Carnival

Last weekend the Booster Club was busy with the carnival.  We had it all!

Football Toss



Dunking Booth- Brrrrr!

Cupcake Walk

Ring Toss

Plinko

Homemade Cotton Candy

We also had a Hoop Shoot, Fishing Game, Dinosaur Dig, Face Painting, a Bouncy House and many many other things!  It was so much fun.  Everyone had a blast-- even the adults!  The Junior class set up some concessions too.  It was a great way to spend a few hours and get the community together.  Can't wait for next year!

Easter

Libby is asleep and I am awake!  So thought I would post a really fast blog!  I think you all have seen all the pictures of Libby so thought I would post about Easter.

We had Easter dinner at Aunt Daunas.  It was great because the whole family and we haven't all been together since our wedding I believe.  Jake, Jessica, Ian and Greta have moved back to Montana so it was so awesome to see them again!  And it was the first time that the family got to meet little Greta!  Welcome back McNeff family!  We are so happy you are here!

This was also Libby's first holiday and her chance to meet the rest of the family.  As usual the food was awesome and the weather was quite nice!  All the littlest cousins had a blast playing outside!  It's funny to think how these generations keep going by!  Joni, Jessica and I used to be the little kids.  Then it was Jay, Justin, Shelby, Stevie and Shania.  Then there was quite a gap and then it was Landon, Laine and Ian.  And now we have two little girls to add!  It's so fun having these little ones get together!

Here's some pictures from our day:

 Landon, Laine, Ian and Koltar

 Darvin and Justin keeping the boys entertained

 Ian and Landon finding some eggs!

 What's Easter without a little skeet shooting??

 Grandma Jo, Libby, Me, Greta and Jessica

 Koltar, Laine and Ian enjoying Easter Dinner!

 Shawn and Laine giving Libby a little squeeze

 We were getting in on the bubble action too!



That's about all the time I have for now!  It's hard to find any these days, but I will try to keep up the best I can!

Mega Loads

Thought I would share some pictures of the Conoco Mega Loads that have been traveling through Montana.  Through all our travels, we've been able to see them in Harlo, Lewistown and Billings.  I even got up at 1:30 a.m. the night they went through the Gap.  We could see the whole procession go down the highway from our window.

HARLOWTON

LEWISTOWN 

BILLINGS

Pioneer Woman

On Friday night, I got the chance to meet one of my idols-- Ree Drummond, Pioneer Woman.  For those of you who aren't familiar with Ree, she is a blogger.  Her site is:   http://www.thepioneerwoman.com/   On her site, she chronicles her life as a ranch wife in Oklahoma.  She has four children and a bassett hound named Charlie.  She not only posts about her day-to-day life, but she also has a photography section, cooking section, homeschooling section, and a site called Tasty Kitchen where followers can post their own recipes. 

She published a cookbook last year:  "The Pioneer Woman Cooks".  Absolute must make recipes:  cinnamon rolls and Rib Eye Steak with Whiskey Cream Sauce.  In February her autobiographical "romance novel" came out.  It's called "Black Heels to Tractor Wheels"  She tells her story of being the ultimate city girl, going to school in Los Angeles and deciding to move to Chicago when she makes a temporary stop in her hometown in Oklahoma where she meets her "Marlboro Man", soon to be her husband.  She discusses falling in love with a cowboy and learning the ways of country ranch life.  After her book came out, she set up a book tour around the country, which is what brought her to Montana.  This occasion coincided with the annual CM Russell Art Sale. 

Before the book signing, she gave an hour long slide show presentation about her life and blogging.  I had seen her on TV before when she appeared on The View and The Today show.  She was so energetic funny.  At the end of her presentation she showed pictures of her bassett Charlie while singing "My Endless Love".  Very entertaining! 

After that had concluded we quickly lined up for the book signing.  Mom and I had bought VIP tickets which enabled us to get in the front section of the line.  Even so, we stood in line for an hour before reaching Ree.  It was such a blur talking to her.  I can hardly remember what was said to eachother.  There were a couple hundred people in line and it all goes by so fast.  She asked me when I was due and said I was "obviously very pregnant" whatever that meant!!  And asked where I was from and thanked me for coming in my "delicate state"  I know I thanked her for coming to Montana.  And I have no idea what else I said.  I think I was one of those gushing, idiot fans who never stops talking and makes a fool of themselves, but I don't remember!  I do remember how really nice she was.  It was obvious she was going to be there for hours signing books.

