IF you really want to know...

Our life is absolutely crazy on a normal basis, but as of August it has been beyond crazy. To start things off let me remind you that I am pregnant and thus highly hormonal and moody.

We are swamped at the Inn with new visitors all the time. We are meeting tons of wonderful people from around the world and mostly from the Grand USA. This keeps us all busy with early morning breakfasts, afternoon check-ins, and LOTS of cleaning. Curt is also constantly out working on the farm. He has had a busy summer getting equipment going, figuring out watering, chasing cows, and doing hay. I have hardly seen him in during daylight, which has made for too many late nights. In between the farm and the inn, I have tried to entertain Hailee with swimming, going to the park, and playing outside with all the animals. This was all working out until I realized school was creeping in....

I made the change this year to teach 5th grade instead of 6th. This meant I moved from our highschool to our middle school. It was a GREAT decision and I am excited to be working with great educators. Well they have been doing construction on our elementary school: remodeling the office, and adding on 4 classrooms. I was lucky enough to get one of the new classrooms. It is a great space, and I can't wait for the kids to come, but I wasn't able to get in until this past Monday. I have been spending a great deal of time in the school going through a bunch of stuff and moving over to the new room. My mom has helped a lot. I think it will all be ready in time, but I am not going to say it has been fun or easy.

Few! So if you want the summary:

Curt and I are,

• Working a farm
• Running a bed and breakfast
• Starting up for a new school year
• Chasing a 2 year old
• Growing a new baby
• Trying to run our home (too often gets put on the back burner)

I am certainly hoping things calm down a little before we get this new baby here. Someday I'll get back to blogging better.

Baby Bump.

I can't tell you how much we adore our two year old. She is by far our greatest accomplishment and blessing. We can't imagine producing similar quality product, but my friends it is happening!

Check out our belly bump at 12 weeks. We had a doctor's apt. today and Hailee wanted a turn after me. It was an extremely adorable moment. She got up there, showed her belly, and asked, "lotion, on me?." We were able to find a strong heartbeat and can't wait for baby 2, due the end of January!!!!

We are BUSY!

WE have been so busy! Curt is always busy working away, ussually dark to dark, with a short lunch break. I am sure over time I will get used to this, but it has yet to happen.....

Summer is fun especially when we have so many fun people and things around us. Curt's sisters came up for a while this summer to play on the farm. We had tons of long days, full of work and play. A lot gets done with helping hands. So much thanks to Cheri, Mike, Christina, Curtis, Nic and Trudy, AJ, Lori, Jack, Jase, Evan, and many more. This has been an exciting summer and we have appreciated all the help and company!

We have spent some time working with and enjoying the horses.

We have ate yummy food, esspecially ice cream!

We clean a lot, esspecially with ALL of our special guests we have had this summer. It has been SOOOO Crazy!

We celebrated AJ's 22nd birthday!!!!!!

We went to a family reunion or two and played with Great Grandparents!

We ate lots of barbques with interesting conversations. We even learned a bit of German!

We took lots of pictures. Check out our matching shirts from Aunt Cheri...super fun!

We watched The Stegelmeier Old Faithful! (If I told you, we might have to kill you!)

We FINISHED THE DECK!!! Wahoo!!!! I am so grateful and proud of the people who put in time and energy on this deck. I think it looks awesome!

Stegelmeier Oldfaithful Observation Deck.

We froze our booties off at the 4th of July parade with some great people!

We were patriotic in our sweatshirts and coats!

We played and played with the sweetest little baby! We think all babies should be as cute and fun as Baby Trudy!

We have enjoyed the extra time with Uncle AJ as he has been staying with us and helping out around the place!

We threw the ball around and walked a couple of great labs. More than a couple naps were taken together as well!

We met up with some cousins at the park and played like crazy!

We were spoiled by AWESOME Aunts!

We had fun getting to know eachother and eating PIZZA!

Fun Boys.

We went on a few rides!

Some on horses, others using horse power.

And some just on a lonely saddle.

But to be honest not a thing was lonely about this summer. We have had a great time!

Brand New!

This morning I had to wake up early to make breakfast for the guests. I was pretty lucky because it just so happened that I was able to watch this little guy take his first steps. He is a friendly colt with a pretty protective mommy (aren't we all).
We spent a good part of the morning watching him play around. He even started trotting a bit!

