Natalie Finds Her Voice

Well, we've had a fun week! Kyle was home for three whole days, which was great. We had a fun holiday party at our house with some good friends Wednesday, and we were so excited that Suzi and Randy got to drive down from Montana to be with us. Family and friends...what blessings! Kyle has since left again and hopes to be back Monday, and Natalie and Beckett and I went to Natalie's second music performance tonight... she sand every word with a beautiful smile on her face! She said she really had fun this time and wants to do it again. I think it did help I told her we might be able to get a treat on the way home if she felt like singing, so she got some vanilla ice cream for dessert on the way home! Hey, you do what you have to do, right? Here is a video of it, and sorry it's a little shaky. I had Beckett in one arm to keep him from bursting out on stage and the camera with the other one.

I also posted one of Beckett walking. It's one from a while ago when he just started to get his footing, so he still falls down a lot in the video. Now he's practically running everywhere! He is so adorable. We hope you all are happy and healthy and getting ready for the magic of Christmas. We are so blessed and so excited to be staying close to home this season, but we'll miss all of you far away! Hugs to all.

Gingerbread Fun!

We had so much fun making gingerbread (graham cracker) houses yesterday! Natalie got very artistic and Beckett had fun eating frosting. Mine didn't hold up long under the weight of gumdrops, but I did manage to get a picture of it before it fell! This is definitely a tradition we'll carry on through the years.


Our tree... one of my favorite spots in the house now! I love sit just sit and read or talk on the phone while I look at the tree. It just spells "comfort" and "home" for me at Christmas!

My house, literally 3 minutes before it fell!

Natalie's creation- the "gingerbread house that went through a tornado."

Every detail has to be perfect...

I love Beckett's face in this picture! He was just itching to dig in to all the frosting!



The frosting queen.

It was a fun, relaxing afternoon that I will remember for a long time. Hope you all are staying happy, stress-free and healthy for the holidays! Hugs to all.

Beckett is Walking!

Wow, I guess it's been a while! We've been battling various sickies at our house and have just been busy getting ready for the holidays, so sorry about the time lapse! The biggest news of the last few weeks is that Beckett is finally walking. He can go a good part of the way across the room before he falls down, and he still crawls quite a bit- like he just doesn't quite trust that walking will be faster in the long run. He is so proud of himself and has fun crawling up on Natalie's bed...and the coffee table now.
Some good steps...

Happy walker...

Beckett with Grandma Jill at Natalie's music performance this weekend. Yes, it was her first ever Christmas performance... and she didn't sing a note! She stood there with her hands in her mouth the whole time! I think she was just a bit overwhelmed at all the people. At least she stood on stage in her place. There were a few kids who didn't even manage to get that done and ran crying to their moms in the audience. They are only 3 and 4 year olds, and it was really cute. She was starting to warm up at the end and I think would have sung the next song had they done another one. She said she thought Grandma and Grandpa were just coming to watch her sing with her class and didn't know that a "performance" meant a lot of other people would be there! She has another one on the 18th, so we'll see how that one goes.

Beckett with his buddy Tanner (his sisters are good buds with Natalie)


At least she was smiling at the end!

And here is Mr. Beckett having his morning read of the paper...

We took our last trip up the mountain before the really cold weather hit a few weeks ago, and I just LOVE this picture of Kyle and Natalie fishing in the creek. It was cold, but beautiful. Kyle had the day off and we took the dogs with us and just goofed off all afternoon.

Queen of the World!

Momma and Beckett, who was NOT happy about being strapped to my back instead of being allowed to crawl near the icy rocks by the creek. Mean momma!

Bella and Katie treed a squirrel. They had a blast.

Frozen waters...


Kyle has been traveling so much lately. It's good that work is really picking up, but it's been a bit of a strain on us all. He's been home a total of about 3 weeks since September with no stretches longer than 4 days. He's a trooper, though, and doesn't complain nearly as much as I would if I had to go out in -15 degree weather! It's been really cold here with temps well below zero already. We have a little snow, but now much. He was home over Thanksgiving, which was great. Karrie, Chad and Madison were here and we had tons of fun working cows, riding in the snow and slumber parties with the cousins.

I'm excited to head to Billings (if the weather holds out) sometime this week to get my vacuum fixed and visit with my college mommas and their girls. We just love to visit! Other than that, the house is decorated, tree is up, presents are all in the mail and we are ready for Christmas! I love being home with our family in December! It's so much fun for the kids to really get into decorating and everything. We're gong to do gingerbread houses this weekend, so I'll post some pictures of that. Peace and joy to everyone!