A Bunch of Moores...

Over Labor Day weekend Aaron and I went to Missoula to visit my Dad and Grandpa.  It was really great because all of my extended Moore family was there except for two of my cousins.  I hadn't really seen them for almost 15 years.

We went to Philipsburg to watch a wonderful play at the small theater there.  I hadn't been to live theater in years and thoroughly enjoyed it.

This is Lolo Creek which is right across the road from Grandpa's house.

One of my favorite things about Montana is all the natural running water.  There are so many streams and rivers... I love it!

Aaron, Ashley, Jon (Ash's boyfriend) and I hiked up the mountain behind Grandpa's house.

It was a nice workout, especially after eating all the delicious food all weekend.

The house/yard in the photo is Grandpa's place.  It's really nice, but strange that he doesn't live in his old house on the mountain that I remember from my childhood.

These were some bones we saw on the walk.  I like to take photos of strange textures and lines.

I was so excited to have Grandpa teach me how to shoot a gun.

The really cool part... I learned on my grandma's beautiful custom rifle.

That was kind of special for me since she passed away in 2002.  Almost like a small part of her was there with us.

I wasn't able to get everyone in the collage, but I got many.  My dad is the cool guy playing the guitar.  He's always been a really talented guitar player.  I guess that when I was a baby he'd play plugged into his amp and I'd sleep right through it.

So my cousins, Shane and Stacia, talked me into doing karaoke with them.

There's nothing like "Come Together" by the Beatles, right?

So my first karaoke performance was with my cousins and the music was provided by my dad's band.  I admit I was a little embarrassed and nervous, but it was super fun.

I will always remember it.

I'm so glad Aaron and I were able to go up.  Not only had I not seen my family in years, Aaron had never met them other than Dad and Grandpa.  And I got to see my sister, Ashley, who I hadn't seen in over a year.  I sure miss her.  That's probably why we talk almost every day. 

I think we may make Labor Day in Montana a tradition.

Did you know that the teeny, tiny black ants are my least favorite insect?

They are.

And it's not just because they're so little that they manage to get into everything and they come in large numbers...

No, it's because of an apartment I had almost 10 years ago.

It just happens to be the place Aaron proposed to me.

That fact almost makes me have a small amount of nostalgia for the place.

ALMOST.

I'm going to tell you about this apartment.

For most of my single (well, dating Aaron) life in Chico I lived alone.  My first apartment was a studio in an old building and I just happened to really like that apartment.  But I ended up moving two more times before I found my roommates.

Anyway, the third apartment was a newer studio... much newer.  The floors weren't made of asbestos tile and the appliances were somewhat efficient.

I was on the bottom floor of a building of studio apartments, so I had neighbors.  They were nice people, so I had no problems.  My home was clean and just the right size for me.

Once summer started I began to see an ant here and there.  No big deal.

One day I came home from work to find the toilet water full of ants and some crawling on the rest of it.  I cleaned it up and bought some ant bait.

I think I went home to my parents' in Bangor for a day or two because I remember coming home and finding a line of ants crawling around the wall in the main room of the apartment.

Now I don't profess to be a neat freak, especially after having four children, but when I lived alone my house was always clean.  I couldn't figure out what the ants wanted.

I complained to the management and they said they'd spray or whatever it is they do for ants.

Well, the ants kept coming.

It got to the point where there was a 4-inch thick line of ants going around my entire apartment.  No joke... it looked like there was a wallpaper border in the middle of the white wall.  There had to be thousands of them.

They got into the book Aaron and I were reading together.  They got into all of my food.  I found them in my clothes.

They made their way into my bed.

I'd leave home and feel like they were crawling on me.

Luckily they weren't.  My skin still crawls when I think about it.

I decided to ask my neighbor if she had ant problems.

Well, turns out she did.

Her apartment was full of plants and ants.  She didn't seem to have a problem with them.  I took one look at her floor, which happened to look like it was moving there were so many ants, and decided to move.

So, Aaron is very understanding of my disliking of teeny black ants.  And he never says I go overboard when trying to get rid of them.

All summer they've been hanging around our kitchen.  I finally busted out the Terro tonight.  I hope it kills every last one of them.

Die little black ants!  Die!!!

The First Day on the 14th Day...

