The Museum of the Rockies (Dec 31st)

So, one thing that Montana, particularly Bozeman is noted for, aside from the mountains and skiing, is our research of dinosaurs & discovery of one of the largest "intact" T-Rex's. We have a Museum that is dedicated primarily to displaying the research/bones of all the discoveries. We decided to check it out. Man, a lot has changed since I was last there 10 years ago, but then again, a lot has remained the same. John got a kick out of touching, and feeling, and seeing everything. I found out that the mom of one of my high school friends was super involved in the research of dinosaurs, and was published nationwide. It was a great relaxing way to spend the day. Here are some pictures from our time:




Sarah & John having a conversation on the way to the museum.


Daddy pretending to be a bat. John looks not impressed!


Dave conversing with the locals



John exploring the hands on exhibits!

Hanging with the cousins (Dec 30th)

T & Sarah left bright and early on the 30th, so they missed hanging out with our cousins from Helena. They almost didn't make it as they slept through their alarm. Thankfully mom & dad were awake & went to check on them. I had woken up to feed John, probably around the time they were supposed to be up, and kept waiting for them to wake up, so that I could say bye. I figured maybe they had talked about leaving at a different time after I went to bed so I didn't wake them. Needless to say, b/c of that, I didn't get to say goodbye. :o(
After church & Sunday School, we met up with my uncle Dan & Aunt Jeanne, cousin Courtney & her hubby Craig & Abigail, their 1 year old, cousin Josh & his wife Sarah, & cousin Melissa & her hubby Dave. We had some yummy Mongolian BBQ. I love watching them just move it around on the big stone and all of a sudden it's done, and they flip it into your bowl.
By the way, just a side note while I'm thinking about it, Dave & Sarah I think should get the record for knowing the most people. Not only does Dave know everybody in San Antonio (or at least half of them), he knew people in Montana. They made a special trip over to the Alliance Church so that Dave could say hi. It turns out that Sarah knew just about everyone there too!
Anyway, after eating and catching up, we went to do Montanan's favorite pasttime: bowling. At least that's what we did for quite a few b-days & often on the weekends in high school. Brought back all sorts of memories! It was a lot of fun, & I actually for the first time didn't really care how I did (although I do think the lane was slightly slanted, as all of us didn't do very good, and even though I was aiming & following through straight down the middle I kept making gutter balls, but that's beside the point!) I got to talk to my Aunt about scrapbooking, and how to do it quickly, as it takes me forever. I looked through Sarah's wedding scrapbook, and got some neat ideas, and had fun playing with John & Abigail, and hanging with the cousins. Oh, and then we went to the Leaf & Bean, a fabulous coffee shop, and chitchatted. I love how Bozeman has a million different coffee shops. I made it my goal to try something from almost all of them!
We took pictures of both the guys and the girls, but for some reason, I only got the girls.



I had to put both of these, b/c the first one is a really good one of John & me, but not so good of Cortney & Abigail, and vice versa on the second one.


Mommy & John hanging out after bowling!

Bridger Bowl (Dec 27th)

Soooo, I realized that it was taking me longer than I wanted to post about Christmas due to trying to organize pictures while uploading, so I decided to get smart and organize them before I started blogging, in the hopes that I could catch up faster. We'll see how fast I can post now!! Back to Montana & Christmas:

The view from the top/the six kids


Since we were up in Montana, we couldn't pass up skiing. We decided two days after Christmas was a great time that we could all go. Turns out we were absolutely right. The night before it had dumped snow onto Bridger, allowing us to have 18+ inches of fresh powder!!! Now for those of you who haven't skied before, there is nothing like skiing on powder. It's amazing! It's also a wee bit difficult. All of the in-laws (who by the way are much better skiers than those of us who grew up in Montana) found it fascinating. Apparently, even skiing in the Alps, Colorado, New Mexico, etc. didn't hold a candle to it. I honestly can't remember what skiing was like (since I can count how many times I've skied on one hand!), so it was hard for me to compare. It was fun nonetheless. I enjoyed how it wasn't icy.
We left "late" b/c I wanted to feed John one more time before I left him all day (wow that was hard). It turned out to be just the right time, b/c by the time we had to turn in our skis, all of us were ready. We started out all in a big group on the bunny hill, which by the way they put in a lift, so we got practice right away in getting off the ski lift, something my sister and I are not the greatest at. I was surprised at how quickly I picked it back up. My sis-in-law & Chris were the first ones down the hill. Chris has skied the most recent, and Sarah's mom used to be a ski instructor so she learned how to ski when she was four.
Once we all made it down, we decided to attempt a green. My dad & I remembered Alpine being pretty fair, so we headed for it. Again, Sarah & Chris were the first at the bottom. My sister had a wee bit of trouble, and so Dave stayed back to help her out. T, decided, what the heck to just go for it, and was quite humorous to watch as he fell more often than he skied! Well, maybe not, but he did lose his balance quite a few times. My dad ended up staying with Sarah & Dave for the morning, while the rest of us continued on. We set a pre-determined time to meet back up, and then were off.
It turns out that the time Chris said was Texas time, but dad took it as Montana time, so we had a wee bit of confusion, and a good half an hour was spent waiting at the designated place. Chris agreed to wait, while the rest of us grabbed some grub! Of course, since it was nearing 1:00, all of the soup & chili was gone, so I settled for a hamburger (weird-just not skiing food!)
After we all joined up, dad joined us for the rest of the day. We attempted some blues. (Yay!) Both Dad & Chris got stuck in some pretty intense powder-up to their waists! It was quite amusing.
All in all it was a great day, but I was ready to get home and see my bug! He did really well, thankfully, as the night before we had left him, after he was asleep, and ended up waking up, and staying awake until we got home from our movie. Here are some pictures from the day:


