lochlan j reeder

*posted on January 29th, 2015; but to keep chronologically organized, the published date has been altered*

Surprise! Lochlan J Reeder was welcomed into our arms and family on September 5, 2014. He was 7 lb, 12 oz, and 21 inches long. He has been such a joy to us all; Mont and Emmy both absolutely love him. It took Emmy 5 full weeks before she was ready to hold him, but she always doted on him. Mont is the proudest big brother I've ever seen. Mark and I are about to embark on our next big adventure, and it wouldn't be our fashion if we didn't upend our lives without just having had a baby. More to come.

Photo Credit: Amy Free 

bonfire sendoff

Our good friends and neighbors are leaving this afternoon when their kids get out of school, so last night we had a neighbor bonfire to send them off in camp-fire style. When Mark and Matt were playing Red Light/Green Light with all the kids, Grace somehow managed to run smack into the side of the house (hence, the cold packs!). Fun can't be had without one injury - poor girl! 

^^from the left: Cooper, Soleil, Coral, Blaise (in hoodie), Judson (in front), Jake, Grace (with cold packs), Selah (in grey in front next to Emmy), Emmy, and Mont.^^

^^I believe Mark told them to say, "stinky garbage" for this one^^

^^Lindsey Davern, Sharon Dremann, Cami Moberg, and myself - taken from Sharon's facebook - I am going to miss these ladies so much. Cami moves out first, then Sharon, then Lindsey, then us (another post to come)^^ 

^Mark leading a game of Monster Tag(?) with Matt, and the kids loving every second of it!^

Matt and Cami 

Jim, Lindsey, and Sharon without her arm candy Tony 

Mark and yours truly (conveniently next to the s'more table) 

Mess pot Emmy (what you can't see are the smears of chocolate all over her face!)

Thanks Mark. :) 

last girls' night

This was our last night out for us four after dinner and frozen yogurt stop a couple of weekends ago. These girls have been some of my closest friends while living in North Dakota, and I have to point out so I remember, that they weren't even members of the church. This is the first place that I've lived so far apart from other members of our church, that the closest friends I have had were my very own next door neighbors; I couldn't have asked for a better group of girls. These girls are so kind hearted and teach their children faith in Christ, and love of our Lord. Their children are good and sweet, never harsh, and always looking out for one another. Our kids will miss their kids, and we will all be sad as we all head in different directions on the map. Sharon is heading to San Antonio, Lindsey to Virginia Beach, Cami to Mississippi (that IS fun to type!), and we are heading to the D.C. area. Hopefully our military feet will cross paths again in the future. But if not, we will always have these sweet memories to last us. Love you girls!

tulips for two girls

Molly and Grandma Stacey came to visit this week before Molly left on her mission, and did I get any nice pictures? NO!! Of course not! Because I am losing my reliability when it comes to bringing out the camera. Rats... So what we have to remember these girls by are the flowers Emmy chose for their visit. We'll miss you Molly! We'll be writing you LOTS while your'e in Japan!!

fly boys

Out for a lunch with the Squadron boys + Mont - Mont was pretty thrilled to get to hang out with all the pilots, even if he did only eat a whole two fries for his "lunch."

I think Mont will be nicknamed "Squints" in his foreseeable future! 

^^trying to wink, I couldn't get it fast enough.. So here is Squints again.^^

drizzly day for drizzlers

The snow has all melted, and with April's closing, we are luckily getting a few rain showers. 

As we were expecting them around lunch time, I wanted to let the kids get some outside time today too (yesterday was sunny and warm, so we spent some time at the park). I rushed them into their clothes, and threw a sweater on each.. that wasn't going to be warm enough.. so a scarf on Emmy and a hat on each. VOILA! AH! They even turned out to be my favorite color combo by accident.. I love days like that. ; ) Had to get them in a picture just to remember the soft purple and grays.. 

Dad we love your scarves! 

Mont's chipmunk cheek holding a lifesaver, and Emmy with her favorite thing to do: blow bubbles. 

Later, we'll bring out the umbrellas!

319th Sq. egg hunt

I have such reverent children... HAAA. This picture looks like they're praying they'll find all the best eggs or something, right?! Crazy kooks! :) Why can't they just smile at the same time?.. yet they can look down at the same time my finger hits the shutter button. Nice.. :[

Mark helping her locate the egg treasures among the chair legs and table bases around the office. Emmy was one of the younger kids in the older age group, so Mark wasn't shy about helping her out to beat out all the 6 and 8 year olds. Thank goodness for Dads!

warm for a day

superhero dishtowel capes,
shorts, sweaters, and hats,
lollipops,
cowboy boots...
all made for a pleasantly warm afternoon
outside.

3.. no 2!

This funny little sprite has turned three!! Her birthday "is... April Fourf," as she loves telling everyone. The last few weeks, she's hit some big milestones for herself. She recently decided she was ready to try the whole underwear thing, and a few days before her birthday, we snipped apart her pacifiers (sorry if you're not on board with that whole lifesaver thing...), telling her they must have just "gotten yucky" because she'd used them for so long. I wanted to do this before she turned three so she would have something to look forward to (presents and cake!). It worked like a charm with far less tears than I had expected. It was miraculous. However, even with the cake and presents, she still wants to stay a "little tiny girl" and stay 2 for the rest of forever. Sorry Emmy! You're three now!!

