Life with the Bell's

Exciting News!

2010-05-20T10:10:00.000-07:00

Wow, it is already May 20. This year is going way to fast. We have had a few days of nice weather scattered about. Today we woke up to a mixture of rain and snow, which just happens to be the forecast for the rest week and then some.

So as a few of you know Rick has been wanting to go back to school for a while now. He has been working on the application process for a while. Just did the entrance exam Tuesday evening and we have heard back that he has been accepted to Western Governors University. He will be studying Information Technology with an emphasis in security. We are working on the financial aspect now, but once that is all taken care of he can start at any time. This on-line university works a little different than some as he can start at any time. He is extremely excited and cannot wait to get going with it all.

In June we will be driving to Deadwood, SD for a business trip Rick is attending. I will be vacationing at the hotel and going site seeing while he is busy in seminars. We plan on seeing Mount Rushmore, as Rick has never been there before as well as some of the other sites around the area. May be camping some as well.

Rick has been busy lately with church and now he is on the school board as well. Butte is starting Highland View Christian School in the fall of this year. So far God has really been leading and opening doors and so we really feel it is his will to have this school in Butte. We have already hired a teacher from Ronan, MT.

Maggie had a hysterectomy on Thursday of last week and has had a quick recovery which we have prayed for, because there is no keeping her energy tamed. She figured out how to get her cone of shame off last night while she was in her crate. This morning Rick was sitting in the living room and Maggie brought it out to him looking very proud of herself for destroying the monster. She is doing well with her obedience classes and is slowly warming up to the other puppies in the class. We are also learning great ideas on how to better train both her and Charlie.

As for myself, I have been busy with work and trying to keep the house maintained. During the warmer weather I was able to get some of the flower beds dug out so that we can plant flowers here shortly. Now that is is warming up my Dad and I have been able to enjoy our morning walks once again. On my days off I have been reading a series of books that I started back in April during TV turn off week. I forgot how much I loved to read as life seemed to be getting in the way and I had not been reading as much as I used to. The series is titled Abram's Daughters by Beverly Lewis. I have never read this many books in this short amount of time. I was awaiting the last book to come from Amazon as I could not find it anywhere here in Butte and it finally arrived this week. My mom has been reading them and is one book behind me and now Brooke wants to start reading them.

Hope all is well with everyone and you are enjoying lovely spring weather. We love you all!

Easter

2010-04-04T10:04:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter everyone. Hope you all are well and able to be with family today. I have to work. Rick is going to go to Easter dinner at my parents house, then he plans on bringing me a plate for dinner here at work. Easter Sabbath was very nice. After sabbath we went bowling with some people from work as well as some folks from church. It was a lot of fun. Rick's bowling ball got eaten by the little machine that rolls the ball back to you. He has to go back to the bowling alley today to talk to the manager about it.

We went to see Alice and Wonderland on Tuesday of this last week. Very good movie. Tuesdays here they have one dollar popcorn and soda, so it makes it a little more worth while going. Plus you don't have all the children that you would on the weekend as it seems parents like to send there kids off to the movies unattended and it makes for not fun theatre going.

Rick and I are ready for the warmer weather so we can get out and do more things around here, like hiking, camping, etc. Still calling for snow most of this week. The ground has warmed up though and so the snow doesn't stick for very long, if it even sticks at all.

Maggie is getting huge, we are pretty sure she is going to be a little bit bigger than Charlie. Rick thinks she has some spaniel in her, as she likes to nudge everything. My mom thinks she has some hound in her the way she barks at times. She is a very lovey puppy, and loves to meet new people and have them pet her, unlike her big brother Charlie who is very suspicious of everyone. We hope she stays that way and maybe rubs off on Charlie a little bit in that aspect. Both of them want to be outside constantly and we can't wait for the warmer weather when we can leave the door opened for them to just be able to run in and out as they please. We plan on taking them on a camping trip this spring when things warm up a little more.

We hope all is well with everyone, we love and miss you all.

Utah Vacation

2010-03-31T09:12:00.000-07:00

Well we are back from vacation, it was wonderful. We left Tuesday March 16th and drove from Butte down to Moab, UT. We left our house at about 0415 in the morning. We had packed up the car the night before. Rick drove the entire way down. We stopped in Salt Lake City for some much missed Cracker Barrel goodness and then only one other stop for gas on the way. We made it to Moab at around 4 in the afternoon, maybe a little earlier. We stayed in Moab so that we could walk around the town in the evenings when we were done at the national parks. We stayed at a campground where we tent camped.

Wednesday March 17, we visited Arches National Park. Rick was very hopeful to see some big horn sheep, but no such luck here. After driving into the park we stopped at the first pull off for a lovely hike through the red rocks. Got quite a few good pictures. From there we drove over to balancing rock and then had a picnic lunch. Went on another hike after that to delicate arch. And then up to the devils playground where there are a few more arches to see. There was some snow on the ground, but nothing we couldn't hike through. Ate at the Moab brewery for dinner, very yummy food!

Thursday March 18, we drove to Dead Horse Point state park where it looks almost like the grand canyon, spent a little time there walking around and then headed to Canyonlands as rick likes to call Candy land. In Canyonlands there is a hike up to the top of the plateau which I had to push myself to do as at some points you are right on the edge of the cliff and as I get older I do not care for being high up in the sky very much. But it was definitely worth going to the top. The view was spectacular.

The ride back to Moab was beautiful. You have to watch out for cattle as you drive through their land. They are just out in the middle of the road and so on. Very interesting. We enjoyed very yummy Mexican food in town that night and then wandered around the town as we would be packing up and leaving Friday morning. There was a very interesting little antique shop with all sorts of old interesting stuff. Spent most of our time here and if we had tons of money to spend, would had probably done so.

It rained Thursday night while we were sleeping in our tent and so Friday when we got up we went to breakfast first to try and give the tent a little more time to dry. It was a very nice little cafe where they made homemade bagels, haven't had one in quite some time and really enjoyed it. Rick talked to the owner who served us about starting up a cafe and got a few good tips. When we went back to the campsite the tent was still damp so we took it down anyway and threw it in trash bags, which worked well.

After loading up the car we headed out for Capitol Reef National Park. When we first were planning the trip to the national parks we didn't plan on going here, but it was actually on the way to Bryce Canyon National Park and so we thought we would give it a try as it had been recommended to us by one of the church members.

We were quite glad for the recommendation. It was gorgeous there and probably one of our favorites. It has a lot of history in the park and a little town called Fruita. Very interesting. There are all kinds of fruit orchards throughout the park and during harvest time you are allowed to pay a small fee and go in and take what you want from the trees. They had one of the old houses that you could go in and see with fresh baked fruit pies and all kinds of goodies. We decided to camp here the night and make our way to Bryce in the morning. Capitol Reef is at a higher elevation and so this was probably the coldest place we camped. They also have old uranium mines in the park which are gated now, but interesting to walk up to and see. We had a nice campfire that night and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows for dinner.

