More Cali =)

Slowly but surely getting through all our pictures!

We had so much fun with some high school friends, Ruby and Christine
as well as their adorable little boys. Hudson and Aaron definitely stole our
hearts.

Here's Hudson with Mommy. He looks just like Ruby!
How special it is to see such longtime friends' kids.
Just seems to be an special bond there from the start.

Aunt Judy and Auntie Jill took the girls to get their first
"Build-A-Bears." They had so much fun picking it all out.
Thanks Aunt Judy and Auntie Jill!

"Grandpa Joe" and the girls.
We were so blessed to stay with Gigi and Grandpa Joe the first week
we were in Cali. We had so much fun with them, as always. 

"Gigi" and her girls.

We're so thankful Aunt Denise could come down and see us at
Gigi's and Grandpa Joe's house. Caught a quick picture before
we headed out for Palm Spring with Grammy and Grandpa!

More to come....

"New" House =)

I'll get back to vacation pictures, but I wanted to post pictures of our house. We are back in our house as of August 1st after 2 months of living in a hotel (and the last 2 weeks spent on vacation). We are so thankful for this blessing. Funny how one little broken pipe can wreak so much havoc and the homeowners insurance steps in and saves the day! We have been blessed from every aspect of this situation and everyone we have worked with has been so great. God has been so good to us. We still have a few more minor things to complete ourselves and then it will be done. But, for now we are enjoying our "new"home.

Here are a few pictures, although I just realized that I forgot to take pictures of the beautiful carpet. Well, I guess you'll just have to come visit to find out how pretty it is. =) Amazing how the Lord can work out a situation that seems bad (broken pipe...flooded kitchen) and turn it into an amazing blessing!

Probably my favorite part of the renovation...my kitchen!
Love the "Rustic Birch"cabinets. They look so Montanan.
I forgot to take a picture of my bathroom, but it pretty much looks the
same...same cabinets and countertops.

My new floor!
YEA!!!

Looking forward to my friend Justine coming over to help me decorate.
She's good at it and I'm not, so thankful she's going to help me. 

First few days

Here are some pictures from the first few days we were in Cali. We spent our first day with Jon's Dad Chris and his wife Dolores. They live in Long Beach and the girls and Jon swam in the canals near their house. It's always so much fun to see them.

Girls with Dolores

Trying to get the courage to jump into that COLD ocean water. 

Macy swimming on the boogie board

They were little bathing beauties on the top deck.

Jon, Dolores, and Chris

The next day we got to see my Aunt Judy, Uncle Gary, cousin Jill and her husband Davon. We were so excited to meet the newest addition to their family, Micah Gary. He is so sweet and cute. Jill is the best little Mommy ever. Loved getting to see her with Micah! 

Moving right along....we got together with my sister Ashley and her Grandparents, Barb and Stan. It was so good to see everyone, and my girls absolutely adore "Aunt Ashley." They were even giving her a massage on each arm in the restaurant! 

The girls with Barb and Stan

With the famous Aunt Ashley =) 

California 2011

Long Beach, CA

More pictures to come...I promise! I wanted to at least get one picture up from our trip. We just got back from an awesome time in California visiting family and friends. Jon spent most of the time in classes for his Masters, but we were with him on the weekends. We were still living in the hotel when we left for vacation, but by the time we got home the house was finished. It is beautiful and we are so thankful! It is almost like moving into a house getting everything all set up again, but each day we get more done and it's beginning to feel like home again. We're off to Summer Camp with our high school students this weekend and then hopefully I'll get more pictures up of our trip and of the house!

Like I said in the last post, I we're still in the hotel. Slowly, our home is being put back together. It took quite some time for them to dry out all the water, but now sub flooring is all back in and cabinets and new flooring will be put in, Lord willing, next week. So, we're taking the opportunity to do some painting before all the new stuff gets in. Here are some pictures of the painting we did a few weeks ago. A big thanks to our amazing friends, Justin and Justine, for graciously giving their weekend to help us. It was super fun to have their help.

We are blessed

Well, Father's Day came and went without a post, but life has still been pretty crazy. We're still in the hotel, so this is a little late. =)

We had a great Father's Day a few weeks ago. We're so very thankful for Jon. He truly is such an amazing Dad. I love how he'll be watching our girls do something and look at me and say, "that is just so cute." I love how he does their hair without a brush when he takes them for a morning donut and somehow it looks better than when I sit there and brush it all out for 5 minutes!  I love to watch him play Princess Yahtzee with the girls and to hear them ask, "Daddy, what is your favorite princess?" I just love that we get to share together this experience of raising our girls. He is such an example to me of a godly parent and I learn so much from him all the time.


Here's a picture of my hero and the amazing father to our precious girls:

Misc. June =)

Well, we're still making our residence at Homewood Suites, but we are not complaining about the pool, maid service, etc. =) Our house is coming along slowly, but we are very excited for the re-model we'll be coming home to in a few (Lord willing) weeks. We really have been so blessed to be at this hotel, and we're thankful for the opportunities we have had to build relationships with some of the staff. We've been praying quite a bit in our family worship times that we will be a light for Christ to all the staff at this hotel.

For the most part life has just continued on normally. We've had quite a bit of rainy weather, but are thankful for the days of sunshine that we have had. We try to get out and enjoy God's creation every bit we can. Here are some pictures from the last few weeks.

The girls and I went to Virginia City, Montana the week after school got out. My Mom joined us and we also met up with some friends of ours. The houses are from the Pioneer days and the girls call it "The Little House on the Prairie Museum."

We made it up to our favorite hike, Drinking Horse Mountain, and it was a beautiful day.

This is by far our favorite hike. It is just so beautiful and the girls love the fort at the top.

I edited this picture using an "oil painting" action.
You can see why we love this hike. This is just one of the awesome views on this hike.

The girls with the wildflowers they picked.

It's a given that Macy will fall at lease once, usually twice.
When Daddy is comforting her, though, she has a hard time staying sad. =)

All better!


Jon really is the best Dad and so good with the girls.
Sometimes when I am watching him with the girls I remember back to the days
where I was watching him completely level quarterbacks and I just laugh!
Amazing that the same guy can be so sweet and gentle with these precious girls.
And they absolutely ADORE him. I had a hotel staff person comment to me the other day about when she saw the girls greet Jon when he came home from work. She could not believe how excited they were to see him. I hope they always have the special relationship that they do now.