Weather tales

Last week I went over Lookout Pass (the Idaho/Montana border) and couldn't believe that there was still snow on top of the pass.

A couple days before that, Erika and I took Chloe with us for a girls' night out. It was beautiful and we got to sit outside at this awesome new restaurant in Coeur d'Alene.

Chloe even had to break out her shades.
And here are a couple cute baby photos, because it can't ALL be about the weather!
Chloe and Erika.
Cool chicks.
And this last picture is from today, June 10. It snowed in Montana. Tonight we're expected to get 2-4 inches. This could be interesting. Meanwhile, I hear it's been in the 90s in Texas. Can't say I really miss that intense Dallas heat, even though it's in the 30s right now in Montana.

Bubbles and Rainbows

No, this isn't a recap of a Teletubbies episode. This is just your typical Montana day. Wednesday I found a thing of bubbles in the "kid" cabinet at my mom's house, so I did a little bubble photo shoot...


Later Wednesday, we had a nice little rain shower that produced some beautiful rainbows. In this first photo, the rainbow looks like it's coming out of Annie Hill. That's what we're calling that little bump on top of the mountain. It probably has an official name, but on the Wooden ranch it will be known as Annie Hill. I was telling my mom yesterday that I have seen these mountains most of my life, but this trip home I'm seeing some of the details for the first time and have a new appreciation for our home.
The other end of the rainbow...
And as a final note, WE FINALLY FINISHED THE HORSE PUZZLE! This is a puzzle my brother got me for my birthday. I said, "get me some hard puzzles," and he definitely did good. We worked on this puzzle for more than a week and finally finished it on Wednesday. All the little horse hairs were so similar. We drank a bottle of wine after our victory.

Mushrooms and Smores

After picking mushrooms, we took them to Jason and Jenna's and made the best meal ever! We made Morel Mushroom Sauce and had that with elk steaks, then made pasta with a creamy mushroom sauce. Yum!

The creamy pasta sauce.


After dinner, Jason, Jenna and Ethan finished splitting the wood and then we made smores.

Gretchen and Anna
The perfect marshmallow!
And the perfect smore!

Nature Day

Jenna's sister Gretchen and her daughter, Anna, are visiting from Minnesota. So Jenna, Gretchen and the kids came out today for a nature walk. We had a lot of stuff to take along, so we took the 4-wheelers down the hill and then walked around. I forgot to take pictures of our really, really muddy shoes, but believe me, we were all ankle-deep in the stuff. Here are a few pictures from our outing....

Gretchen brought her wildflower book (above) and we were trying to figure out what all the little flowers were. Below is Blue-Eyed Mary.
And we also FINALLY (after a lot of searching) found some morel mushrooms. I'll post pictures of our morel cooking experience next, but here are some mushrooms and the picking crew.

More fun with the Browns

This morning we went golfing with Jason and Ethan. We got off the course just before the rain hit. It was only in the high 50s-low 60s, but it was fun to get out on the course. Ethan's our little golf monster. When we got done with 9 holes, he asked if we could go again.

This was the funniest picture of the day. I will have to do a little Photoshop magic to get Ethan's face to show up better. Ethan had taken Dad's hat and put it on his head, then Dad told him he had lice. "You know that stuff we put on the cows for lice?" he asked Ethan. "I had to spray some of that in my hat." Ethan very quickly put the hat back on Dad's head and this was his expression....

Fun with the Browns

Ethan and Elsie rode the bus out to our house after school on Friday. We had a fun afternoon. Here are the kids with Mom and Dad.

I think I got Dad this Cowboys hat for his birthday last year.

Ethan took control of it and rarely takes it off now.
One of our favorite games to play is "Run around the house and I'll time you." So here's Elsie on her 3-lap run.

Like two peas in a pod...

One of our projects was to make dessert, since Jason, Jenna, the kids and Jenna's sister and her little girl were there for dinner. The kids helped me decorate this cake. I think Elsie ate more icing than she put on the cake. :)

Chloe Bear

I got to spend some good quality time with Chloe last weekend. She's grown quite a bit and is more interactive now. As a reminder, this is how she looked the last time I saw her, when she was two weeks old...

And here she is at almost 4 months, smiling a lot and giggling.


Amber got to hang out in Coeur d'Alene for a day and we went down to the park.
Chloe Bear got to enjoy her first campfire. We made smore's, which I hadn't had in a long time. I still have a knack for roasting marshmallows! Below, from left, is Matt, Jamie, Leslie and Nathan, and Erika and Chloe (she's bundled up under her blanket).