Ffiona it's your birthday!

Happy 12th Birthday Ffiona!  Have fun celebrating YOU. 

xoxo Montana Howells

Pie eating

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=606931756010241

I didn't even get up and run around the room after my victory!  

Heat Lamp

Gija's new favorite nap area. Under the heat of an incandescent bulb.

PROVIDENCE UPDATE

Hurrah, I'm finally wearing my old glasses with my new lenses and I can see much better than last year.  So those two surgeries and patience on my part really paid off and I'm so thankful for that.  Left eye isn't great but so much improved from the dismal state before.  Thanks for all your prayers and support to help me out.  I was plagued with vertigo 10 days ago that really knocked me for a loop and have had a little more as I've been getting used to the change in the lenses, but it's getting better every day.

Ryan is working from home now so he won't have to get up so early to work before he goes to classes.  His car is really giving him fits when it won't start in mornings and Asher is awake more now and this way he can help Rachael while she helps teach violin at Prov Elementary school in early mornings.  He works for ICON as a troubleshooter for products sold around the world.

So when he leaves for school then it's my turn for the room where I'm walking again (used all my energy this summer working in yard and canning).  My cholesterol has risen again and I know that my walking nearly every day before has lowered it.  Plus it's also good for my digestion system.

I bought my first Christmas decoration last week from a sweet little Cub Scout neighbor boy and have been busy planning and getting ready for my own little cubbies and their families to gather  to celebrate Christmas together this year.  Holly came over yesterday to help organize all the requests and ideas that I've received from you as we've discussed this all last year.  Many of the activites will be fluid depending on the snow fall and activities related to that, but it's been seven years since we've met at this time of year so I'm hoping it will be a great reunion and lots of good memories for my ADORABLE grandchildren (parents, aunts and grandmothers).  I'll send further info as travel plans are finalized.

I had a bad day last week when I spent hours dealing with another fraud charge to my credit card.  Same company that I dealt with last year at this time, but fortunately the bank called me first to check to see if the posting was mine.  I couldn't believe this was happening again and it stressed me out.  So please be careful as you use your cards this season - the bad guys are getting smarter every day as they find ways they can enjoy cash or things that don't belong to them.

Holly and I will be spending Thanksgiving with Lance and family (has been eleven years since we've done that).  I'm taking two pies and am going to have a big piece of one of them along with a large helping of sauerkraut with the turkey, and all the rest, HA!

They say it's your birthday, Mary!

They say it's your birthday
We're gonna have a good time
I'm glad it's your birthday
Happy birthday to you

Here's to you Mary! See you next month. :)

Love the Montana Howells

Crossed Fried Chicken

Brayden earned his Webelos showman activity badge tonight by writing a song, designing puppets, and performing a play.  His friend Jaxon and sister Katelyn helped in the performance!  See for yourself:

http://youtu.be/X8Y80HyfDvo

PROVIDENCE UPDATE

Before I left Tucson I assisted Ffiona in making a delicious chocolate cake for Taegan's 14th birthday dinner.  She is learning about how to make great cakes having only once drawback -  she's vertically challenged and has to climb up on the bucket to check the batter as it is beating.  But that will change as she grows taller.

Taegan went to her first church dance  the next day and said it was awesome

Then I took over and complied with the design and colors that Taegan asked for.  All enjoyed it and even had a tiny piece without frosting of course.  Delicious!

The second week I was there I drove Ffiona and Haedyn to their school early in morning and picked them up mid afternoon and we had good talks on the way.  I'm not going to complain about Logan's traffic anymore, but I got along okay on those very busy Tucson streets.

I'm done!  I finished up with pickled beets two days ago and the canner is going into retirement for the year, yea!  The fruit room is loaded and the freezer is bulging.   Now I just have to give it all away to family and friends (and eat a bit myself).
 

THE RED SOX DID IT!!!!!!  Oh my goodness I was like 35 again  when we went to games often and became lifelong fans.  I'm so tickled that Hannah has become a fan also and she, Mary and I kept texting each other about their breaking this 95 year old curse (last time they won WS in Fenway Park).  Ryan even came up to watch for awhile and saw how excited I was.  It really was a TEAM effort as they all contributed to this championship at one time or another rather than having one mega star and 8 also rans.  I guess growing those beards really did help them come together - but will be glad to see them with shaved faces now (some were very mange).  Good Going Red Sox!!

I had only one lollipop left last night after a short night of the little goblins.  I didn't expect a big crowd as it was very cold and windy, but they didn't care and loved it when they saw my huge lollis.
 
I just finished walking on the treadmill which I'm going to continue.  I loved my daily walks of at least 2.5 miles nearly every day in Tucson and want to continue to get my cholesterol back down.
 
I also saw my eye surgeon this week and was very encouraged about my eye.  No infection, cornea swelling gone, stopped drops  and initial test of 20/150 two months ago has come down considerably. Will return in two weeks to get my RX for new lenses.  Yea!

