Transistions

Mid October the Wright family, who lived with us for 10 months, moved.  They moved into the training center for our non-profit, which also started operations mid October.  The Wrights now serve as resident managers at the training center.

The months leading up to launching the training center, Tuff was fully occupied in setting up the programming, insurances, logistics, etc.  The training center currently houses young Native American men.  It serves as a discipleship program, building the complete health (physical, spiritual, mental, relational, and financial) through one on one discipleship, programing, educational and field work.  Its all together exciting and challenging for us as this is truly a pilot.

Regardless of time and energy invested into the training center preparations, we still got to do some pretty fun family things. In September we traveled to Butte for our friend Richie's wedding (September 6th)!  Tuff was in the wedding party.

Wedding party, mostly University of Montana alumni.

Pre-wedding festivities included shooting clay pigeons.

Wedding day, we took our chances and sat in the front!

The groomsmen looking dapper.

Groom's dinner, sitting with all our college friends!

Grace made a new best friend in Adam.

The newlyweds, Rachel and Richie. Grace insisted she could be Cinderella (the modern movie).

Wedding reception site was at Rachel's family home.  

Mountains in Butte.  Beautiful place to visit and a very beautiful wedding.

September 25th we took a day trip to Cooke City, Montana via Beartooth Pass through Redlodge, Montana and back to Billings via Chief Joseph Scenic Highway.  Typically the pass is closed after Labor Day but we were experiencing 90 degree days still so made an impromtu decision to go.

I recall my Uncle Dave and Aunt Sandy saying they once took the pass in thier giant RV.  I might have ditched the RV.  We never hit faster than 20mph.  That road is tight!

 
Right at peak elevation we encountered a group of mountain goats.  They were brilliant white and so fluffy.

It was about 70 degrees near the top on our decent to Cooke City and snowing!

In Cooke City, we stopped for a burger, visited the trading post and headed out.  I would do this trip again in a heartbeat.

 Also in September we enjoyed a few hikes on the rimrocks in Billings.

Tuff and Grace took a daddy-daughter date to Colstrip to see Papa and Mam mid September.

Fishing in Colstrip.

Tuff and his dad.

Seriously the best photo of the cuzzies.

At home I started a little preschool time with Grace while Liza takes her morning nap.  We do "school" twice a week for one hour.

Learning patterns.

First letter learned was G of course.

Color organization.

Science: a nature bracelet.

Decorating a doorknob to remember the letter D.

More patterns.

Tracing letters.

Working on cutting skills.

Fun with numbers.

L is for lollipop.

Overall its pretty fun, although I do come across some attitude I don't think a teacher would experience from Goodie quite like mom does.

My dad and mom came from Minnesota October 24th to visit for several days before continuing on the road to Arizona. We did manage to golf one of the day, and although in the 60's, it felt cold.  I failed at photos until the moment of departure.

That day, my dad stayed in Billings and watched Liza from 7am-noon while my mom and Grace accompanied me to my dating ultrasound in Crow Agency.  They said May 7th by the way.  My dad managed to teach Liza how to say "papa" while we were gone.

My prenatal care is with Indian Health Services and I got a good chuckle at the pain chart in the room.

 Liza as a cow at Boo at the Zoo.

Goodie as Astrid (from How to Train Your Dragon).

Later that night for Halloween a karate girl and a lion.  We stopped for dinner with Bob and Gwen and they gave the girls fancy treats.

And finally just a few of my favorite photos since my last update.  Sorry for stretching these blog updates out!

I can feed myself.

"Mom take a pictue of me feeding myself too."

October bike ride.

Upon checking the girls before I go to bed I find Grace, sleeping with a cow between her legs.

Sisters.

Daddy dancing with his daughters on a work break.

Fall Time Blessing

Long Distance Friends

The month of August pretty much had non-stop friends rolling through Billings or around the area.  While we were in Minnesota the newlywed Cavanaughs, Pittsburgh friends, stopped in Billings to see the Wright family and we got to see them a few days too.  The day they left, Jenny's dad and mother-in-law stopped in Billings to pick up the Wrights and enjoy a Big Sky vacation.  And me and the girls went to Bozeman for a day trip to see my Nashville friend Leslie.

We stopped at the Museum of the Rockies, full of a huge collection of dinosaur bones from the Montana region. Below is Goodie, Leslie and Bryan.

Working a buffalo pose.

My girl Leslie and me.

Walking around Bozeman.

We briefly saw our dear friend Gordon at Cracker Barrel as he passed through town. We also picked up Yas and the Casaq play team from the airport and dropped off a shuttle van to them.  They performed their play twice at Crow Fair.

Casaq team.  They traveled from all over the world to preform the play at Crow Fair.

Crow Fair parade.  Goodie dressed up and ready to catch candy.

 Liza checking out Mo's ribbon dress.

Watching Grand Entrance at Crow Fair.

 Outside the Gatekeepers Ministry tent with the Wright Family.

Noah and Goodie sitting on Smokey the Bear's feet at Crow Fair.

Just outside the arbor with the Handall Family.

Our friend Anne, from Pittsburgh, drove through Billings to say hi. Then just one day later another Pittsburgh friend, Jaden drove through Billings as well.

Jenny, Anne, Mary.  I'm only a few feet taller than these two!

Jaden and Jenny.

Other than seeing long distance friends, Tuff continues to work hard and me at home with the girls.  We squeaked in a day at the Montana State Fair.

4-H building.

Playing in the corn box.

 Found these delicious and attractive goodies at a booth.

We took a day trip August 16th to Red Lodge Custer National Park for our friend Ben's birthday.

One the ride home I discovered the girls played a trick on Luna and pulled Bri's mesh hat over Luna's snout.  She could see but poor thing puts up with a lot.

Right at the end of August we journeyed to the Tongue River Reservoir to spend a day on the water with friends Casey and Sue.

Tuff trying out wake boarding for the first time.

Stopping for a cool down swim.  It was 100 degrees that day!

When leaving the reservoir we stopped several times to let deer cross the road and snapped a photo of this guy crossing.  He's a Montana Mule Deer and his rack was just about the same height as his body.

We also stopped in Busby to see Jeri Lyn, Tuff's sister and her new baby Kaleb!

Cuzzies.  Kylee and Goodie.

The new baby!  He has so much hair and is quite the handsome little guy.

Finally to finish August off, I attended a worship night on the rimrocks.  The focus was for unity over the city of Billings.  The sky was very hazy due to fires in the west.  Its been a long fire season.