Grandma Ruby's Chocolates

Holidays are happy with homemade chocolates! Mom, Faith, Emily, Jessi, Rinnah, Tif, Baby Joe and I spent a day making the delightful treats. It was the first time we ventured to make them on our own and we only lost a half of batch of carmel to the kitchen floor! 

A Different Shade of Blue

Has anyone noticed the sky lately?

It's a different color of blue... transparent, crystal blue. The heavens have so much to say! It's amazing when I actually stop long enough to look up in wonder and breathe a prayer. I've been doing that as often as possible... and it's changed my life- moment by moment.

The Wolverine Cabin

This is one of my favorite spots of all time. The cabin was originally built by trappers. It sits nestled in a meadow below two spring fed lakes. The lakes are surrounded by huge cliffs and high mountain timbre.

 I always imagine myself homesteading there. It is really the perfect spot and you have everything you could ever possibly need. 

A Carpet of Wildflowers

Hiking to Wolverine Cabin there was the most beautiful display. Aster,Indian Paintbrush, Lupine (one of my favorites) and i was really surprised to see wild columbine. I didn't even know that it grew wild in the high country.

Men with Mustaches

Survival Technique: How to disguise yourself in the wilderness.

Ben instructs Nathan & Drew in the art of mustache making with the use of natural native material found in the wilderness.

They are sure lookin suave!

Up to Mt. Marston & The Boys Bike Down

Yes the boys are crazy! It's pretty cool though, the trail down leads right to our treehouse! It took about an hour to drive up there and it only took them about 30 min to ride down.

The view from the top is spectacular and at the lookout they give you all sorts of smokey the bear paraphernalia!  

Building the Back Deck

Here you can see Ben's genius of how he levitates a huge log beam practically by himself. Of course I was great moral support!!!

There is nothing better than sitting on the deck in the cool of the evening, watching the sun sink behind the mountain. I love our life.

God's Orchestra

Yesterday evening we had the most spectacular thunder storm. Standing there in the midst of it, experiencing a hint of God's incredible creativity, it leaves me standing in awe, with nothing to say except but the breathless whoo hoo...

Summer Snorkeling

Snorkeling is one of our favorite things to do while the weather is warm and finally the past couple of weeks have been scorchers. We've been out almost three days a week exploring the coves of Dickey Lake. The water is so beautiful... it's almost makes me feel like I'm in the Caribbean. The sun shine, the color of the water... it couldn't be better. 

We haven't found anything that cool yet this year. In the past we've found sunken boats, an old hand gun, vintage bottles, ect. Who knows... this could be training us for some future deep sea diving career, looking for sunken pirate ships.

Sailing without the Wind

Ben spent the last couple of days converting my row boat The Mariposa into a swift sail boat. Anticipation hung in the air as we drove up to a high mountain lake (where the wind always blows when you are trying to fish). We unloaded her and there was not a breath of wind to be had for her maiden voyage. So I paddled Ben around for awhile so we could at least pretend that we were sailing.... we laughed a lot and throughly enjoyed the beauty of a Montana evening. We should have brought the fly rods.

Little Cabin in the Woods

We started breaking ground for our cabin site the summer of 08. Ben has done most of the construction himself along with help from friends and family. It is the perfect size... 1300 sq ft, not too big and not to small! (it will have a heck of a lot more space than our tree house but i highly recommend tree house living... there is nothing quite like it!)

The Front Porch Project

We had the opportunity to be part of an amazing community project. Along with friends & family we created The Front Porch located at 307 Dewey Avenue, Downtown Eureka. We spent over a year remodeling an old drugstore on main street and we spent another year setting up & running a coffeehouse, complete with live music, a stage, an old fashioned ice cream counter and an espresso bar.In October 2008, The Cutting Board, which specializes in BBQ and homestyle desserts, took over the kitchen and they have been doing a spectacular job! The Front Porch also houses The Eureka Book Company and The Woolery Mammoth: a specialty yarn shop.In February 2009 the building sold and I felt very blessed to have helped jump started such a project. It was a labor of love and I learned so much about running a small business. Looking back I call those years crash-course business 101. It gave me a whole new appreciation and respect for small business owners and I am so thankful for everyone who contributed, helped, and supported me and my family over those years.  

The Honeymoon...

We canoed the length of the Hungry Horse Res in an handmade cedar strip canoe that Ben spent three months making.We named the canoe,The William Rigby after Ben's grandpa who inspired Ben's love of boats. We enjoyed two weeks of camping, fishing, 

swimming, & floating the rivers  in the rugged beauty of the Spotted Bear Wilderness.  

Happily Ever After...

Ben and I were married happily ever after on  July 1,2007

The ceremony & reception took place in a lovely aspen grove on my parents property in Montana. Sharing our life together has been one great adventure and one of life's greatest gifts. Thank you to everyone who took part of blessing us on such a wonderful day!

Welcome

I've been meaning to do this for almost two years now... How time flies. I just wanted to show everybody what we've been up to over the past couple of years and why we have been so busy...