It's just a name....

....at least that's what Megan thinks.

The other day Megan and I were driving somewhere and she asked if she could talk with me about something that was worrying her. I'm not sure what made me say "Sure, Honey." because usually what worries Megan is something that I'm doing that she doesn't like....but I was actually glad I agreed to hear her out. She told me that she had been playing with some Pet Shop animals on the playground with one of her girlfriends during recess last week and they were having a hard time picking a name for one of the Pets. Well, Megan innocently suggested they call it "Dick", which was her great-grandfather's name. Another little girl happened to be standing nearby and very snootily (Is that a word? If not, I just made it up!) informed Megan that she shouldn't call anything "Dick" because it isn't very nice. Megan was wondering what in the world she was talking about. When Megan finished her explanation, it was all I could do to keep from laughing, but I managed to keep my composure. I didn't really feel like getting into a big explanation, so I just told her that "Richard" is a much nicer name because it's her Daddy's middle name. Someday I'm not gonna get away with this....yikes!

Glory Haus

When I was in Estes Park, CO for a wedding a couple weeks ago, I happened upon an amazing little Christmas store, The Spruce House. Well, this store had the coolest merchandise including this canvas:


Well, the owner of The Spruce House told me about the website from which I could order this canvas and lots of other cool things. The name of this faith-based online business is Glory Haus and it's my new favorite....so you should go check it out!

Christmas Program

Megan and Kellan performed in their school Christmas program last Friday. Their music teacher is very talented and the program was quite entertaining! The morning of their program I asked them to stand close to each other so I could take their picture. They grumbled (and pushed and shoved) because they didn't want to stand next to each other, but then somehow they ended up holding hands.

As you can see, Kellan was thrilled to be holding Megan's hand...and Megan was not so thrilled....as usual...

Oh Christmas Tree

After the kids wrapped up their basketball season, we bundled up and drove up to Austin in search of a perfect Christmas tree. I quickly discovered that it was a little too soon after my surgery to be hiking up hills, but I had a great time watching the kiddos play in the snow. Here are some great photos of our afternoon:

Isn't it amazing how well children sleep after spending time in the fresh air?! Kellan is always the first kid up and he didn't appear until 7:00 this morning!

Catch Up Time

I have lots of perfectly good reasons for not blogging lately....and here they are:

1. I had major surgery.


2. Basketball


3. We went on a little trip


4. Christmas tasks

I'll start with the little....well, not so little...surgery. I think I mentioned in my last post that I was planning on undergoing a hysterectomy and appendectomy. Well, I did. The hysterectomy hasn't been such a big deal, but the appendectomy has been a little painful. I won't mortify you with the details of my follow-up ER visit....suffice it to say that it was one of the most embarassing and horrifying occurrances of my life. I'm happy to report that I'm back to work for a week and am doing really well now.

Megan and Kellan are still enjoying basketball. This is the last week! They have both improved their skills and made some new friends. I'll be glad for a little break in sports....I don't think Winter basketball begins until sometime in January!

This past weekend Marc and I left the kids with our families and travelled to Estes Park, Colorado to attend the wedding of some great friends. We stayed at The Stanley Hotel, which was the location of the filming of The Shining and parts of Dumb and Dumber!

Matt and Jami's wedding was absolutely beautiful...there was hardly a dry eye in the church! Speaking of the church....what a beautiful church! They were married at St. Catherine of Siena Chapel outside of Allenspark, CO....otherwise known as "Church on the Rock"....it was amazing! We had a great time visiting with our friends...our fantastic weekend went way too fast!

I have to go to Billings tomorrow for a meeting and I'm hoping to accomplish a little Christmas shopping while I'm there. I can't believe it's already December 6th....we still have to get a Christmas tree and finish lots of shopping. Plus we have a little boy who is turning 4 next week so there's a birthday party to plan and a present to buy! And I can't forget my Christmas baking day!

On that note, I'd better get off this computer so I can finish laundry and pack for my trip!

Last Weekend

So, I seem to be running about a week behind updating my blog lately! Last weekend, we enjoyed what appears to have been the last warm day of the year here in Helena by roasting hotdogs and making s'mores at my parents' house.

It was a perfect Montana Fall day and we had a great time! Here are some beautiful images my favorite twin sister captured in my parents' back yard:

Megan and Kellan are still really enjoying basketball and school....we have parent-teacher conferences this week and are looking forward to a couple excellent report cards!

This week will be interesting....I am going in for a little surgery on Tuesday morning....just a hysterectomy and appendectomy....nothing major! So, if you think of it, would you please say a prayer that I recover quickly...I really want to be able to go shopping on Black Friday! A girl's gotta have priorities, right?!

Catch Up!

I can hardly believe it's been two weeks since I last posted anything....I guess that says how busy life has been lately!

I guess I'll start with Halloween....Megan was a ninja, Kellan was an army guy, and Jacksen was Captain Rex from Star Wars. Because the Steelers were playing that night, we had to be creative about trick-or-treating - it worked out just fine, though! All three kids definitely got their fill of trick-or-treating...and they got a PILE of candy. The night before Halloween, we had a little dinner/pumpkin-carving party at our house:

We've also been really busy with basketball lately. This is Kellan's first basketball experience, and he is lovin' it! Both Kellan and Megan have been playing really well and they are definitely improving from week to week! I've taken a few pictures with my blackberry, but they aren't very good so I'll have to wait to post some when I remember to bring my camera to a game!

This last week, Jacksen had the stomach flu for a couple days and Kellan came down with it this weekend. They're both back to normal, but I'm just waiting for Megan to start throwing up in the middle of the night....why does it always seem to hit around midnight?!

And speaking of sickness, Megan's poor little bunny seems to be under the weather as well. She isn't eating and is very thin. We finally got her to drink some water this afternoon and she seems a little more perky...we are praying she comes around soon.