keep it simple, treat others how you would like to be treated, never take for granted the people who mean the most to you, always be honest, work hard, play harder, get outside, and keep your family close.
it's a classic story of small-town love and life...and three crazy dogs... and a really cute baby
As you can see, I just couldn't wait an entire week to post this beauty. The gray cat is real. Yes, she is wearing a big and hat. Her name was Tonto. She is in a doll bed. The extra large t-shirt with sharks is being worn by my brother (who is playing "dress up the cat with me") and no, I don't think I cut my own bangs back then - my mother did. I am quite impressed my the neatness of my "doll house" arrangement in the background. If only I could keep my real house that clean and organized now. Will kid-Brooke come back and play?
Thanks Melynda for pimping out your blog for Willow Ranch Outfitting. SEE, friends and strangers in strange countries from all over the world... It's not hard to tell your friends about our super cool hunting, fishing and horsepack trips.
Now, tell 10 friends about us, see what happens! The Fjords thank you!
This "Miss Texas" (as we were told to refer to him/her) is taken ....
Frighteningly, this was a REGULAR occurrence in my home growing up. I never knew that dressing in drag, or in mismatched clothing with wigs and props wasn't normal - until I started showing these pictures to my husband who is now scared our little girl might get her Uncle Clark's dress-up passion.
Ahhh, the imagination of charismatic child! Here's to you little brother - this is one of the many reasons I love ya.
We all grew up with cousins on some level. My dad had 52 first cousins (from just ONE side of the family), I grew up with a slew of them from mom and dad's side, Peter spent his summers in Minnesota with all of his many fellow family. They really make for a lot of memories in a kids life... We know Cash, Matine and baby Jhett (soon arriving in April) will terrorize, plot, laugh, and explore together too. It starts in the aisles of Murdoch's.
Matine has to stand and jabber in the carts -- this is pre-crash when she went tumbling down and banging her perfectly round head on the hard, cold metal. Hey, we figure it might keep her out of prison?
Cash LOVES balloons. Give this kid a balloon and he's happy. Tie them to his legs and let him run around - even happier! Just don't let any get away from him in a parking lot or car - then we have nuclear meltdown.
This trip to Murdoch's (our local ranch and home supply store) Cash got some new Wranglers that are oh' so cute. Matine got Ivermectin - it takes lice out of cows. Kidding, Peter got the Ivermectin for the Titeca's and proceeded to help them de-louse on the Ranch last week.
Matine doesn't have to worry about lice just yet. I think we need hair first.
Matine hit the kids play land and museum today. She loved wearing her Daniel Boone hat while banging blocks. She also enjoyed the bubble machine and toddlers table! Oh so much to learn!
Well, we kicked off Pete's 35th Year with lots of family, friends, and gut aches. Pete got a family day with Joellyn, Dad, Matine and I -- skiing, sauna, hot tub, a new recipe at home -mussels and fries -- all in a day.
Then on Friday, in our usual Howell fashion, we invited everyone we know to our home for lots of food and lots of beer. 45 people somehow ate personal pizzas, could navigate through our tiny house, and seemed to enjoy themselves. It was great to socialize with our friends who we don't see often enough these days! Happy Birthday Love, YOU are loved!
Skiing up Mill Creek. Matine sleeps in the chariot behind.
Grandpa Scott and Nana Jo - Rockin' it on the trail.
Delicious Mussels and Fries and the best company around.
Pete's first love - his dog.
Brutus eying the disheveled Red Velvet Disaster.
No, the cake is not on fire - that's just 35 candles on a cake (and one to grow on)!
Talk about love. Grandpa Scott and Matine are 2 peas in a pod. She ADORES his stories, his games, his face, ANYTHING Grandpa.
Pete and the boys at the party. What are they doing. Why, watching hunting videos on the internet of course.
Rob and Annie joined the fun!
It was a Baby Zoo! You had to be careful not to step on a walking, crawling or running child. At least no one was surprised at our 6pm party start time. These kiddos crashed by 7:30!
