Red Lodge Part 3

Chill. That's what we do a lot in Red Lodge and we make it look good!!! Keep in mind this is with children so the amount of just sitting around and doing nothing is actually not that much. We had a BBQ with Justin's Aunt and Uncle and the children played with rocks and entertained themselves while the adults chatted away. There are a few pictures below of the children eating because feeding three little ones at the same time is worth taking a picture...hard work people! Although, I had the easy job because Oma and Opa love to feed their grandchildren. They deserve the applause :)

Waiting patiently...for a toddler that is!!

Best Buds hanging out

Little Miss Phoebe is a crack up! She loves to smile for the camera.

Did you know that rocks in Red Lodge are just as cool as the ones in our yard?

Masters of the Grill

Sweet Cousins

Helpful cousins

Do you see the names on the side of the wagon? Sweet story about those-stay tuned!

Hugging cousins-HA! This is what Phoebe did when I asked her to hug Noah.

I can't believe the little baby boy that made Nichole a Mommy is growing up so fast. He is going into 1st grade-that's just crazy to me. 

Our time together was special and there's a lot more to come. Up next...a day on the lake with some pretty funny pictures of grown adults enjoying some time to act like children-responsibly of course :)

Summer Days

Our "official" summer days are coming to an end as my first day back to work (that I get paid for that is...;) begins this Thursday. Right now I'm soaking up all the water playing, backyard swinging, and adventure going I can with Mister Noah. He loves loves loves water and has a blast running through the sprinkler. Summer, I will miss you, but it's hard to get too bummed when I know great things are to come (like a new 3rd grade class, Fall, Christmas, new phases with Noah, the list goes on...) Did I just mention Christmas?? How dare I jump that far ahead. Here's a fun summer video and some water fun!

Giants Game

Justin and I were thrilled at the opportunity to go to our 2nd Giants game of the season with my parents on Saturday. Auntie Chris made it possible by coming up for the day to watch Noah. She loves spending time with him and we are very thankful for her! It was a GREAT day! We rode the ferry over, perused the farmer's market, ate super healthy food, enjoyed fabulous seats, even better company, and topped it off with dinner at the oldest bar/grill in San Francisco.  We came home to hear that Noah and my Aunt had so much fun that she didn't want to put him to bed-love!

So there's a big ongoing joke we have with Murray. We take pictures when he falls asleep-hehee! He's a big fan of 10 minute power naps and we catch him in the act most times. Can you guess who began this picture taking? Yup...Justin.

}

This time he put the seat in front of his face as we were joking about it all. Didn't work so well-HA!

Red Lodge Part 2

This post is about Day 2 and Day 3 of our trip to Montana. Day 2 was just us and on Day 3 Noah saw his cousins again (he was only 3 months the first time, so it felt like the first time in the sense that he was able to interact). I was so so fun to watch them all interact and check each other out that first morning together.

One of the things I enjoy about being out in the country is riding the four wheeler. I didn't grow up with one, so for me it's super fun to ride up to the barn on it, etc. I was looking forward to sharing this same excitement with Noah. He LOVED it! So off we went on the four wheeler up to the barn to "shoot the course" with everyone. "Shooting the course" means we walked around the property and the men used their bow and arrows shooting at fake, yet life size animals. Opa (Justin's dad) spends a lot of time working on the course, making paths, setting up *special bridges, and much much more. Justin really looks forward to this when we visit. Noah liked it, but he was more a fan of walking around the barn and hanging out with the chickens. The terrain on the course is tricky for his age.

Let's talk about those fun cousins...

Noah adored Kasten (he's going into 1st grade) and bonded with him right away, and Kasten was SO great with him. He kept saying things like, "Come Noah and I'll show you..." "You do it this way Noah." Noah just watched in amazement and played all sorts of games/activities with him. Phoebe, Kasten's sister, is almost 2 and has such a fun personality. She and Noah played more "around" each other in true toddler form. It was so special watching all the children be around their Oma and Opa together.  They ate meals together, played inside, played outside, hiked, and much much more. We made good memories together :)

First ride!!!!!