Saturday morning we packed up the tent and headed down to Bryce. In Bryce none of the campgrounds were open due to the seven -eight feet of snow that was still on the ground. The roads were opened, but no places to hike and so we just drove around to the look out points, took a few pictures and then left for Zion National Park.

Zion was by far our most favorite of all the parks. Absolutely breathtaking views. Words and pictures do not do justice and we highly recommend this park, but be in good shape because to see a lot of the great views you had to hike. When we came in to the park about 2 miles in we had to go through the longest tunnel I have ever been through. Then after the tunnel you have to go down this road that winds back and forth down the mountain. Would never want to drive a motor home and trailer through that part. When we got to the bottom I was able to see a big horn sheep (2 actually) on the side of the mountain. We were able to find a campsite here and stayed for the next three nights.

Springdale it right outside of Zion on the east side and it is a cute little artsy town. Walked around there and had some great food one day. Did some laundry there as well.

Tuesday we left for St George to go to the spa. We stopped at In-N-Out burger on the way....oh so good....best fast food burger and fries ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The spa was excellent. Would recommend that as well. From there we left and went to Capriotti's. Rick had been going on about them and so we got subs to go. I was very sad after trying Ricks sub (the bobby) it is like a thanksgiving day sub, I wished we had gotten a bigger one or that I had gotten that kind. Didn't realize how great it was going to be.

We drove from there to Provo, UT where we stayed at the Hines Mansion Bed and Breakfast for two nights. Never stayed at a B & B, but it was great. Had a two person hot tub in the room. Breakfast was amazing! On Wednesday the 24th we drove up to Park City and did some outlet shopping. Have been missing shopping at the outlets. Had dinner at Carrabba's, yum!.

Thursday morning we packed up and drove home. Took us about 6 hours to get home from Provo, not a bad drive. We had to get the puppies that night because we missed them. They were happy to be home, us...not so much. All in all it was a much needed, excellent vacation. And we can't wait to be on holiday again! We love ya'll. Miss ya'll. Take care.

12 days to go

2010-03-04T16:25:00.000-08:00

12 days until vacation. Rick and I are counting down with much anticipation. We have already started a huge pile of things to go with us in our guest room. We plan leave early Tuesday morning and hopefully make it to Moab, UT by the end of the first day. We don't have any plans set in stone, we just want to go, relax and enjoy the entire trip. We are going to camp. We are praying for decent weather in hopes that it isn't freezing cold. The highs for that time average in the 60's but we are praying for 70 degree weather.

While in Moab we will go to Arches national park definitely and from there we may take a little drive to the four corners, monument valley or maybe canyonlands. After we are finished with that region we will drive over to Zion national park area and camp there. We were going to camp in Bryce canyon national park, but heard that it is way to cold to camp there even in the summer due to the elevation. So our plan is to drive there one of the days and hike around. We will go to St. George while we are there and probably go to the spa one day. On our way back from the parks we will stay at a bed and breakfast in Provo, UT and then on our last day stop in Park City, UT to do some much missed outlet shopping. All in all we are excited and can't wait to get out on the road.

Maggie and Charlie have been getting along well. Maggie chases Charlie from the living room into the dining room and kitchen. All the while growling and barking at him. They think it is the funnest game. They do this 2-4 times a day generally. They love snuggling together and get upset with each other when they don't quite feel up to playing. They have bonded well. Maggie had her first vet visit with us and are doing well. We are planning on taking Charlie to obedience school when we get back to vacation just to help socialize him in hopes that he can become more relaxed around new dogs and people. We are going to give it a shot anyway.

Rick will be attending a training seminar in June in Deadwood, SD. We are hoping that I will get to go as I only work one day during the period he will be away and so would be a nice little get away.

We are getting excited about Jen, Jeremy and the boys coming to visit in July. We are already saving up for time off and thinking of all the fun things we can show them out here. We are thinking of coming back east late summer/early fall. Will see how that goes.

Nothing else too exciting happening in this neck of the woods. Hope all is well with everyone else. We love ya'll.

The Kids

2010-02-22T09:29:00.000-08:00

Charlie split open his paw, so we had to bandage him up. He did not enjoy walking on the bandage, Maggie did enjoy chewing on it though.

Been a while...

2010-02-21T11:37:00.000-08:00

So people keep informing me that Rick and I have not updated in quite a while. Since October to be exact. Life has been a bit busy. Time has flown really. January and February always seem to be the longest months of the year to me, and so it is hard for me to believe we are already half way through February. So here we go, I will try to catch you all up on the last couple of months.

November:

Thanksgiving was nice, we celebrated at mom and dad's house. I had to work Thanksgiving day and so we celebrated our Thanksgiving the Sunday after. As usual we had more than enough food and a pie for each of us. And as is tradition in the Flower family we had to watch Christmas Vacation after dinner.

Charlie had been out of his crate at night, but found himself back in after a night of eating three pillows and a blanket from the living room.

December:

We were able to get a Christmas tree this year as Charlie is a bit bigger, although still likes to eat the plant life. We just figured we would not be able to leave Charlie alone in the living room with the tree. He tried to enjoy the tree water as most dogs do, but we let him know that he had his own water even though it might not be as tasty. Rick and I had a nice Christmas together with a few nice gifts. We kept with Rick's family tradition of having cinnamon buns with orange icing made in the shape of a Christmas tree. We had Mom, Dad, the girls and dogs over for Christmas dinner and exchanged gifts at that time. December kept us pretty busy and seemed to fly by more quickly than anticipated.

January:

I don't think I even remember January it went so fast. I had a new grad orientee start with me at work. She is still with me and will be for the next few weeks. We started talking about future plans again and buying a house. We just feel like so much time last year was devoted to trying to buy a house that we did not want to "waste" as much time on that this year, worrying, saving, going to the bank, etc.

I did get to go skiing with a co-worker. It had been about 5-6 years since the last time I was able to go, and the slopes here are quite a bit more difficult than back east so it was an interesting experience. But very fun and I can't wait to get back out. I keep trying to get Rick to go, maybe someday.

Rick was dying to see Avatar, me not so much. But we finally went to see it after it had been out quite a while and both thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Much better than I thought it was going to be. Enjoyed the 3-D as well.

February:

We now have a new addition to the family. Maggie, a border collie. Charlie needed a friend because the fact is that we may not always live near my parents and so Charlie will not always have Lola around. Maggie definitely wears Charlie out. Charlie is now out of the crate again we have baby gates up in the kitchen and he stays with Maggie in there while she is in the crate. Maggie is a little terror at times. A lot more mouthy than Charlie was. We are constantly fussing with her to stop chewing on anything and everything. But she has her moments and can be very affectionate as well. We have had her for almost three weeks and she has already doubled in size. We are pretty sure she is going to be a little bit bigger than Charlie. She is almost the opposite of Charlie in every way at this point. Charlie is mostly black with some white, Maggie is mostly white with black. While Charlie is afraid of quite a bit, she seems fearless. It will be interesting to see how she develops into an adult and how her character changes.