My dad & me on the first run


Aren't we cute! The background almost looks unreal, but yes, we were really there

The morning group

T & Sarah-before T got covered in snow


Notice the difference in the amount of snow between the two. Sarah-no snow; Dad-covered. Sarah never fell the entire day. She was the only one.


I think this should be on Bridger's flier promoting skiing there. Chris looking all professional kicking up some powder


The view from the lift-look closely, and you'll see dad & T & Sarah


The first time I seriously fell. I hit some crazy powder, and couldn't control my skis and ended up tumbling, and landing backwards down the hill. This was shortly followed by Chris falling on the other side of the hill, and T falling shortly thereafter. Of course, Sarah made it to the bottom without any trouble. She actually "hiked" back up to help me get out of my conundrum.


Dave & Sarah after a long hard day skiing! Sarah looks like she enjoyed herself, even if she says she didn't


Yay!! This is how John bug greeted us when we arrived! His shirt says, "I get my good looks from my dad." Yes son you do!

For more pictures (lots more) please see http://picasaweb.google.com/armyforchrist/Bridger

"Relaxin" (Dec 26th)

The day after Christmas we split into two groups. Dave & T & the 2 Sarah's & Michael went with my mom traversing Bozeman and seeing the sites. Chris stayed home (& napped-the boys went to Bible Study with my dad at 6 am) with me, Auntie, Grandma, Ian, and John. I attempted to learn Pinochle. I was kind of getting the hang of it when the group returned. We all went to eat at Taco Time (similar to Taco Bell, but better!!) and then headed to the mall to "shop." Chris actually ended up getting some much needed jeans. John & I just looked. While the Sarah's were still shopping, Chris & Dave decided to take Ian & Michael mini golfing. I sat and caught up with Auntie and talked to a very unique lady. Montana is filled with interesting people. The granola/hippie type people love living there. This lady was in her 50's, with short gray hair, the layered clothing look, (you know the long johns under t-shirt, pants under a skirt...) and was sitting talking to herself at a table in the food court. John caught her attention and she began opening up. He just laughed and grinned and cooed at her. She seemed rather lonely. She talked a lot about how she missed her boys. They both lived far away. I wanted to give her a hug, but she randomly in a lull in the conversation, just stood up and left.
While they were playing putt putt, the boys decided they wanted to build a snow fort. Chris & Dave got the ball rolling while the two younger boys went to Walmart. Mind you, the snow is not the sticky kind that can easily roll into balls, but they still were determined. They actually made quite a fort, and when the two younger boys came home, they had an all out ambush. It was great.
Here's some pictures:


Chris decided, on a whim, after he woke up from his nap to shovel the patio


These are Chris's styling snow pants, army issued!! These things smelled nasty. Dave about threw up when he came near Chris in the house. They smelled like old wet rubber & throw up mixed together, but of course Chris wore them!


Preparing the way for the fort


Preparing the kids. Note: Plastic garbage bags work great if you don't have snow boots!!


Chris waiting to ambush


The attack from behind. I must say Michael was pretty smart. He grabbed a shovel, and started tearing down the walls. It was fun having an army guy play "war" b/c he was using tactical terms, and saying things, like, "Look, they are bringing the engineers..."

Peace!



This is how Johnbug spent the time while Daddy was out being crazy!

