My last post or two was mostly pictures - I'll try to include a bit of both pictures and family news this time!
For starters, my husband finished the training program for the railroad, but was promptly furloughed (civilians call it a lay-off, but a lay-off is something else entirely in railroad lingo) along with all of his graduating class and quite a number of other railroad employees - so he is officially a Conductor, but without active employment as one. He really enjoyed the training and all that he got to learn - and he grew a beard!
Andrew's tenth birthday was the week after, it amazes me how fast the kids are growing, and how very tall he in particular is getting. My son has feet nearly as big as mine, and I know he isn't anywhere near done growing yet!! We celebrated his birthday with chocolate cake and buttercream frosting, using Newman O's cookies and chocolate chips to decorate his cake. This boy sure loves his chocolate!!
Otherwise, we have been enjoying spring weather in it's on again, off again true to Montana style - cleaning the barn, mucking the cow pen, bottle feeding and now weaning the lambs, raising chickens for meat as well as our egg layers (meat chickens are our new experience for this year - so far so good!), and most recently getting the garden planted and growing.
It seems hard to believe in some ways that baby Maggie is two months old today, and in others, it seems like she has been with us for so much longer than that. She is a true gift and a wonderful "grand finale" for our family. I am so thankful that the Lord blessed us with the unexpected gift of her. She will never replace our beloved baby Faith, we could never "replace" a person with another, especially not one we love so much - but it is nice to end our child-bearing years with such a sweet, lovey, and snuggly little person that we get to keep and enjoy watching her grow up. She's such a good baby, with an adorable smile that we are now getting to see more and more of! I was thrilled to get to photograph her first awake giggle while trying to snap a picture of her smiling, so here are two pictures of her - smiling and giggling :) up until the last couple of days, her giggles have been reserved for sleep giggles - I love seeing how her eyes light up and sparkle when she is so happy - and how expressive she is when taking in her surroundings!
So, life continues to rush forward with new things on a daily basis, and we work to keep up with it all. Spring seems to be an especially busy season, though I'm not sure we ever have a dull or quiet season... ever... but I'm thinking that's not a bad thing. Life is good. Even when it is hard... I'm glad right now it is not hard, though, only busy.