Rick is still in the search of a better career. He plans to fill out has FAFSA information with this tax return and hopefully will be able to start back to school this year. He has been working extra hours and the Sundays that I work so we can go on our vacation in March to southern Utah. We are both ready for a vacation. We plan on camping down in Arches, seeing Canyonlands, Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park. We are going to spend a day in St. George and go to the spa, on the way back we will stay at a bed and breakfast in Provo, UT and then do some outlet shopping, something we both have missed since moving here.

Work is going well for me. For the most part I enjoy my job, I enjoy my co-workers. I do charge nurse about one weekend a month, sometimes more if they need me too and am orienting my second nurse. Work has been giving me more responsibility and I enjoy it. Doing charge nurse is a nice change every once in a while from being on the floor.

The weather here has not been too bad. More cold than anything. We have had a few good bouts of snow from time to time, but nothing that really sticks for a long time. Not like back east. Although the snow is totally different here than back east, it is a powder like snow here.

Well between church, work and home life we have been pretty busy. Hope you all have had a wonderful start to the new year. We miss all of you and will try our best to keep you up to date on life here in the big sky country.

Let it snow...

2009-10-06T11:42:00.001-07:00

We have had our first official snow. Three of them actually and maybe more to come. No snow in the valley's, but the mountains have snow on them again and look gorgeous. We really want to do some snow skiing this year. Hopefully we will get to go. I haven't gone in like four years and it has been even longer for Rick. It is kinda like riding a bike though. You don't really forget how to...just need to practice some.

Charlie has been enjoying the snow. He didn't like when the weather got cold, he didn't want to stay outside. Then the snow came. He loves running around and sniffing all the snowy spots. He has been very lonely now that Jessie and Lola are back at my parents house. We think from time to time about getting him a little playmate, but haven't decided definitely one way or the other.

Rick was on nominating committee this year. We have both been signed up for a few more jobs since last year. We will still be the young adult leaders this year. Please keep our class in your prayers. Rick and I have been really discouraged with it lately. We had quite a few young people coming and the last month or more it has been just us really. We want to see the young adult portion of our church grow, so we ask that you keep us and our class in your prayers.

We are still working with the banks regarding a loan. If it doesn't work out we will just stay where we are, renting the house from the conference.

The beginning of November we are having evangelistic meetings at the church. We are doing a mass mailing to all of Butte. Hope to get a good turnout. Please keep these meetings in your prayers as well.

We hope you all are enjoying the fall weather. We love and miss you all.

Sabbath Hike

2009-09-06T13:00:00.000-07:00

Sabbath we were invited to a couple from the church's house. We had lunch and then went for quite a strenuous, but amazing hike. We were able to see some gorgeous views. We are sad we forgot to take our camera, but we will be able to go again sometime soon hopefully. The couples family owns 160 acres of land and is divided up between the siblings. We hiked back to a resevior that was built by her father. Once we got up to the top of the mountain we were able to see gorgeous views of the surrounding area. I can't even describe. But it was amazing. We had a wonderful time but were quite exhausted afterwards.

Today we are cooking out with family. It is cooler today than it has been, but the weather should be warming nicely for the week.

My parents are leaving for the east coast on Thursday which means we are going to have a houseful of dogs. I know Charlie will be happy and hopefully the weather will be wam enough for them to play outside most of the day.

This Tuesday and Wednesday we are going to be in Bozeman celebrating our anniversary. We are going to wander around old Bozeman and then go to the spa for a couples massage. We are really looking forward to not moving this year on our anniversary as we have done the last two years.

We hope everyone has a happy Labor Day weekend.

9/9/07

2009-09-02T10:22:00.001-07:00

2009-09-02T09:05:00.000-07:00

Life has been very exciting lately, lots going on. We don't have internet at the house anymore, so that is why we haven't been updating lately. I think we left off somewhere in June. June wasn't a very exciting month. Just work, sleep and a little bit of play.

In July Rick went back east for a work conference. He was able to go home and see the fam, which he enjoyed greatly. I still wish I had been able to go. My aunt, Froggie was here to visit in July and we went camping in Yellowstone. Rick and I actually braved the wildlife and stayed in a tent. I was a little terrified that a Grizzly might find me for a nice little snack, but thankfully made it through alive. Yellowstone is always a gorgeous place to visit and we love to go there from time to time, even if it is just for the day.

On the third of July we had a cook out and played horse shoes at mom and dads, then later we set off our own fireworks and watched the Butte fireworks from their house. We had a great view.

Our Sabbath school class has been doing well. We just went white water rafting on the Gardiner river last week with the young adult group. It was very fun and for most of us our first time. No one in our boat went over in any of the rapids.

Rick got to take Charlie camping on the church camp out. I had to work that weekend. They had a nice time and Charlie is starting to warm up to people he doesn't know very well.

Dad and I have been walking about 3-5 miles on my days off. We take Charlie most of the time. He loves to chase the ducks into the pond. Rick goes to the gym early in the morning, but I can't find the motivation to get up that early. Plus it is so nice to be outside in the warm weather while I can because winter is coming sooner than I would like it too.

We have been working at the church trying to get things looking a bit nicer. We helped my dad a little with landscaping and I painted our sabbath school room (well my dad did most of the work) which we have had many compliments over. The church is really starting to look nice.

We are looking for a little sister or brother for Charlie, but no luck so far.

It will be nice that this year we won't be moving for our anniversary, since we have done that the last two years. We plan on just spending a nice day together, not sure what we will be doing exactly. But we will think of something fun.

Rick is looking into going back to school. Maybe starting next year sometime. He found a pretty good program he can do on-line for pretty cheap. We will keep you updated on that info.

I am sure that more has gone on in the last few months, but time is going so quickly that I forget what has happened.

We love you all and miss you. Hope that the end of your summer is going well.

May

2009-06-10T18:43:00.000-07:00

Well the month of May passed entirely too quickly. Rick and I were just sitting here trying to remember everything we did in May. We had a lovely Brunch for Mom on Mother's day. Tried some new recipes from the food network which everyone seemed to love including the girls.

The weather has been warmer. I have started mowing the lawn about once a week. We planted a bunch of flowers in pots. Don't want to do any landscaping to the house since it isn't ours and we probably aren't going to buy this house. Speaking of....

We are still house hunting. We were considering buying the house we are in now. Since my parents have bought their own home the conference wants to sell this house. The house was appraised for a little more than what we want to pay for a house, so most likely we won't be staying here.

