OUR NEWEST ADDITION........Well last weekend Vance persuaded me into buying a fish tank for our house....Turns out I really enjoy having it so far! We initially bought two Tetras and two Guppies.....They were doing pretty well. I however woke up this morning to find one of the Guppies dead! Poor Chuck(thats what I named the Guppie that died) So off the PETCO we go again tonight for a replacement.....They have a 15 day guarantee for their fish so hopefully we get a refund....and as for me I'm doing alright even though its hard to lose any kind of pet! Oh and the tank looks very cute! We found some cool rocks for the bottom and I added in some seashells! Vance didn't think fish should have names but I decided that they should so their names are as follows: Chuck(RIP), Ted, Pedro and Roberto. Im looking forward to getting a new fish tonight because Ted needs a new Guppie friend in the tank!

Digger Football

GO DIGGERS! As most of you know my BIG little brother plays football for the Montana Tech Ore diggers..Vance and I try to make it to all the home games and so far this season they have a 1-3 record....Drew started last year as a red shirt freshman and worked hard all summer to earn his starting position again this year! We have a great time going down to Butte and watching him play! He is so strong and does a great job blocking! He is number 57, the guy in the green to the left of the above picture. Drew is also a great Student and is on the deans list I believe and is also the Student Body President. So Vance and I drive to Butte and tailgate at the games with my parents and great aunt and Uncle from Whitehall. So far we have had some REALLY warm games which has been nice, usually it seems like we are watching the games in snow storms! Vance also knows some of the other players who are from Malta and Cutbank. It's nice to be able to watch them all play and develop as players.

The Summer has come and went and we were sure busy! We started off the summer by camping in our new camper and traveled to Malta for the Slade wedding. We were able to catch a few of the Helena Brewers games with our friend John, what a great way to relax on a warm summer night! We made it down to Idaho Falls for the 4^th of July again and had a great time with our friends and played games and ate lots of food! We had a great time camping at Twin Lakes near the Continental Divide and made it up to Malta to see Vance's niece and nephew. Axton (Vance's nephew) was to sure of his uncle, but sure thought I was pretty cool! :) It was sure nice to see them and spend time with everyone! The girls had a Mexican dinner and the boys went to Turner, MT to DJ a wedding reception. The end of the summer included camping and heading to Rockin the Rivers.......Sure nice to sleep in a camper this year! makes everything so much better! Peter Frampton was fun to see but wasn't too impressed with all the other bands that were there. We made it back to Malta for Labor Day weekend and I had many firsts.....I got to go pick Sweet Corn out at our friend Lance's farm which I think is the best corn that I have ever tasted! I also helped Claude make homemade relish and had my first canning experience! We finished off the summer with one last trip to Bozeman for a wedding and stayed with our friends Beth and Nikita. Lets just say we had a pretty good time at the Crystal Bar and some memories were made. Well that wraps up the summer for us, I will keep everyone updated with our Fall travels.

Twin Lakes Camping Trip 2009

Twin Lakes Campground sits right below the Continental Divide at about 7,200 feet. My dad has been camping there since he was a little boy, as well have I since I was a little girl. The lakes are non-gasoline motors so as you can tell are still very clearand un-polluted! You can see the bottom in most

places as well as fish swimming below the boat. Although we really wanted to go to Minnesota for “lake week” with the Kielb’s and Cameron’s, but we weren’t sure with our new jobs what the future held with time off etc. So we decided to take our new Camper (see below) and head up to Twin Lakes. My parents went up early to stake out the camp spots and Drew, Abby, Vance and I followed later in the week. We had two boats this year so we were all able to go out fishing. There is nothing more relaxing than trolling around the lake looking at the beautiful scenery! We spent our day’s playing card games, swimming, fishing, and eating a lot of great food!The mosquitos were a challenge but thanks to our netted tent we were able to enjoy meals outdoors with out being carried away! I caught one of thebiggest fish of the trip, which made the boys a little jealous! We did however catch a lot of Brook Trout which turned into quite a contest, even though we let them all go. We were sad to go especially since the temperature only reached 78° while it was a blazing 97° at home, along with the pure beauty and silence, as we were driving away from it. We can’t wait to make it back there next year!

1974 Caveman

My first Camper……
Well I think it was about April when I got the crazy idea in my head that we should buy a camp trailer. Vance and I both like to camp and since we are both getting old (24&25) we decided we should upgrade from tent and look for a camper. It was quite a challenge trying to find a camper that was in decent shape and didn’t cost a fortune. We went and looked at tent campers, and pull behinds and didn’t really find any that caught our eye. Randomly my mom found one in Butte that some family friends had for sale and ended up being just what we needed. So $500 dollars later I was the proud owner of a 1974 Caveman 13’ pull behind camp trailer. My mom and I fixed up the inside, re-modeling the floor, polishing the walls and sewed new curtains (mom’s are the best). Vance and my dad did some work to the outside-rewiring the running lights etc. We took the camper out on our first trip May 15 and had a great time. We fished with my dad and BBQ that night with my parents. It was so great sleeping in our own trailer. This year we have been out 4 times so far and have many great adventures ahead of us!!!

LOOKING BACK

LOOKING BACK…..
Vance and I started our great adventure together in May of 2008. We are always on the go and love spending time with our families and friends!! In the past year we have traveled near and far visiting friends and family, we started off our trips by visiting the Murray’s and now Salsberry’s in Idaho Falls for a great Fourth of July weekend! What an amazing fireworks display!! I think we ate and drank until our belly’s hurt!!! Not to mention I found out I am a pretty good SkipBo player! - Just ask Vance! Then we headed up to Twin Lakes which is near Wisdom, MT and had a great time camping with my family. We finished up with summer by attending Rockin the Rivers and listened to some great music! In September 2008 we finally got tired of driving back and fourth from Bozeman to Helena to see each other every weekend so Vance moved to Helena to start our journey together. I was pretty skeptical about having ANY kind of roommate, because I have always lived by myself but was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed and still do living with him. We spent most of the fall traveling to Butte MT, to watch my younger brother play football for Montana Tech, and up to Malta so Vance could hunt. Thanksgiving Weekend the Waltee’s traveled to Tacoma and watched ACDC perform, it was quite the trip, but we made it home safely!! It was my first year of having two Christmas’s; one with my family here in Helena and then in Malta two days later with the Kielb family. Granny Cameron visited Malta in February, which also happens to be Valene and I birthday month, so we had quite the party in Malta, MT. In March we moved into a larger apartment and Vance’s family and Granny were able to visit us in Helena and finally got to meet my family. Vance also bought a Toyota Tundra, so we would have a vehicle to take camping, and just to haul stuff with. We spent Easter with his Family in Malta and I yet again got to meet more of his great family!! I was skeptical if the Easter bunny would find me, since it was my first time away from home but he came through!! We had a lovely Easter dinner and a very long table filled with great people and food. I also attended my first Easter Sunday mass with Vance and his dad, what a great experience. May rolled around and after almost two years of working at Enterprise-Rent-A-Car, I found a new job at Rocky Mountain Title which was much needed on my end. It has proved to be a great change of pace with new challenges and new people.