A million things...

 There are a million things I love about my son. It would take me all day to even tell you half of the things that make me love him so. 

One such thing is heartfelt crush that he has had since he was in 1st grade.Mike and I don't encourage mini relationships or girlfriends at this age. However, there is no denying that he has fallen hard for this girl. We recently found a school picture of her's tucked safe inside a  protective case inside his backpack! I guess it must be dedication as he has felt this way since 1st grade.

When I told Matthew that we were going to join her family for trick or treating tonight he was super excited...FYI: She is not the devil! She is the crash victim. The first picture of Matt is him watching her get her makeup applied. Cracked me up to watch him. She recently broke her collar bone and her parents made her have a costume with a crutch to slow her down.

There goes Huck Finn...following his crash victim down the street. 

It really was a fun Halloween. I had great expectations for pictures. I did not do as good as I hoped. I will post more about our perfect night soon.

Sweet dreams:-)

Where the men are men...and the women are home(happily)

Mike and Matt took the long train ride back to Montana earlier this month. It was time for AC and Matthew got to join the men for his second time in his short life. 

Mom got almost a week to myself. It was easier this year than last as far as the panic attacks were concerned:-) Probably because I stayed so busy. 

 Montana was of course as pretty as ever.

 Matthew loved every minute of the trip...he actually tried to talk Mike into staying. Who needs a mom when you can live off the prairie? Even if you experienced your first "scope eye" 

This is Matt and one of his AC  BFF's. This life long friend got a new puppy this year. His name was Copper. 

Copper and Matt quickly loved each other. Matt's dream is to bring a BFF back next year for Copper. 

 Every boy needs a furry best friend. (Matt took this picture by the way)

Can you see the dog in this photo? That is another one of Matt's furry camp friends. His name is Badger and Mike adores him too. He is actually Mike's camp heater at night. Dogs must just love the Willits. 

Hey! Look at that a picture of Mike at AC. He has actually been nicknamed the camp historian. His photos have greatly improved of the past few years. 

This is my favorite of his from this year. I love it for many reasons. It truly is Montana. You see Montana came up with a plan to encourage land owners to let people hunt on private land. Land owners actually get paid for hunters, that sign in each day. If you are a registered hunter and you sign in the land owner gets credit. The men of AC take this very seriously. They love being able to help support fellow Montanans. They make sure to make the rounds, signing at each of the places they hunt every day of camp. This picture to me makes me proud to be from such a place. 

Just a quick update on us:

We have been doing really well. For some reason Mike and I have been busier than ever. Not in a so busy I have to cry when I think about it kind of way(like last year) In a checking things off our list and working together kind of way. Mike has really helped me get things back in order with home and my business. Matt is happy. 

simply...we are good.

sorry for the shortage of posts. 

I always think of you Dot, and how much you love seeing us. I will try to do better. 

Apples apples everywhere!

Mike and Matthew were gone the past week on the annual "men only" trip to Montana. I ended up down on the SE part of town. I saw a sign for apple picking on a road I had never been on. I was up for an adventure so I took the road. When I came to the top of the hill I saw it...It was one of the prettiest orchards I had ever seen. Such beautiful big apple trees! They were spaced farther apart than most orchards. It was breathtaking. I stopped and picked a few apples and promised the woman running the orchard that I would return...with my friend Jenny who LOVED orchards. Tuesday after school(and Matthew) I did return with Jenny. We had so much fun!The lady met us at the gate and gave us the royal treatment. She was so kind. We spent about an hour picking apples and taking a few photos. Then we went down to meet up with her to "check out". That is when she gave the kids bread to feed the chickens and had the kids pick more apples off the ground to feed the cows. It was the best day ever for them. 

I came home and made the best applesauce I had ever tasted!

If you need apples let me know and I can tell you how to find this little hidden secret in Rochester!

Thank you Sue, for your incredible hospitality. 

The mug

 Years and years ago...okay, 15!!! I worked with an amazing woman. Her name was Mary Carol. She was one of the first real women to influence my life. She was one of the kindest and smartest women I have ever met. I treasured working with her. I watched her walk away from gossip, be kind to others always. It is not a joke when I tell you that she could not hurt a fly. Literally, she would catch the flies in our classroom and let them go outside. She taught me so much. I was really young back then and I made a lot of mistakes. I honestly don't know how she believed in me, but she did. 

Right after I got married to Mike I moved on from that job. It broke my heart to not work with her anymore. The years slipped away and with it so did our bump into each others, and such. A few years after I stopped working with her, she lost her very amazing husband to cancer. It has always pained me that I was not there to help her through that time. She of course handled it with grace. She put her energy into her children. They now have grandchildren. I may not see her anymore but I still stay connected with her life. She was a foundation in who I am now.

She gave me this mug on my last day working with her. It has survived 4 moves(2 cross country) and probably thousands of cups of coffee. I can't use it or look at it without thinking of her. It is like having coffee with an old friend when I use it. Well...a few days ago when I poured my coffee into my trusty ol mug, coffee poured all over me. 

It seems my old trusty mug here, has finally seen it's last cup of coffee. Funny how something like a broken coffee mug can almost bring you to tears. I can't bear to think of not having coffee with an old friend. Even if it is just the memory of her.

Mary Carol, if you ever get a chance to read this. I want you to know that that was probably the most uses and appreciated gift you ever gave. Besides your friendship and your advice. I am older and wiser now and I am so very thankful for knowing you.

be still my heart...

You would think that I would pass on these; I hate studio photography. I have more pictures of Matt than most people have photos. There is something I just love about them though. The idea of the same photo over and over again year after year.The idea of growth through a photo. It just gets to me. I wait in total anticipation for them to show up every year. Then they do, and I feel my heart stop. It always makes me think...where was I when I was his age.

With the passing of Steve Jobs I have found a quote of his that really makes sense when I look back on it. Steve said that in order to connect the dots in our life we have to look back rather than forward. Then we hope that all the dots come together. 

Fourth grade found me at yet another new school. My family had moved to Choteau Montana when I was in third grade. That is where I met my friend Lori. She married the boy that lived across the street from her. Craig was the boy I had a third grade crush on. She teased me about it, then married him!  Then in fourth grade we moved to Great Falls Montana, this is the city that housed the true man of my dreams. Mike and I moved to Billings to go to college. Lori and Craig had gotten married and moved to Billings. Craig got Mike the job he had the past 12 years...

Hence, this is where all the dots come together. Craig invited Mike to come to Antelope Camp with all of his buddies and dads that had been going for years. Mike was of course hooked after one year. Now he has Matthew hooked.

Okay, so to bring this full circle...

Looking at this photo makes me thing about how things the dots really do connect as we look back on our life. It makes me think about how Matthew's life is starting to fill with dots. I wonder if he will look back some day and connect them. I wonder if the boys he meets at Antelope camp will be the groomsmen in his wedding. I wonder if he will get a job because of someone his wife knew in third grade. I wonder if they will someday connect and come full circle. 

Then I realize that they almost have to, right. 

Matt's Campaign Speech

Mike started videoing a little bit early to catch the nerves as Matt waited on deck. He was one of the only kids to memorize his speech. In fact there was only one other student, and she was running for class secretary. Can you guess who that was???Yep, Hannah! Actually, Hannah was the influence on Matt to memorize it this year. He does a great job of making it look like he is just talking from the hip, but we spent two days saying it over and over again.
Win or lose he did his very best. I tried to get him to say "It's simple vote for the dimple" but he just rolled his eyes and walked away.