We are pretty sure Charlie is done growing. Now we are trying to decide if we are going to have him neutered or if we want to try to stud him out. There are so many dogs here at the shelters and in the papers to be sold that I just want to have him neutered. I have been begging Rick to find him a mate at the shelter because he gets so much more energy out and has a better day when he has a mate to play with...specifically Lola. He has been spoiled lately and goes over to Grandma and Grandpop's house frequently to play with Lola. Also we have found a new walking trail over by their house and he loves walking on that trail because there really aren't any other people or dogs (which tend to frighten him at times). He is terrified of strollers and bikes. When they come by he lays down and absolutely will not move. He growls and his hair stands straight up. He loves to play in water dishes. We joke we are going to get him a kiddy pool to play in. At mom and dad's house you have to be careful when walking into the kitchen because you never know if Charlie has splashed water everywhere. Which he tends to do frequently there and at home.

Work for both of us is about the same. It has been really hectic for me our census during the day is all over the place and it seems like in the afternoons everything just goes crazy. Rick is still planning on going to the conference in PA in July.

We celebrated my birthday at the end of May. I had to work on my birthday and so we celebrated Sunday after we worked at the work bee at church. We got a good bit of stuff done. We are going to paint our young adult sabbath room soon. Anyway, we went to Bozeman and saw the movie Up and went to eat at Outback.

For Rick's birthday we went out to eat at a local restaurant for breakfast. They have awesome donuts. Afterwards since I have been sick the last few days I laid down on the couch (and really didn't get up til bedtime since I was so sick) and Rick and my dad went to the driving range.

Life is passing so quickly. Since I work every other weekend I feel like I hardly ever get to see Rick. Although it is better than working night shift. We have a few things planned for the month of June. Nothing too exciting though.

Hope you all are enjoying the summery weather. Love ya.

A little more winter

2009-04-28T10:52:00.000-07:00

Well it looks like spring isn't going to see us here in MT for a little while longer. It has been snowing non-stop since last night. The ground isn't frozen anymore so we just have a few inches, all the roads and sidewalks are pretty clear though. Everyday you see more and more people outside doing yard work. So I guess it is spring, just different than we are used to. Charlie enjoys the snow. It is always good to eat and roll around in.

We heard it was 98 degrees in Baltimore yesterday. I can't say I miss the humidity and the heat, but a little warmer weather would be nice.

Nothing too exciting going on here right now. Just work and trying to decide if we are going to do a summer vacation. Also looking for a playmate for Charlie. He misses having Lola and Jessie here with him. Rick had a nice turn-out for Sabbath school this past week (I was working). We are still working on getting a consistent group to come, but we believe all in due time the class will grow to where God wants it to be.

Well we hope you all are enjoying the spring weather. We love and miss you all.

Arizona

2009-04-23T08:46:00.000-07:00

So we are back from Phoenix now. The trip was fabulous. We had so much fun. We got into Phoenix after a rough layover in Denver. The weather was horrible there. There was a huge storm system. The landing was rough and when we got in we were already late to board the plane. It turned out though that our plane was late boarding...of course we found this out after we ran from gate A 60 to A 24. We landed in Phoenix only 15 minutes late, to gorgeous weather. After we met up with Erin and Dean we headed to In-N-Out burger for the best fast food burgers there ever was. Yummmm.

Friday we just relaxed, since Thursday night we didn't get in and get to sleep until around 2 AM. Went to Target and got a few things we forgot, got some groceries, and ate at a very tasty Mexican restuarant.

Saturday we played at the pool, where we tried that new (well not very new) spray on suntain lotion. This didn't work out so well for me. I must not have sprayed it on very well because I came out of the deal very splotchy and quite a bit burnt in certain areas. Late Saturday afternoon we played a little golf. My favorite part of that was driving the golf cart. Rick did really well even though he hasn't played or been to the driving range in quite a while.

Sunday we went to the spa at the Fairmont. We all had massages and facials. The spa there is an entire experience, they have hot tubs, sauna's, steam rooms, a pool and much more. It was Rick's first massage and he quite enjoyed himself as we all did.

Monday we drove to Sedona, it is beautiful there with all the red rocks. It was a nice little trip out there.

We got home Tuesday evening and now it is back to work for us. Hope you all are enjoying spring weather.

Easter and Mackenzie's Birthday

2009-04-13T09:24:00.000-07:00

I had Easter off this year, which was nice since Rick and I haven't had a Sunday together in about a month. The Easter bunny visited our house this year. Brought lots of nice candies.

This is Charlie wondering where his easter basket is. Rick and I were able to get quite a bit done around the house. Rick was on poo patrol. Now that the yard is finally thawed we have been able to clean up the back yard. After three dogs living here and using the yard as there facilities you can only imagine the amount of poo to clean up. We are trying to get things clean and ready for us to leave this Thursday.

Later in the afternoon we planned to celebrate Mackenzie's birthday. Mackenzie had choosen to go to Mackenzie River Pizza Company. Well when we got there we found that they were not open due to it being Easter. So Mackenzie decided on The Montana Club instead. We had a lovely meal and then drove back to their house to have ice-cream cake and open presents.

The puppies think they are going to get some of the cake...silly puppies.

All in all it was a very lovely day. We hope that everyone had a pleasant Easter Sunday.

Less Than A Week

2009-04-10T20:05:00.000-07:00

We leave for Phoenix in less than a week. Next Thursday to be exact. We will be meeting Erin and Dean(Erika's cousins) down there. It should be a nice relaxing fun time and we are looking forward to seeing them since it has been nearly a year since we saw them last. Since Rick and I have been together we have gone on a little getaway with them every spring. We are going to go to Sedona for the day, golf, go to the spa and just relax by the pool. The weather has been in the 80's and 90's. A nice change from the 40 degree weather here in Butte. Charlie will be staying with Mom and Dad on the 2 acres with his best friend Lola. They are both getting so big.

Speaking of Charlie, he has discovered that the bath tub full of water is a wonderful thing. He loves to drop his toys in that float and fish them out. He desperately tries to get in the tub with me when I take a bath but just isn't quite brave enough. He will jump up on the side and and bark and whine at me and then start splashing his paws in the water. He loves to splash the water in his water bowl all over the floor. He has gotten in the shower with us a few times and will just sit there at the end where the water doesn't quite hit him. We are pretty sure he is going to be a water dog.

Well we have officially moved to the upstairs of our house and are out of the dungeon as we have jokingly named it. We had been looking for a home and found one we were interested in, but FHA changed it's guidelines, so it looks like it might be towards the end of summer sometime in fall that we buy a home. That is our hope anyway. We will be staying in the parsonage until then, instead of moving to another rental and then moving again. The conference has graciously allowed us to stay.

