Saturday with Judy

 What a whoosh today has been!  

We hit the ground running this morning with a drive to Hamilton where Belinda wanted to show Judy where Belinda spends her days (at the Rocky Mountain Laboratories). Afterwards we had a wonderful time meandering among the throngs and the wonderful wares available at the Hamilton farmer's market. 

The drive back to Stevensville took us past the Daly Mansion which was worth a stop. A quick stop at Stevensville's farmer's market (much smaller than Hamilton's) was made before it was back to the parsonage for a brief rest.

A visitor on College Street

Sisters of the Chocolate pretzel!

Sunset at the refuge

Buttons for Charles!

Monty catches his afternoon nap in the sun

Wesley finds a soft spot to catch a few winks

We are happy to welcome a long-time friend to the parsonage, Judy Clark, a retired pastor from the Minnesota Conference is with us for the weekend.  We first met Judy when she and Charles were both serving churches in northeast Nebraska.  Judy was visiting family in Montana and she was gracious in accepting Charles' invitation to preach this coming Sunday.

After getting caught up this afternoon we took her to see a couple of the sights of our fair town.  First up was the Montana Chocolate Co., home of the fabulous pretzels covered in white chocolate and huckleberry-flavored chocolate, yum!

Dinner at Marie's, an Italian restaurant just outside of Stevensville.  It was our first time there, and wow, everything was amazing!  Marie's is only open Friday, Saturday, & Sundays.

A drive around the Lee Metcalf Wildlife Refuge and lots more catching up wrapped up the first day of Judy's visit.  

Thursday in Missoula

Dance shawls

Charles' latest screen print

Charles had a busy day in Missoula - three classes, a visit to the Native American Studies Department's display of regalia, and wrapping it up with a stop at COSTCO.

This evening he attended the town council meeting in Stevensville. Charles had been asked to speak on behalf of, Paul Ludington, a candidate for the vacant mayor's post.  Paul is a member of the Stevi UMC and Charles was more than happy to be able to take part in grassroots democracy!  Paul was selected and takes office October 1st. 

Delightful Wednesday

Belinda enjoys homemade soup

Ah, life on College Street

Autumn on College Street has arrived and we're so glad!  It has been a long, smokey summer and we're happy to have cooler days and to be able to see the mountains!

Belinda was the speaker tonight at our church's new "Worship on Wednesday."  She is such a natural speaker!

Our newest member of the family finally has a name!  We have adopted Monty as one of us, Monty being short for Montana!

Sculpting class #1

Charles had his first sculpting project due today with the assignment of working with two materials and making use of real or implied gravity.

He got a good review from the professor and class critique through a creative use of wood (block, sawdust, shavings, and scraps) and liquids (molasses, corn syrup, and cooking oil).  It sounds strange, but it was fun to do!

Next up: welding!

Last Sunday of the summer

Last Sunday of the summer

Charles, with Belinda assisting, share two baptisms this morning

New children's playground

Lots of joy this evening!

Our busy weekend concluded today with a full slate of activity for us all. In addition to the normal Sunday morning events our worship service had two baptisms, always a treat for us (and Charles' forty & forty-first baptisms).

After a lunch out with some of the church members, we rested a bit before Charles had an early evening meeting.  Then we joined hundreds of area residents at the grand opening of the new community children's playground.  The playground was built in just five days, all with donated labor and supplies.

Wonderful weekend underway

Happy to be in Corvallis

Leading a moment of 'laughter yoga'

Installation of district officers (Belinda is VP)

Charles assisting with communion

The last weekend in summertime is underway in western Montana and it simply couldn't be a prettier day!

We spent today (and last night) in Corvallis (1/2 hour south) with the United Methodist Women of western Montana (and a slice of Idaho).  Lots of fun and lots of work (for Belinda!)!!

Dawn to dusk

St. Mary's Peak looms over the valley

Sunset in Corvallis

The last weekend of summer began with more snow atop St. Mary's Peak and ended with a delightful sunset over the Bitterroot Mountains.  We are so looking forward to autumn!!!

Early signs of fall

 The leaves are turning here in the Bitterroot Valley and we just may have seen the last 80+ day of the year.  Life is great in the Treasure State!!!

First printing project

On cardboard

On shelf liner

Eating up Grand Teton NP

On stock paper

Charles' print making (screen) class is preparing its first assignment, a silhouette project.  Charles chose to use Pac Man since he spent a lot of time back in the early 80s playing that video game. He feels pretty good, it being a first-effort and all!

A busy week

Golfing on Wednesday in Hamilton

Elk herd south of Stevensville

A new cat making the rounds

It's been a very busy week for us! With work, school, and home life all needing attention it was easy to loose sight of the special things in our life.

A new feature is the presence of Skittles (skittish/little), a young male cat (the spitting image of Wesley).  He's been hanging around more and more and Wesley seems to be tolerating his presence more so than with other neighborhood cats.

First snow

St. Mary's Peak with the first dusting

We woke this morning to see the Bitterroot Mountains covered with a light dusting of snow.  What a treat after the smoke we've had these past few weeks!

Damp Satiurday

The market was actually busier than it looks in this picture!

Belinda and Mo dodging the rain

Last week we were kept indoors (for the most part).  Today we're staying close to home due to some very much appreciated rain!!! 

We did venture out for a spell after the UMW choir practice to visit the Stevensville farmer's market. Some treats and treasures were secured and then it was back home to enjoy a rainy Saturday in the parsonage.

First Friday in September

Out on the town!

In front of the historic Albert May House

What a difference a week makes!  This time last week, heavy smoke from the forest fires in Idaho lay thick over the valley, completely obscuring the view of the mountains. After a couple of days of wind and light rain we can see again!

Tonight was first Friday in Stevensville and the three of us took a stroll along Main Street, taking in some of the sights and sounds that makes small-town living so enjoyable!