I didn't realize how long it had been since I last posted something here. No, we didn't fall off the face of the earth! We're still going strong.

Brian took some time off to go look for elk. He found lots of sign but no luck getting a shot off this year. The good news from hunting season is that all 3 of the boys got their first deer this year! They are all very satisfied with that and Brian was ecstatic. So we all felt the season was successful. I went out also, but didn't get a chance at anything this year. I guess that's why it is called hunting. My dad was wishing we'd gotten some more deer at his place than we did. He planted some evergreen trees about 5 years ago and had been babying them along. This year the deer stripped all the needles off as well as the bark...he was quite upset with them. They can sure be destructive.

Daniel's football team lost their first game in playoff action this year. I think they were a bit surprised. Daniel came home somewhat dejected. That lasted until he realized that basketball would be starting soon! (I thing maybe 2 minutes or so...) He's now up at the school every afternoon in full swing with basketball practice! Good thing, too. Some of these boys around here didn't know what to do with themselves without some type of sports going on! : )

I have no really fun law enforcement stories to tell at the moment. Brian claims it has been too cold lately for anyone to be out doing anything too exciting. Below zero temperatures slow everything down.

The annual Augusta Christmas rendezvous is on tap for the 3rd of December so the store is having an open house in conjunction with that. The boys' classes are all doing fund raising of some sort or other during the rendezvous. It's a lot of fun and gets people in the mood for Christmas. We pull in people from the Helena and Great Falls areas if the roads aren't bad.

My kitchen is still pink. I'm really hoping to get some time to get it painted before Christmas but my days are busier than I anticipated. Sure wish I could take some time off work, but that would mean I'd have no paycheck to pay for the paint. Daniel suggests that I just win the lottery...I told him I'd probably have to purchase a ticket to do that, plus have some really extraordinary luck.

That's some of the latest happenin's here.

Quite a challenge

I had to let you all know that Daniel's team did not win their big game last Saturday. However, both teams worked hard and challenged each other. I think it was a good thing all in all. I am sure some of the boys would disagree. And my son did quite will supporting his team from the sidelines. I told him he did a good job holding down the grass!

We got some snow and some rain and some colder weather. I'm hoping that will send the elk out of the mountains and perhaps one will land in our freezer. Hunting season opens this Sunday and people around here are gearing up! I'll post more details later.

Dangerous times abound

Brian was called down to the valley on Thursday. A drunk driver had tried to evade a deputy resulting in a car chase. Another deputy came to help and the drunk crashed right into him. We didn't know how bad it was when Brian left. It turns out that our deputy has a broken pelvis and broken tail bone but he will be okay, last we heard he won't need surgery or anything so that is an answer to fervent prayers sent up the last couple of days. Our deputy's car had side impact bags and the roll bar which helped save him from more serious harm, thank the good Lord. The drunk driver is also in the hospital, he has had to undergo some surgery, Brian has to put in some time down there doing guard duty at his room...sounds like tons of fun. But it just reminded me that Brian will have to face some of those dangerous times...I am thankful he is stationed here and he has not had to face much of that in the northern part of the county. Please continue to keep him in your prayers. I wish we could get some sense into some of these people and show them the harm they cause with drinking and driving but not much seems to help. Some people just seem bent on destroying themselves and taking others along with them.

On a happier note, Daniel's football team has gone 6-0 this season and I am told that puts them in the play-offs. This coming Saturday, we face another team in our division that is undefeated so it's already being hyped as a show-down. This is the same team that beat Augusta last year in the state championship. I hope it is a good game and both teams play well and no one gets hurt. Of course, it will be nice if Augusta can win. We'll be cheering our hearts out.

Our kitchen is still pink. I haven't had much extra time to get a coat of paint over it. My schedule should open up a bit at the beginning of November. I am hoping to find my winter coat and some pairs of pants I have stored away somewhere. We got a new fridge so that will require a bit of adjusting in the kitchen also. It's quite a bit bigger, more suited for a family of 5, with 3 boys who tend to eat all I can place in front of them ... as long as it does not contain too many green beans.

The fall colors here have been absolutely beautiful. We've had lots of people in the store who have been out for drives and are enjoying the crisp fall days that haven't been too cold yet. We can't complain...that's for sure. Now, though, we need more rakes for picking up leaves. There's always something on the agenda and we can't say that we are bored! So that's what's happenin' now! You all take care.

Lawnmower racing?

The latest news from our great city is fair weather, bowhunting, and (you're gonna get a kick out of this) lawnmower racing. Yes, we actually had an "organized" lawnmower race through town here this past weekend. I got the news second-hand, I have to admit I was unaware that such an auspicious event was to occur. I did catch a glimpse of one driver dressed as a nun. It was reported back to me that the pitstops were at all 3 of the local watering holes! What a kick. No wrecks or injuries were reported. Now that's some exciting news!!!