Our Sabbath school class has been going pretty well. The first week we had a surprising three people, five if you count Rick and I. We were very surprised and very happy. The class went very well. The people that came seemed very interested and very excited about the fact that the church was offering something that was less informal. We provide a light breakfast each week. Just some fruit, hot beverages and some sort of danish or muffins. We hope and pray that the class grows, we know it will take some time, but it is much needed here in Butte.

We have been enjoying a bit of warmer weather. Not quite ready to pull out the short sleeve shirts and shorts, but you don't have to wear a coat at all times. We are looking forward to the warmer weather where we can go hiking and camping.

This last photo is one from the back deck of Mom and Dad's new home. It was a bit cloudy as we were in between storms, but is absolutely gorgeous out there. We miss and love all of you. Happy Easter everyone.

Flying Time

2009-03-20T20:23:00.000-07:00

Months are passing so quickly now, I thought we had just posted an update but it turns out it was over a month ago again. Quite a bit has been happening lately. Charlie is growing bigger and bigger, his personality is so perfect for us. He is cuddly and full of energy. He is now 6 months old and hopefully soon we will post some pictures.

Coal now had the run of the house that Lola and Jessie are gone. Charlie doesn't pay him any attention. The family has moved to a lovely house right outside of Butte in a town called Rocker. It has gorgeous views and a huge yard that all three dogs love. Charlie will be spending his days there when we are both at work.

Work at the hospital has been going well. Things have calmed down a bit and our patient load has been steady. I am enjoying learning things that I was not able to do in Charlotte just because of the type of floor we were on. I do miss my "neurotic crazy" patients. But it is nice to learn new things and feel more experienced.

Rick has been putting in longer hours at the computer lab so that he has time saved up when we go on vacation in April.

We are going to Phoenix and are quite looking forward to some warmer weather. Although warmer is all relative now, days that are in the 40's feel pretty good. It should be an enjoyable little getaway.

In other news we are searching for a house again. We are pretty sure it will take us a while since it takes us a while to agree on things. We found a few nice little ones but of course there was something with each of them that would be unlivable or something we didn't agree on. So the search continues. We are going out again with our realtor next Thursday.

Tomorrow will be our first young adult sabbath school class. We are very excited but also very nervous. We will let you all know how things go.

We hope this note finds you all well. We miss you all and love you.

2009-02-17T08:46:00.001-08:00

Well it has been quite a while since we have updated everyone. Over a month. Quite a bit has been going on. For starters, Rick and I accepted a position in the church to head up the young adult class and socials. We will be starting the class mid-March and hope to grow the young adult group of the church. Rick also accepted a deacon position. Now we both hold a board position. Rick took the board meeting tonight. Should be interesting to hear his perspective.

We took a nice little trip over to Bozeman on the Sunday before President's day. We stayed the night and just bumbled around the town on Monday. It was very nice to get away from Butte for the day. Butte is a nice town, but nice to get away from every once in a while.

The puppies are getting bigger and bigger. They are growing so fast. I was looking at old picture of Charlie the other day and can't believe how small he used to be. He is quite enjoying his walks every chance he gets. There is a great trail here that we walk on as much as possible. The county always keeps it clear of snow and ice, so it is a great place to walk. Plus the views of the mountains all around are spectacular.

Every time we leave he thinks that he gets to go too and is quite disappointed when he doesn't get to go. He loves to play fetch, and will whine at your feet if you don't play when he thinks you should. On the walks he has taken to barking at everything in site that just doesn't seem quite right to him. If he especially doesn't like something (for example: people on bicycles) he will lay down on the ground and will not budge until they pass. He is still bringing much joy to our lives.

We are learning that disciplining is not easy. We woke up the other morning to find that Charlie had chewed a nice little chunk out of our wall. I am beginning to feel like Marley and Me (for those of you who read the book or saw the movie, by the way, the book is much better). Rick and I get to practice our parenting skills for when we have real children.

We have been exploring new restaurants here. I got quite a few suggestions recently from a patient who prided himself on knowing that the good places to eat in town are. There is a great place here called Noodles and Wraps. Great food. I crave and miss Panera bread like crazy, but I am learning to deal without it.

Work is work. Not much to say there. Things are going well, we have had a ton of kids in with RSV, bronchiolitis and a few with the flu. I am amazed at how some of the parents will just leave their children like we are providing a day care service, but hey... I will just leave it at that. Rick's labs are running more hours than they ever have in the past, so this is a pretty great accomplishment.

In other news, we are planning a little getaway for April. Will be meeting Erin and Dean in Arizona. We are looking forward to the warmer weather that we will find in Arizona.

Well we have said enough. We love you all and miss you.

The sickness

2009-01-26T15:04:00.000-08:00

So Rick had been praying that he and I would be able to spend a nice day in bed. Well he got his wish. Only not exactly what he had been praying for. Thursday evening Rick came down with a fever, nausea and vomitting. By Friday morning I had the same. So we were able to spend the day in bed. Rick was worse than I and didn't get over it really until Saturday afternoon. He stayed home from church and slept most of the day trying to recover. Saturday I taught Sabbath school for the juniors and quite enjoyed it. Rick and I are slowly getting more involved with the church.

My mom and dad left Sunday afternoon for a pastors meeting that is going until Tuesday afternoon so Rick and I have been taking care of the girls. We went to pizza hut Sunday evening and then came home and played clue. The girls are having fun and I am sure the parents are enjoying some time to themselves.

The puppies have been rotten the last few days. They are getting into everything. Today they had a bath assisted by Brooke and Mackenzie. They smelled like rotten eggs. Not sure what they get into outside but they sure do love it out there. Well, Charlie likes it until the neighborhood dogs start barking. Then he is more than ready to come inside.

Well that is the news for now. Hope all is well wherever you are at the time of reading. We love you all and miss you greatly.

Charlie

2009-01-20T11:36:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to share a few new pictures of our little guy. Hope you guys enjoy them!

Update

2009-01-20T10:53:00.000-08:00

So it has been over a month since we have updated you on what is going on in our world. The holidays were nice. I was sick for most of it. I was sick on Christmas day and spent the day in bed. Then I worked New Years Eve and New Years Day. So Rick and I stayed up to watch the ball drop in Times Square which they showed live, so here it dropped at 10 pm. Then we went to bed.

The new year has started off very nicely. Work has been going well for both Rick and I. We have been doing a little house hunting just to get an idea of what we like in a house since it takes us so long to pick things out that we both can agree on. We figure we will try to buy something late summer-early fall. By then we can have saved up a nice down payment. Although the way the economy is right now I don't know if we would be able to get a loan or not. Guess we will have to see when the time comes. Here are two that we both really like. I am more for the second one:
It is brand new and we could finish the basement at our own leisure. It is just a great starter home.

The first home is very nice and roomy, but it would need so much work as everything inside for the most part was last updated in the 70's, and we would probably have to get a second loan to do everything we would want to do to make it to our taste in floors, paint and such. There is only one good picture of the first home and that is of the outside. This house is in a community that was built in the 70's. It used to be the country club area.

