Part 2 - The Part Where We Gained 7 Kids for 3 Weeks

When we first arrived in Miles City, we spent our time unpacking, setting up utilities, getting to know the area, all the usual things one might do after moving to a new place. The most fun thing about moving here though is getting to spend an infinite amount of time hanging out with my sister and brother in law, and all of Kalei's awesome cousins! Here they are from left to right: (top row) Curtis, Ethan, Jonah, Joshua, Zoe, (2nd row) Loundia, Cora, Tana, (bottom row) Sofie, Maizie, Lily, Jackson.

About 2 weeks after we got here, we had the wonderful opportunity to stay with 7 of the cousins (Cora, Jackson, Sofie, Maizie, Lily, Zoe, and Joshua), while Tana, Curtis, Jonah, Ethan, and Loundia went to Ethiopia to bring home 2 more family members, Beck and Teffy. It was such a blast and an experience we will never forget! These are pictures of some of the fun things we did :)

Cute girly girls at the park

The Olive Garden Breadstick Incident Reenactment of 2008

Maizie and Lily's school science experiment, which everyone got into. I love the look on Cora's face!

The men watching the NBA Finals

All the girls got to decorate (and in Cora's case, snack on) a princess visor, which they were THIRLLED about

The Man from Snowy Beard River

Mom, Dad! Look what I found in my nose! (At least the only medical "issue" that occured under our care was our own kid's... goodness!)

More snow!!!

Mcdonalds breakfast shenanigans

Just be sure to stay away from the YELLOW snow Joshua!

Welcome home, Teffy and Beck!

We sure are lucky to be able to live in the same town with these guys. They are such an awesome family and we have so much fun together!

to be continued...

Celebrate Good Times

JAY PASSED HIS TEST!!! :D

What are we doing?!?

So here's the story...

This past February, as I was on my way out the door to a primary Valentine's Day activity with Kalei, Jay stopped me and asked me to read an email we had just received from my sister Tana and brother in law Curtis. The email stated simply, "We want Jay to come and work with Curtis". So come to Miles City, Montana we did! In only a few short weeks we had our house and bags all packed and were ready to go.

My brother in law is an audiologist and has his own practice, Hearing Connection. He has been in the process of opening more offices in some of the neighboring towns to Miles City, and was needing someone to help run these other offices. So Jay has been studying full time for the past 4 months in preparation for the giant licensing exam that will allow him to start his training as a hearing aid dispenser. Once he is fully licensed, his main jobs will be to perform hearing tests and fit people for hearing aids who need them. We are so excited about this new opportunity and chapter in our lives, and I am so excited to be living right down the street from my sister and her family!

These past 4 months have been an absolute whirlwind of insanity! There has been so much to write about, but so little time to do it. But we have been enjoying the adventure immensely, and have the pictures to prove it. The pictures will speak louder than the words would anyway! So without further ado, I give you...

Miles City Adventure, Part 1 - Our Trip Here

Hooray for the end of the cleaning and painting!!

Goodbye hugs for Nana and Bubba

Both of these pictures are from a stop at the most bizarre gas station I have ever seen. But we had fun playing "jail" and getting to see a high-centered truck was pretty crazy!

Kalei LOVED the snow! It was her first time seeing it since she was still a baby and too young to care. Now she can't wait for winter! (I, on the other hand, am panicking... :P )

Our fun little house :) It is right across the street from the elementary school where Kalei will go next year, and also the school's playground. Yay!


Hopefully you have enjoyed this first installment of pictures! Stay tuned for part 2...tomorrow :)