Well too much time has gone by since our last post. We have had a busy two months. November we went to Vegas to visit family and to LA to see my brothers. As soon as we got back from that Josh and Lauren came out to MT to help with a remodeling of the Hawthorne kitchen. That project took nine days over the Thanksgiving week and weekends, and was crazy. But it was great to work with Josh again and Lauren was an incredible help to Cathy. A few days after that we left for PA on Dec. 10th. Our first 5 days was in the Philly area meeting with supporters and friends. Every breakfast, lunch, dinner, and evening was with a different individual or family. It was great fun seeing people and exhausting at the same time. We left Philly for Chief Chuck's house and spent the night with him. It is refreshing to be with him and talk shop. Chuck has done so many things in camping it makes it easy for him to understand our lives and offer sound advice. We left Chuck's and went to Chief Ron's house where we had the afternoon with Ron, Ann, and the Hoffmans. From there we headed to Mass. We stayed with my parents for four days. Spent time hanging out with my mom, brother, and sisters. It was fun to be with them. Mitch and I spent a little bit of time getting pretty good at Rockband. I feel like about once a year it is refreshing to mindlessly expend several hours of the day playing video games. So I have had my binge for the next year. From there we went up to mid Maine and had a few days with Cathy's parents. We updated Gerry's church family on what we have been doing for the last year and had a few days of slower paced life with the Dill's. Christmas eve Gerry and I drove north to Cathy's sister's in some of the worst conditions I have ever been on the road in. We did however have one of the best conversations we have ever had. Mostly we talked about communicating the heart of God. It was very encouraging to me. Christmas came and went. Gifts were given and received. And the last two days have been full of my niece and nephews trying to use all of their new toys in one day.

Now I am sitting here writing thinking how crazy it is that the year is almost over. But breakfast is ready and i feel like my insides are starting to eat themselves...so until later.

My First Montana Hunt

So here are the photos' of my hunting experiences. Thanks to Levi and Adam I have my very own bull Elk hanging in the shop. (I am darn excited for all the meat that we will get on Thursday night when we butcher it).

Monday morning I rose before it was light out. I got all of my stuff together and hiked up the mountain . It was still dark when I arrived at my spot, just after shooting hours began. About 15 minutes later the woods were full of Elk bugels and cow alls. It was incredible just listening to it all. And then at 8:15 a bull and two cows walked up right where I was hoping they would. So even though I was shaking with excitement I raised my rifle and shot the bull. It only ran a short distance and then died. Jim Hawthorne came up and helped me figure out how to gut the thing and then we started dragging this massive animal. Fortunately for us Levi took a half day and came to our rescue. Ten hours after my shot Levi and I sat down to backstraps on the grill. A rewarding and incredible day. We now have meat for the next year and a half. And if any of you want to stop by and eat some organic meat just let me know, I'll defrost some and turn the grill on.

Mayne, Family & the Sea...

Here are just a few pics of Mayne and I in Maine after we went to Daniel's wedding. My mom organized some extended family time and so Mayne got to meet several of here extended family members included two of her great grandmothers. She also got to meet her cousins for the first time. I know she won't remember it, but I enjoyed having her meet everyone. Here are a few captured moments.

Lava Lake

We have been trying to get out a bit more before the snow starts to fly....a few weeks ago we headed out to Lava Lake on our day off. It was the perfect day for a hike. The sky was incredibly blue and the temp was perfect. So far Mayne seems to be doing well with the out of doors. (now that she is getting used to sun and wind) It was a sweet time for our family to have together!

Daniel's Wedding

Mayne and I recently had the chance to fly back east to attend the wedding of our friend...Kelly Daniels. It is been a cool priviledge to watch the journey that Kelly has been on. The Lord has allowed her to experience His sweetness in the midst of some very trying circumstances and this wedding was an amazing reminder of how He cares for our hearts. It was also a neat time for me to reconnect with old friends. I laughed so hard that it hurt. Thanks to my husband who loved me well and helped make it possible to send us to Maine. Love you babe!

Mayne's 1st Hike

Fairy Lake...this was the first hike that Mayne went on. It was a beautiful August day and we had family out to visit. In these pics we are with Nana, Pa and Aunt Amy. It was a huge blessing to have them here with us when Mayne arrived home. Mom took care of all kinds of cleaning, laundry, meals, the flower bed and bouncing a fussy baby. Dad jumped in with dishes, refinishing a dresser, the flower bed and cuddle time with Mayne and Amy was able to keep us company and have some quality time with Mayne in her few days here. It was great to have them experience more of our world in Montana and to have Seth and dad have more time to connect.