This is the second house. It is in a little town right outside of Butte called Rocker. The views from this little community are breathtaking. You are surrounded by mountains. The house since on 1 -2 acres of land. Not quite sure how much.

Not too much else is going on right now. The puppies are getting so big. Lola is bigger then Jessie now. Charlie is just a little bit smaller then Jessie. This is how we are marking their growth for the time being. Charlie is so vocal. He hurt his paw Sunday evening and was limping around the house. When I came home from work on Monday I was petting Lola (now mind you, he had received love before Lola) when Charlie had to remind me that he had hurt himself the day before and needed more love and attention now. While I was petting Lola he tilted his head down and looked up with sad eyes. Then he lifted his hurt paw and made a very sad throaty noise to let me know it was still hurt. The vet says he probably just has a very bad bruise. He loves to play and play and play. Balls, frisbees, stuffed animals, kongs, he loves them all. He is not too sure about car rides, so we try to take him to different places at least once a week. He is getting better and doesn't whine as much. He is the love of our lives and brings us so much joy.

The weather has been warmer the past couple of weeks. Not warm enough that you want to play outside. I am missing the snow. I could use a couple more feet. Not sure we are going to get it though. It seems like the storms just miss us.

Rick and I are planning on going away for our birthdays. They are a week apart so we thought we would do a nice little trip for the two of us. We can't wait until it gets warmer and we can take Charlie camping with us.

Nothing else new to speak of. We hope that everyone had a lovely holidays season and that the new year is going well for everyone. We miss you all.

Negative Degree Weather

2008-12-14T19:14:00.000-08:00

We have been experiencing very cold weather lately. On Sabbath, by the time we left for church at 10:30 it had warmed up to a lovely -10 degrees. The car was a little sluggish to start. Rick has an engine block heater on his car but I could not get one on mine. The place we went to did not have one that could fit my car. They said we needed to go to the dealership, where we got the car. So now we are trying to decide if we will get one on the car or just use Rick's car when the weather is too cold for my car to start.

Charlie, who loved to be outside now only goes out to quickly do his business and then is ready to come back in right away. Saturday afternoon he was standing outside and he kept picking up one paw at a time because he was so cold.

We have enjoyed a nice fire for most of the weekend. Otherwise it is just to cold for me. I am getting used to the colder weather though. Rick is already used to it and loves it.

We are all decorated for Christmas but have decided to forgo the Christmas tree since we have two pups in the house. Not sure the Christmas tree or the presents under the tree would survive.

Charlie is growing like a weed. He has doubled in size now if not tripled. He is behaving better each day. Although he does have his days where we constantly have to tell him no. I think he thinks that is his last name (no). He is very vocal and whines randomly. Whenever he yawns he lets out this loud noise. Sometimes he growls at the steps when he goes down them. He is so silly and has brought quite a bit of joy to our lives. Rick is hopeful that when he gets a little older he can take him to work with him. Apparently one of the other workers brings her dog wherever she goes. Gotta love Montana.

That is the news of the last few days. Hope all is well around the world. We love all of you.

New addition

2008-12-08T09:38:00.000-08:00

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. It has been snowing every few days now. We are quite enjoying it. Work is going well. Our census has been low though. We have a new addition to our family. Mackenzie has been asking for a puppy for years now since Brooke has her dog. Mom and Dad thought that since we already have a puppy in the house why not train them together. So for an early christmas present Mackenzie has a received a Golden Retreiver pup. She is almost 8 weeks old and is bigger then Charlie (who is almsot 12 weeks). They are the best of friends already. Mackenzie decided to name her Lola. I will post a few pictures of her and Thanksgiving dinner. Hope everyone is enjoying life and the holiday season.

First Vet Visit

2008-11-26T13:42:00.000-08:00

We hope that all of you had a great Thanksgiving! Ours was lovely. We had a nice quiet day with my family. The food was great and of course to end the day we watched Christmas Vacation, a family tradition. It was meant to snow but we did not see any snow on Thanksgiving. I am still waiting for a really good snow. One that lasts more than a day or two.

Charlie had his first vet visit last Wednesday. He was a bit apprehensive at first, but once he was in with the vet she gave him so much love that he warmed up really quick. He did not even notice when she gave him his vaccine. She gave him the Bordatella vaccine through his nose and some of it went on the table. He licked it up right away. The vet said she had never seen a dog do that before. He loves to eat everything, which makes me go into a panic. I am constantly pulling things out of his mouth. And no matter how much we keep things clean and vacuum he still manages to find things to eat on the floor or wherever.

Work is going well for Rick and I. Rick has his work cut out for him. He is working under a three year grant, the first year has already passed and not too much has been done with it. He is working on a schedule for the four different computer labs he runs so that the people that use the labs have some consistency and know when they can use the labs. Right now they are having difficulty getting people to come to the labs. Rick has to think of ways to get the people to the labs and get them using the computers. All of the computers need to be updated. They are all slow and need quite a bit of work. Needless to say he will be busy.

As for me, things are going well. The census has been low at the hospital and they actually closed our floor on Friday while I was working. We moved all of our patients down to the other med-surg floor and combined staff. The problem with this is that staffing gets cut so I may not be able to work all of my scheduled shifts. I don't want people to be sick, but I also need to work. So I am torn.

We are preparing for Christmas. I listen to more Christmas music then Rick would like me to, but it is only one month out of the year. We have the living room decorated and we are trying to decide now what kind of tree we are going to get...fake or real. It is Rick's year to decide. My vote is always for a real tree. That is what I grew up with. It is nice to have family around to go Christmas shopping with. My mom and I will be driving over to Bozeman on Monday to get some shopping done.

We hope that all of you are enjoying the holiday season. We love and miss all of you!

Correction

2008-11-18T20:49:00.000-08:00

Just a little correction: Charlie was 8 weeks when we got him, not 8 months.

Latest Edition

2008-11-16T16:21:00.000-08:00

Continued from November 14:
Saturday after church I tried to contact the lady who had the six month old border collie/blue heeler but could never get ahold of her. After a little while I remembered that my mom had written down the number for a couple who were selling border collies in Anaconda. I called them and found out that they had three male border collies left. (Rick prefers a male.) They said we were welcome to come over and take a look at them.

Rick agreed to go look, but that was it. However when we got there and saw them, played and snuggled with them we knew we had to take one home. Out of the three one just sat there and whined while we petted it, and the other was spastic and just wanted to play. We ended up with the third, a medium haired black and white puppy who seemed to like both play and cuddle time as he kept running back over to us for attention. He is 8 months old and we have named him Charlie. Here he is...

