Cowgirl at heart

Madigan has to stop and smell every flower on every path we're on. Not such a bad thing unless you want to get anywhere:

While we're at Murdoch's Ranch and Home Supply shopping for some hats and pants, Madigan found a pony. She immediately picked it up after Mom did a few rounds around a clothing rack:



Giving kisses:


Making dinner and talking on the phone- sounds so very familiar:

Quinns Float the Madison River

Here's a couple photos from our trip down the Madison River. It was perfect day weather-wise. We also went on the Thursday before the 4th of July to avoid some of the river traffic and party crowds.

Quinns Visit Lewis & Clark Caverns

So, I'm finally posting photos of my parents trip out the first week in July. We had such a great time this visit. We went to Lewis and Clark caverns (which I haven't wanted to do for 10 years), took the cata-raft down the Madison, went to the Livingston Roundup Rodeo, ate really well both out and in, went for a couple of hikes and just hung out together. Madigan warmed up a little each day, but still covered her mouth when asked for kisses (what a little turkey!). Since my little brother got an apartment a few weeks before my parents trip, there was also lots of time spent stocking his refrigerator and getting the new apartment necessities.
Below are from our Lewis and Clark adventure. The tour was 2 hours long and Madigan did awesome. I had to carry her on my front while in the caves since there was lots of low and tight spots, and also a slide! (and no she didn't have her binkie the whole time-just at the end when she got tired of being so good.)

Learning the ways of a water hose...

"Vintage" Play Kitchen!

Yay, I found a play kitchen for Maidgan, and it was only $3! We were hoping to get a wood one for her birthday or Christmas, or maybe Kyle could make one. But when I found this one for 3 bucks, I couldn't resist it's charm or bright colorful happiness.. The nice wood ones I have looked at have been $150 or more, depending on size and features. I set this one up in the living room downstairs and every day I fall more in love with it....I wish my kitchen window had a pie on the sill every day!

Madigan loves it so far. It came with a bunch of plastic food, which is fine for now, but I'm looking for wood food that has the velcro so she can "cut" it. And I already found her a pots and pans and utensils set to cook with. Both the fridge side and the oven side slide open and there's plenty of storage for food and cooking items. She also has a wooden set of condiments and I have a wooden smores set she'll get for her birthday or Christmas.

1st haircut

Madigan got her hair cut for the first time-professionally. Mama cut her bangs a couple of months ago and it didn't look so good...So, this time we took her to the professionals. Being the cautious and sensitive child that she is, she sat still and didn't smile the entire time. It was pretty quick and I'm very happy with the results. Her hair is out of her eyes and a little shorter in the back. We do love it long, but this is a little more manageable until she lets me pull it back in a clips or a pony tail.

Basement Remodel-Done for now...

So, before I start posting the backlog of photos from our recent vacation, I wanted to show off our basement remodel! 3 days before my parents got into town, the carpet was installed. We bought 100% wool carpet and I love it. We moved furniture in and set up the office just in time for their visit. And WOW, what a difference it made. I'm so excited about this space- it's so fresh and new and has really nice light due to the 2 egress windows Kyle installed. It's also very cool compared to the upstairs.


Here's Kyle building the landing at the bottom of the stairs the night before the carpet was installed.

This is the office area. When you come down the stairs you turn to the left into the office area. One doorway leads to the laundry room and the other the new (3rd) bedroom.


This is the living room/ tv room. We don't have a tv upstairs anymore which is so nice-and what my goal has always been.


This is the bedroom looking to the front of the house. We did one wall in the same "homestead green" (more like slate blue) that we used in the living room. The other 3 walls are "wicker" (brown). We're thinking of painting the whole upstairs in this beautiful brown color since we LOVE how it turned out. Its very classy.


This shows the stairway looking through the office and into the living room. We used "granny smith apple" green and it's so beautiful.

There's still so much to do-trim around the floors and the small windows, doors, railing along the stairs (although we're going to fight the city code on that since we love how open it is), etc. But the most important part is that it's USABLE SPACE!-which we desperately needed for ourselves and for guests. I've promised Kyle no more work for now. He can get back to it over the winter when he's off for the season...or he could wait a few years too. I'm in no hurry for anything else.