Matine is the gal in the pink party dress and furry party boots - of course.
Dad partied like his rock-star self and ALSO helped man the multiple pizza ovens!
Megan and baby Elias made their social debut! It was a big night and Eli did great. I know how nerve racking it is to bring your newborn out in public for the first time - thanks for coming Meg!
The O'Connors brought their beauties - Sally, Audrey and Camille (not pictured)
Mike and Wolf chatting it up.
New Momma Levia, beautiful baby Lucas and hot chick Jeannette - a party cannot happen with out them!
Brian and Camille - it's time to go to bed I think.
Caid Cox is growing up! And I want his hair.
Brad and I. Hambone.
Levia, Lucas, Madeleine, Baby #3 in Belly, and Prince William. Yes, Livingston is fertile.
He IS a Hottie!
Jason, William and Pete
Amy, Eric and Cash came for the weekend too!!! Unfortunately, I didn't get a single picture of the Cash-man, as he moved around the house, weaving in and out of people all night, they were literally all blurry. But I did get a picture of their newest puppy - NEWT - he's adorable, cuddly, fluffy, and really sweet. Who new Corgies were so darn cute.
My BF Micca has FINALLY returned the favor and created a blog for me to read. Her life is hilarious, always exciting and different, and she's my best friend. Who lives in Oklahoma. I miss her and need visuals of the goings on in her life.
Well, we've broke her down and it's live! Check out Makin' the Most in Oklahoma as often as you can. I guarantee some entertainment!
Mattie and Mom did some last minute shopping and prep for dad's 35th birthday bash. We are doing make-your-own pizzas at our house tonight. For 45 people. I will tell you if we are still alive by tomorrow.
Happy Birthday Peter John Howell! I could do the regular ode to Peter --- you are wonderful, a super dad, amazing husband, all around great guy --- But we all know this! Those that know Peter fully understand how loyal, honest, sweet and helpful he is to anyone and everyone. He loves his family, makes sacrifices for us all, has super hot killer legs, and he's just pretty darn sexy for a Minnesota boy turned Montana outfitter cowboy.
Baby, we love love love you! Happy Birthday.
For those of you who love Peter -- this is what you are going to do -- I am issuing a challenge. What Peter wants more than anything for our business to take off, be successful, and provide our family the monetary means to eat and survive.
If each of you readers will PLEASE send the link to Willow Ranch Outfitters (www.willowoutfitters.com) to 10 of your friends ... Tell them how cool these people are, how great the business is, and how FUN a Willow Ranch HUNT, fly fishing trip or horsepack trip would be.
Fun for all ages. Get some family or friends together and join us!
Did you know that Peter and the Willow Ranch team will be on the Outdoor Channel's Western Extreme and Adventure's Abroad in a number of days? They said that their footage on these shows might be some of the best they ever got? It's going to be good.... Yes, you can hunt with FAMOUS people! (By the way, we will let you know our air-date soon).
There's something for you: If anyone of the people you send our link to inquires to us for more information - you get a Willow Ranch Hat! AND, drum roll please, if anyone you send our address to actually BOOK a trip with us - you get 30% off YOUR trip with us. If anyone books a hunt with us, you get a free day of fishing.... Now, that's a deal! And what a terrific way to say "Happy Birthday Peter" --- We love you!
I am starting a new series of posts -- as you can see from the title, we will be blasting to the past and hopefully laughing a bit, making fun of ourselves, and saying, "ahhhh... "
This does come with a warning, so BEWARE friends and family: No one is safe! I save every picture I have ever received or taken! Ever.
Feel free to submit to me any fun pictures from that past that you'd like to share. You can secretly email them to me @ brookehowell80@yahoo.com.
BTTP #1 --- we venture to April of 2007:
This was week 1 of "Oliver joins the family." Not much has changed. Yes, his eyes are still that demonic red and fangs are definitely still intact.
