Ain't it purty, Pa?

Any more doubts why we wanted to move back here?
Merry Christmas from Montana! 

Christmas Cookies!

This is what Colter looked like BEFORE he and Jenn started to make Christmas cookies. To see how it all turned out, go here

 

Finally!

I've been looking at that big sealed up box since my birthday. Mommy and daddy finally got around to opening it and putting it together. It's a tool bench with real goggles! Mommy, daddy, move all your stuff out of the "libin rom." I need space to work. 

Christmas comes early this year

Yep, the "tee" was up the day after Thanksgiving this year. I'm feeling the spirit since Colter kinda has an idea of what's going on. However, he's not so fond of the big red guy just yet. We saw one of Santa's helpers at a pancake breakfast we recently attended and Colter gave the jolly old man the stink-eye. 

Hay!

We spent a beautiful fall afternoon at a local farm that had hay rides, a pumkin patch and goats. Yes, goats! I bet the big city folk don't run into goat-jams on the freeway! Well, we don't here either, but...hey, we have hay!

First Snowfall of the Season

Well, had to break down and go find a shovel at Home Depot today. Nice snow for the first real one of the season in the valley. Out at work, there was close to two inches on the car when I left at 6:30 tonight. Colter shows no signs of wanting to get out into the snow so far. Of course, as fastidious as he is (neat-freak-genes from Mom), he may have a bit of a fit if he actually gets snow on him...or his clothes.

Here Ducky Ducky Ducky...

Momma works with the ducks, and Daddy works in the mountains. At least, that's how Colter sees it. You can see the view from my work below. This is the duck pond at MSU where Colter and Momma went to feed the ducks yesterday. We took another trip to Yellowstone today. More pics from there to follow very soon.

A Beautiful Big Sky Morning

This is what happened on Thursday night last week. It got a tad chilly and some precipitation fell. Of course, it wasn't until Friday afternoon when the clouds lifted that we could see the snow on all the mountains around us. The snowline on the Bridgers fell a little farther each day as did the snowline out by my work in Hyalite Canyon. It was cloudy and sprinkly all weekend, but this morning, nothing but blue Big Sky. This picture is of the Spanish Peaks (the eastern side, so there's more snow) from the parking lot at the studios. 

At the cabin

Our little Jay, er, Colter reading at the "cabin" in Billings. This was taken precisely 6 hours before he spilled his cookies on mom. He was out of daycare for the week with fever, malese and general "icky-ness." 

Vrooooommmm

or what I like to call "mama, 34 years ago." 

Smoke on the water

We spent part of our Labor Day weekend at Chico. This was Colter's first trip. He was a little hesitant of the water at first but once he got his feet wet we couldn't get him out. Unfortunately the forest fires have been so bad this summer that we were unable to enjoy the beautiful scenery.

Chico is surrounded by some of the most beautiful scenery in the country and we felt like we were looking at it through a cotton ball. The visibility was less than a mile and when we left the smoke was so bad it literally smelled like a campfire outside. 

Sheep Jam

On my way home last night, I was treated to something special. A Sheep Jam. No, not something one would spread on an English Muffin, perhaps with a bit of mint jelly, but a road blocked by sheep.
As I turned the corner, I saw a car stopped to let a herd of sheep and one llama go by. After the car got around them, I noticed something strange. No humans. About 50 head of sheep and one llama leading the way. They broke through a fence, wandered down the road a piece, and just decided, "Hey! Let's try this yard!" They surrounded me, even leaping over the corner of car to get around me on their way to the greener grass on the other side of the road.
You can't enjoy things like this living someplace like Minneapolis. Or for instance a turkey running out of the woods to chase your car just like a dog like happened to Robert, who works out here. Just one more reason we want our son to grow up in a place like this.

(The image isn't the best because it's from my phone.)

Polly want a cracker?

Proof that a little speech therapy and peer interaction works - words this week...

