Welcome, 2018!

2017 Year in Review: July - December

Staying cool in July

 July: A minor earthquake near Helena is felt in the Bitterroot Valley - the summer heat arrives in full-force - fire season comes early.

Excitement on College Street in August
August: The smoke from the Lolo Peak fire northwest of Stevensville continues to build - the solar eclipse causes a stir - Rob comes for a visit while Belinda & Charles are on holiday - Blasting cap discovered in a neighbor's garage is cause for excitement.

Saundra comes for a visit in September

September: Autumn arrives in the Valley with the first snow in the mountains - fire season ends - Saundra arrives from Texas for a visit.

Preparing for the UMW bazaar in October
October: Saundra's visit concludes - trip to Bozeman for the annual meeting of the Conference United Methodist Women.

The Corvallis bazaar in November is such fun!
November: Snow returns to the Valley - Corvallis bazaar.

The senior center's December birthday lunch

December: A white Christmas - outings in Missoula -

Volunteering at the church.

2017 Year in Review: January - June

January's deep freeze
 January: Recovering from surgery - Cold, cold, cold!

Patch enjoys the February thaw

February: Attending the annual Valentine's Day dinner at the church - the winter thaw is underway!

Yellowstone Conference UMW gathering

March: Community theater - the Yellowstone Conference UMW retreat at Fairmont Hot Springs - Spring arrives!

April and spring arrives in the Bitterroot Valley

April: The sound of lawn mowers returns to College Street - lovely blooms at the parsonage.

A trip to Texas in May

May: Belinda and I made a week-long trip to Texas for my birthday, visits with friends in San Antonio and San Angelo was such fun!

The trip to Annual Conference in June

June: The drive to Billings for the Yellowstone Annual Conference - Settling in for a long summer.

Ahead of the next snow

Lunch at Naps in Hamilton

Belinda and I took advantage of the break in snow days to take an outing this afternoon in Hamilton. The forecast is for heavy snow Friday and Saturday which made today's outing so much fun!

Helping at the church

I joined Belinda and two other ladies this morning at the church in preparing the church's newsletter for distribution. We had a lovely chat and made quick work of the task at hand.

Boxing Day 2017

Happy Christmas!

A white Christmas on College Street

Father Christmas has been here!

Sorting through my stocking

Wesley watches the morning's activities

Sporting a new look

 It was a white Christmas for us today and it was nice to be able to stay indoors and enjoy the gifts given and received.

Happy Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve service

An early Christmas present (the scarf)

Wesley enjoys playing in Charles' birthday present's wrapping

Merry Christmas to all!

This evening I joined more than 100 people at the Stevensville United Methodist Church for the Christmas Eve service. It was a delightful service and I enjoyed greeting my third Christmas Eve with this community.

Birthday lunch at the Senior Center

 

Today I went with Belinda and Charles to the Stevensville Senior Center for the 'birthday lunch.' Charles' birthday is this month and along with other celebrating this month was presented with a birthday treat.

Out and about

Belinda and I have made several trips to "the city," aka, Missoula, this week. It is always a treat to make a stop at Goodwill, JoAnne Fabrics, or even either of the Wal-Marts!

The days fly past

 

The snow from two weeks ago has left following a string of warm (by December standards) days. The neighborhood rafter of turkeys doesn't seem to mind one bit!

A damp weekend

Florence school bazaar

A white Sunday

Getting out and about on Saturday turned out to be a wise action as we woke Sunday to an inch of snow on the ground!

On Saturday, Belinda and I made the drive south for the Corvallis UMC Christmas bazaar. A lovely time shopping and a nice lunch on a chilly morning.

Being fortified following our luncheon, we drove north of Stevensville to the community of Florence for the annual bazaar at the Florence-Carlton Schools.

This morning was the 60th annual Hanging of the Greens service at the church across the street from the parsonage. Belinda sings in the choir and she, like the rest of the musicians, did a fine job.