Father's Day

This Father's Day we decided to visit the park. I have been wanting to go for quite some time and I had found out that it was a free weekend, so we loaded up the truck and hit the road. You always know you will see buffalo, but there is always the hope to see bears, wolves, moose. I was searching all day. We happened to see a coyote roaming around and then shortly after we saw the one, we saw a second. We saw a few elk, mainly the cows and of course the buffalo. I never did see a moose and right as we were about to leave, we saw all these cars pulled over checking something out. We got out and sure enough it was a black bear. It was too far away to get a picture, but we saw it. It was Mallory's first trip through the park and one we documented well. We got pictures of the various geysers and since it is cold on Father's Day, the steam was extra visible. Here are a few pictures from our day!

This cute little guy and his friends sure weren't afraid of us. They were running up to me checking me out. Looking for food probably!

This tree made a perfect little seat for Mallory.

Old Faithful at her highest!

Even though its a little late, just want to wish all those fathers out there a Happy Father's Day!

Random Moments with Mallory

I just thought I would share a few random pictures that I have taken over the past few months. There is no theme, just on the spot pictures that capture this little personality blossoming! She sure knows how to entertain us all! Enjoy!

Mallory's first driving lesson!

Giving her baby kisses.

Enjoying the swing she got for her birthday.

Sleeping-this is a new position!

Telling us all how "BIG" she is!

Bananas make rice crispies stick to your face!

Hanging out in a box!

Have a wonderful week!

Our New House

June 15th marked a pretty big step in the Amestoy Family. We started building our first home. We closed on our lot on the 11th and got to work right away. Our friends Meredith and Lance are the ones that got us thinking about building and have helped us get to where we are today. Meredith is a good friend of mine and a local realtor at Keller Williams here in Bozeman. Lance is a builder. Great combo! We met and starting talking about our options and before we knew it, we were sitting at the bank getting loan paperwork together. Now here we are with the house in progress. Here are a few pictures that capture the stages of the building.

This is day one:

Day two:

Day three: We have a hole and the footings are in place.

I missed day four when they were pouring the foundation, but here is day five. We have a foundation in place! This picture is looking at the garage and in the background will be the living room and the bedrooms.

This is the garage and behind it will be the kitchen and living room.

Another angle at the kitchen. This time from the front door side.

And this would be the bedroom side of the house.

We sure are excited about this house. We just can't wait to move in now. As more progress is made, more pictures will be taken and postings will be posted. Stay tuned!!

A Trip to Sidney

Okay, so I'm a slacker, but since this blog was created months after the fact, I think I can be given a little slack for not posting these pictures yet. Back in March, Brent, Mallory and I loaded up the car and headed to Sidney, MT. Along the way, we picked up Brent's dad, Gene, and we were off. Mallory was going to meet her great-grandparents for the first time. It turned out to be a pretty quick visit, but a very memorable one. Mallory was starting to go through her stranger anxiety stage, so we were a little concerned that she wouldn't let any one else hold her, but she surprised us all and went without a fuss.

Here are a few family photos from the trip:

This is the first time Great-Grandma Corrine had held Mallory. No stranger anxiety here!


And here is Great-Grandpa Paul holding her.


A few generation pictures:

Four generations of Amestoys.


And one full family picture.


Still happy as can be!


This is one of my absolute favorite pictures! I love the newness of Mallory's hand with Paul's older, worked hands. Just neat!

Happy Birthday to You Mallory!

Today is a day that I didn't think we would see as quickly as it has come. Our sweet baby girl has turned one today and what a year it has been. Every single day has been such a blessing and I know it sounds so cliche, but I don't know where we would be today without her.

Let start at the beginning. At 10:31 am, one year ago today, we were introduced to this:


And she had these:


And she was so quite, sleeping the majority of the time. There were a few exceptions to this, but all in all she was a happy, healthy little girl.

And now we have this:

Our little bundle has so much personality, is almost always happy and has made us a perfect little family! Happy Birthday to our sweet baby! We love you to pieces!