The girlies started school on August 24th.

It was a Wednesday and they only go to school Monday through Thursday.

So why did they start with only two days left in the week?

I'll never understand.

Anyway, Kaitlyn started kindergarten and Laura started second grade.

As you can tell Kaitlyn is bigger than Laura.

Laura's the smallest in her class.  Probably in the first grade, too.

Actually, there's only a few preschoolers smaller than my Laura Lu.

The plus is that she hasn't outgrown her clothes very quickly.

My mom bought the girls backpacks and bonafide Converse.

Kaitlyn's are blue and look just like the ones I wore at our wedding reception.

We wore our matching Converse on her fieldtrip today.

No one noticed.

Oh well.

Laura Lu got black ones.

Good job Mom!  The shoes are awesome!

So are the backpacks.

It's hard to tell but Zeus is Kaitlyn's height.

He's gotten taller.

He's a bit ornery... and I think he got sprayed by a skunk just now.

I sure hope not.

I heard him bark, then smelled skunk filtering through the windows, then REALLY smelled skunk as I heard Zeus shaking himself.

That's a bad sign, isn't it?

Huh.

The girlies are really enjoying school.

Kaitlyn can read.  She's been reading all summer.

Laura's reading much better.  She's doing really well with math.

I love their teachers.  Mrs. Keene and Mrs. Mangum rock.

Back to school night was last night.

I took a few photos but for some reason the computer won't read my memory card.

Stupid computer.

Or stupid memory card.

Should I go see if the dog smells?

Fun at the Fair...

At the beginning of August Laura and Kaitlyn went to Idaho with Aaron's parents.

Avery didn't like that much.

Luckily Codie came to visit for the last 7 days they were gone so she helped to keep Avery occupied.

We went to the Lincoln County Fair.

Avery was a bit nervous in the petting zoo but really liked the chicken and pig.

She helped me feed the pony but didn't seem too sure about it.

We stayed for most of the rodeo.

I'd never been to a rodeo before.

It was actually really fun.  It was a great place to take random photos.

In the bottom third photo from the left is my friend Steve.

We just happened to both have a Canon DSLR with the same 300mm lens.

He'd never been to the rodeo either.

We were both down snapping pictures on our twin cameras.

But I didn't sit in the red ant hill.

Steve did.

I entered photos into the fair.  I don't know if I liked them being judged or not.

I should just view it as constructive criticism.

I like my photos.  And they were grainy on purpose.

Oh well.

I still like them.

Zip...

August 20th was our second annual "Cuisine in the Country."  The food was amazing...

as was the zipline.

I was wearing heeled boots.

If I hadn't been working I could've spent the entire evening

riding down the zipline.

It really was that fun.

Yeah, Well...

I realize it's been awhile...

over a month.

What can I say, life gets busy.

So what's been happening?

I got a new fisheye lens for my camera.

You see, August 12th I turned the big 3-0.

Yep, I'm now thirty years old; in an entirely new decade of life.

It's really not that big a deal.

However, there's no better way to turn thirty than to go roller skating in Chico with your parents, hubby, and siblings.

Yes, we really did go skating without our kids.

Every few laps around the rink in my classic skates (not blades) I'd have this slightly guilty feeling about leaving the kids home with a babysitter while we skated the night away.

Then I'd bust a move and not feel as guilty.

Plus I'd see the teeny boppers dressed like streetwalkers inappropriately and not want that example for my girlies.

It just happened to be teen night.

In fact, the manager told our group that the adult session was the following night

from 9-11 pm.  We skated anyway.

Cortney made sure the DJ wished me a Happy Birthday over the PA system.

This is just about exactly what he said:

"Hey kids, I'd like to wish someone out there a very happy birthday.  You won't be this age for a very long, long, long time.  Happy thirtieth Birthday Tara!"

I almost ran over him with my classic skates, but he was a better skater than me.

I love Chico.

We had a great visit with my family... and I love that Cortney's family lives out there now.

After we got home Aaron gave me my gifts... a fisheye lens and a tuner for my viola.

Yep, I've busted the viola out of retirement.

I just haven't played it yet.

I bought a new bow and rosin.  Now that I have a tuner I should be able to start playing again.  I ought to get some new music.

Hmm...