Part III

On Christmas Eve, we went to a Santa's village in Northampton. It was beautiful and a great way to get back into the Christmas spirit after traveling the day before.

Group photo op with Santa.

Nate and Claire made sure to get a note, cookies, and a snack for the reindeer out on Christmas Eve.

Just what Claire asked Santa for: a little white dog that barks and has a leash!

Before Christmas Visit with Grandma and Grandpa

It's January 2nd, and on my to-do list for today is getting caught up on the blog and photos from the 2nd half of December which was spent celebrating the holdiays with family. My parents arrived December 16 for a week-long visit, including being here for my birthday, which always makes me happy : ) Nate and I were able to get away for a night to the 320 Ranch in the Gallatin Canyon and ski at Moonlight Basin the next day, though it was frigid and quite gusty on the slopes. Grandma and Grandpa explored the Museum of the Rockies with Claire, especially enjoying their new children's room based on Yellowstone National Park.

We had enough snow to sled out back, and Grandma even went down with Claire.

We celebrated an early Christmas, and Grandpa got a fresh, new Calvin hat!

Claire was her animated self, expressing great job over all the gifts.

Winter Has Arrived

Since I last blogged:

1. Nate shot a nice buck in Eastern Montana--another one for the wall. (He didn't buy my comment that it looked close to one we already had mounted in the den.)

2. Winter arrived in full force, with snow and freezing temperatures before Thanksgiving. It hasn't really changed much--though warming to the 30s some days. Notice Claire is completely bundled, and somehow still managed to get a crown on her head!
3. Three Forks Christmas Stroll. Santa was late arriving to the Sacajawea Hotel, so we went and watched a magic show across the street at the bank. When we returned, there was a loosely organized line waiting for a turn on Santa's lap. I turned to talk to a friend, and when I looked again, Claire had noticed a free spot on Santa's lap and ran right up to him an hopped on. I could either (a) make a scene and remove her since she totally budged the line or (b) quick take a picture, thank my lucky stars we didn't have to wait anymore, and leave ignoring the dirty looks from all the other parents. Guess which we chose?
4. Christmas tree is up. Claire had fun unwrapping all the ornaments, many from my own childhood, and some that are starting her own collection.
5. Is she cute or what? I had to try to get a picture her dressed from head to toe in pink, including rosy cheeks against the white, winter landscape.

Visit with Nema

Nate's mom, Nema, arrived the first week of November to spend some time with us and help out during a busy week with parent-teacher conferences for me. Having her here to treat Claire to some special time and help with meals while I worked long hours made the week much easier! It was the last of our mild Fall weather, so we were able to enjoy the park and walks too. On Saturday, we traveled to Butte since Susan and I had both just finished Ivan Doig's Work Song novel (set in Butte during it's heyday) and were eager to explore some of the historic sights again. Butte is about an hour away, and, at its peak, was one of the major cities of the West during the late 1800's. The history of the mining and the diversity of the town, which has not gotten "yuppified" like much of the New West, make it one of our favorite places. We were also able to fit in a hike at at Lost Creek State Park, a park we hadn't visited yet. Unfortunately, I was so distracted during the week with work, I didn't take a single picture! All the pictures below come from Nema's camera, so we don't have any of Claire and her together. Thanks for all the spoiling and help, Nema!

Yes, my daughter insists on wearing a dress to hike and carrying a backpack full of doll stuff (which I carried for 90% of the hike).

About to start the hike at Lost Creek State
At the home of one of the Copper Kings in Butte. There was a ballroom upstairs; give this child a stage....
We had a wonderful dinner out, a treat from Nema, at the Sacagewea Hotel in Three Forks. It's been recently renovated and is quite an elegant and fine place to dine now. We usually go to the bar/pub downstairs with friends, so eating upstairs was fun!
Nema captured one of Claire's favorite activities; she still loves to swing, but now it's all about getting as high as possible. She loves being up to the ceiling.

Trick or Treat

We fit in a few fun Halloween activities this week: baked some Halloween sugar cookies, pumpkin carving, costume parade at the Senior Center, and Trick or Treating Friday afternoon in Downtown Bozeman with some friends. Although it gets harder and harder to move on the sidewalks every year, going in the afternoon and having to only walk a few blocks with the toddler/pre-school age is a great approach to Halloween. After a short while, Claire and her friend, Jade, were bored and playing ring around the tree anyway. I guess not having a bag FULL of candy is a good thing, though there's less for Nate and I to snitch.

Carving the scary pumpkin face
She's a pretty good double for Cinderella, I have to admit.

With friend, Jade, downtown Bozeman.
Maya as a ladybug in the mix too!

Grandpa Charlie Visits

Nate's father, known to Claire as Grandpa Charlie, came out for a long weekend visit from Western Massachusetts. We were able to fit in some visits to some of our favorite local spots: Headwaters State Park, Lewis and Clark State Park, Norris Hot Springs, The Museum of the Rockies, downtown Three Forks, and even an evening in town (without Claire) to enjoy some great food and wine at Over the Tapas and Plonk. In the time at home, Claire loved playing play-dough with her grandpa, flying her kite, playing Big Bear and Little Bear, listening to him play the mandolin, looking through the beautiful edition of the Holy Bible with wood engravings by Barry Moser (Nate's former art teacher and family friend) that Charles brought us, and working on her art with her new sketchbook and real artist's pencils.

Shared time sketching
Learning about the mandolin
At Lewis and Clark State Park
Final Hugs...Claire was incredibly sad to see her grandpa go. We had a memorable visit and will miss him!

Fall Fun

Our late September and early October has been unseasonably warm--good for the garden, bad for the dust and allergies. However, we've taken advantage for a few outings on beautiful days. Last Friday we went to a corn maze with some friends. This included a horse drawn carriage ride, various farm animal viewings, and finally a chance to get lost and found in the corn maze.

Claire and Nate on the ride out.
With Lacy and Jade at a stopping point.
Claire pretty much wanted to run ahead and lose us the entire time...I'm thinking this does not bode well for the teen years.
My sunflowers and garden are thriving in the warm weather.
Rocky Creek Farm has a great hayride to the pumpkin patch; we go every year with friend Jade and her mom, Claire.
This year the girls got to help drive the tractor out to the field.
Though we brought home a small pumpkin, Claire can't wait to get a big one to carve with her dad.