The Montana Memoirs, Chapter One

We took nearly 500 pictures last week. I decided that during this first post I would tell you were we stayed and who we were with.

We feel incredibly blessed that this was our home for the week (pardon the blurriness. I took this from the boat). We got to stay in the new guest cottage (the house on the left) and our hosts, The House's, stayed in the original cottage (on the right with the large picture window).

It's such a happy and charming place...
This was our host's first car. The house is actually on a cherry orchard, so we got to eat fresh picked cherries all week. The deer are always just hanging out in the yard. Check out their cute white spots...
Here's a portion of the view from the lakefront....who wouldn't want to live here? Check out how clear and clean the water is. You can easily see 20 feet down. This is Flathead Lake in Montana, by the way. The pebble beaches were really beautiful- so many colors.
Sidenote, but this house is built for hosting families. What hostess wouldn't love a dinner barn? You can't see very well from my picture (sorry, should've edited it), but there is a large counter in the back where you can serve everything buffet style- plugs for crock pots and all.
This house is also equipped for fun times and activities...
We had a blast: basketball, volleyball, badminton, jet skis, kayaks, canoes, paddleboats, a floating green you can chip at (if you'll don a wet suit to retrieve your balls, see below), and a massive slip and slide nearly the length of a football field...

(The weather was this gorgeous all week, by the way. Highs in the mid-eighties, lows in the mid-fifties- dreamy)
We also just enjoyed time reading on the awesome dock. Here's Sadie and her Papa.

Sunset cruises were in order...

As well as lakefront s'mores...
We had so much fun with Stephen's family, and can't thank the House's enough for having us (pictured below on the right, my sweet in-law's on the left)
Here's our whole gang on our first trip to Glacier National Park (can you say GORGEOUS?)...which is my teaser for my next post. I'll be back soon with pictures from our time in Glacier. The Montana tourism board is going to need to cut me a check for all the marketing I'm going to do for their state. I'm kind of obsessed. It was so beautiful and so green- wildflowers everywhere. Stunning...

See you soon with more...

Sewing and Sadie

We are getting geared up for our big trip out West, so I knocked off this airplane activity thing in hopes of keeping Sadie occupied on the plane ride.

It is it's own purse/bag in transit...

Then turn it inside out and vwaa-laa...

Side one has ribbons to tie toys (and measuring spoons) on, a place for a mirror, a pocket with a stuffed dragonfly surprise, ping pong balls to bobble, and a line up of my grandmothers' old clip on earrings.
Side two has more space for tying things on and a picture window (you can't really see the clear plastic in this picture).
I think I should thank Duralee for providing me with several oversized samples that made this project possible. I also hope Sadie learns about her Designer fabrics and enjoys her Thomas Paul stuffed dragonfly. Insert shameless plug: I can order any of these fabrics for anyone (except the yellow and white Houles floral because it is discontinued).

Now to Sadie...

Our girl just turned 9 months old last week, and we love her so very much. She's seriously hysterical. Okay. Maybe our standards for humor have changed since she entered our life (see below), but she is getting more and more interactive and fun as the weeks roll by. She's still a little small, weighing in at approximately 17+ lbs. She's babbling, working on crawling, and feeding herself lots of new foods. She's also come up with this new smile that cracks me up every time. It's hard to catch on camera, so bear with the pictures below...

Thinking about it...

The wind up (which involves some SERIOUS eyebrow action)...
And TA-DA! Toothless glory. Note the wild hair rages on.
There has also been lots of this...
You nearly need a raincoat.

Speaking of potentially patent leather products, Gram sent Sadie some new driving moc's that are ridiculously cute! Thank you- can't wait to wear them!

PS to the obsession

So I accidentally published that without editing. Can we giggle about that nerdy description on the Maui Jim picture? Girl must love some marine life.

I also planned to go on about how much I love Brad. Maybe next time. I'm not in the mood now.

Later.

Today's Obsession

Let's talk about aviator sunglasses, shall we? If I were cool, I wood own these. Pun completely intended. Too bad I don't have $350 to drop on sunglasses. These eco-friendly shades are from iWood (a Louisville based company, by the way- you go hometown)

iWood also has some super fun cat eye shape glasses. Cat eye is hot for the Fall, FYI.

Pressing on. Aviator sunglasses. Plastic aviators. These aviators, please. Thank you Michael Kors for bringing these into the world. And thank you for making them not so ridiculously expensive. I actually have hopes of owning these.

Maui Jim is also bringing some heat. Finally some polarized AND fashionable glasses. How did it take so long? It's like I could still wear my Oakley's from 1996 and they'd look new. Sidenote (mortifying sidenote): My Oakley's were silver with mini leopard print. Yes.

Back to the attractive glasses...

My other obsession...

She's back! I have a love/hate relationship with this show. Right now its love. The season kicked off last night with lots of drama about Taylor. Yikes. And Brad looking BAH-nanas in short shorts. I just love seeing all the fabulous clothes and shoes and bags and jewelry.