ho, ho, ho!  visiting santa at the point of rocks.  logan said "thomas the train set please sir."  johanna hid in the corner.

on our way to get our christmas tree.

here it is!  notice logan's toy chain saw.

riding down the stais in johanna's sleeping bad.  the best giggles we have ever heard came out of this activity.

fall is FUN!

the vampire princess and the feirce pirate hit the streets to round up some loot.

 i started a neighborhood preschool, because.... we needed it!
  here's a few of the kids trick or treating at my folks, right down the road.

biking season is still going strong, for the very dedicated.

 first snowman of the year!

montana max, the wonder dog needed a house for his night shift on guard duty.  this mansion has a bed heater,  is fully insulated and even sports a window.  No big critters can escape the super-hearing of max.  he hears every twig snap and promptly chases the bears, lions and wolves (oh my!) off our land.  he then comes back to the porch for praise.  airedales are the ultimate mountain family dog.  he is so gentle with the kiddos.  johanna doesn't like rest time in her room unless max is along.  i need to get pictures of the outfits she's dressed him up, he won't be too embarassed...   thanks dad for the construction help!

end of the year soccer picnic.   i was one of the coaches.  never played soccer in my life.  funny thing is, after a few high fives and a whole lot of enthusiasm, those 4 year olds never even noticed. 

ahhhh.... the view from the bathtub.  and the kitchen, bedrooms, living rooms, even the laundry room.  always puts things in perspective for me,  even after the fifth load of laundry...

view to the west

garnet ghost town

bob has been working on bear creek in potomac, montana removing a culvert and installing a new bridge.  we tagged along and spent an adventurous day at garnet ghost town.

bitterroot valley, montana

bend, oregon!

we said good-bye to a great summer by squeezing every last drop of fun.  mistie and simon joined us for a road trip to bend to visit a whitefish friend who has moved there and started her family.  it was awesome!  this is us in an old lava field just 5 minutes from their house.

 jo and lo are showing you where we are going next... top of the volcano!!

 here's our posse on the rim of the volcano.

very impressive crew...

looking down into the crater...  the lava flow actually rerouted the deschutes river in the distance.

 american gothic??  pickin' corn for dinner.

 the deschutes river runs through the middle of bend.   awesome parks, beaches and shuttles for floating, run all through town.

 mt bachelor... we want to ski you SOON!

 south sister... we want to climb you soon!  spent the day at elk lake coming up with a plan...

 there is a short window at the end of the summer when you can climb the south sister without crampons and extra gear.  the standard route runs along the ridge from the right and can be seen summiting right to left above the highest snowfield.  we are ON for climbing it next september with the 3 husbands.  we are going to put up my folks in a nice place, nice dinners, and they can watch the little ones during our adventure.  
you can still get 'r done after kids!
we mountain mamas love to GRD.

fishing our super secret fishing hole

neighbor arlie and johanna's trout, not bad for 4 years old.

drew's big catch!



greer and her catch



this was elle's catch...no, no, no.  the kids had as much fun with the bait as the catch.

this is elle's real catch, great job!

logan said  "wow!"

super strong fisher-people!