Remember that *special bridge...here it is...so sweet!

Opa

Daddy

Our 2nd ride!!

Their first meeting...Look at Noah checking him out.

Now he's checking out what he's doing...

And now, well, he's super impressed and adoring his cousin. Also, meet Ruby, the dog. 

Noah loved her too!

Siblings catching up and comparing their muscles, more specifically their quads-HA! Nichole is getting into road biking so they were chatting it up about that too :)

Our first morning together...look at that sweet Opa with little Miss Phoebe.

First time all hanging out with Opa (on this trip)

Days 2 and 3 were a blast and so much more fun was to come! Stay tuned...

Hey there Eyebrows

We BBQ'd at my parents house last night and Noah had fun entertaining us at the dinner table. My mom was making funny faces with Noah and making him belly laugh.  After just listening and enjoying the noise I looked over and noticed that he was actually trying to mimic what she was doing. This "mimicking" turned out to be quite a funny face. In the video below you can see it if you focus in on his face/eyebrows. For some reason the video doesn't show how hard he was trying to imitate her, which was the really funny part. This went on for a long time and we were all crying by the end of it! Memories like this just make me smile inside and out.

Not only did Noah entertain us, but my mom impressed us with her fruit salad addition to the dinner. It was so fun eating the fruit this way and I feel like it made it extra juicy.

Did I just say extra juicy? Oh well, moving on...

Red Lodge Part 1

Noah took his first trip to Red Lodge last week and had a blast! Justin's parents live in Red Lodge and it's where Justin calls home. I really wanted to get Noah out to Montana because I don't know how much longer his parents will have their Ranch :( 

You already know that our airplane ride there was fabulous and went as well as it could have (way to go little man), and you'll hear about our trip home soon enough (can you say OPPOSITE). 

We arrived in Red Lodge and Noah dug right into the toys, food, and the cozy home. Oma and Opa had toys waiting that included trains and balls, so of course, Noah just went for it. They had candy dishes waiting for me-shocking I know!  Before I knew it the boys were building towers and knocking them over (Noah's favorite). We had a nice dinner all together and before long it was time for bed. The kid was tuckered out from the day and slept really well that night. All in all, the time change did not effect him that much (phew). 

Our first full day included a lazy morning, playing outside, going for a small hike, and a spaghetti dinner-yum!

I know it's not a great picture, but Noah loved playing the piano the whole week :) 

I love my little musician. 

He had an endless supply of Oma's golf balls

Noah thought it was fun to throw things into the river and watch them get pulled away by the fast current (this is no Russian River folks, so he thought it was pretty cool)

Exploring on our hike with Opa

Smiling with Oma, well, at least Oma's smiling!

Out of Character

I don't usually post things like this, but as I was reading a blog this morning I came across this neat organization and I wanted to share it with you. 

There is an organization called Sevenly that partners with a different nonprofit organization every week to make a difference, raise awareness, and of course, money! They create unique and one of a kind t-shirts and products that they sell exclusively on their site. Each time you purchase something they give that weeks nonprofit organization $7. That seems so cool to me!

Some of the charities they have partnered with are 1Love,  a charity that helps place abandoned babies and toddlers in a nursery where they will receive love, protection, and the essentials they need to survive. They have also partnered with charities that bring awareness and support to woman's breast cancer, autism, depression, international thirst relief, helping hungry families and so much more.

Not that I need one more website to check out on a weekly basis (you know, with all my free time), but I think this one is definitely worth it, don't you? 

Check them out!

Go Check Out Their Site

You need some pictures you say??

 Here's what we have been up to in beautiful Montana! We leave for home today and I look forward to getting back into a routine. Visiting with family and vacationing in the quiet countryside is always a joy, as is the return to my own bed :)

Shooting the archery course (made by Justin's dad)

Mamma shooting a target (I wasn't too bad)

Hiking scenery

Pictures of our trip coming soon!