacher, Dennis, is so good with the kids too. If you ask Ryan about his teacher, he will tell you "I don't have a teacher, I have a teacher-boy." In just four days, Dennis has got Ryan to swim on his back, put his entire head in the water, and so much more. Ryan is very disappointed when it is time to go. Not sure what he will do when I tell him he only has 4 more times left. Good thing we have one more session this summer!!


Our little fish Hailey of course enjoyed her lessons as well. She is working on all her strokes and is now retrieving rings from the bottom of deeper water!! She loves to be in the water, and is happy that her friend "the other Hailey" is in lessons with her too!!!


More swimming pictures next week!!

House update (7/8 - 7/9 - 7/10)

Oh the house is getting closer to being done!!! On Tuesday, July 8th they finished up electrical, low voltage, mechanical and a few pieces of backing for the bathrooms (places to put the towel bars, etc.). We had a walk-through with Scott to make sure everything was set before insulation. It was!! :)

Wednesday, July 9th was insulation day!! What a difference that makes!!! Our current neighbors across the street own the insulation company and wow did they do an excellent job!!! He told us he has his best crew out there...with over 100 years experience. It really shows...it looks great. They even put some insulation in the 'window wall'...in between all those boards!! I couldn't believe that! Our front door is also on (but no one can use it...and they better not hurt it as it is PRETTY!!) and the service doors are on too.

Thursday, July 10th was a little more insulation and the delivery of sheetrock. I thought there would have been more, but I am sure it is more than enough for them!! :) Glad those guys will be doing it...because hanging sheetrock in a new house with NO AIR and you cannot open the windows as they are covered to keep them nice and it is JULY does not sound like fun to me!!! Today we also had a meeting at the house to figure out closet organizers, lights, the backyard patio, the front sidewalk and light, and measure for the cabinets!! It is getting serious now!!! The last picture is just of some of the many wires in the house. Everyone kept telling us "wow you have a lot of wire in here!"

The kids had fun at the house tonight too as they got to see a baby bunny and kept looking for it as it went into the garbage container. First picture you can see the bunny and the kids are just seeing it too. Second picture they are looking for him. Third picture they even got Chris and Karl looking for it too!!

Either tomorrow or Monday they will start hanging the sheetrock! YIKES! And the next Monday they start taping. Whoa...good thing I am sitting down!!

On anther note...we had one showing on Tuesday and just got a call for another one tomorrow (Friday). Not too bad since this is a very slow time, but we really want something to happen. Any positive thoughts would be greatly appreciated right now! :)

House Update (7/7)

FINALLY got back to the house to take pictures last night. Chris, Ed & John were all busy working on the low voltage (cable, phone, etc). Things are finishing up inside the walls and ceilings. Tomorrow (Wednesday) they insulate. Thursday they bring all the sheetrock inside. A week to sheetrock. A week to tape. Then PAINTING! It is going a little too fast for us!! :)

Here are a few pictures from last night....
(1) Boxes of cable ready to go!
(2) Step lights
(3) Ryan and his new friend Jillian. Isn't she ADORABLE?!?!
(4) The shingles are done.
(5) The house :)



Also, we had our first supper in the new house. Since Chris and Ed were working on the house, we brought supper out to them. The kids loved it...a picnic, at the new house, and it was Little Caesars pizza. What more could they ask for?!?!

Redemption

Sunday we had another "1st" in the wildlife department. We were just finishing up breakfast in the cabin and Chris said there were turkeys walking down the street. By the time I got the camera, they were walking down our driveway and between the cars (look by the headlight in my car in the first picture). Not sure how it happened, but Chris and Hunter went outside. Hunter got on their trail and then before I knew it two turkeys were running up the mountain and one way flying from Hunter!! I was so scared that Hunter was going to get him...but thankfully the turkey got up in a tree. Yes, Hunter treed a turkey!!! It was great...we got to take tons of pictures of the turkey, Hunter under the tree, and the kids got to look at the turkey too. Fun way to end our weekend at the cabin (and for Hunter to redeem himself too after the pheasant incident!!).

Saturday, July 5

First things first....Saturday was Mason's 1st birthday!! Happy Birthday little guy!! We cannot believe you are ONE already. Know we love you tons and wish we could have been with you on your birthday!!

Saturday was filled with activity again! We started the day by going back to the Nature Center/zoo again. Doran has never been there and we didn't get to see even 1/2 the animals on Thursday. When we got there, the new little coyote was out and they let Hailey and Ryan pet him. How cute is that?!?! :) They also got to talk to some bird ... Hailey thought that was so neat that the bird would actually TALK! Then we spent a lot of time with the bears. They have a new little cub that was playing with another bear. Before too long, Blueberry the bear was in the water playing around. The kids loved it (so did I!!).


We ended the day by going to Wild Bill for a little more fishing. They kids got there first lesson in fishing with "bugs" at the ends. It was a little harder, but still fun!


