Off to the Museum!

Another fun day with Strege's!

We headed to the museum - the kids couldn't wait to see all the dinosaurs! They were doing face painting when we arrived so the kids raced right over! What cute little bears!

There were 3 options for face painting - owl, raccoon or bear. The girls went for the raccoons.

Berlyn and Hannah in the big tree house they had set up

We all died laughing over this picture of the 4 girls. Berlyn is throwing a fit of all fits and Andi is doing all she can do to hold on to her, Hannah is curious and intrigued by what Berlyn is doing and Madison is oblivious, smiling away for the picture :-)

Izyk is the little poser of the bunch. Anytime I wanted to take a picture I could be sure he would be posing and ready by the time the camera flashed :-) It was so cute.

I guess Hannah wasn't in the mood for a picture

Berlyn is sitting so cute - so still and with her hands perfectly placed on her legs :-) Izyk and Isaac are taking their bear faces very seriously and are trying to act "tough and mean"

The interactive puzzles were really fun for the kids. If there wasn't a line behind them I would have tried it for myself - I have always been a puzzle maniac!

Our last stop before heading home - the play room

There was a dress up corner and of course Madison went right for the horse! Isaac thought it was pretty cool to have a space suit to wear!!

A fun day for all!

Flashback Friday

March 2005 - 4 years ago to the month. Wow, how things change huh? The differences between Madison and Isaac is crazy for me to see. It is a mixture of happiness to see what they are becoming and yet sadness to see what I will never experience again. I am so thankful that each day is filled with new excitements, milestone, joys, looks, laughs, voices, words etc or I am afraid I would always miss what was. I love looking back but always want to make sure that I am enjoying them NOW and anticipating with excitement what is to come.

How very cute are they!?!

Let's SKI

Brock and Jesse took Alex, Madison and Andi skiing for the afternoon. Andi had never been skiing and Madison and Alex only one time. They all did great and graduated from the bunny hill in no time :-)

A couple hours later, Denise and I and Izyk, Isaac, Hannah and Berlyn drove up to the lodge. We wanted to see the kids ski and bring the girls home if necessary. Wow, was it pretty up there!! The lodge was really awesome too and was perfect for hanging out. We all had lunch together and then the crew prepared to go for a few more runs. However, we had no idea it closed at 4 p.m. so they all missed their chance. That was pretty disappointing - had we known about the closing time we wouldn't have wasted so much time in the lodge. Oh well - it was still fun!

Brock, Isaac, Izyk and Madison heading down to the rental shop. Alex and Isaac waiting to head back down the mountain. Andi having a little "sno cone"

Jesse, Hannah and Berlyn snuggling to keep warm, Madison and Andi looking so cute in their pink gear and Brock and the Isaac's

Taking an opportunity to snap some family pics Two very tired girls

Yeah Friends!!

"The better part of one's life consists of his friendships." - Abraham Lincoln

We were so excited to have our friends from MN come and visit us. They drove all in one shot (we usually do it in 2 days), braved icy snowy roads, with four kids for a nice, long, fun weekend! We were all thrilled to have them and are already planning what we will do next visit :-)

Three of their four kids are within months of our kids so they all have a blast! Berlyn had her 2nd birthday while in MT :-) She and Hannah played pretty good although had the normal "mine", "I want that", "hey that's my food get out of here" issues. :-) I love this picture Denise took of the two of them looking out the window at the ski lodge - so cute. The kids spread out all over and played in every nook and cranny :-) I found the big girls in the bathroom with their herd of horses and the little girls in the laundry room with the train set. I must say that was the first time I have seen those rooms used for play :-)

Isaac, Izyk and Alex. Poor Alex was the only one without someone his age. He did great playing with the other kids or entertaining himself :-)

Madison and Andi getting ready to head out skiing and also showing off their raccoon faces! We didn't tell the kids they were coming so they were completely shocked when they walked in! It was really cute. Madison was so stunned she didn't even move for a couple minutes!

Denise and I freezing but happily posing at the ski resort. The whole family - Jesse, Denise, Alex, Andi, Izyk and Berlyn. I never got a picture of Jesse and Brock - something about grown men and posing together just doesn't go hand in hand :-) We did all sorts of fun things while they were here and I will be posting it all soon :-)

Sunday Stroll

Another perk to living in MT is being surrounded by places to hike, walk, stroll or whatever you feel like. Most places are anywhere from a couple miles to 30 miles away so it doesn't require a whole day. We bought a book filled with the hikes around the area and started planning the order of attack. We started out nice and easy and did a short hike and then a stroll around a nearby pond.

It was perfect, Hannah napped on my back and the kids released their energy running all over the trail :-) They both took turns leading the way and thought that was really fun.

There was a creek nearby that, of course, had to be investigated. :-) The ducks from the pond even walked over and took a swim. I guess they were tired of the pond's slow pace, or maybe they were seeing what these crazy kids were up to :-)

Flashback Friday

November 2004 - Isaac was 1 month old and Madison had recently turned 4. How fun it was to have a little baby in the house again. Isaac was a sweet little baby who fussed only a little and smiled a lot.

Yes, our kids do have super powers! At one month old Isaac was already able to soar through the air. Madison could easily hold both Brock and I on her shoulders (but I had to take the picture so Brock would have to do). You should see what they can do now :-)

Have I Mentioned . . . .

that we LOVE the mountains?

Madison has recently discovered another reason to love them . . . SKIING. Brock and his mom took her skiing for the first time and it was a hit. She did great and is anxious to go again. Brock will take Isaac next time and see how he likes it :-) I have never been downhill skiing (crazy considering I grew up in Idaho) and do not have a desire. I am content to stay home or in the lodge taking pictures :-)

Getting the scoop on how it is done. Brock had not been skiing for over 10 years! He really enjoyed it and will definately continue going.

Look at her go!

Grandma and Madison taking a break from skiing to enjoying the beauty

Always Something

With Isaac in the house we are always laughing at something. Here are a couple funny things he has said lately.

This morning as I was hurrying to get the garbage out he said "Hurry up big mama" (you will have to read yesterday's post to understand where that comes from). I think I will have to let him know sooner rather than later that I (and all girls/women he meets) prefer not to be called "big Mama" :-)Isaac loves to work with Brock on anything. He feels so important just being there to "help" and especially loves to have a job of his own. He went to the shop with Brock to work on their bikes and he had the "very important" job of tightening all the screws and cleaning up the spots where stickers would go. He was in his glory! Although he was baffled that "none of the screws needed tightening", he still felt like his checking them was of utmost importance. It is so cute. When I asked him what he was doing at the shop he said casually "oh just wrenchin". I am sure he has heard Brock say that (definately not part of my vocabulary - I don't even know what it means!) and feels important just using the same word as daddy! :-)

I took the kids to a park that Madison had been to when we were here visiting several years ago. Madison was talking about how cool it was that she had been there so long ago. Isaac piped in, "Yeah, and God didn't make me yet, I was still up in Heaven"