Princess in Action

Sorry you have to turn your head to watch it - I'm not computer savvy (or patient) enough to figure out how to turn it. (PS if anyone knows...let me know!!)

Princess? My daughter? Really?

Yep. My daughter is loving the princess thing and she's hardly 2. When we found out we were having a girl, the one thing I did not want was a princess. Well, here she is loving everything pink, dress, and princess. I guess there's a little something to say about the whole nature vs. nurture controversy!! AND to top it off, when we were in Colorado, my parents and my sister completely egged it on. They bought her a princess dress complete with wings and a wand. She wore it almost everyday over her clothes and insisted on dancing whenever it was on. Four adults indulged a 23 month old whenever she saw fit.

Final Confession: She's utterly adorable and totally cracks me up.

Vermont

Highlight of my fall: visiting my friend, Shawna, in Vermont with Jenny. We had a terrific girls' weekend. The weekend got kicked off with a "chicken of wine" and ended at Ben and Jerry's home factory with lots of talking, laughing, eating, drinking, driving (not necessarily in that order) in between. Fantastic! It was my first time leaving Montana for that long and we both did just fine. She stayed in Colorado and got to spend time with both grandparents, while Aaron remained in Washington holding down the fort! Now of the top of my agenda: getting back to Vermont ASAP!! :)

Climb!

Last Saturday Aaron and I ran a half-marathon in Leavenworth with some friends. We had a great weekend. The weather was fantastic and Aaron and I ran pretty much the whole thing together. Of course we had to partake of the post-run Oktoberfest beer and brats and then we headed home. On Sunday we were both beat - a Sunday afternoon nap never sounded better. I put Montana down for her nap and she chatted with her sock monkey for awhile, so Aaron and I put ourselves down for OUR nap. And just as we were starting to wonder if Montana was going to go to sleep, we hear the pitter-patter of feet across the hard wood floor and Little Miss Montana appears at our door and announces herself with a very proud, "HI!!" Well I had no reaction but to crack up laughing. I laughed until I cried, because life as I know it is about to change...again. We asked her how she got out and she proudly replied, "Climb!" Duh, mom and dad. Needless to say, nap time did not happen on Sunday.

A brief picture blurb

Montana and I at a farm outside of Bellingham - we've had a gorgeous fall!

Aaron and Montana made a cake while I was camping with the youth group.
Looks like she got the fun job!!

Montana and August hanging out during snack time. We miss that kid!
His parents moved to Canada, and they HAD to take him too.

Montana LOVES wearing dresses and playing dress up. This was taken at a museum when we met our friends Jana and Will for the day. Montana was in to the dress-up clothes they had and Will just wanted to watch the trains. Go figure.

Montana and Will chatting over a little snack

Camping with teenagers

Last weekend I found myself camping with 13 teenagers. I'm not exactly sure how it happened, but it did. I didn't get much sleep, ate junk food, and woke up Sunday morning with a zit on my nose. I really felt like a teenager again!! Here's a play by play of the first night, just so you can get a flavor of the weekend:

10:45pm - Aaron comes to pick up Montana because I had her with me, so he could play poker with some guys for the evening.

11pm - I get back to the campfire and I'm stoked for a s'mores and more silly stories and laughing by the fire, but all at once everyone gets up and goes to bed because "it's 11". So, I am stuck roasting a marshmallow at the fire all by myself.

11:10pm - brush my teeth and go to bed

12:30am - wake up and have to pee, boy, do I feel old. I have the debate in my head: should I get up and go or hold it until morning? Once I decide to get up, the question is whether to pee outside the tent or walk all the way to the bathroom? Decide to walk to the bathroom to spare any youth from stumbling across my bare ass in the dark. That could be scary.

2am - I hear voices and feet outside the tent. Sense a presence. Wonder if a kid is scared or needs something. Lay there for a bit and think I hear Yuanita snoring next to me, but it's someone pulling the zipper of our tent open very slowly. I say, "Is everything okay?" being the concerned adult chaperone I was. Totally naive to the schemes of youth these days. Yuanita was faking sleep and was waiting to scare whoever was trying to get into the tent to pull a prank. So, I ruined that prank reversal.

3am - it's starts raining. Not just WA drizzle rain, but pouring. I consider what's at the picnic table getting wet, and decide that I don't really want to get wet and cold, so I'm sure it will be fine.

3:15am - I see flashlights and hear a group of courageous girls pulling tarps over everything. Awesome girls!

4:00am - I realize that rain is dripping on me and I can't figure out why because we have an awesome REI tent. Then I remember the vent was open in the roof, so I crawl out to close it. Awww, much better. Yuanita is a little wet, so we pull her sleeping bag away from the tent walls

5:30 or 6am - not too sure the exact time, but Yuanita is really wet and has to pee. We hear some of the boys outside checking to see if everything was covered up and she decides to get up, go to the bathroom, and move to the van to finish sleeping. I resume sleep feeling very warm and dry, thankfully.

8am - our alarms go off because it's time to get up and start breakfast. It's still pouring and I don't hear anyone moving around, so I try to go back to sleep and delay the inevitable of leaving my warm sleeping bag.

8:20 am - the guys are up and about ready to eat. Everyone starts to crawl out of their tents, soaked and grumpy. We start making breakfast, but I am thinking the whole time that we should throw everything in the cars, get coffee, and head home. The rain stopped shortly thereafter and the day ended up being dry and beautiful.

I learned all kids of crazy youth group games, played PIT, learned how to make a pudgie pie, went on a hike, sat around the camp fire. And, I observed what an amazing group of teenagers Bethel has. It was a blast, but being the adult helper made me appreciate all that Yuanita and other youth pastors do. So hug a youth pastor next time you see one. They are amazing people!

What's new?

Well nothing...really. No big events, no exciting news, just the daily grind. But as much as I love fun trips and life changes and other sorts of drama, I am appreciating the small and mundane daily activities of talking with neighbors, running around with Montana, chores around the house, looking through cookbooks when Montana is sleeping, watching an "episode" or two with friends, walking to the Firehouse Cafe for coffee. I often times can't believe this is my life. I love getting out and doing things, but I equally love staying at home and spending time here.
We had a great summer. The weather has been fantastic, we spent time with family, my sister and her hubby visited, we went camping with friends, we attended 3 weddings, but I welcome autumn with open arms. Welcome cooler weather, scarves, pumpkin lattes, and a little routine to our crazy summer!! We started a Monday night Bible study with neighbors, I will be helping lead a women's Biblestudy in Lynden on Wednesday mornings, Aaron started a part-time job at the aforementioned coffee shop to meet people in addition to everything else he manages to do. We have established a family night and have ideas for another group to start. Our life is very full, nothing too crazy or exciting, but very good. So if you ask me what's new, I'll probably say not too much and that's how I like it!