Probably more enjoyable than fishing was on our way there, we saw a BEAR!!! This was the first time I have saw one in the wild. Chris said it was the largest black bear he has ever saw!! Sorry the picture isn't that good, but it took a while to turn around, get the camera out, etc. It was still a fun thing to see (from INSIDE the car!).

4th of July

What a wonderful looong 4th of July weekend we had. Chris and Ryan went to the cabin on Tuesday night! Hailey and I stayed back in Billings as she had a birthday party for Jessica to go to on Wednesday afternoon. We were all up at the cabin before supper on Wednesday. It was so nice to have a looong weekend there and not be rushed at all!

Thursday I took the kids to the Red Lodge "zoo" -- Beartooth Nature Center. We haven't been there since last summer, so it was fun to go. We only had about 25 minutes there, and then we had to leave to go to the parade in downtown Red Lodge. The kids LOVE parades. It wasn't too long, but it was still fun for them. Then we stopped at the grocery store, and finally back to the cabin for lunch and naps. Chris was able to go hiking and fishing....and see a moose! Doug, Doran and Kari all came up too during the night.

Picture of Hailey by a bear at the zoo (too cute not to include here) and the 3 turkeys we almost hit on the way from the cabin to Red Lodge. They scared the you-know-what out of me when they all "gobble gobble" at us!!


Happy 4th of July from Hailey and Ryan!!!


We all went to the parade in Red Lodge on the 4th. That one is much larger and the kids had a lot of fun!!! Of course Ryan didn't like it when the floats would spray water at us. They did that last year and he must have really had a bad experience because every time he would see someone with a water gun he would ride behind Chris' back (see picture below). He did enjoy getting the candy and looking at the people/balloons/etc.

Hailey had fun of course too. She did grow tired of it, and just wanted to sit in the shade. Guess it was just too much for her :). She didn't even care if she got the candy anymore!!! I never ever thought that would happen to HER! Below is a picture of the cake she made (or help make). She was so proud of it...and loved making the flag! :) Great job Hailey!!


We ended the 4th by going to the edge of the mountain to watch the fireworks. It was a GREAT place to be...and the kids even watched some of them too! :) Late night, but a fun-filled 4th of July for everyone!

Hunter and the pheasant

Less than a 1/2 hour ago, Chris started yelling "there is a pheasant in the yard!!!" So, of course I grab the camera and go running. We took a few pictures of him outside the side of the house, besides Chris' office. Then the pheasant flew up to the top of the fence. We thought he would go into the neighbors yard, but the poor bird went in ours. Little did he know that HUNTER was sleeping out there!! Chris and I both ran into the kitchen to watch to see what would happen. As Hunter lay sleeping in the shade, the pheasant made his way through the landscaping, across the yard, and even close to Hunter!! And, what does our hunting dog do?!?! NOTHING but sleep!!! We even ran up to the upstairs bedroom to watch to see what would happen (and take pictures) and Hunter just stayed there. Then Chris opened up the window, told Hunter to "get the bird" and Hunter sat up, but that was all. That is one lucky pheasant!!! He walked most of the way to the back of the yard with Hunter in the yard with him. We might have to have Hunter checked out by the vet again!!

Big Splash with Jessica

Yesterday I took a 1/2 day of vacation to take Hailey and her friend Jessica to Big Splash Water park. Jessica has never been there, both girls LOVE to go swimming, Hailey has been begging to go to there, and Jessica is moving to Texas in less than a week and they wanted one last play date. It was a nice HOT day for them to be playing in the water...mid 90s...HOT! It was a great day. They were there for almost 3 hours, and did great playing together. Both of them loved going down the slides, and swimming in the pool together. It is sad that we have to see Jessica (and her mom too....my dear friend!) move so far away, but we are happy that they get to move back to their family. And, it will be fun to have friends in Texas...never know when we might show up to see them :)

Hailey & Jessica :


One picture of them going down the water slides :


Hailey was also excited when I told her that I booked her birthday party at Big Splash too! It will be nice to have it OUTSIDE our house...not as much to do to get ready or clean up, but still tons of fun for the kids!!! :)

House update (6/30)

Good progress on the house on Monday. The most noticeable...we have WINDOWS!! They look great too. A nice dark brown on the outside, and stained to match the cabinets on the inside. The top of the "wall of windows" ...4 windows...are not in yet, but everything else is.

What else happened?!?! The basement tub/shower came in (they couldn't find one in "bone" until now!), a picture of the window in the kitchen, and the water heater is in as well. Nothing too exciting, but still fun for us!! :)

They also started shingling the roof (you will need to click on the first picture to enlarge it to see the shingles) and another picture of the windows (and the 4 still missing! :)).


All the subs (plumbing, mechanical, and electrical...along with the shingle guys) are all there working today. Busy day at the house again!!