For more pictures see: http://picasaweb.google.com/armyforchrist/Relaxin

Christmas in Montana

Christmas morning came way too fast!! I guess that's what happens when you go to bed at 1:00 (2 TX time), and your little one wakes you up at 5:30. Not exactly how I pictured Christmas morning to go!! :o) Thankfully John went back to sleep at 6, and slept til 8. He was quite lethargic, well fussy rather, likely due to the long day the day before, and the lack of sleep. I was really hoping he would show off how he opens presents, but no such luck.
Chris & I hadn't wrapped any gifts, as we were told that security was randomly checking them. So, after a yummy breakfast of my mom's cinnamon rolls (similar to sticky buns!), I proceeded to wrap. For some reason it took me nearly an hour. My mind wasn't on straight. In the midst of all that, we realized that we were missing half of our gifts- the gift cards, and the picture we were going to give mom. Chris was frantic, thinking he had left them on the plane. After a brief moment of frustration I decided to not let it bother me, and said, "Well, if we left them on the plane, then we blessed someone with a gift." Chris wasn't able to settle down, until he knew whether or not he had left them at Dave & Sarah's. Thankfully the guy who was staying there, was able to find them in the computer bag that we had left b/c we thought we wouldn't need it. Everyone was waiting on me, and once I finished, we all gathered around in the living room, and Dad read the passage in Luke where the Angels proclaim Christ's birth to the shepherds. We had a really good discussion about God becoming Man, and pondered over what the angels thought in it all. We then spent some time praying and thanking God for the year, and for what Christmas means.
My aunt Anna Marie and her two boys, Ian & Michael, showed up as we were finishing praying. Her hubby works at night and he worked Christmas Eve, and was going to work Christmas night, so her and the boys got out of the house for a few days, to hang out with us.
After we finished praying we divvied out the gifts. I think John & Grandma Senecal ended up with the most!! I enjoyed watching everyone! I think that is always my favorite part. Chris & I had to "get back" at the newlyweds, by giving Sarah a taste of her own medicine. We also included T & Sarah in it. We gave them all "fun" PJ's...
After presents, the boys all ran outside to play football, while we finished getting the turkey ready. The meal was wonderful, and afterwards, what better to do in 10 degree weather, but go on a walk, at least according to my dad! It ended up being a lot of fun. John even went! The evening we spent relaxing and playing games. What a sweet time with family!





"Annual" Christmas football game


Family Christmas picture! For more pictures see: http://picasaweb.google.com/armyforchrist/MontanaChristmas

This is a picture of our tree. Someone described it as a Charlie Brown Christmas tree. I was thinking about it that morning, how this particular tree really represents Christmas, and what Christ did for us. He gave his life to bless us, just like the tree's life. He was the Light of the World who came to shine light into the darkness of man's heart, to expose our sin, and to reveal the Truth of God. The tree was full of little lights to be a picture of this. The presents symbolized to me God's grace in giving us things that we don't deserve, but yet he loves to bless us. I also had a unique perspective of Mary having Jesus. Granted I know John is not Jesus, but it was very unique to experience his first Christmas, and understand more fully how and why Mary "treasured & pondered all these things in her heart." (Luke 2:19)