Colter - Yes! He can say his name!
butterfly
mole
frog
lap
elbow
neck
foot
left
right
Kelsie ("Kelkee")
Heather ("Header")
"Gramma Jane"
"Grampa Jim"
"Grampa Hooba"
Mickey
Donald
Goofy
pink
orange

He's also stringing 3 to 4 words together constantly and can count to 4. Oh, and thanks to his new favorite show, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, he can almost spell Mickey ("m-i-c").

Exhibit A: The big boy bed

Mama cried this weekend.

Colter and I spent a small portion of Sunday morning taking down his crib. He helped by keeping all of the screws in one tidy pile until we were finished. After lunch he crashed.

The transition to the big boy bed was seamless, proving that he's growing up way too fast. When Colter saw the new bed that daddy put together he was so excited he jumped right up on the mattress and laid down like he was waiting for us the get the "damn thing put together already. Didn't you two notice that I've been screaming for days to get out of that 'cage' you had me in?"

His new sleeping buddy is "Verm (Vern)" the turtle. A gift from Grandma Jane and Grandpa Jim. Every night when Colter goes to bed he has either Jay or me read stories, cover his toes and place Vern up by his pillow where he proclaims, "Verm, hand (Colter holds Vern's hand until he falls asleep)." After the "mama, hug, daddy, hug," slew of kisses and "nite, nite's," I close the door and he's out like a light. If that's not precious, you're dead inside. 

What's On Colter's Schedule This Summer

Colter will be doing some movie work over the rest of the summer and into the fall.

First up on his schedule is a remake of Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocolypse Now." Colter will be reprising the late Marlon Brando's role as Colonel Kurtz.



Then some lighter fare when that shoot wraps up as Colter will play a toddler-aged Steve Stifler in the seventh "American Pie" movie called
"American Pie VII - 'P' is for 'Pie'"

Dr. Hook, Eat Your Heart Out

Try your own version here. 

Jackson Pollock, Eat Your Heart Out

Colter really knows his colors now. He'll identify everything from red and blue and orange, to yellow, green, black, white and even purple. He always wants more purple when he creates his bathtub masterpieces.

You can make your own Jackson Pollock if you like, click here. 

Leaving Red Lodge

It never fails. Whenever we go somewhere, those two always fall asleep on the way back. On the way to our destination, everyone is wide awake, taking in all the sights (even if we've seen them dozens and dozens of times before). But the minute that cars comes back around the other way...ZZZZZzzzzzzzz. Well this time, I figured it was high time to see just how good the cruise control would work.

Hiking in the Beartooths After 4:00 pm

We've been to Red Lodge well over two dozen times since we got married there in 1992, and it never fails...it WILL rain right near 4:00. At least we had our jackets with us.

The effects? There are none. It's simply the "I Feel Lucky" button on Picassa that adjusted the fill light, the highlights and shadows. Click for a larger view. 

One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish

We spent July 4th weekend celebrating Colter's birthday in Red Lodge. Needless to say, it rained every day. We spent one of the more beautiful evenings hiking here, Wild Bill lake. 

Mission accomplished!

After a bit of re-arranging and sampling, Colter decided the frosting on the cake felt better between his fingers than in his mouth. I don't know if you can tell or not but his hands are as red as a fire engine. He seemed pretty pleased with the outcome. 

On the eve of destruction

 

A Blast from the Past, and Some Good News

I guess once you can string togther two- and three-word phrases like, "Daddy toot," or "Mama's boobs", or "me poop" and "Da-da, run, now", you are no longer considered a viable candidate for speech therapy. That's the good news we got from Colter's speech therapist, Nicole today. Nicole helping us to be able to help him and being in daycare has brought out all the words that were stuck inside his 'lil head. Of course, the bad news is I elected to share with you some of his lil' phrases.

Here's pic of the tiny man trying to devour Carter, his blue bear.

There you go!

"I think you finally have the hang of it," Colter told me and let me put the last few stakes in all by myself.