Another beautiful ski day in Paradise Valley... This time with friends, Jacqueline and Grif.
This was the maiden voyage of our new CHARIOT! This handy-dandy contraption is our jogging stroller and bike wagon in the summer and fall, and it now easily converts to a ski chariot for the winter.
Lucky Pete, he got to pull Matine ...
And later, as Brutus' feet iced up, he got to pull him too. This lasted until Matine's legs fell asleep and she was sick of sharing her space.
My dear, dear friend Suzanne (best friend from highschool, college roommate, lifetime friend) and her husband Brian have spent the last year preparing to meet their adopted son. He is a BEAUTIFUL Rwandan boy who they have named, Desmond Duke.
This week was the week. They flew from their home in Los Angeles to Rwanda to finally meet him and bring him HOME!
Here's a link to her blog (which outlines the entire journey). These pictures have left me a sobbing mess here in my kitchen at 8:30pm. I see parents become mothers and fathers through adoption, their own childbirth - and pictures like these, faces like theirs, show that parenthood comes in every form imaginable and that this little boy has changed them - just like that -in an instant .... Sue, you will never know love like this. I am so happy for you and your family! Matine can't wait to show Desmond how to ride horses, ski, fish, chase dogs, and hike up a mountain!
Finally, we might be getting some weather here in Livingston. We have had a bit of unseasonably nice and warm weather lately... temps in the 50's, sun, hardly any wind (which is unheard of). It has felt like spring and while most people say "uh, crazy person, why don't you like pretty warm weather?" if you lived here, you'd understand. It's just not right to live in Montana in January and not need a jacket and hat everyday! Plus, brown grass is ugly. White snow is pretty.
Our grumblings were heard and we should see snow for the next 5 days or so. Our usual view of the Absarokas is clouded by snow and weather clouds today! Yesterday, in preparation for some weather, Pete chopped up the rest of the wood he bought. Did I tell you he bought a semi-truck load of logs? Oh yeah, he did. And he has been sawing, chopping and splitting wood the last 2 weeks. The plan is to have enough for us for the rest of winter and sell a few cords to people - covering the cost of the load and maybe make a few bucks.
I think it's crazy that he ENJOYS splitting wood, but I can't complain. My man keeps our house warm and his hot bod in shape with this loony activity!
I helped unload 2 truckloads of the splintery stuff yesterday - we made a HUGE stack outside our backdoor and another large stack behind the sauna. It was gorgeous out, so Matine got some good fresh-air time with us. This picture doesn't show it but Oliver was also in the truck, licking Matine's face. No worries, she was safe in the back of the trailer and no logs fell on her... Surprising, given that I am her klutz of a mother.
This large pile was stacked yesterday. Notice, it goes clear the back corner and is about 6 feet high. If I could quit eating cookies and caramels and just carry my 18 lb baby around and throw in a few log stacking exercises each week, I could look like Xena, the Timber-Baby Warrior.
You can usually see lots of pretty mountains from ourview here... Not today, weather is coming! We are socked in!
I had not done an update on the sauna in a while. Remember Pete's "nesting" project that he started 3 days before we were to give birth to a BABY? Here. Here. Here. Yes, that one. Well, we (and countless friends and relatives) have been enjoying our little sauna's warmth for months now. It is quite cozy, working perfectly, and providing Pete with hours of relaxing therapy. Given that he is killing his body chopping wood, it has been nice medicine.
I don't pretend to enjoy being a landlord, never really have and probably never will. I do however claim to be a very positive person who chooses to see the best in people and gives everyone a chance. This is starting to change.
Did I give you 2 months to pay your security deposit? Why, yes I did. I believed your sob story and thought I could give you a bit of help. Did I let you pay rent late WITHOUT charging late fees in the month of December? Why, yes I did - it was the Holiday. Who doesn't like playing Santa Clause. Did I bite my tongue and not tell you that you were an IDIOT when the reason you couldn't pay rent on time in December was because you had a $700 power bill in a 1,000 square foot home? Why, yes I did. I assumed you might figure out that you can't keep a heater at 75 degrees in Montana all winter. Instead of rolling my eyes, hanging up the phone, and handing you a bill for late fees, I nicely suggested that you use heating blankets, not walk around naked, maybe keep some doors shut to rooms you aren't using, put some plastic on the windows...
