How Time Does Fly

In my last post, I hadn't mention some significant milestones that Sy reached in the last few months. In fact, Sy took his first steps just a few days ago. We had wanted to wait until his birthday next month to get him his gift, but he new favorite toy, his shopping cart, has helped him get a step closer to being bipedal.


Sy will be one in one month! We can hardly believe that he will reach his first birthday in just a short while. Ben and I are amazed at his development. In fact, Sy is beginning to work on his new beard!


Since coming back from Arizona, we've been getting outside more as the weather has tried to warm up. One of our favorite spots is Lone Pine State Park that overlooks the valley. Ben has enjoyed getting Sy out in the morning during the weekends, especially as the bird migration is picking up. They have both enjoyed the time bonding with one another.


Sy has also been eating more solid foods as he has acquired more teeth. One of his favorite toys is his toothbrush. He is also recognizing more objects and does respond to the word, "Bird!"

Almost May

Snow, snow, go away...come back in 9 months! This morning brought us another dusting of snow in lovely Montana. While I am a bit remorse to see more snow on the ground, I am thankful for a Spring season packed with travel and thankfully, warm weather. Our travels to New Orleans and Tucson were a nice reprieve. We are buckling down in Kalispell for a short 6 weeks while Ben finishes the end of the school year and we are looking forward to getting outdoors more often. Here's a recap of what we've been up to since my last post.

The end of March brought us to New Orleans for my sister, Gabbie's, wedding. She was a stunning bride and the location was quite romantic. It was wonderful to return to Louisiana as a family. We had not all congregated there since our move to Oregon in 1992.


Since those days, our family has grown considerably from 8 to 14 with one more coming at the end of summer.


Ben and Sy enjoyed visiting Louisiana for the first time. Experiences to note include visiting Cafe Du Monde, walking the French Quarter, eating mouth-watering food, and meeting great-grandparents for the first time for Sy.


A week later in April, our family jetted off to SE Arizona for our first family vacation...and to allow Ben to do some much-anticipated birdwatching. We traveled from Phoenix to the Chiricahua Mountains in Portal. Despite being in the desert, the mountains housed beautiful habitats that drew incredible wildlife. We loved hiking and discovering the flora and fauna.


After 2 days in Portal, we drove further south to Patagonia. For you birders out there, we found the best bed and breakfast in the area, The Duquense House. While Ben visited the local birding spots, Sy and I enjoyed the beautiful garden and walked into town for some organic coffee and treats.

We capped off our week with more hiking in the Huachuaca Mountains and a visit to the Sonora High Desert Museum in Tucson.
Our week in SE Arizona was filled with lots of traveling (we covered over 500 miles in 1 week!), hiking, birdwatching and was busy, but restful. For more pictures, view our web album at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/bennywayne/SEArizona#