a brief update and some pictures!

Hi folks,
Miss Morgen is growing like the grape vines... :-) We started our vineyard this summer with four Marquette Cold hardy vines. Our plan is to one day have around 20 acres of Marquette, Sabrevois, and Mareshal Foch grapes in the ground, that *should* be enough... One step at a time though, the first one being: can we get these to grow in the MT climate...the researchers say yes and so far they are right!

It has been a busy summer on many levels. For the sake of this post, though, I'll keep it light and fluffy. Morgen has picked out herself a little bicycle and with some metal shop modifications to the training wheels she is off and rolling! Please excuse the fingerprint in the middle of these pictures....what is it about camera lenses and little fingers??!!

We spent part of the summer in VA. Unfortunately, we were rotating through a sickness and we didn't get to do much visiting with the brethren.

I will end on this note: take responsibility for your relationship with God, keep your noses in your bibles, prove all things and hold fast to what is good and true.
have a good rest of the summer, if I don't get a post in sooner!
Ryan

A little Montana winter fun!

a brief update

Hi folks,
We are in VA now on Emil's business trip(since August) and looks like we will be planning a trip home to MT next month. Should be back out here in January....not sure, but looks like we will miss your wedding Annette :-(

We have been doing a little touristing here and there---mainly Civil War stuff. We went to Monticello (Thos. Jefferson's estate) recently and I have added a few pictures of Miss Muffet exploring his ground... she really likes to get outside and ramble about.

I will try to post a better update soon, but for the time being I wanted to get some pictures out there. Hard to believe she is almost 1 year old. WOW.

We had your parents over last night, Annette, they were well behaved :-D
E, R and M

The weekend thus far...

Call us insane, but we decided to take our teething little Morgen out for a family camping safari--with Winston and Pat (and Pat's roomate Bethany). :-)

It has been hotter than hades here in MT, so we decided to hike in Friday night around dusk. Watched the sunset and the trail became dark really quickly. Found a lovely campsite, which was even lovelier in the daylight! Spent the Sabbath playing in the creek, snoozing in the sun and reveling in the creation. Very nice.

Miss Morgen did pretty well, especially considering it was her first time on an overnight camping trip. She chewed on everything in the tent she could find (including our toes) all of the rocks and grass around the tent, and every pine cone within reach. I thought I had carefully calculated the cloth diaper/clothing situation to a tee. But somehow she kept just slightly ahead of the drying schedule... Good times and no rashes!

We hiked out Saturday night while watching the sunset. And on the trail, we saw a skunk AND a grizzly bear cub. Apparently the bear cub didn't like Emil and my loud rendition of "Southern Cross" because he moved along quickly---a good thing, btw! We didn't see the momma bear, thankfully, and I am certain she wouldn't have liked our singing either...and perhaps would have indicated so.

In other news, Morgen is crawling like a mad woman! Nothing is safe. She doesn't have teeth yet, but at 8 months her gums are all swollen and it is looking like she may have some soon. She also says "mamamamamamamamamamamaamamamamama" and "dadaadadadadadadadadaaadaaaaada" which are important things to say.

We will be heading out for VA on August 12. Looks like we will be out there on business for several months. Will have more info on that once we get out there.

Hope everyone is doing well, I posted some pictures of Morgen on Safari and our campsite view of the mountains!

Ryan

This is specifically for Risa in Ohio :-)

Been a good couple of weeks. Wiggles is sleeping through the night (thank you very much)and so are Emil and I ;-) We are getting ready for a trip East in march--Josie's wedding in NC, visit the family/friends in OH, and a business stop in VA. Did a picture for WESCO and am working on another little art/animation project on the side. I rigged up my drawing table so I can work with Wiggles in her carrier.

Emil finished up the power amplifier and we will be doing further testing in the coming months (make sure the toroid isn't a fire hazard or anything!). Progress is good. We have been spending a bit of time on MacDonald Pass looking at the moon with the telescope that we built. We are now up to four telescopes and are looking at some eyepieces to really beef out our power. Anyone know anything about optics and watching stars explode?? Ok, we haven't seen a star explode, per se, but we sure keep our eyes peeled just in case... We took Morgen up to the pass last Friday night for our star gazing date and she did pretty well. We are working on a design for a cartop mounted telescope stand so we can track stars/planets and improve our steadiness in general. We have found our current setup of using the sunroof as a stand to be fairly effective. It is incredible how crisp and clean looking the moon is, how unlike my kitchen floor right now... Anyhow, we find it to be quite enjoyable and are glad that Wiggles is game for our forays to the Pass.

I hear Morgen waking up so I will have to continue this later. Hope you are all well and in good spirits. I need to do an actual post one of these days and not just pictures!
E, R and M G.

things learned in the last five weeks...

1. I already knew this, but my husband is an amazing man especially when it comes to caring for his womenfolk ;-)
2. our newborn went through 120 diapers in the first three weeks, I always wondered what that figure would be.
3. just because you want to sleep doesn't mean the baby does, last night for example...
4. those chest carrier things are a lifesaver when it comes to getting anything done in the kitchen
5. socializing wise, not everyone wants to hear about how her constipation is coming along
6. the United States Post Office charges handling fees (read: postage) if you buy stamps online... that seems weird.
7. read a baby shampoo bottle sometime, it promises silky and manageable hair... bcos. that is important to a 1 month old?? "I just can't get a comb through that rat's nest! It is SO unmanageable..."
8. Our porch "remodel" project is done. Morgen moved E and I out to the front porch, we put up an old door for the sake of the cold; had new outlets put in and extended the heating source to include the porch. Basically, E was taking conference calls with the Marine Corps while I tried to keep Wiggles quiet, this atleast gives us some "office" space.

Otherwise, things are going well here. I have a desire to go skiing, but don't forsee that happening this winter :-(

And bcos. I would be a lousy mother otherwise (that still seems weird)if I didn't load up a ridiculous (Emil has decided "Ridiculous" is going to be Morgen's first word) number of pictures of the child, here they be:


If you think she looks tired, you oughta see her parents!!

the child is sleeping, so work deftly...

Well folks, little Morgen Joan G***z (means "morning gift of God") was born at 2:24 a.m. on Nov. 19th... after a very long Sabbath of "non-customary labor" she showed up just two hours later than her due date---I'd say that is pretty good for a first baby :-) Emil and I are quite taken with this little one and she doesn't get much "alone time" with us around (but at least she is too little to run into her room, slam the door and yell "leave me alone!" so we do have that going for us)

A few pics of the new Grandparents, Uncle Winston the tired momma, and the proud papa in the rocking chair of "bitterness and contention because Britt had her kid already" that I built last week. Emil sanded it the day after we had Morgen.







Take care all, it may be a while before I get on here again!
(btw, since the Buckeyes smoked Michigan on the day she was laboring, we were thinking Woody Hayes G***z as a name if she was a boy, probably a good thing she wasn't...)
E and R and M