Chasing the Ball

This is the last post today, I promise!  Yesterday Natalie found a way to entertain herself and still be close to me.  She threw her ball into the under part of the end table in the living room, then crawled to get it.  She went back and forth several times and had great fun.

Nummmm

I had to video Natalie having her lunch.  She is a great eater.  She eats table food, and they haven't found anything that she doesn't like yet.  She enjoys her food, as you will see.

Nana and Natalie

Natalie and I got to spend quite a bit of time together this week while Amy drove the grain cart.  I had so much fun!  I'm not sure how I got anything done when my two kids were toddlers, but it started coming back to me by the third day - just open the tupperware drawer and let 'em go to it!

It did the trick.  I was able to get the dough rolled out, and pizza pockets made for a field supper last night. 

I'm often reminded of how different she is than my boys.  They never gave a stuffed animal a second look, but Natalie loves them.  A dear friend, Connie D, gave me a bunch of little beanie baby type zoo animals.  She loves them!  As soon as she comes over, she takes off fo the toys and pulls them out, one by one, and gives each one a love before tossing it aside and reaching for the next one. 

The toys aren't the only thing she gives hugs to.  This week I got my first hugs from her.  Talk about melting my heart.....  so sweet.

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.