Just another day

2008-11-14T15:38:00.000-08:00

So Monday when I got home from work Rick had some good news for me. He was called during the day by the public housing authority (where he had interviewed a few weeks ago and then received a letter saying they had hired someone else) and was offered a job. The job he had applied for. Apparently they were torn between him and another guy. The only reason they offered the job to the other guy was because he was a veteran. Now the guy accepted the job and then decided he was moving. Long story short Rick starts work this coming Wednesday. We are so excited, it is a great learning oppurtunity. He will be working in their computer labs and is encouraged to go back to school.

As for me, I survived my first week on my own. Monday was horrible. Only because there was a lot going on, giving blood, discharging, admitting, and people calling me for every little thing. I felt like all I could do was the basics. Thursday went a lot better, I am starting to get my routine down. I am enjoying the floor and getting to know everyone.

We went to the animal shelter today. They had posted a picture of a border collie/blue heeler mix. When we got there they said the dog had been adopted two days ago. She gave us the number of a lady who has a six month old border collie/blue heeler that she has to get rid of for financial reasons. So we may look into that. Jessie has some issues though, and we are not sure how she will do with other dogs.

Nothing else new is going on here, but just wanted to update everyone on the fact that Rick now has a job. Hope everyone has a great weekend/week.

Life in Butte

2008-11-07T09:55:00.000-08:00

We have been wanting and meaning to post some pictures of our new home. Some of these are from when we first moved out here. Hope you guys enjoy them!

This is the Jessie dog after her hair cut:

These are a few of Bannack state park that I stole from mom until we get ours developed:

Both of those buildings were actual houses.

One of the days we got a bit of snow:

This was on our ride up the mountain to the waterfall:

Georgetown lake, about 20 minutes from home:

Let It Snow

2008-11-04T13:22:00.000-08:00

Today I rode to Dillon with my dad to check out the hospital down there. It is a small hospital. Only 20 beds. I was just looking for a PRN (as needed) position. They have positions available, but now I need to decide if it is really worth the time to drive an hour to and from work. My hospital does not offer overtime. When I was in Charlotte I would pick up extra hours every once in a while just for a little extra money. Who can't use a little extra money? So now I can apply at this hospital or there are a few clinics in town that I am going to look into to pick up some extra work. Not fully decided one way or the other at this point in time.

After getting back from Dillon my Dad called me to look out the window. Snow was pouring down from the sky. Absolutely gorgeous. We didn't get the christmas lights put up yet, but hopefully we still have a little time.

In other news, I am off orientation and very happy! I work better independantly and if I need help or have a question I will ask. It is too frustrating working with someone constantly looking over your shoulder. There is enough stress with nursing to add something like that to the mix.

Thursday I take an ACLS (advanced care life support) class. It lasts all day and is not exactly easy. Hopefully all will go well.

Rick has a few new job leads. We are going to check one out today. He is still working with the guy from church, they are renovating a house. We both really want to volunteer at the animal shelter but have not gotten around to doing that just yet.

Coal has taken to a few of the empty boxes in the living room. He loves to hide in them and jump out when we least expect him to. He seems to be adjusting quite well to the move. As are we.

Hope all is well with you guys. We are sending lots of love!

Happenings

2008-10-31T15:50:00.001-07:00

So it has been a little while since we have updated you on the happenings in the Bell house. Work has been going well for me. I am ready to be off of orientation. We have had quite a few pediatrics patients lately and I love it. My mom and I have been going to water aerobics. Mom goes three times a week Monday and Thursday evening at 7 and then we go Wednesday morning at 5. I go to the evening classes when I am not working, otherwise mom goes without me. The evening classes are quite a work out. My calves and arms are always so tired after the work out. Today we decided we are going to make christmas stockings so we went to JoAnn Fabric to pick out fabric for the different stockings. I think they are going to turn out quite nice.

As for Rick, he has been working with a guy at church for the last week and a half. It is temporary for now until he can find something more permanant. He is helping tear down a quad house for the time being. He has applied to a few new jobs at the begining of this week, so hopefully we will hear something. Also, Rick and dad have been going to the gym three times a week where they do weights for the first part and then swim laps in the pool.

We are still attempting to get things straight in the house. We just bought two new book cases so we can finally get the last of the boxes unpacked. Coal is enjoying getting into all of the boxes and claim them as his own.

Two weeks ago we were able to enjoy the company of Frank Bondurant who was here to do a seminar at the church. It was a wonderful seminar. I even took off Saturday so I could be there for the full day of meetings. We are told that he will be at our campmeeting this summer! Yay!!!

Last weekend we skipped out on church with the folks and drove an hour to Bannack State Park. It is this old abandoned gold mining town that was taken over by the state. There is some awesome history in the little town and you can take yourself on a guided tour of it all. Almost all of the houses are opened for the public to walk through. There is also a cemetary on the top of one of the many hills where one of the men buried there lived to be 118 years old. Afterwards we drove the back way home through gorgeous Montana country. It was quite an enjoyable day.

The girls are all dressed up for Halloween and were able to go trick or treating at the mall. The college here also lets the kids come through the dorm where they have their rooms decorated and pass out candy. This town really gets into Halloween.

We are told that if we are going to decorate for Christmas you have to do it at Halloween time because the snow and freezing temperatures come shortly after and you won't be able to decorate otherwise.

That is all that we can think of for now that is going on with us. Hopefully I will get my pictures developed soon and I can post some of what is happening around here. We love and miss you guys!

The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in Montana

2008-10-09T20:15:00.000-07:00

Today Rick and I took a little trip over to Bozeman. It is about an hour away. They have a bit more shopping and a few more restuarants there. It was nice to get out of the house for a little bit as well and explore the area. We tried a new restuarant for lunch, Old Chicago, good food...bad service (at least this time around). All in all it was a nice little trip.

It was about 13 degrees this morning when we woke up. They had been calling for snow Thursday evening. We must be getting used to the weather because neither of us wore jackets and felt pretty good without. In Bozeman around 5 pm the winds starting picking up and it was getting pretty chilly. We got home around 6:30 and around 7:30 the snow started coming down. Right now the cars and deck are getting a light covering of snow. It is so beautiful to watch. They tell us we cannot eat the snow here because of the mines. I bought a nice pair of gloves today. I need to outfit myself for the cold weather here. Rick already has a lot of warm winter things since he spent a few years in Michigan. I am currently in the market for a nice pair of snow boats and snow pants.

On another note, Rick has a job interview next Tuesday. It is for the county housing department. He would be in charge of their computer labs. There are four altogether. We are hoping to hear some good news.

This weekend my mom and I, as well as some other church ladies will be going to the women's retreat. It is at Fairmont Hot Springs, which is just down the road from us. It is a resort with golf, pools and such. We will be able to go to the pools. Supposedly the hot springs warm the swimming pools. I am intrigued and excited to go. The speaker has some very good topics she will be presenting, so it should be a great conference.

That is about all the news for now. Hope everyone is having a great week. We love you guys!