Christmas in Montana... Getting there

So on Sunday the 23rd, we began our long journey to Montana. We headed to San Antonio that evening, a few hours later than we had wanted to, due to a dog who needed to be dropped off at Nana's, a key needed to be dropped off at our friends watching our cat, a friend who we hadn't seen in forever showing up, and a football game that HAD to be watched!! John slept most of the way there, but of course once we got there, decided he needed to poop his pants, thoroughly! Everything needed to be changed. He didn't go to bed until 10:30, and we didn't go to bed til almost 1. Of course, he didn't think sleeping in was a necessity, so he promptly woke up at 5:50. He stayed awake for an hour, and then went back to sleep for only an hour. Meaning, we got up with him. He got one really good morning nap in, and then, nothing. Probably was excited for the big day ahead of him.
When we arrived at the airport, we were told that we would only have 15 minutes to catch our connecting flight in Memphis, and so it would be tight. We elected to try for it. Well, it turned out that we were delayed nearly 2 hours from leaving San Antonio. Chris had a backup plan worked out if we missed our flight in Memphis, where we would still arrive in Montana early on Christmas morning. He pulled the, "It's my last Christmas before I go to Iraq..." which is true, but he doesn't leave for nearly another year. The representative he was talking to mentioned that the plane leaving out of Memphis was running 45 minutes late, putting us arriving there approximately 5 minutes before the flight left. We called my folks and my bro & sister in law (who were to meet us in Minneapolis) and told them to pray! Our flight from San Antonio to Memphis was full, so we couldn't shift around to sit closer to the front.
When we touched down in Memphis, the flight attendant came on, and told those who had a longer than 10 minute layover to stay seated, and then proceeded to say, "If you are connecting to Minneapolis, your gate is B38. Go directly there. Do not stop to go to the bathroom, or get water, or you will miss the flight." We pulled into gate B1. Then half the plane stands up. Chris had jetted into the aisle with John, and was firmly insisting that I come up to where he was. I had heard those around me who also were making short connections, so I didn't want to budge in front of them. He was insistent, so I did, and apologized to those I cut in front of. The minute we got out of the plane, we ran as fast as we could to the next gate. John enjoyed the run, as he bounced up and down in Chris's arms. We got there, just as they were fixing to close the door. I was huffing & puffing. I thought I was going to throw up. And, of course we had no water, b/c they won't let you bring a water bottle on board, and we hadn't gotten one in San Antonio. Grrr! It seemed like forever before they finally let the beverage service go through. John, decided to poop his pants (he loves doing that on the plane)! Thankfully, Chris was there to help. He ended up playing and holding John who wouldn't sleep, as I was not functioning well. This flight was a wee bit emptier, so we got to move to sit in front of Dave & Sarah.
When we arrived in Minneapolis, T & Sarah were there to meet us. (Chris had called them and my folks indicating we had made it on our connecting flight in Memphis.) We had to briskly walk to make it to the next gate. Chris ran on ahead, leaving John with Sarah to grab me something to eat. It's 9:30 by this time. We got to the gate as they were boarding. I was even able to go to the bathroom as I waited for the line to move!!!
John finally fell asleep on the last leg, despite us (me) sitting next to a slightly inebriated man, on his way home, who talked the whole flight. He had just come from saying goodbye to his mom, possibly for the last time, and needed to debrief. He was very helpful, carrying the diaper bag, picking up my breast pad... yeah accidentally dropped it, and he was going to throw it away for me. I told him, I was going to keep it. Maybe he was too drunk to realize what it was!!!!! :o)
It was kind of fun, we came off the plane in our birth order! Mom was soooo excited! It took us 45 minutes to get our baggage. It was fun to catch up, and to see people we recognized but couldn't place how we knew them. I did run into one of the girls I was a camp counselor for at Clydehurst, and caught up with her. She is in the Air Force. Craziness. They grow up so fast! John stayed asleep most of the time, until we put him in his car seat, and then fell back to sleep shortly after we arrived at the house. We made sure we woke Grandma up, as we traipsed through the downstairs!!! She loved it!
So, since this is getting rather lengthy, I will post the rest of Christmas on a new post.



John playing on the plane, instead of sleeping!


Dave & Sarah happy to be going to Montana!
We forgot to get a picture of T & Sarah, well probably we weren't able to be pulled away from inebriated man to get a picture!!

Christmas in Temple Dec 22nd

So, as I read other blogs, and get ideas, I've decided to post most of the photos in a link so that you aren't scrolling forever down the blog entry to see everything. We'll see how this goes. Don't worry, there will still be some posted here to whet your appetite!! :o) http://picasaweb.google.com/armyforchrist/Christmas2007

On Sat December 22nd, we enjoyed Christmas with Chris's family in Temple. At 4:00 we gathered at Stephen & Shelly's to celebrate Christmas with the Kelley side (Chris's mom's side) of the family. We had a lot of fun enjoying family! John loved hanging out with Nana and the cousins. Shelby & Cameron couldn't get enough of him. Even Uncle Stephen & Aunt Stacy got their turn! We had some yummy Papa John's pizza (atypical for the usual get together, but good nonetheless!) John couldn't get enough of the lights on the Christmas tree! When it came time to open presents, he was priceless! He grabbed right at the paper and ripped it off, and then proceeded to put it in his mouth, then he would grab more paper, and crinkle it. I don't think Chris & I opened our gifts for about 20 minutes, b/c it was so much fun watching him. He would get really excited about it too!
We left that party, and headed to TBC, to possibly catch up with old friends at the Star of Bethlehem presentation. We did run into Shannon Soard, the guy who did the first part of our wedding, and two other friends we knew from singles. We only stayed for the first half, as John was getting tired, and we still had to do Christmas with Chris's dad. John fell asleep, on the way over to the house, but woke up in time to open gifts, then go right back down. Chris's family made sure that we got plenty of Longhorn paraphernalia, to "ensure he knows the correct team to root for!" We shall see!! :o) (Unfortunately our camera died at Chris's dad's house, so we weren't able to capture any pictures there. We will try to see if we can borrow some of the ones he took. )
After John went down we watched the remainder of the Cowboys game. Well, rather Chris, JR, Penny, Stephen & Shelley watched the game, and I spent the game listening to Cameron & Trevor tell me stories. Cameron was telling me about the "ghost" he saw in the house, and then he was telling me all his ideas about amusement park rides. Shelley & Penny found it rather comical! I enjoyed it though!
They also had some really great food, which even though we had just eaten, we partook of!
All in all, it was a very fun, peaceful Christmas celebration. I really enjoyed getting to know Chris's family a little better, and look forward to continuing the relationship.

