Kids, Cows, and Sunsets...Oh My!

Another beautiful sunset.


These cows belong to "Buster" Brown. He has crappy fences, so they are always in the road. I meet them on my way to work.

Here is apicture I took for Christmas cards last year!!! Just found that film!

Gene and Cameron

Gene and Cameron visited with the fam at Mom and Dad's house in Iowa.

Boys

Kenzie, so handsome!

Bradford, showing his silly face!

Looly Doodle Muffin Head

Prom-fantastic Looly, and Ken -oops, Mike!

Prom-fantastic Looly!
Christy, almost a smile....













Christy, on our trip out west, with attitude.

More Mount Rushmore

The "Montana" Boys!
The family, at Mount Rushmore.
Great shot of the Presidents!

Here is the "Avenue of Flags" at Mount Rushmore. Wonderful place!

The Romantic Old West...

We love the view from our deck. The sunsets are so beautiful and romantic....sigh.

Our house, in the middle of our street...

Here is our lovely house in Joplin, Montana. Leslee has dubbed it "Janice". Kathy took these pictures while she was here visiting. I will have to stand in the neighbor's yard and take one of the front!

Kids at Mount Rushmore

They really are having fun! (Can't you tell?)

Michelle and Will, still no smiles.

Looly, Boop, and Moose

I won't smile, and you can't make me!

Mount Rushmore

"On the way" to Montana, we stopped at Mount Rushmore. What an awesome sight! We hiked around in the heat for as long as we could, then retired greatfully to our airconditioned vehicles! We hope to meet more of our friends and family here in the future and stay longer.

Fort Benton

This is one of the most beautiful spots on earth. Dubbed the "birthplace of Montana", Fort Benton is a quaint, scenic, little town on the banks of the Missouri River.

More Horses

More baby pictures of the horses.

Horses! (For Anna Carrier)

Thanks to my new friends, Gayle and Jim Sutton, here are pictures of their horses and new foals. Aren't they the sweetest?

Anna, I will take you here to "hang out" when you come to visit. Maybe you can teach your Daddy how to be a "Cowboy!"

Tiber Dam

Randall began his job at the Tiber Dam today! He works for the Bureau of Reclamation. He finally landed one of "those government jobs" and is an equipment operator and jack of all trades for them. Just look at that place. Do you think a fisherman will survive working in such disgraceful conditions??

The whole Fam-Damly

This picture was taken at my Mom and Dad's house in Ames, IA by my childhood friend, Gene Merritt. We are all road grime and weary, but happy! We had a great trip across America and a wonderful visit with Mom, Dad and Aaron. Gene and his son Cameron came over to see us and have a "picnic"...however, the near tornado quashed that idea!

Travis (aka Moose)

Travis, affectionately known by all who know and love him as "Moose", is doing well with the move. He is currently working at the local grocery store. He looks pretty sweet in that red apron! Trav is also playing football. He's busy with pre-season practices and weight lifting routines. The coach, upon seeing Travis for the first time, leapt to his feet and yelled, "YES!" He's pretty happy with Travis's size! Travis has a few new friends, Ian, Bill, Ryan, Ashley and Jenny. (Pics of Trav in the sweet apron, coming soon) Here is a pic of him with his Jackman Prom date.

Christy

Christy is starting to get used to life out here. She misses her friends back in Maine. She has been keeping busy watching her brothers, cleaning houses, and working as a "runner" on a farm.

Here is a better picture of Christy with her brother Kenzie. It's hard to tell that he adores her!

Christy maintains her own website with awesome artistic photos and writes some pretty wonderful poetry.

I love her, she is my heart.

Home!

We arrived in Montana, safe and sound, on June 24th. We stayed in a local motel for two nights. I'll have the kids' write a post about that experience. They all dubbed it the "Mexican Crack Shack". We purchased our house and settled down to unpack. Now, 6 weeks later, we are settled in, for the most part! Michelle and Will have moved to a house in Chester, where they are doing nicely. Michelle is working for the Liberty County Sheriff's Office as a dispatcher, Will is working at the Liberty County Nursing Home as a CNA, Randall is working for Bureau of Reclamation as an Engineering Equipment Operator at the Tiber Dam, Travis works at Mike's Grocery Store, and Christy will begin waitressing at Spud's Cafe when school starts. Bradford will start kindergarten at Whitlash school, and Kenzie will attend pre-school at the Methodist church on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Michelle and Will

Michelle and Will are doing great! Michelle will head to Helena for training the third week of August. The training is courtesy of the Liberty County SO. Michelle is learning how to handle all sorts of emergencies, and works with a great group of people.

Will just started at the nursing home this week. We'll post more about his experiences as he tells us!

Will has, however, worked a few weeks as a "farmer"!! He assisted a local farmer with his wheat harvest. Good honest work!

Kenzie

Kenzie is almost 3! He begins pre-school this year at the Chester Methodist Church. He will spend many of his days with Shellbuddy as well. Kenzie has learned to pedal his new tricycle this summer, and is brown from the Montana sun!

Bradford

Bradford, although still "only" 4, will begin school this year. This is all thanks to the forward thinking folks on the Whitlash School Board!

Bradford is very excited to be a "big kid" and go to school. He is especially thankful to his Grammy for sending him a cool LLBean backpack!

Bradford has also learned to ride his bicycle without the training wheels! He and Will go for bike rides on the field roads near our house. Lookout world!