You quit taking my calls in December when you still owed me the other 1/2 of the deposit, you proceeded to not return any of my 12 calls since then. You failed to send us a single penny for rent in January as well. $1400 you owed us! You then became a SQUATTER, trespassing on my property. Did I mention that you suck?
When Peter went to the house this morning to inform you that must be out of the house February 1st, to our surprise (were we really surprised) and disappointment (were we really disappointed) you had up and moved out. Wow, so is that how you do things? You just choose to not pay rent or pay your bills, give no explanations, and then leave a home in the middle of the night? If I had only known this bit of information! All the stress I could have saved myself over the years trying to pay bills on time and being responsible!
You tried to stick it to us one last time before leaving by setting the heat as high as you could make it... Silly ignorant person, did you know that YOU are responsible for that bill? You never took the billing out of your name and I didn't have proof you were out of the house until today... I also hear that you can't get heat turned on in any place you live from here on out until that bill is paid to the power company. They will surely be much more persistant than I could be to get their money.
Oops, too bad. I hope you know that Kharma is guaranteed! Best of luck to you in your exploits and future ambitions of taking advantage of nice people.
Sincerely,
Your Landlords
PS - Anyone reading this need a place to live? Can you please not abandon the house and pay rent on time?
We did our monthly costco trip yesterday. Dog food, cheese, butter, TP, razors, large bags of chips (for Peter), and in my case an accidental purchase of TWO LARGE bottles of conditioner (I thought it would be a bottle of shampoo and conditioner) - oops. But did you know they are selling such fashionable little people now too?
Matine preferred to stand up in the cart the entire time. Had lots of fun. So did the other customers. It took us a while to navigate all the isles without propelling her out of the cart and dodging all the admirers.
As you can see behind the purchased baby, we got a new rug for the living room! My Crate and Barrell cotton rag rug that I have had since my freshman year of COLLEGE has finally grossed me out enough and unraveled to the point of no repair. Hence, I now have a grown up rug that is clean, easy to vacuum and complements the nice orange/browns and greens for our primary living space. Matine loves the softness of it and can really crawl fast now. Plus, there's the added bonus of not having her clothes turn black and hairy when she crawls any more. Yay!
Let's hope Matine doesn't get her fashion sense from her mother. When commissioned with the job of dressing baby for a cross country ski trip this weekend, this is the result:
Could I have found any more patterns to include in this outfit?
Whelan the Corgie got a good workout on those stubs-for-feet.
A little bit of a visual overload, but warm and happy!
Our friends, John and Jen from Missoula came to visit for the weekend. We had a great time!
Oh, and they brought their two cutie black lab mixes, Nikita and Sula. Along with their two hounds, we have been dog-sitting Joellyn's Corgie (Whelan) and the couch sized Golden (Montana). Yes, that made the dog count in our home this weekend -- SEVEN!
Oh Matine. 8 months old! At eight months old you have won our hearts over 8 million different ways. You are the happiest person I know. Being around you absolutely makes your dad and I better people. I could gush about all the emotions that I have because of you, but I will try to just tell you what all you are up to these blissful days (the best of my life).
Busy, busy - you are on the move and ready for more every second. You started crawling - it's an army crawl and I thought you would eventually get on all fours and do the "classic baby crawl" but we aren't so sure anymore. You seem to want to bypass any more "ground time" and get on those 2 feet! I now feel like I am trying to bend solid wood boards to get your legs bent and get you sitting back down. You want to stand up, lean on things and balance yourself. You love for us to walk you around the house or to sit / stand on your new car that Micca gave you for Christmas. This gives you your independence on 2 feet that you really want!