Daddy's graduation (Nov 30th)

Ok, since I'm a proud wife I have to put this post up. To Chris it was just another day in the army, but I want to brag about my awesome husband. On Friday November 30th, Chris completed his OBLC course. They had a graduation ceremony down at the schoolhouse at Ft. Sam. John & I made it, barely. Chris has really enjoyed the time he spent at OBLC, primarily in leadership, and in the field. He would get so excited when he would talk about all his experiences, primarily in leading his platoon. Well, apparently the company also noticed his leadership skills, b/c he was named best leader overall at their graduation. According to him, it was nothing, he just got his name on a plaque, but I am proud of him. Oh yeah, earlier on in the class, he received a General's coin (pretty big deal in army land!) for being the most squared away! You'll have to ask him about the story. He tells it much better than I do!
Unfortunately my camera wasn't behaving right when he received the award, so I have a blurry picture of him, but here are some from after the ceremony:


Some of the nurses in his platoon


The fam!

4 month shots (Nov 29th)

The week after Thanksgiving was John's 4 month birthday, so in order to celebrate, why we took him to get his shots! Hopefully he won't be scarred for life, by getting shots on his birthday(s)! After the horrific experience with his 2 month shots, I was very thankful that Chris was able to get off early and come to the doctor's appt, and be at home that evening should he start screaming. I took my own advice and made the appt later in the day, and I gave him Tylenol right as we got there. Well, I don't know if he was just older and had more meat on his bones, or if he was trying to be a big boy for daddy, but the little guy barely let out a squawk, and then he was done...for the WHOLE rest of the day! He even came home and went right to jumping in his floor jumper. Why is it that when you always need the extra help, it's never available, and when things are going well, there's plenty of extra help! Go figure!

I must say I did like the lady who gave the shots this time better than the one before. I'm wondering if he screamed so much b/c he was pinned down the first time. This time she did one leg at a time, and then let him move. Hmm, the nurse in me is always trying to figure out the best & least painful ways to do things. I'll have to keep assessing the situation at every dr's appt!

Moving

Wow, it's been a while since we've posted anything. Since the week before Thanksgiving we have been in transition. We didn't know when we would be able to move, so we were gradually packing our house. Every weekend there was a possibility that we could move. I never realized how hard it is to gradually pack, not sure what you will be needing and for how long. We finally were able to close on our new house on Dec 8th, and we ended up moving in on that same day. We moved everything into the house, set up our beds, spent the night, and then after church the next day headed back to San Antonio. Chris had another week of training, and I was going to work on cleaning the house. We stayed there until the 14th (John & I til the 13th) then came back to Killeen. We were here for a week, unpacked and organized our house, had Christmas's with Chris's family, and then headed back to San Antonio on the 23rd as we were flying out to Montana on the 24th. After a lot of prayer and running through the airports, we made it into Montana the evening of the 24th, and stayed up there until the 4th of January. Then John & I came down with nasty colds. So, thus, no time for blogging. Hopefully I will be able to catch up here shortly! So these next few posts are going to be about all the things that happened between Thanksgiving and New Years, with the possibility of more than one post a day!! We shall see how good I am (and how much time John gives me!) There's a lot that's happened, but thankfully since returning from Christmas things have slowed down.
So, to start things off, here are some pictures of our moving experience, primarily how the animals responded (some of John), since most of the time I was busy packing or unpacking or directing traffic to snap pictures




With all the packing and rearranging, John gut tuckered out on "Aunt" Shea's lap (3 days before moving day) He did really well moving day, with the exception of a massive diaper blowout! If that's all that happened, I will take it!



Tess sleeping wherever she could find a spot, as most of her sleeping spots kept getting moved. She primarily liked the pile of blankets we kept aside for moving


Kebap, unsure what to think of all the change!



John & Kebap on the Sunday after moving day on the trip back to San Antonio to clean the house.


Tess, checking out new hiding spaces!


For the most part John adjusted pretty well, we tried to keep things on a regular schedule, primarily bath time. However, the new sink didn't have as much counter space to catch the water so it was all over. The below picture is of Kebap trying to catch the water:



Kebap sunning himself in his new back yard! Notice the tile on the back porch! Yay for those hot summer days!