For our first anniversary we went camping at Zurich, South of Malta! We had sooooo much fun. We hiked and drove down to the Fred Robinson bridge. Then we drove through the American Prairie Federation Bison Range to Forschet Bay at the very tip of Fort Peck Lake.
This picture is down by the Fred Robinson bridge.
Me hiking!
A cool tree we saw.
I enjoyed seeing all the wild flowers.
On one of the roads there was a HUGE washout that was taller than Odin was. There was this one spot where there were springs coming out of the rock. Calli didn't even want to swim in the little pool, because it was sooooo cold.
Me standing in the washout.
This is the beautiful old church in Zurich.
When we drove to Forschet Bay, we drove past this other neat old church. Out in the middle of nowhere.
The Yurts.
After camping, I drove to Great Falls to work, then Odin joined me there for Shannon's wedding. The wedding was beautiful and a lot of fun! We camped in Shannon's front yard and Calli enjoyed chasing and stocking the squirrels!
When we got home, my beets were ready to can, so I canned for the first time on my own. It went well and the beets even came out great!
Odin and I have been looking for a newer pickup that would fit a family a little better then my maroon extended cab pickup. Odin even went to Colorado to look at a pickup. He finally found this one in Missoula! It was owned by a veteran who took pristine care of it and had the receipts from every tire rotation and oil change. It had low gas mileage, every option that could be on a pickup, and was a great price! This is probably the nicest vehicle we'll ever own! It even matches my horse trailer!!
The horses were looking so picturesque I just had to take some pictures!
Odin had been mowing and moving around the trailers and pickups and every time he got into a different pickup, Calli insisted upon getting in the pickup with him. She was determined not to miss out on any exciting adventures. I think Odin was getting pretty tired of it, but it was really pretty funny. Calli is becoming Odin's shadow.
So, several out of town friends and family have been requesting a "baby belly" picture. So, here I am at 28 weeks!
This baby is a mover and a shaker! We can't wait for October, but we sure hope the baby waits. No need for it to come early!
So, Odin was finally able to finish spraying the crop and the chem fallow. I thought I'd share a photo of the ruts where he DIDN'T get stuck. Yes. You read that correctly. He didn't get stuck here!!! The poor spray pickup worked really hard. So, did Odin. He walked many miles back and forth between the pickup and the tractor to pull himself out. I think his "record" for number of times getting stuck per day was something like 7 or 8 times.
Odin surprised me last Sunday and took me to brunch at the Fort Peck Hotel and then for a drive out to "Bone Trail" on Fort Peck! It was a wonderful relaxing day. Calli went too, of course! She really enjoyed swimming in the lake. She hasn't quite got the dog paddle down yet. Believe it or not. She paddles feverishly with her front legs and lets her hind legs float behind her. It is really funny to watch.
Some of the views!
We even saw 3 bull elk
Man, for being such an unfriendly plant, cactus have uniquely beautiful flowers.
My garden is growing fast! I even picked a bowlful of peas tonight.
So between rain storms I have been working on my garden and flower beds. And, yes that is a hose from the basement window! We are STILL pumping water from the basement.
My garden is coming along. Right now, I have potatoes, sugar peas, regular peas, green beans, carrots, broccoli, tomatoes, corn, beets, cucumbers, pumpkins, and zucchini! I'll add lettuce and more green beans, cause I seem to have inherited my dad's difficulty growing green beans. I am looking forward to having my own home grown, fresh vegetables, but mostly being able to put them away for this winter! I also have been freezing rhubarb and strawberries so that we can have strawberry rhubarb pies this winter.
Our other non-farm related project has putting together and renovating the room that will be the nursery.
"Before" - except I forgot to take a picture before I took the old dark wainscoting down.
Odin painted the top half and here he is hanging the bead board!
Next the flooring went in! I'm glad I have such a handy husband! He seemed pretty thrilled to have a reason to pull out all his tools, which have been packed away since last fall. I wondered at one point, if he really needed all the tools that were in that room. I do think he used every single one of them by the end of the project!
Our "finished" nursery (except for some little touch ups and decorating)!
We've also been compiling baby items. We decided to go with a Britax "convertible" car seat, because you can use it from 5# up to 70#.
My good friend Lori and her daughter gave me this beautiful stroller and baby car seat!
I found this diaper bag. Can you tell? We are going for neutral/primary colors!
My favorite thing is the crib set though!! It is sooo cute, with the farm animals and so appropriate for us. I think so, anyways!
I'm 23 weeks along now and this baby is a mover and a shaker! I'm not sure if there is any correlation between in utero movement and how busy they will be as a little one, but I have heard that Odin was quite busy when he was little. So I guess this baby would come by busyness honestly! I was a perfect angel when I was little, so that is all there is to say about that! ;o) At least that is what I tell Odin!
I'll try keep everyone up to date on things more frequently! We sure enjoy hearing from all of you. Stop by if you are on your way through!
