Sandy's Wedding

Congratulations to Sandy Sweatland, now Sandy Foltz. Brian's sister got married on July 17th in a beautiful ceremony. It was a fun wedding and we are very happy for the couple. I'll post more pictures when I get them. We had a fun time catching up with the extended Sweatland clan, and also visiting with my Brother and his family. As always, the time seemed too short.

A Weekend by the Rivers

We had a great weekend, and we spent lots of time playing in the water. The 3 pictures on the bottom are of the smaller stream, Rattlesnake Creek, which is just a few blocks from our house. The kids played in the rocks, built dams, and found a log that was chewed on by beavers. The run-off from the snow melt has finished, and the water is as cold as it is clear. The picture of Brian and Jacob was after Brian's half-marathon on Sunday morning, and that is the Clark Fork River. The kids were playing by the 'wave' where the kayakers practice and tubers float by. We did see a crawfish about the size of Brian's hand, but we couldn't catch it.

4th of July

Just a few pics from the past week. Missoula has a great farmer's market on the weekends, and we generally go there. Someone brings hula hoops and just lays them out for anyone to use, and kids of all ages grativate to them. The other pictures include Annie on a hike up the "M", Mount Sentinel. We made it 2/3 of the way (400 feet elevation gain out of 600 feet total), which is decent. You can see the town and the Grizzlies stadium in the background. The other pics are from a trip to Montana Snowbowl, a ski area about 20 (?) miles or so from our home. It was chilly enough on the mountain top to justify a small fire in the ski lodge. The kids weren't phased by the chair lift, and we all go to see a black bear foraging for food.

Weekends in Missoula

After what felt like a month of constant rain, summer has arrived. Last weekend, we enjoyed the new playground across the street, went for bike rides and took Jacob & Dad fishing at the stocked kids-pond. No fish, though. Then Annie & Jacob had their camps all last week, which kept everybody running. Jacob enjoyed drawing camp at the local art museum in the morning, which is right across the street from dad's office. So Brian picked him up each day and had a picnic lunch with them. Then I gathered Annie from gynmastics, grabbed Jacob after his lunch and drove to sports camp. During sports camp, Jacob got to play football at the University of MT Grizzlies stadium one day. (Each day had a theme and a field trip.) This weekend we went camping with the kids. It was sponsored by Outdoor Missoula, which tries to encourage kids to spend time in nature. We don't really have trouble with that, but it was a good excuse to go. We stayed at state park in Lolo, an actual rest stop of the Lewis & Clark expedition in 1805 & 1806. They determined that via archelogical remains of their camp. The kids enjoyed the activities (it was nice to sit back and someone take care of most everything) and the weather was perfect. Then today, we went to the water park here. Not too bad....

Brian's trip to Alaska

Brian spent over a week in Alaska for work. I don't have much to write about, since I wasn't there. But I did download these pictures, and they looked quite spectacular.

Missoula

Here are some pictures from our new home base, Missoula. (None of the house just yet!) My dad endured the drive to Montana with the kids and me. Then we had several days together in Missoula while we settled in. Thanks dad for everything --coming to do the drive, spending time with us, our great housewarming gift and watching the kiddos for us so we could get out. The pictures are of a day we went out to browse fishing spots with Grandpa for when he comes back. I think the river is Rock Creek. The other one is of the Rattlesnake wildnerness trailhead, which is located about 2 miles down the road from our house. Our neighborhood and the kids' elementary school (Rattlesnake) derive their names from the Wilderness Area & Creek that runs through it. It's been rather chilly and rainy; certainly not what we are used to! Other than that, it has been quiet. Kids here are still in school, and we are waiting for summer camps to begin. I've signed them up for lots of things -- gymnastics, swim lessons, all sports camp, nature camp and even drawing lessons with the local art museum. That's it for now. I hope to be a better "blogger" now that we are settled.

At Home in Missoula II

The Fiesta Mexicana music channel has struck within me a need to write, so I turn to Carrie's neglected blog to offer an update on the comings and goings of the Sweatland family.

Carrie and the kids, with her dad in tow, arrived on May 18. Very happy to see them. The movers had arrived the day before, so I pretty much had the furniture situated and the house set up for the family's arrival. We've settled in nicely.

Missoula is just like we remember, if only a little larger. Downtown is still fun, with lots of markets and festivals and live bands and the like. There are summer activities galore for the kids (they're at the indoor pool as I write), so they're sure to have a busy summer. I've got some home improvement projects lined up. Carrie is enrolled in atleast one teaching course so she can get her Montana certification in a few subjects. Everything is falling into place nicely.

We have a new cat. She's actually like a year old, but she's new to us, is what I mean. We picked up Miranda at the local shelter. She's a very pleasant and friendly cat and gets on well with Jacob and Annie. We'll have to post a picture at some point.

No big summer plans yet. I travel to Alaska next week for work (looking forward to that), and we head home in mid-July for my sister's wedding (also looking forward to that). Other than those two engagements, our summer looks free, so if anyone wants to visit, this may be a good summer to do it.

I'll sign off for now, and I'll bug Carrie some more to update the blog. Adios.