Twenty months have already crept by. We’re approaching TWO and I could not be more excited. Rost is quite the helper these days and with summer winding down and a list of projects we’re trying to accomplish on the property still sitting on my desk, we’re happy for his help. Even if it does mean it takes us a little longer to complete them.
Rost turned 19 months old while he and I were visiting my family & friends back in Pennsylvania. Don’t worry, you’ll only be getting these monthly updates until he turns two, then posts will resume back to life events.
The air was filled with the sweet scent of pine as we arrived at the campsite, surrounded by towering trees and a babbling stream nearby. Rost had spent the first two nights camping with Grandma & Grandpa while I took my first vacay from momming in well over a year (48 bittersweet hours – a ridiculous amount of stuff was accomplished).
Brian & I joined in on the fun Friday night to enjoy a couple of days relaxing at the lake.
This unforgettable experience marked the beginning of countless adventures for my little explorer, creating cherished memories to last a lifetime.
Getting my Nikon out is a treat these days. Life as a mom has me prioritizing things differently – and that’s okay. So when a fellow mom-friend wanted to take a drive up to the Spotted Bear Ranger Station, without babes in tow, I knew it was going to be a chance to knock the dust off my camera and spend the day behind the lens. I hope you enjoy my captures for the day which included a lot of flowers and one random sandhill crane.
Until we meet again my dear, sweet Nikon. Xoxo.
Sometime before the 2022 holiday season kicked off my MIL, Michele took me out for a baby-free girls’ shopping day. This day is apparently a tradition amongst her and her friends. The shopping portion involves a craft fair at the Majestic Valley Arena and the Market Beautiful at the Flathead County Fairgrounds.
Over lunch, I heard about the wonderfully talented daughter-in-law of one of the ladies in our group. Her name was Sarah Bramme and she had a booth with her work at the Christmas market we were heading to after lunch. The moment I saw her work hanging amongst the backdrop of the holiday fair, I knew I had to have a piece of it.
As I stood in front of a colorful painting of a bison named Blaze Your Trail, something about it resonated with me deeply. The composition, the choice of colors, and the subject matter all came together to create a sense of familiarity and connection. It felt as though Sarah had captured an essence that I could relate to, evoking a range of emotions within me. The piece seemed to speak a silent language, inviting me to interpret its meaning based on my own experiences and perceptions. It was a quiet conversation, a moment of quiet contemplation and introspection that left me feeling moved and inspired. I knew I couldn’t afford an original oil painting of hers at that moment but I eagerly took home a beautiful black and white barn wood painting of a mountain goat – the animal I believe to be Rost’s spirit animal.
Weeks later, Sarah reached out to me with an offer on Blaze Your Trail that I could not refuse. This lovely painting now permanently resides in my living room. I do hope you’ll come to see it soon.
Here we go
Come with me
There’s a world out there that we should see
Take my hand
Close your eyes
With you right here, I’m a rocketeerWhere we go, we don’t need roads
And where we stop? Nobody knows
To the stars if you really want it
Got, got a jetpack with your name on it
It was, in fact, Rost’s first rodeo.
Creeping towards a year and a half – 17 months have come and gone. Rost is ever the great helper and making big moves in life over the last month. Enjoy the photo dump from over the last month. Xoxo.
My friend Bre and I took a third trip to bike the Going to the Sun Road. Another attempt that had me turned around before reaching the end point yet again. My first trip out was rained out (something I now need to take into account when adventuring with Rost), the second trip a grizzly bear decided the road was (rightfully) his (or hers). On this trip, a flat tire on Bre’s bike meant she had to run roughly 3 miles next to her bike back to the trailhead while I took our boys back in my double bike trailer – which I luckily decided to use on this trip instead of the single bikes seat Rost prefers.
It had been raining all week when there was a break in the clouds. Not wanting to miss a bit of our short summer here in NW Montana, Rost and I loaded up the RadRover and took off for the park.
Finally! We reached the end of the current bikeable part of the road.
While success was ours, the day took a sad turn while we were stuck in the parking lot while rescue crews did their best to resuscitate a woman who ultimately lost her life after falling into Avalanche Creek. A somber reminder that nature is powerful and often unforgiving.
I’ll leave you with a little tale to end on a good note: At our turnaround point, I could tell that the break in the weather we were experiencing was coming to an end. I turned Rost into the dry duckling that could and handed him a PB&J sandwich to snack on while we coasted back down the road. As we hit speeds of over 30 mph Rost began rubbing his hands all over the small of my back. He’d never done that before and it took me several minutes to figure out what the heck he was doing. As we hit top speed my tanktop began fluttering in the wind. It generally does not do that and so this was a new experience for him. He was trying to figure out how my shirt was seemingly moving on its own. As Rost was scratching my back, he also discovered he could snap my biking shorts back. About halfway down the mountain, Rost proceeded to deposit his half-eaten PB&J sandwich into my shorts, sending sticky sweetness oozing down my buttcrack.
