A Hop Across the Sidewalk

Yes call us crazy but we just did another move.....the house next door came up for sale. They tried to sell it for a month but didn't. J got real friendly with the owner and found out they were considering renting it out for the same price as what we were paying at the duplex. It had been empty almost a year but they had been doing alot of indoor work on it. So the decission was made and we decided to hop across the sidewalk into a house & yard. Enjoy the walk through:

Our old abode. Nice duplex. Just come on down the stairs of 626 and walk across the sidewalk and you are at our new address 622 Parkhill Dr, Billings, MT 59102.

Ta----Da! This is the front of the house. Saydi Dog enduring her 4th move.

The back yard, again with Saydi enjoying the sunshine. The sidewalk leads to the garage

Which brings us to J's favorite....a 4 car garage. Nice and roomy for cars & storage. It's what sold J. Come on inside..... (and not in any particular order we have....)

The Master bedroom....

The upstairs hall bathroom....

The living room. The couch is the only place Saydie can 'perch' to see the outside activities.

The other side of the living room and to the right....(oops I forgot to take a picture of the dining room which is a major part of the living room...) Oh well another time...maybe or just come visit.

The kitchen and a little table nook in the right hand corner.

Moving on down the stairs into the basement....most houses around here have basements.

The spacious Family room with books and toys to accommadate grandkids .

Looking the other direction in the family room into the TV & computer area.

A peek at the laundry/sewing/craft room. Lots of cupboards & shelves.

One little shelf that's a quandary for me. Just as you are coming out of the laundry room there is a door in the wall that you can open and inside are these very narrow shelves. They are about 2 1/2 inches in width with 6 shelves built into the wall. Any ideas what I can use these for......?

Moving on down the very short hall in the basement we come to the spare 'ooom'. A future bed will also occupy this space for all our family & friends to come and visit

Doug's abode also in the basement.

Down stairs bathroom.

Moving back upstairs and across from the master bedroom is J's cubby. His den which as you can see still needs to be organized...it may take some time.

So any -who there you have it. We so appreciate Tony, Debbie, Max, even Ryan who did his 1 year old part of smiling, Mike & Nicole, all who planned their visit to our place just in time to also help us move. Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you!! I gots to admit it was the easiest move we've ever made. The owner let us start moving in two weeks before so we just made daily trips with stuff in our arms & laundry baskets and then the Elders quorm helped move the 'big' stuff on the last saturday of May. Our goal in 2011 is: NO MOVE ...... we'll see how that goes!!

A visit from the kiddos!!

May was a busy month! A fun visit from Tony, Debbie & boys which included a weekend camping trip to Mt Rushmore, a move into another house (to be blogged next), and a quick visit with Mike & Nicole on Memorial Day weekend. Here's pics of some of the adventure:Mike & Nicole escaping Rexburg for a quick visit to Billings. Our visit included a hike around Phipps Ranch a popular but challenging FOLF course. It's on one of the Rims near Billings and even tho we didn't play FOLF there, it was quite a hike. They helped us do the final moving, and we even found time to do a quaint little picnic on the river front thanks to Dairy Queen just before they had to take off again.

Ryan exploring the kitchen cabinets...a favorite...open shut them...open shut them... A trip to the Picture-o-graphs near Billings. Max discovering the echo and the pictures & of course the rocks.

We went with a cute family in our Ward. Debbie & Chantel were talking like old friends in no time.

A neat pictures of two moms enjoying a nice little outing, adapting lunch with 2 babes. (Grandma's out discovering spiders (eek) with Max and new friends.)

A BIG BIRTHDAY BOY HELLO!! A whole 1 year old already...Ryan

Ryan discovering his cupcake and Max discovering the loot.

Tony catching the moment on Kodak.

J & Doug hanging around for the ice-cream.

Sadie dog wondering if this treasure is something to eat.

Grandma can you be anymore slower getting this thing opened. Check out the concentration on all faces.

Max deciding to help to hurry things up. Sadie Dog realizing it's not food loses interest.

Thats my builder! More bristle blocks to enjoy and create with.

The KOA cabin near Mt. Rushmore. Grandpa and his boys enjoy a nice swing on the porch. A most favorite thing for Grandpa. He even invited me to swing with him once.

Road trip...we were able to rent a vehicle big enough for all of us to take one car to Mt Rushmore. We were filled to the brim, but enjoyed being close together.

A favorite while visiting us in Billings was a place to jump, play & explore Nama & Dampa's bed. Here's Ryan discovering himself.

Here's Max who also discovered my old girls camp camping hat.

Max was such a trooper helping us move stuff. His reply when asked to help was..."Sure ...no prob-em!"

As we moved stuff Max made a hide out in an empty cupboard. He'd climb in and then call for Ryan to find him. Since Ryan was such a good cupboard opener..many times he'd be successful in finding his older brother. After they left and we were in doing the final move I discovered a little stash of toys tucked away in the cupboard where Max & Ryan played. Needless to say it was a great adventure!!