I am really glad that we were able to be here when he decided to show up. We are still waiting on one more. I think it will be neat if it is a girl, then we have both. This guy looks a lot like his dad, but his mom was a Paint as well. It will be interesting to see if the next one, who's mother is a dark Sorrell, will be a paint as well.

Well if anyone wants to see a few animals or just wants to meet this little guy,

come on out!

We are pretty active around here with animals these days!

Oh and he needs a name by the way.

First Boise.

Hailee and I made a trip down to Boise to visit my mom last week. My step-sister Christine came with us and spent the week.

We went to the Discovery Center, which was a little too big for Hailee, but she did a lot of fun things there. Her favorite was the big bubble machine!

We had a blast going to the zoo, where we fed the giraffes, rode on a boat, listened to the monkeys, and fed the sheep and goats.

Curt and AJ came over for the weekend and to pick us up. We all went to Roaring Springs on a beautiful sunny and oh too windy day. It really wasn't too bad, but Hailee was cold and VERY tired. She played a little and went down a few slides. Curt and AJ hit all the big slides and had a great time!

Kind of Gross

Hailee is potty training. She has been ready since Christmas, but due to my working and whatever, she has had to wait. She is really good about telling me and even just going by herself. She has been doing awesome and even tries to "take care of the mess" all by herself when she is finished. It is really funny. One time I caught her spraying her seat down with Lysol. She looked at me and said, "EWWW, Germies." I have hidden the Lysol, but she still asks for it. I can't wait for the day when I won't have ANY diapers or pull-ups. I am thinking about a week, but I need to work on my training. Isn't that how it goes? The parent has to get trained as well? Anyway, it is a very exciting, messy, proud moment in our lives.

Fun Times.

This is just a bunch of the fun things we have been up to as of this last week. Of course I didn't capture them all, and they are not in the right order, but oh well :) A bicycle built for two? Actually just one, but these inventive toddlers decided to use the storage bin as a chair. Berrick did a great job of pulling Hailee around all over!

These wild kids ran out into the horse pasture so their dads had to run in after them. It is crazy how quick these guys have gotten. They are going to keep their parents in shape!

We checked in on the ducks, geese, and chickens. Hailee as you know thinks they are cool, but totally doesn't need to touch them. Berrick on the other hand went crazy wild in there. He cornered the huge geese and would grab them. This is him carrying one around as his dad is trying to get him to let go! I got a side-ache from laughing so hard on this one!

Curt made some AMAZINGLY delicious dutch oven potatoes this past weekend. Hailee tried to help as much as possible. She really wants and needs a pair of gloves, but it might be another year before we can get a pair to fit her hands. Oh and notice the shorts. This was one of the few moments that was actually "summerish," and we couldn't waste it!

I also saw my first sundog this last weekend. It is a complete ring around the sun. Actually it is totally a rainbow. This is the best shot I could get of the really amazing natural art. I was told that when this occurs, a major rain storm will hit. Well it did and I was impressed.

Curtis and Christina came up and visited this past weekend. It is always so much fun when they are here. Hailee loves being with Nic and Trudy. She plays hard, and sleeps well. She does everything Nic does and Aunt Cathy knows it. She bought them both a chocolate milk. They were pretty cute walking around taking breaks and drinking their milk. They are pretty much awesome!

Curt and I were spliting our time between a Family Reunion in Island Park and helping out at home with Curtis and Christina. I had to dress Hailee in layers of her "work" clothes to stay warm at the reunion. She was initially wearing her overalls too, but it was too warm at Aunt Cathy's. We thought it was pretty crazy that the girls matched so well in their camo. It was really fun watching them play. Hailee is so good and loving with Trudy. She is learning how to share and how to be soft. We love Trudy and her sweet giggles. She was way fun, and Hailee points out all of the toys Trudy plays with.

The Hill Reunion is always on Memorial Day Weekend. I have been to several where it is warm and fun. I have also been to some where it was freezing cold/snowing/raining. This was a cold one. We still had fun and ate some good food, but it was cold. Curt and Hailee spent some time catching snow with their mouths. It was fun, but hopefully next year is a warm one!

We went to the cemetary on Saturday. Hailee loves visiting Heidi, Grandma Trudy, and Baby Crystal. She knows where they are and likes looking at the headstones. Hailee was named after my sister and she talks about her all of the time. I'm sure Hailee will learn much more over the years about these special people who passed before her.

Speaking of Hailee. She is growing up so fast! I couldn't believe how big she looked with her hair in braids and a backpack on. I can't imagine sending her off to kindergarten, but this picture sort of reminded me that it is not far off.