A Good Time Of Year To Come Home

Seriously, with temps reaching 100 degrees in Arizona, now is the time to come home to Montana.  Will we have snow before it’s really spring/summer–most probably–but the snow won’t last long this time of year.  The sandhill cranes are chattering, the meadowlarks are singing, the grass is greening and leaves on the trees are about to pop.  We have a magpie mom and dad building a nest in the spruce tree right out our dining room windows–we’re not sure this is a good thing–time will tell!  Our temps have been in the low 70’s with mostly sunny skies–yep, it’s good to be in Montana.

Friday we spent the day puttering–we were unpacked before noon.  The washer/dryer ran continuously, not that we had that many dirty clothes but we cover all our furniture with old sheets–those sheets had to be laundered.  And I cooked.

While in Arizona we had pared down the contents of our freezer but still brought home a small amount of meat–we packed the meat in between huge slabs of ice and into a large cooler.  Of course the meat was thawed but still cold (the ice had melted very little) by the time we reached Montana and I used the hamburger meat to make a large batch of spaghetti sauce and tacos for lunch.  I grilled a chicken breast which we will use for fajitas and today I served the pork tenderloin for Sunday lunch.

Saturday we started spring cleaning–ugh–and made small progress.  And I cooked again–Pioneer Woman chocolate pie–we were invited to Lonn’s for dinner Saturday night.  We had a great evening visiting with our family and enjoying those great grand babies.  Brooks is now two and chatters, Millie is seven months and a happy, happy baby.

 Millee loves this jumping toy and entertained herself for a long time. Katie and Millie who had just woken from a nap.

Brooks was concerned that Grandpa Mike was going to take home the remote control excavator.  It was amazing to me how comfortable both children were with both the Cowboy and me.  Millie was born the end of September and we left shortly after in early October.  Brooks was starting to be comfortable around us at seventeen months when we left to head south but last night it was as if we hadn’t been gone–he sat on both our laps and played, chattering away.  Millee let me hold her and didn’t fuss–it’s good to be a great grandparent!

Sunday Barb brought Nat up the Boulder to have lunch with us–Nat doesn’t get out much any longer, his eyesight has failed and he is very frail–he will celebrate his 96th birthday soon.  So, we certainly were glad he was agreeable to making the trip “up the Boulder.”  Nat has lived up the Boulder since he and his twin brother were 3 years old–that’s a long, long time!

 Millee loves her Grandpa Lonn.  And Brooks is working on improving his steering skills–I kept my flip flop clad toes well out of his way! 🙂

Life is good!