This is so cute! Must see!

Tony and Amy's blog has a couple of adorable videos of Natalie's newest things.  Thought you might want to see.  :)

http://montanasfastfamily.blogspot.com/2010/09/lets-play-ball.html

Natalie has started walking!

Last week Natalie started taking her first steps.  She is now 9 months old, and will be 10 months old this week, on the 16th.  We were able to see her taking some shaky, tottering steps on Saturday night, and thought we would share.  Such fun to see, and everyone is so proud, especially Natalie.  One of our little neighbor girls, Aubrey, is tempting Natalie with a teddy bear.

Harvest continues...

It's September 7, and harvest is ongoing.  We have had quite a few rain delays this year.  We hope to get cutting again today, but rain is in the forecast again.  Hopefully they can finish up in a few days.  Meanwhile, here are a few favorite pictures from wheat harvest.

Amy & Natalie rode along with Tony in the truck on a run to the elevator.

cutting at Ray's Place

unloading "on the go"

"we've got company!"

Summer Fun

There is nothing like a day out on the lake!   It is definitely one of my most favorite things to do with family and friends.  Summer always seems to fly by with too few days we can get away to go boating.  This summer we have only been able to get out on the water a few times, but they were great.  We took the camp kids boating and Amy and Natalie joined us for Natalie's first boat ride earlier in the summer.   We were able to go out with Tony, Amy and Natalie a couple of times, and also with our friends the Lelands and Youngs. 

A couple of time we have been out and the weather was cold and even rainy one time.  It didn't matter.  It was still fun!  One of our favorite things to do is go tubing.  Warren's goal is always to dump the rider, but we have a different rope now than we used to, and it seems to be just the right length that he can't get the tube into really rough water anymore.  He still tries to dump people, and sometimes he succeeds.  Over the years, with different tubes, there have been some pretty fun and spectacular spills.  Nobody was hurt, though, and fun was had by all.  :) 

Connie Leland's tube ride

Jordan Young on the tube and Aaron on the jet ski

Tom Leland on the tube

Tony wakeboarding

As much fun as it is to go tubing, wake boarding, knee boarding and skiiing, my favorite times come in the evening, just as the sun is setting and the lake gets glass smooth.  Bliss!  I love sitting in the bow as we drive along, and enjoying the sunset reflected on the water.  So calming and beautiful.

Birthday Bash

Another birthday for this harvest baby has come and gone.   The day I was born my dad went home from the hospital and finished combining.  Growing up on a farm, then marrying a farmer means that each birthday I've had has been during the busy harvest time.  Depending on where the guys are cutting, my birthday dinner is either here at home, or out in the field somewhere, unless they get rained out.  :)   This year Amy planned a special surprise for me.  The day before, she called when I was in town, wondering if I had a couple of ingredients.  I had a couple of clues to the mystery dinner!  All I knew ahead of time were Sprite, white wine and strawberry jello.  hmmmm.....!!!

I was made to feel very special with many posts from Face Book friends, calls, cards and gifts.  Thank you to you all.  I spent the morning with Natalie while Amy ran to town.  What fun!  My first birthday as a Nana!  Of course every time I grabbed the camera to take a pic of her standing under the table (so cute) she saw me and crawled over before I could take the picture.  We had a fun time playing and reading her favorite books.

When I headed across the yard for supper, I was surprised to see Warren's parents, Harvey & Gladys, were out from Glasgow for the occasion!  Soon the guys were in from the field, and the mystery menu was revealed.  The Sprite and strawberry jello were for a yummy rhubarb slush punch - a bit tart and very tasty.  The white wine was for one of my favorites - shrimp scampi!  She also had pasta and green beans.  Gladys made me a lemon birthday cake.

 Natalie & Amy made a special card for my fridge.

Speaking of that birthday cake, Warren was Warren.  Need I say more?

Good thing the fire truck is nearby!

 Natalie enjoyed the cake too.

After supper it was back to harvest and I went out to ride in the combine with Warren for a while - a birthday tradition. 

Natalie's First Boat Ride

Every year we take the kids from Beacon Bible Camp boating at Fort Peck.  This year it was June 23, a beautiful, but hot day.  The kids loved boating and tubing, and we were kept busy giving rides all afternoon.  Amy brought Natalie down to the beach for her first boat ride, so after the camp kids left for their picnic supper at the park, we picked up Amy and Natalie. 

She did really well and seems to enjoy being out on the water as much as the rest of us do.  She isn't afraid to tell you all about it, either!

Harvesting Peas 2010

We started harvesting on July 28, cutting peas here at home.  It was also the same night of a big thunderstorm in the Hinsdale/Glasgow area.  Here is a picture of Tony cutting peas, with the leading edge of the storm in the western skies.  Harvest has been going well, with yields looking really good.  Being dryland farmers (no irrigation) we are very thankful for the rains and good growing conditions we have had this year.  We have had hail here at home a couple of times, but it didn't do much damage to the crops.  My cabbage leaves look pretty tough, but that's not a biggie!  We did have quite a bit of hail damage to part of a field on a piece of land a few miles away.  There have been some really wicked and wild thunderstorms with hail, winds and even deadly tornadoes in northeastern Montana this year.  Thankfully God has protected our crops.  :)

 A couple of days ago the guys finished up the peas around home and moved "over west", which is our land north of Nashua.  Last night Amy made a yummy meal and we took it over there for supper.  It was Natalie's first harvest tailgate dinner.

Warren is having some peas cleaned by Neil Stahl before it is stored.  Here Warren and Neil are taking a look at the peas as they come out of the grain trailer.

looking through the peep hole in the side of the grain trailer as the peas are being unloaded.

Neil's grain cleaner