Can't believe it has been one year

Last Sunday we celebrated Jake's first birthday. I can't believe it has already been one year. The one thing I know is that he is changing way too fast.

We had one very fun birthday. Erich's parent's and a few sisters came up to help celebrate. I bought Jake a bunch of presents thinking they were more for my entertainment than his, but boy was I wrong. We must have spent almost an hour laughing at Jake opening/playing with his gifts. There was no mistaking that Jake knew there were toys in those gift bags. He spent a lot of time exploring each toy we got him--most of which were cars as that is his most recent craze.

I even impressed myself by making a German chocolate cake from scratch in the trailer--let's just say I haven't cooked much this summer considering our living arrangements. To my pleasant surprise the cake actually turned out (Thanks to the Petersens for the awesome recipe!). Jake was easy on us though, he hardly made a mess at all. He was much more interested in eating the candle then the cake and he had more fun with the plate than the cake...that's Jake for you!

Anyhow we had a great time and were very appreciative that we had some family around to join in on the fun. Now if Jake would just stop growing so fast....

Labor Day Fun

Surprise, Erich was gone on a fire assignment to UT for Labor Day. He was actually very lucky, he got sent to Richfield which is where his parents and sister lives. While there he met his nephew, Isaac, who was born in July, and got to give the fam a tour of the helibase. While Erich was busy working, Jake and I went to Island Park for a weekend of camping with my parents. It was gorgeous and the perfect relaxation after a fun, but very busy first few weeks of work. Here are some pics from the trip. Can I just say that I LOVE having parents that are retired and so willing to vacation with me :) The weekend was gorgeous, we saw a cool bull moose, we woke up to elk bugling, we rafted down the river, grandpa spoiled Jake with ice cream and pizza (he's officially American now), we drove up to a lookout point, and we visited the headwaters of the snake river. All in all quite one great Labor day Holiday.

The summer goes by too fast!

Life has been crazy busy lately. I decided to take one last vacation before starting work. As usual my trip involved Montana and boating! It is so pretty in Montana, I don't seem to want to go anywhere else.



(I am one happy girl in this pic; there is just something so peaceful and relaxing about boating at night)


(we were laying on the boat catching some rays when I looked over and saw this moose eating...it was pretty fun watching it).

Jake adapts just fine to my vacation style. He definitely loves the boat. His favorite spot is on the back where he can watch the tubers/skiers.

It is nice to get Jake around his cousins and grandparents. My brother has a boy who is only 1 year older (Leyton) and the two of them are already trouble!



(Jake playing with his cousins' fishing rod)

After MT I met up with some good college friends in Pallisades. One of my friends' has a cabin there. It was an awesome weekend of relaxation, a perfect way to live up my last weekend before starting work. We had so much fun boating, staying up playing games, cooking dutch oven, etc. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pics, which is a shame because it was gorgeous.
So that covers the PLAY part of my life...now for the WORK part.
My first week of work was awesome! It is really fun to be back at work and the firm is as great as I was hoping for.
And speaking of work Erich has been traveling for fires, hence the all Kara/Jake post. Thankfully summer is winding up and we'll be seeing more of Erich here soon.

And It All Comes together

Life in the Gleckler household has been full of change and anxiety so far this year. As thrilled as Erich and I were about moving to Twin, it has taken awhile for all the pieces of our life to settle into place. After months of waiting and anticipation things are finally coming together. I was telling my family that it felt like my birthday everyday of this week as I received good news after good news. We finally got the offer on our house in Grangeville, we made progress towards getting Jake on a routine/schedule, we locked in interest rates for our new house at a summer low (for those of you following interest rates you know that they have been swinging around like crazy the last several months), and last, but certainly not least, I got a job offer at a small law firm here in Twin. Our family has certainly been abundantly blessed and I am very grateful and humble. I feel sheepish for fretting so much when I should have had faith that all would work out. At any rate lots of prayers answered and hopes fulfilled in the Gleckler home.

And to top it all off I got to spend my birthday with Erich, a first in our marriage since he is typically off fighting fire this time of year. Now most of you would expect us to have done something adventurous to celebrate but this year the thing I wanted most was just to have dinner and a movie and time at home with my family so that is what we did. It's so fun watching Jake with his dad, he gets so excited to see him he squeals and flails and it's pretty darn adorable. And although he doesn't show it as much, Dad likes to be with Jake a whole lot too; they are pretty good buds those two.


As for Jake he now has two front teeth and two bottom teeth. He's not walking a whole lot yet but he is awefully energetic and curious, definitely my little explorer who doesn't care for kid toys as much as the other stuff he finds.

Reunion

This has been the month of reunions...a reunion with Erich's family, then a reunion with my high school buds, then a reunion with my extended family (I have 70 cousins on my mom's side alone--crazy I know), then a reunion with my brothers and sisters (sadly minus a sister). Now I'm home for a little bit before heading off to one more reunion with friends. Needless to say it has been one full, fun month.
In the meantime Erich has been down in Nevada and California fighting fires--poor Jake misses his dad but hopefully he'll be home soon.
Apparently I was having too much fun to take many pics so sorry.

(me and my high school buds)

It has been an unusually slow fire year so far which Erich and I have been taking advantage of. We have been traveling on the weekends, something we rarely get to do in mid-summer. This weekend we were off to Utah where we had a little family get together with Erich's parents and sister in law. It was fun to get Jake together with his cousin Rhone. We went to the Air force museum and out to Antelope island. It was a gorgeous evening and fun to see bison roaming around so close to the city. We definitely love being closer to family now that we are in Twin. We were also excited to fit in a little visit with our good ol' law school friends.



(Grandparents take note! Jake took his first steps last night!!! This is a picture from down at the river. Erich and I went swimming off the ropseswing you see in the background and Jake had a ball playing with the sticks, dirt, and grass.)

Freedom, Fun and Family

Fourth of July has to be one of my favorite holidays especially since spending a summer in Africa and realizing what a blessing it is to live in America! Lucky for me the fourth of july celebration lasted all week. To kick things off Jake and I were up in Grangeville, a little town that knows how to celebrate big. They have 3 days of street games and festivities including what could be the nation's largest "egg toss" competition. It is pretty funny, the streets are lined with people tossing eggs back and forth including the "eyes closed" toss, the "behind the back toss" the "hike toss"....you get the idea. It was really fun unil the egg exploded on me and got me all gooey. As always it was a real treat to be back in Grangeville for a visit with great friends.
For the actual fouth Erich had to work so we watched the fireworks in Twin. Jake was lots of fun and had no problem staying awake for the big show. He was quite enthralled with the lights and the booms, Libby on the other hand was petrified. After the fourth Erich took a long weekend and we went to Pallisades for a few wonderful days of boating and camping with my parents and sister. For me there is NOTHING better than a hot day on the lake with glassy water and family to share it all with. With Erich's job it is rare that we get to spend the fourth of july together, let alone take a 3 day summer vacation so it was a very memorable week of the fourth. I sure am grateful for my freedom and family.

(the egg toss, look close and you can see how high those eggs are in the air)


(dad and Jake watching the fireworks)