I think your favorite thing is to make people laugh and smile. You will do ANYTHING to get a laugh. People pleaser - yes you are. We might have to deal with this with some therapy some day if it starts to affect your ability to function, but for now, it's adorable. I guess this is how most adult issues start out - Parents encourage a cute behavior all the while the need to please and make people laugh is burned into your psyche - deciding your future personality and setting you up to be "that girl" - the one who appears to have a million friends and always wears a happy face, but goes home at night to her cats and eats 2 pints of Ben and Jerry's.
Maybe I am overthinking this? Or maybe we should just get you into therapy now? I think I need the therapy. Nah... We will just keep laughing at you and letting you entertain us with a variety of silly voices, head bobs, clapping, waves at the trees, dogs, picture frames. Anything for a laugh! Waving --- this is by far your cutest and favorite trick. Your wave doesn't have any motion to it yet - it's simply a hand up (and slightly at an angle). A bit Hitler-esque I must say. But, since we know you are people pleaser and not a infamous dictator - it's cute. You throw up that little hand to anything and everything that moves. You wake up talking in your crib. As soon as you see your dad or I come in you start looking for a dog. As soon as you see one (usually snuggled on MY pillow in bed) you giggle and hold up that hand, "waving" at the dogs. You immediately start looking for the next one. The day really can't start until you have waved at all three dogs, dad and even the ever-blowing spruce trees in the front yard. You have even started waving at the faces in the pictures on our walls. Oh, you are a social, social baby.
We still delight in being able to go anywhere and everywhere with you. You truly seem to enjoy meeting new people, seeing new faces. You "turn on" in a crowd and will start the wave, bobbing your head and making a sneezing sound (this is very funny to you - I thought it was a tick at one point), or just babbling and talking to people. You always have smiles for people -making even the most leary baby person at ease around you.
You ADORE your dad. You two have your own little language and games already. It's pretty cute because you save a few special tricks just for him. You play a tapping the table game when we sit down to eat. Dad taps the table one time. You do it back. He taps twice. you tap twice (and sometimes uncontrollably). It's cute, but it's even cuter that you don't initiate this game with anyone but him. By the way, if you want your own rocket ship, pony, trip to Europe or sports car - just ask now. Your daddy is about as whooped as I have ever seen a man. This is the conversation at night, after only about 30 minutes of putting you to bed: "I miss Matine already. I wish she was still awake. I can't wait to see her smile in the morning."
No lies Matine - your daddy misses your smile when he knows you are sleeping soundly in the next room. We both do. You are by far the coolest, most fun, most beautiful person we know.
The last few months you have met more cousins (all the Lustigs), some new babies have joined your world (Elias Drimal and Lucas Shoutis), you have seen your old friends, but mostly have been hangin' with your padres (that's parents in spanish you know). We have indulged ourselves in getting to have lazy day after lazy day with you. We know the busy summer will be here, you will be running around, interested in other things, and we will be burning calories just trying to keep up with your ever growing insatiable thirst for new things and knowledge.
A day like today, we hear you talking to your hands or pacifier in your crib, we bring you into bed with us, you nurse and as soon as you are full start to roll over, talking to your dad, the dogs, playing games and laughing. We keep you in bed as long as you can hold still. The day then begins - crawling, standing, scooting, paddy cake, books, banging tupperware, looking out windows, breakfast and a nap. Special days involve long walks in the backpack, cross country skiing or visiting friends at restaurants and coffee shops.
You LOVE visits with people - anyone new.
Mattie, you delight your mama and daddy. Everyday you fill our world with awe, wonder and such gratitude. Yet again, your long winded mom finds herself without the right words to describe what it feels like to be your mom.
We have been busy! Sorry for our delay in blogging. We have the fortunate (unfortunate) problem of having too many fun friends to see and hang out with! Matine has been busy with out of town visitors -- her favorite --- Auntie Christina who recently moved to Florida, but is back skiing and saying hi to her Northern friends.