^^ Singing happy birthday to herself before we even had started - she was ready!! ^^

Sure, we have "normal" pictures of her blowing the candles out, but this one is my favorite! I can't stop smiling over that sputter-out candle blow.

snowed in

Once Mark was home with us, Mother Nature decided Spring needed to stay away a bit longer, and threw us into the most exciting blizzard we've seen since living here. The winds were so unbelievably strong and the snow was just coming down as fast as it could. Our garage had about 3 feet of snow blown against it, and it wasn't even the worst of the drifts around us. Our neighbors across the street had a 6 foot drift out their back door, just to name another. It lasted for two days, and the base was completely shut down. Even huge snow plow trucks were getting stuck on the streets outside our houses, and needed to be pulled out by others. It was insane! (And very fun to have Mark home for this one!!)

coming home

Mark made it home safe and sound on March 29th - and while I had tears, I assured Mont that they were nothing but happy ones. I was nervous about how Emmy girl would react, as she wasn't in the talking mood any time we face timed with Mark through the deployment. It was 11 weeks of Emmy mad at Daddy; but when she saw him, there was no holding her back, she was in her daddy's arms as fast as she could get there, and didn't want to let go or be put down for a very long time after. Mont was jumping up and down so fast that Mark had a hard time giving him a hug! It was adorable, and a moment I'll cherish forever. Seeing them reunite with their dad was very very sweet. We missed him so much!

And our friend Andrew who doubled as our phone-photo taker. :) He's about to head out to Chicago for his residency at the hospitals there. We'll miss having him around! He is one of Emmy's most favorite people: 

princess diary from a younger sister

While she can pretend to be a princess.. her brother will pretend her dress is a fort. 

(hot air vents work wonders for a dress's billowing abilities)

puzzles for patience

This is the week! It's the week Mark is coming home from his 11 week deployment to the middle east. Monday morning I dumped out a puzzle to help keep my impatient thoughts on something else. Puzzles always remind me of the time my family would spend at our Grandparents' cabin on Cedar Mountain in Utah. Puzzles meant family time for chatting and laughing, usually at someone's expense, but that's how it works. : ) I would have a puzzle out every week if it didn't take up so much 'valuable space!' 

Even the kids like to sit near and either do their own thing or wait for me to find a piece's place and hand it over so they can feel that satisfying 'click' as they push it down with tiny little fingers.

... one more day! Well.. 36 hours, but that's just a detail. 

March roars on

After a blizzard last Friday, some brave friends/neighbors (the Jones') drove the kids and I, plus them and their kids around in their big truck. I had thought about going out on my own, except I had JUST washed (inside and out) my car for a friend to borrow that night (to help us out no less).. so I voided that plan. Ha! Anyway, we drove around and admired the path of the storm the night before. This was before it hit again, and we got to spend all day at their house (we walked home later on and the kids just about lost it on that 4 houses-down walk) and the base was declared "closed." 

The odd thing about this storm is that it was warm enough for it to be watery in the beginning, so everything that was touched, first has a crust of ice, then the snow came, and stuck to the ice; the temperatures then dropped, freezing everything (both ice and snow) in place for a week! The roads were incredibly icy (both crunchy and slippery), so it was good we were the only crazies on the road, in a nice big heavy 4 wheel drive truck.

Through the window:

Down a ravine:

"pascetti"

Emmy will every now and again get the hankering to try something new. The other day it was spaghetti (and we had none in our pantry! ... I'm a penne lover), so when we next went to the store, we picked some up and promptly made it. She wanted no sauce.. just "pepper" she said. So I added a little olive oil and salt as well (just to keep things going!), and she dug right in: 

Now if only Mont were as "adventurous" in trying new foods - is it weird that spaghetti was a 'new food' at our house? haha She does love pasta, so it wasn't too new-outta-the-blue.

cow boy boots

These were their outfits for church yesterday, Mont even telling me "No tie, please." Emmy was thrilled to be wearing Mont's old boots to church, even though they are in desperate need of a good polish! 

I can never seem to get one good picture of them both, so enjoy one blurry and one with eyes closed. :)

great gatsby party

Tonight was our Squadron's Great Gatsby Party at the Alerus Center in town.  It was a bitterly frigid day, and I was lucky to have tights on, and two coats (one almost to my shoes). I put this picture on my instagram, explaining how I had to accept an award for Mark's flight's movie he orchestrated, or I suppose the word is "directed" - and when I did my evening went from nerve-wracking to heart pounding. I hadn't expected to have to walk up in front of nearly 200 people, praying not to stumble on others' feet or cords, or dance floor raises, or whatnot! AH! Flying Stag is not a strong suit of mine, but I'm glad I did. I think Mark's commander appreciated it. Hope so!! haha

And a picture to remember how I had done my hair - I triple barreled it earlier, then put this rhinestone studded headband in, then tucked it up in and pinned it down to hold. Might have been my favorite part of my evening! :)