Amazing...

Seth and I were talking the other day as we were out hiking and appreciating the beauty of the place we live in. All of these pictures were taken within twenty minutes of our home. The Heavens do declare the glory of God! What an amazing place.

Story Hill Fest & Friends

We were so incredibly excited to be able to experience with the Eads family the completion of one of Jeff's life long dreams...to sit back and soak in Story Hill in the mountains of Mt. The time we spent with them was sweet and encouraging. We had late evenings of laughing together and sharing our hearts. We are so thankful that God has placed them in our lives. Here are so glimpses of our time together.

good time...good story

So...here's the deal. One of our speakers, his name is Tim, says to me lets go shoot Cottonwood Canyon while the creek is in full run-off flow. I think cool...this fits into my mindset for life. So we put in and get going. About one hundred yards down there is this big blow down and it is right across the river. So we try to navigate to one side. Doesn't work. Next thing you know we are both trying to stand in a rushing river, that is freezing cold (and you know how much I like being cold), trying to grab paddles and kayak and get the heck out of the river. So we get situated and try again. This time we make it twenty feet at best. Yard sale again! I get the paddles, Tim gets the boat, Tim loses the boat, I throw the paddles on shore, I try to the boat, I feel like I'm gonna start breathing in water trying to hold onto the boat, both of us end up on opposite banks with no paddles and no boat. Long story short it takes us about two hours to get back to the paddles and unwedge the boat. And in the end both of us are very thankful we got out of the river where we did because a few feet further and there is a good chance this story would have ended in a drowning. Good story...good time?

sharing a moment...

it was great to experience the birth of our daughter with so many that we shared life with through out the summer at YAA. we love you guys!

Into the back country of Montana...

My main two roles are facilities/maintenance and the wilderness program. I have spent a significant amount of time this last year trying to organize and create a true maintenance program for YAA. This summer however I spent a lot of time teaming with Jim on the program side of camp, which meant in a lot of ways the maintenance program was put on the back shelf. It did offer me more chances to interact with and train our staff. Which was very exciting to me since working with the summer staff is the main thing I look forward to about our summer season.
This summer we brought Tim Ries, who was one of my campers when I was counseling at Deerfoot, out to be the main trip leader on our summer trips. Unfortunately due to lack of interest none of our trips went out. My Dad had booked a flight to come out and be the speaker on our father/son trip and since we had no campers we decided to take a exploration trip into an area that camp has not used in a very long time for its backpacking trips.
We had three goals on the trip….discover a useable route for five days in the Hyalite drainage, try out all that I have been learning about lightweight backpacking, and enjoy each others company. After changing our route three different times as we discovered new terrain, we succeeded at all three goals. In the picture to the right you can see how small our packs are for being out for five days. The total weight of my gear, food, water, and everything I am wearing was 26.5lbs on our heaviest day. I was able to get my Dad and Tim’s packs down to about 30lbs. Needless to say we all enjoyed being able to pick up our packs with one hand. And our trip was a great time of conversation as well. Dad had put thought and preparation into directing us to scripture and discussion of our Christian lives. It was a great time of conversations that were drawn out over the whole day. The views were incredible, the wildlife a little scarce, the weather perfect, and time with my Dad...priceless.

A Bit of "Mayne" In Montana

When we headed to the hospital on the 1st of August at 3:30 a.m. neither of us could of anticipated what the next 24 hours were going to be like, but we also couldn’t anticipate what an amazing little person we would be leaving the with 3 days later. Mayne Abigail Coates arrived on August 2, 2008. She weighed 7 lbs. 1 oz and was nearly 21 in. long. She is beautiful...with lots of dark hair, petite little features and an adorable dimple (when we get a big grin). So far she isn’t a huge fan of sun, wind, or much else to do with the outdoors...but her dad is working on that.
We were very excited to have both sets of grandparents join us in the last month, along with Cathy’s sister. It has been a huge blessing to have so much help around the house and camp as we begin to adjust to a new way of life.
And so we have acquired a whole new lifestyle...parenting. Of course it is in its mildest form right now. At this point it consists of feeding, changing diapers, playing on the carpet, changing again, and putting Mayne to sleep. It is a good thing they start out this way because though the challenges are small in grand scheme of things, for now it is enough.
Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us through out our pregnancy, and for the many of you who sent gifts. They were a huge encouragement!

This is our beautiful daughter....sleeping the afternoon away.

A little unused

So this blog is a little unused.. I don't think anyone even knows it exists. We should probably do something. Maybe dust off the cob webs for starters.