Time to take a breath

Whew is about all I can say.......

Thank you for the patience of all those family and friends I owe emails to. I will try to catch up here and then catch up individual emails.

The last two weeks have been a whirlwind -- here I sit, July 5th, finally able to take a few moments to look at email and try to condense and summarize.

Tim finished texturing the very last of the upstairs two Saturdays ago. This event fully put the house advancement in my court as the next step was painting. I worked from 6 or 7 am to 10 or 11 pm every day primering and painting. I had some friends who in GREAT mercy came over on Thursday (a week ago) and helped me to finish up the last of it. The great room was already finished but we primered/painted two bedrooms, two bathrooms, the stairwell, and the entry hall in about five days. Overall I am very happy with the colors and the way everything looks. I am looking forward to hanging pictures and have been dreaming of where to put things as I painted. Tim and I switched gears some and decided not to use the float floor for the bathrooms which instituted a search on my part for some vinyl that I liked. After a day's search I found some I thought would work well and I liked fairly well (why do they make so much vinyl in whites and other soft colors - do ANY of these designers have children??? Someone must have more time than I do or have figured out a way to master the elimination of mud being tracked in from the front door to the bathroom, kitchen, etc.) I really wanted a floor I didn't have to serve constantly. I think I found a good combination.

When I finished painting, Tim started putting together the upstairs bathrooms. We don't have the sink we really want for the master bathroom but for present it is highly usable and it is super exciting to see the house coming into the last stages.

To back up a step Elijah left for Takichsin (pronounced ta-caution) two weeks ago also. Four boys from his troop were chosen to attend a leadership training course offered through the Boy Scout program. Takichsin is renowned for the training they offer and is a nationwide program offered in numerous locations as I understand it. They mix the boys up so that none of the boys are with those in their home troop and they have to learn to lead/work with numerous people. Elijah's graduation was a week ago Saturday (June 28) down by Anaconda at Camp Arcola.

Gabrielle, Josiah, Zachy and I left for his graduation at 7:30 (yes that is AM!!) and barely made it in time. Elijah looked fabulous and the graduation was done very well, most especially considering the fact that it was an outdoor event - those are always more difficult. Boy Scouts has been an excellent experience for Elijah. He is learning a lot and is really enjoying all the activities.

From Camp Arcola the five of us traveled to Cour de Laine Idaho and met MY DAD for the weekend. Daddy spoiled us rotten which was fun for me. We traveled to Sand Point Idaho and the kids (including those of us with graying hair) enjoyed the day at Silverwood Theme Park. The older kids had earned free tickets through a reading program. Monday morning (June 30th) we hit the road for home - Daddy returning with us.

Tim had been home for the weekend. The little guys can't do much of anything at Silverwood. The rides are mostly limited to 48" or taller and even Tudah is some smaller than that. I usually stay home with the little guys because roller coasters are not that enticing to me but since Daddy was coming over from CA I went over this year. Tim did awesome of course managing the house, the little kidlets, and the animals. He even had one of the kids come down with the flu but he handled everything with flying colors. Two of Timmer's friends came over on Sunday and helped Tim install the flooring in the master bedroom (a cherry laminate). One of my very favorite young ladies came and watched Judah and Bekah for Timmer. She returned on Monday and by the time we returned home Tim had the room fairly well together for my Dad to stay with us.

Oh did I fail to mention we hadn't been home more than 30 minutes when Gabrielle heard one of the does crying out??? She went to check and found Melody was just finishing delivering her first kid!!! We didn't think she had taken but she surprised us with a little doeling - quite a pretty little thing actually that Zachy named Harmony.....seemed like a logical name :) We also added two more doelings to our herd, our neighbor needed to have eye surgery the 2nd and had two bottle babies that needed homes. So Monday night we added Jasmine (Jazzy) and Odette to our little family (yes there is a princess theme going there)

Tuesday found us working with the bees first thing in the morning. We had to add another deep hive body and do some maintenance. I got my second sting but through my own carelessness. We were just finishing and I grabbed the cover without checking it. I squished one of the ladies and she responded with supreme irritation over my intrusion. We haven't had much blooming yet -- such a weird wet spring. My apple trees did not bloom and neither did our neighbors....... very strange. I hope we can get them established well enough to survive the winter.

Wednesday Daddy, the kidlets and I drove over to Bozeman and took a visit to the Museum of the Rockies. It is a FABULOUS museum and holds some of the dinosaur discoveries from the state of Montana among other things including a tour of the Tinsley homestead (another fabulous adventure). We have a marvelous time!!! We also stopped in Three Forks to tour the Wheat Montana Bread Factory and of course enjoy some of their well known bread goods :)

Thursday and Friday flew by with trips to town, shopping excursions, trips out to the lake, friends and family visiting with my Dad. It went by far too fast.

The kids LOVED having Daddy here - they enjoyed every minute. Judah would get up every morning and come out to snuggle his Grandpa George. Phooey on Mom when you have a far more experienced snuggler in the house!!!! Bekah started calling him "Dad-Pop" which I LOVED hearing her say (her version of Grandpa). Good-byes were very hard and I will confess unashamedly that I cried. My dad is one of my favorite people.

Today, Timmer and I worked on finishing up prep work to spray the great room beams/ceiling with wood sealer. He hopes to have it finished up tonight so we can work on flooring this week. Things are winding down to our moving - I CAN'T WAIT!!!!! Things are getting terribly exciting!

So I sit here for a minute to catch up my faithful readers :) and catch a breath before I tackle my laundry. I wish I could just command those tedious chores like dishes, laundry, and mopping to cease when I have other places to invest my time. I guess then though I would just decide to always have somewhere else to invest my time, huh???? I never could say I really "enjoyed" doing dishes :)

I hope your 4th was a fun filled day and that you had a moment to reflect on the freedoms we enjoy and the men and women who paid the price for us to have them.

I have a growing stack of pictures to post -- I will see if I can pull it off before the weekend is over - nobody hold your breath though, the laundry is piled pretty high :)