Settling In

2008-10-01T07:33:00.000-07:00

We are finally settling in. There are just a few more things to put away in our living room. The people here are so friendly, we are loving it.

Friday evening we were invited to a church members home for dessert. The couple are very nice. They made us blueberry smoothies and peanut butter cookies. The conversation was nice.

Saturday we visited the Anaconda company. They meet at one of the company members home for church. This week church was held at a couples lake front home. As we listened to the sermon and sang songs we were able to look out on the lake and see the gorgeous mountains across the way. After church and dinner the host took Rick and I out on ATV's. We went way up in the mountains on these trails they have made for the ATV's. At one point I got off the back of the ATV Rick was driving so the boys could go down this huge hill. On the way down Rick ended up jumping off of his because it was about to roll. Now he has some nice battle scars. Rick let me drive for a little bit on the way back. We had so much fun!

Monday I started the new job. My preceptor is excellent. I really love the slower pace of this hospital. We have been about as busy as some of our somewhat busy nights back in Charlotte (and night shift is supposed to be the slow shift). Everyone at the hospital is so friendly. The ward has 28 beds. They have not been full for a while. We deal with Pediatrics, Oncology, Neuro, Orthopedics and a Telemetry patient here and there.

Today Rick and I went to the animal shelter. They have seperated the cats they have there by their age. We went into the room with the younger cats/kittens. I have never had a cat lick my ear and face before, they were all so loving....and chatty. One of them kept summoning me over to him on his little post. He was too lazy to come to me. Another one kept trying to climb up my leg. I pulled him off twice and the third time he jumped half up my leg and clung on. I would have taken them all home if we didn't already have a spoiled only child cat.

Rick is still hoping to get a job there. When he talked to them they said they probably would start interviewing next week. I may volunteer there once a week or so.

As you can see we are still loving Butte and really feel that God led us here. We miss you all and love you!

All done with moving

2008-09-26T07:58:00.000-07:00

It's been a little over two weeks since our journey began. And it went something like this.

After many frustrations with the moving company, (that we had a contract with and had paid a down payment, the company never called us to tell us the time they were coming and never showed up) We ended up using a 26 foot U-Haul truck with a car trailor attached. This meant we were not going to be able to drive back up to MD to see family and friends, which we were so sad about. We picked up the U-Haul on Tuesday morning and hired movers to help us get it loaded. Granny and Gramps drove down Tuesday and stayed the night in a hotel.

Our little caravan left early Wednesday morning. We made very good time throughout the trip. Did not do much site seeing. Just what we saw on the way. Coal (the cat) did very well (he was the one I was most worried about). And Rick did and excellent job driving the truck, especially through St. Louis and the windy rainy roads in Wyoming. We made the trip in four days of driving and reached our new home on Saturday evening.

We are living with my parents for now. They have a second house in their basement. We have our own bathroom, bedroom, living room (with fireplace) and kitchen/dining room.

I have been through all of my orientation now, this hospital is so great. They are very much Christ centered! I love being in a place where I don't feel I am going to offend someone if I talk about God. The pay and benefits are better than they were in Charlotte. I am working on day shift which I start on Monday with my preceptor. Everyone is so friendly. They take the time to get to know each other. Rick and I really feel that God has lead us here and we are in the right place.

Rick has been searching for a job. He has put in a few applications at various places. Yesterday one of the church members called and asked if he would work with him, so Rick said yes. He was cutting down trees for 10+ hours in the gorgeous mountains.

We have been enjoying the church here. This last Sabbath there were 5 baptisms at the church. The church is really growing and Rick and I are excited to jump in and be a part of the church. We have also been enjoying going to prayer meeting as well. Something that we weren't able to be a part of in Charlotte.

So that is the news for now. We will try to post more often for everyone. We love everyone and miss you all! And will be looking forward to some visits next year!

Packing, packing and more packing...

2008-08-26T06:48:00.000-07:00

Packing has commenced. We are surrounded by boxes. Our guest room is done being packed as well as our living room. This is nothing new for Rick and I as this is my 10th move and Rick's 5th.

Our move date is semi-official. The movers will be here either the 7th or 8th of September. We couldn't be more excited! After the truck comes we will be driving back to MD to see family and friends. My Granny and Gramps will be making the trip with us, as well as our cat: Coal. So it should be a pretty fun trip. We plan on doing some sight seeing on the way out. Like Mt. Rushmore, the Badlands and maybe even Devils Tower.

I will be starting work in MT on the 17th. The hospital called me last week and offered me a dayshift position which I couldn't be more excited about. Rick has found a few job possibilities that look very interesting. That is all for now, stay tuned for more updates!

Montana Ho

2008-08-11T02:36:00.001-07:00

Rick and I have been praying for some time about where God wants us to be. Whether that be in Charlotte, NC, somewhere else in NC or somewhere else in the U.S. We have been praying that God lead us there and make it very clear that He wants us there.

When we went to Butte, MT we were not expecting to love the area as much as we did. Just out of curiousity we checked out the hospital. I applied to the hospital there and the prayers continued.

The hospital decided to do a phone interview. A week later they offered me a job. I will be working on an ortho, neuro and pediatric unit. I am so excited because I love my neuro floor where I am now but I have always wanted to be in peds. Now I get to do a little bit of each of the areas I love. The hospital is a small 100 bed hospital. It is also non-profit.

Rick and I are so excited about this new adventure we are about to embark on. We will be leaving Charlotte September 8 or 9 and I will start work out there September 22. Please keep us in your prayers, that the transition goes as smoothly as possible.

Trip West

2008-08-01T12:10:00.000-07:00

Most of you know that we took a two week vacation to Montana to visit family. While there we went camping in The Grand Tetons as well as Yellowstone. We went hiking to hidden falls in the Tetons. It was absolutely gorgeous. We saw a moose in the Tetons and went to a chuck wagon dinner where they sang us old cowboy songs after dinner.

After the Tetons we went to Yellowstone where we went on a trail ride, and saw the rangers chase Bison away from the trail. We were told that we needed to ride very close to the other horses. This was due to the fact that they have had elk try to get in line with the horses on the trail ride. The entire experience was quite fun!

In one day we saw five bear, three grizzly and two black bear. One grizzly and one black bearwere very close to the road so we were able to get great pictures. There were tons of bison all over the place. They especially like the geyser basins where it is nice and warm. There were a lot of elk to see as well. At one point we had stopped the car and I got out to see an elk that was fording the river. When I went down to see it, it walked out from behind a tree and following it was its baby.

There was so much to see in the park. We had so much fun. We hope you enjoy some of the pictures!

In the beginning

2008-08-01T11:40:00.000-07:00

Rick and I wanted to start this page so that everyone who wants to know what is going on with us will be able to. We don't get to call all of you all the time and let you know what is new in our lives so we thought this would be a nice way to keep in touch. We love you all!