Missionary Mom Day Call

We got the mother's day phone call from Stacey. It was great to talk to her again. She sounds so confident and happy she is out serving. She's having lot's of great experiences. She has been out 9 months already...We were able to skype in Tony & Debbie and Mike & Nicole to chat with her also. We had Stacey on speaker phone and everyone else on skype. Ya gotta love the world of technology. Here are a few of her pictures & stories.....
Me & Hna Morales at the St George Temple April 2, 2010. "We got to go to the St George temple to do a session.... Our ward mission leader drove us down. This is a really cool temple and we sat in the celestial room for a little while until almost everyone had left and I was sitting on a bench near the stairs when I heard a creek like someone was walking down them. I turned to see who was there and there wasn't anyone....cool...I love temples."

At the entrance to Cove Fort April 26, 2010. We got to visit this fort and another. Apparently the Hinckley family owned it and restored it. It was like the "motel 6" for travelers traveling between SLC and the southern homesteds. Pretty neat. (Stacey took lots of pictures.) One of the cool stories you'll have to check out on this web site http://www.quiltwalk.com/ for all you quilters out there. It's a story about how quilts saved a pioneer town on the verge of starving and the celebration in commemoration of it each year.

Charlize's Baptism The work is amazing. Stacey says they are averaging about 15 teaching appointments a week and she is sending home a baptism program about every other letter. This area hadn't had sister missionaries in it for 5 years. They get most of their contacts by member referral. Keeps them very busy because they also travel to three other towns each week to teach.

District #4 last group shot. Stacey's mission has been split and they are still organizing the division. She says "apparently there aren't enought sisters down at the St George Visitor center to cover it, so they are keeping some sisters from the Provo mission on loan. So I really won't find out where I'm going to be for a few more months. Us full pros spanish speaking sisters are going to be on loan until more sisters arrive for the St. George Visitor center. Elder Laurie who is an AP said that since I have so much time left in all likely hood I will be pulled back to Provo at some point. I know I will be staying in Beaver at least one more transfer because Hna Morales has been here since Dec."

My first dog attack story...."I was officially chased by a dog...big black fluffy one...We were up contacting a house up in the mountain. and we decided to park the car at the end of their driveway and walk up it...first mistake. Then as we got close to the house one of the dogs came around the corner. So we slowly turned around and started walking back to the car. Then Hna Morales turned to look at them and got scared so she took off running. I had to run at that point. So when we reached the fence line I tripped over my own feet and the gravel. My hand caught the fence as I went down. My hand has a pretty bad cut but luckly one of our Ward Mission leaders lived nearby so I was able to bandage it up there. I think I will survive....

"Awesome" Doug (hee hee)

Doug had another birthday...something I'm pretty sure happens every year, but still...... If you read face book you understand my title.An trip down memory lane with a card made by Stacey in 1985.

Camping with kids has it's challenges and adventures. Doug loved the dirt. He was too cute to scold.

But he was always for helping clean up if he could reach the water. He helped clean the bench and promptly cleaned the ground as well.

"Help Dad......save me!"

Dougs birthday this year ended the day with a macro thin candle placed strategically into a twinkie sandwiched between two scoops of Garcia Cherry ice cream.. Happy birthday. We love you!!

Today's a Debbie Day!

So today is Debbie day...!! ♪♪ You've had a birthday shout horray....... This is our Debbie when she first decided to join our 'tribe.' A good choice! (for us). I'm glad that one of the reasons we had to move to Tacoma was because Debbie lived there and Tony needed to find this wonderful 'help-meet'.

Debbie has a great love for books, all kinds, all collections and is passing that love off to a cutie guy.

Always into trying new things. I love this picture of Debbie going for the crazy, Max enjoying the fun and Ryan not so sure he wants that pumpkin transformed.A wonderful love of mommy hood with two little boys being molded into happy, learning, energetic little people.

We love you Debbie and are so blessed you are a part of our family. Happy birthday!!

Lions & weasels & bears...OH MY!

Doug just finished another semester of school. He is attending MSU College of Tech. One of his instructors invited him & his class mates to an outdoor BBQ out on his property in the wild & wooly Stillwater Valley of Montana. It's about an hour away from our place. Doug didn't end up going because it actually rained & snowed that day, but I got a kick out of the discription of the place:

"Here are the instructions for going to the Urbaniak Place in the Stillwater Valley. Before you go, you should know some things!....There are bears, mountain lions, bobcats, coyotes, wolves, mice, squirrels, rats, chipmunks, weasels, rattlesnakes, bull snakes, elk, deer, grouse, owls, eagles, flies, bees, and more on the property. Basically, you are entering a construction zone on the edge of one of the great American Wildernesses. Be prepared, things are living there besides us......."

Hey cute boys!!

I got a really cute birthday card from my favorite little boys. Just needed to share some reasons why they're so loved. Here they are playing 'tunnel' in the camping sleeping mat.

"Max, I see You!" Max with his new "knocklers"

My creative artist at work...check out the new paint apron.

"Hey Ryannnnnn, baby Ryyyyyyan?"

You little climbing monkey! Can you be more cuter??