The football team has enough players to pull together a JV team this year so there was a JV game this past Monday. Daniel's team won handily, 58-0. Daniel received a pass for a touchdown and sacked the quarterback a couple of times. He ran some very good blocks and carried the ball for some yardage on the ground. I thought he did very well and he was excited to have a lot of playing time. 6-man football is pretty fast-paced and lots of fun to watch. Some of the rules are different so I must admit, I get confused at times. But it was nice to see that Daniel is doing well and very much enjoys the game.

Joshua and Joseph are taking Spanish this year (I think it is for the whole year but it may be a quarter class, we'll see. We're already halfway through the first quarter). They came home and were telling us that they were learning the words for different colors in Spanish and Brian started messing around, making up words in "Spanish" that were similar to English words and Joshua looked at him and corrected him saying "Dad, not all Spanish words are cognates" then went on to explain to us what exactly cognates are. What a kick! Joe insists that he's not very good at it but he doesn't seem to have any problem holding his own with Josh. Daniel's class is reading "To kill mocking bird" in English and they have to keep a journal. One assignment was to decorate the cover of the journal...of course, he had to go with a dead bird on the cover. He assured me that the majority of the class went along with that particular theme. I can just imagine what that classroom is like...at least they are reading something worthwhile.

No really fun and exciting law enforcement stories to pass on this week. We'll see if people do anything odd in the next couple of weeks...just boy stories for now! That's what's happenin'!

Fall must be here

We are in the midst of a cooling off here. The talk around town is that there may be 2 feet of snow in the mountains by Sunday. Brian has big plans for a bow hunting trip...it may be delayed if he can't get to where he needs to go. But, we are thankful for any moisture we can get. We had a fire blow up Wednesday but the rain we got yesterday and today has pretty much taken care of it. There are about 50 summer cabins in the area of the fire and as far as I know, none of them were damaged because the rain came at the right time. Whew!

So, the signs of fall are cooling temperatures, hunting trips and football. Dan's team was supposed to go to Belfry for a football game tomorrow but it was cancelled. Apparently a couple of Belfry's players were injured in a car accident so they don't have enough players. Must have been another very small team to cause them to cancel completely! Again, I'm not complaining because that means that they don't have to travel so far. Next weekend they need to go to Reedpoint anyway...that's almost as far.

So we are already 3 weeks into the school year. They twins have learned that their Science teacher expects them to have their papers turned in on time (good thing to learn early). Dan has found that he can find answers to questions in places other than his textbook (fancy that!). Brian has been working overtime with the fire and with getting called out. I am still amazed at how mean people can be to each other. Didn't they listen to John Lennon? I'm still working most of the time and still walking around boxes and living with a pink kitchen....blech!

Summer over? Already!

Boy, did that ever fly by! We didn't do much of anything but work and move and buy and sell a house and watch the boys grow but it all went so fast! The boys started school on Monday. Joe and Josh think 7th grade will be okay. Daniel keeps saying he can't believe he's a sophomore already! I think they still all like school, at least they were all looking forward to the beginning of the year, or maybe they just enjoyed the shopping...

Daniel successfully finished driver's ed and passed his exam this past Monday. He can't wait for the "real" license to arrive in the mail! He is so very excited about it and we are so proud of him...it's a real turning point in a young man's life. Joe and Josh are already talking about their turn at the whole thing. Thank goodness that's at least a couple years away, I need time to adjust first!

Brian and I both got our motorcycle endorsements and are dreaming of cruising the highways. We'll see if we can't scrape enough together to purchase a couple of bikes. Brian's dreaming of a Harley but I'm not sure if that will come to fruition or not this year.

I started some new medicine for my arthritis and I seem to be responding quite well. I'm very excited about it, haven't felt this good in a while.

Daniel is playing football this year. Joseph and Joshua are filling the role as managers for the team. They say it pretty much just involves making sure there's plenty of water for all those guys. There are 14 boys on the team and it is 6-man football. Pretty fast moving and tons of fun to watch. The first game is here this Saturday and homecoming is next Saturday. We have quite a year to look forward to!

That's what's happenin' now!

So much summer

We are having a quick, quick summer! Everything seems rosier since we got the house taken care of. Now we can paint, repair, pull apart and make nail holes to our hearts content! First order of business is getting the kitchen painted. Brian is pretty sure he cannot go through another winter with the cupboards painted pink! I'll try to publish some before/after pictures.

The boys are settling into a summer routine really well. It'll be a shock to start school and have to be on a schedule again. Daniel got to go visit Tyrell and family for a couple weeks, Brian got to sneak in 2-3 days of fishing, Joseph and Joshua had friends come stay for a week each. Daniel has 3 friends staying for a long weekend. I brought them home and Joe and Josh both told me that they got BIG and they would probably eat like locusts and they were sCaRy.... but now that they have been here a few days, they have realized that they are just big and eat like locusts, they really aren't all that scary!

Brian spent a few days watching a fire up in the Bob Marshall...trying to keep the sheriff's office in the loop and making sure they weren't going to have to evacuate any cabins down wind from the fire...looks good now and it's cooling off so hopefully it'll stay small and not cause any more problems.

That's what's happenin' now! I'll try to post more later. Hope everyone's doing well and having some fun this summer!