Boo!

Happy Halloween!

Hey Taegan, It's your birthday!

Happy 14th Birthday Taegan.  Have fun celebrating with Grandma Gloria and family & friends.  

Love, Montana Howells/Casterson

Hamilton Happenings

We went to Idaho Falls last weekend to see Jesse's brother and family.  Our dear friends Kahne, Nat and Acacia joined us.  As you can see below, there is no fun being had.

Yesterday our family went to gather wood for our fireplace (our main source of heat).  This is the first time we went as a family.  Jesse fell 4 trees, limbed and bucked them all.  The boys and I rolled them down the hill and stacked them in the truck.  It was fun, but exhausting.  I have a new found respect for my husband who has been gathering wood for us since we moved here in 2008.

pure cuteness

Where's Jesse?

The boys did a great job entertaining themselves while we waited for the next round of wood to load.

Here are a couple random photos:

Rowan loves to bake bread with me.  He also LOVES to stack wood with his dad.  He is an amazing helper.  Today is the last day we will be 4.

UPDATE FROM PROVIDENCE AND TUCSON

Last Monday quite a few relatives on both sides of her family met for a graveside service at Logan Cemetery to bid farewell to Constance Lewis Hammond.  The home left the casket open so we could all see her one last time.  A few sprinkles didn't dampen the gathering and I visited with some relatives I haven't seen for 20/25 years (they were children at the time).  Kate drove up to go with me while Lance and Becky were climbing the steps of the Statue of Liberty.  Their kids all went together last Christmas to give them this wonderful week plus trip.

These are the baskets I put together with all the foods that Connie loved that I canned, bakery items that she loved and  a box of Bluebird chocolates that she adored and used to send to all her friends and relatives in Logan, Providence, SLC and elsewhere.  Thanks Holly for those large Stampin Up  flowers that added so to  the decor.  One went to Marcelyn's family and the other to Boyd's.  Brady, Phillip asked about you and what you were doing.  He's bald now and is a computer hacker.  

The next day I flew to Tucson to "supervise" the three youngest children while Brooke, Sunshine and Taryn flew to Great Britain for Taryn to participate in dance competition this weekend.  The weather is gorgeous and warm in low 80's (I may have to come down here in October next year instead of November).  I'm going to keep busy by sewing on Sunshine's huge dress order while she's gone.  Ha, you think I'm kidding don't you!

Yesterday we walked two blocks to a great park with a .5 mile walking path so I could begin my walking regimen to get my cholesterol back down where it was last year.  Ffiona and I did 4 miles, yea!

We spent four hours today going to Green Valley so kids could swim in my pool with water the perfect temp and then we greeted the Termagon guy.  We had to move all furniture out or to opposite side of room and he had to untack and roll up most of the carpet in my office/sewing room.   Another               dastardly termite had a party there and invited many friends leaving a brown mess on the carpet.  I've gone two years without a problem, but I guess those little critters found that crack in my floor.  

to be continued......

ENDURED TO THE END

Dear Aunt Connie passed away yesterday after living in a retirement center for eight months.   She was 102.5 years old and her memory was still great until the last few months when she didn't eat much and slept much of the time.  She was ready to go Marcelyn said when she called last night.  I took this photo at our Lewis Reunion two years ago while she was telling us some great stories of the Lewis family.  She will be buried in Logan Cemetery on Monday afternoon which I plan to attend.  I admired her constant positive attitude and anytime I felt blue or down I'd call her to get a boost of that positive energy for myself.  I'll miss her, but I know there is a big party going on in heaven as she reunites with her sweet husband, Dean, and her wonderful parents and her fun siblings.   

Is Gija concerned?

Caught my cat sitting on my scale. Not sure why he felt the need to weigh himself, but he is an even 10lbs!

Oh la la

Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy Anniversary!!! 16 years of wedded bliss. xoxo

Life in Longmont

We wanted to show you what life has been like in Longmont the past few weeks. 

Our home is up high, so we were lucky enough to escape damage, but there were so many

 people who were not that lucky!

 Flooding happened so quickly, that the road was washed out from under these 3 cars

 as they were trying to drive across the bridge. 

 These railroad tracks are about 1 mile down the road from us

It will take a lot of Brayden's Legos to fix this road

The National Guard was in full force 

 People had to do some unscheduled basement renovations, and put all the debris on the street for pick up

Many of the roads were shut down, so the entire school district was closed for a week.

With the kids out of school, we put them to work.

We went to the neighborhoods that were flooded, and helped them empty out 

everything from their  basements. 

Brayden found a 14 inch fish in one of the basements!  We found crawdads, and logs, and all sorts of things that should be in a river, and not swimming in a basement

 We got a little dirty

When the kids went back to school on Thursday, a group of moms from church 

got together to go help families that were still under water. 

Justin has been up in Cheyenne for his two week annual tour for the Air Force reserves, but did make it down this weekend to help.