September 2015

I bought a one speed cruiser so I can avoid driving everywhere. 

We bike to the duck pond on campus frequently. 

Trying on their wedding outfits for my cousin's wedding in October. We will be driving to Wisconsin on a Friday, wedding on Saturday and driving back home on Sunday. 18 hours one way. This should be interesting! 

Eating dinner with Melissa & Jeff in Big Sky

Our friends have 2 zip lines in their yard!

The little creek in our backyard. 

Hiking to the "M"

It was a hazy day so you can't see the beautiful mountains that surround Bozeman. 

Mark's first day as a Senior Quality Assurance Analyst at Workiva. I am so freaking proud of him. He has worked so hard to get where he is today. All of our delayed gratification payed off. We paid our dues living in less desirable places so we could get back to Bozeman. Every time he took a new job he would say it would get him the experience he needed to get hired in Bozeman, he ended up being right. Workiva has nerf guns in the office, organic snacks, drinks, locally roasted coffee, beer, hard cider...they take them out to lunch regularly. The office is a great environment, very industrial/modern with great lighting. I had to mention the lighting because he's always been in crappy cubicles with very little natural light and it makes such a huge difference to have great natural light. Workiva is located right on Main Street so he can walk to great restaurants and coffee houses during the day. They supply cruiser bikes for the employees to get around town. So far it's been a great place to work.  I keep saying this, but it really reminds me of how Google was portrayed in the movie, "The Internship".  The location also happens to be next to our 2 favorite Bozeman neighborhoods that we are hoping to buy a house in. It would be fantastic for him to be close enough to walk home for lunch. Gordon and I occasionally meet him for lunch at a playground near Workiva. 

I missed the Bozeman library! Best library I've ever been to! 

My drive home after dropping Ella off at Cottonwood. 

Gordon has been taking a clay class at the Emerson Arts Center. Here he is making bubble paint to dip his projects in. 

Gordon wanted to snuggle, Ella did not. 

Hiking/biking Sourdough 

Biking Sourdough 

Hiking New World Gulch 

Ella was in a BMX race

Ella & Rocky, the racers 

Ella & Jaeda, friends since birth 

Post BMX race run around the track 

Watching the Farmer's market set up 

We have been so impressed with Cottonwood Montessori Charter. The location is fantastic, next to a creek up against the mountains. The kids can go hiking across the street. I hear elk bugling when I pick her up. It's hard to please Mark & me when it comes to education(and health care, places to live, people we trust around our kids...you get the point) and we have so many great things to say about this program. I love the way the teachers interact with the kids, they really build a relationship and care about them. 

Ella drew a picture to hang in her classroom of the lower elementary. K-2nd are all together with one teacher all 3 years so they really build a relationship with her. Ms. Kate is fantastic. She is from Hungary so it took a while for Ella to get used to her accent but now that she understands her, she really works well with her. Ella still says we don't have enough family time which has been her hardest adjustment. Mr. Matt is the 3rd-5th teacher, Ella takes a class here and there from him and can't wait to have him in a couple of years. She really thinks he is great. 

Gordon glued to Nana like usual. 

Lunch at the co-op with my boy. 

"Carving" pumpkins 

We took a last minute camping trip to Wade Lake - driving through the Madison Valley 

Our new car - seats 7! We have so many visitors and never enough car space. Last summer we had around 30 visitors total! We are a 2 car family for the fist time in 7 years. I'm looking forward to taking some road trips to the West Coast in the future. 

Wade Lake 

We finally have enough camping gear for a family of 4 and the kids still end up next to us. We bought them their own camping pads, pillows and sleeping bags and here they are in the morning. 

Wade lake 

Cliff lake next door to Wade Lake 

Madison in the morning 

This kid. 

The Raptor Festival was actually on October 3rd but I'll put it here on the September blog post. They had face painting to make the kids look like birds and the kids built a bird house that we donated to the festival. We ran into our dear friend Angie that filmed Ella's birth. We were standing next to each other for a few minutes while our daughters got their faces painted and all of a sudden I realized it was her. I haven't seen her in over 5 years. It was such a great surprise! 

Great Horned Owl 

Surrogacy update: I ended September around 15 weeks gestation with a lively little boy. My midwife had to chase him to listen to his heartbeat. I feel great now that I'm in the second trimester.