At the end of April she is coming out with a children's book about Charlie.  I will of course be getting that for baby!  And mom said she saw in the Tribune that they will be making a movie based on her novel.  I"m pretty sure I'm going to be one of "those people" who line up days before it opens in theaters, just like Harry Potter and Twilight fans!!  It was such a great opportunity to meet her and it's something I'll never forget!

35 weeks 6 days....

About 29 days to go!  Things have been going really well.  Baby has been very active.  She likes to stick her little butt out all the time which makes me look a little "lumpy" at times.  It's pretty fun watching her move around.  Still feeling great, a little tired here and there, but that's to be expected.  Thought I would  share a picture.

Birthday Weekend

The big "30" bash started off on Thursday with a trip to my parents' for a yummy dinner followed by a delicious cake made by Tim.  He made a very delectable Coffee Cake with a coffee batter and coffee icing.  We played a rousing game of Camping Trivia where I think we all learned a lot!  We spent the night because we were headed to Missoula the next the day.

We were actually planning on going to Vegas with some friends for a birthday celebration, but that didn't quite work out!  So I guess Missoula was the next best place!  Actually Tim had made some new countertops for my cousins and we needed to get over there and install them, so we thought we would make a whole weekend of it.  We left early Friday morning with about -25 degree weather.  We stopped in Helena at Tim's sister's for lunch and a quick visit then headed on to Missoula where it was a balmy 15 above!  We did some quick shopping then went to the Pearl for a wonderful meal.  We completely stuffed ourselves on Scallops and Shiitake mushrooms in a ginger cream sauce, roasted cauliflower curry soup, Bison Tenderloin with a Huckleberry & Wine Sauce and a Beef Tenderloin with a Peppercorn Gravy.  One of the best meals we've had!

Saturday morning we headed for Lolo.  We were planning a little Ostertag Cousin Reunion, so Debbie had arrived from Conrad the night before.  Sue cooked us breakfast and then Tom and Tim quickly got to work dismantling the old countertops while we girls chatted and got in the way! 

We spent the day visiting and shared many laughs as usually happens when there is more than one Ostertag present!  Of course we had to pose for a family photo since we don't all get together that often.  All cousins were in attendance!

Tom, Debbie, Kristi and "Mike"

Tom and Sue treated us to a wonderful dinner at Lolo Creek Steakhouse, where we once again stuffed ourselves!  Thanks for all the entertainment Ostertag Family!  Wished we cold see eachother more.  Tom and Sue's girl, Brenna and Amy are growing up fast!

Sunday Tim and I had breakfast at Finn and Porter where I got to visit with some of my old co-workers that are still there!  After our usual stop at the Good Food Store, it was time to hit the road again.  We surprising had mostly bare roads the whole way.  It's still a long trip when we have to haul our big tool trailer behind, but we didn't have any problems.  We stopped in Great Falls to have lunch with Sarah, Jimmy and the boys.  So glad we live so close now!  Had a very nice, relaxing weekend and it was hard to leave the "tropics" of western Montana!  I had a most enjoyable birthday thanks to Tim and my parents!  So far, 30 ain't bad!

More Additions!

Tim has been busy out in his "woodshop" again.  We decided we needed a bookcase for the nursery.  We were just going to buy a little simple one, but then thought a matching one would be nice.  Plus Tim is very into woodworking now and wants to build anything and everything!  So now our Knotty Alder nursery set is complete!  We went through Tim's chidhood books and added them to the shelves.  I know I have quite a collection at home yet to go through!

We also just received this awesome Travel System.  It was a gift from my family.  We started this tradition about 4 years ago when Joni was pregnant with Landon.  The cousins, aunts and grandma all pitch in together to buy a stroller system.  It's so nice for everyone to do that.  It's a big help since there's so much you need!  We've both been test driving it around the house!  So a big, big thank you to Joni, Jessica, Aunt Dauna, Aunt Corinne and Grandma Jo!  We really, really appreciate your generosity!