Well again I have to apologize for the delayed post.  In the last couple weeks we have officially rolled the gypsy wagon down the road to Minneapolis and thanks goes to the Junker family for a place to park. :)  Last weekend we traveled to Chicago for Beth's Step 2 practical test and with my commute from Grafton put another 2000 miles on the FIT.  We will let you you know how the test went in October when the scores come out.  This brings us to the main topic.  Andy is doing great.  He is sleeping much better (partially due to our new swing)  and spends many more hours awake and happy.   The last trip has allowed our little world traveler to keep his stats top notch and he can still claim to have been to as many states as weeks he is old.  North Dakota.. Check, Montana... Check, Minnesota... Check, Wisconsin... Check, Illinois... Check.  Little Andy is starting to wonder if his car seat is part of him.  On the brighter side home is in the same place for 6 weeks now, and cousin Audrey is doing everything she can to help take care of baby "aaaeee" and we got to see the Van Alstine family in Rochester.  Audrey and Mackenzie had great time running around the house spreading toys to all and everyone else had a great dinner and even better company.  So this week I am heading back to Grafton and Beth is taking the multiple choice portion of her Step 2 exam.  Another week another adventure.  Hope we find everyone in good health and spirits.  Enjoy the photos.  

Well I am sure you have all wondered what would fit in a FIT.  While our experiment is  ongoing, it is a truly a lot.  Say.... Two adults, One occupied car seat, Two 70lb golden retrievers, and enough gear for all above enjoy a week long adventure back to Montana.   Yep... It fits although as a caveat we are not accepting any gifts over the size of a 12oz soda can during this leg of the trip.  We offer our thanks to Pat and Noreen for all their help and guidance during the take off phase.   Noreen did a wonderful job keeping Beth's head above water with child care assistance and emotional support while I returned to work last week.  Pat arrived by Amtrak just in time Friday night to help me put all our earthly belongings that would not fit into our two cars into a big shipping container at the local mini-storage.  So yes, officially homeless now.  The Fit which already had a big week and now looks like a large blue golf ball due to the most horrific hail storm I have even seen last Wednesday, came with us and the Subaru was stuffed full and abandoned on a side street until we return in a week to hopefully find it safe and sound.  So we have now traveled West stopping in Billings, Bozeman, and Helena.  Tomorrow its on to Missoula to see the Rau grandparents and Audrey.  Then Monday its back to Bismarck for a pediatric appointment, then on to Grafton for work, and finally to Minneapolis the following Friday where we will stay for a few days.   As promised here are a few more pictures of our little man.  Andy is doing very well, doing what babies do....eat....pee....sleep....poop.  All that cell splitting must be exhausting.  Well keep you posted as our little adventure unfolds.

Well here we are.  Just completed the second day and Beth hasn't given up on me yet.... Or at least I don't think she has.  It was a good day.  With the help of some stout pain meds Beth regained the ability to walk upright like a human and after a few cases of excessive sleeping at the brestaurant Andy has regained his feeding enthusiasm.  To cap off the day they approved our discharge papers and we got to go home... So there went my excuse for not making any progress on the move.  So here are a few more pictures as well as a few showing Andy's wonderful haircut.  Two days in and he is already more stylish than his father.  I apologize for the delay in the posting of these sought after pics but between the honey-do list and the packing it is getting harder to find time to waste on the computer... can't wait to get back to work for some rest!  Just kidding Beth.  You can also find the local hospital announcement for the birth HERE.

Well our family was blessed with a wonderful son.  Here are the first pictures of the little guy.  It was a tough day but everything turned out well and Beth and Andy are resting and doing well.  We should head home tomorrow and are looking forward to it.  Except for the fact that we will be getting right back to the grind of packing so that we can be out of our house by the end of the month and officially homeless.  Thank goodness for friends!  Anyway here are the stats.

Name: Andrew Patrick Rau
DOB: 6/17/2010 @ 9:27pm Central Time
Weight @ Birth:  6lb 15 oz

Well I think my adventures are temporarily on hold but here is a well crafted movie of the Maah Daah Hay adventure we all need on our biking lists.

Since I know that I am not the only Trax fan out there I thought I would share his new found notoriety with everyone.  The antenna project that he has been working much of the time he has been back in Bozeman is proving commercially viable and sounds like something I could use.  Click here is see a copy of the article.  The original artical can be also be viewed on the Montana State website at http://www.montana.edu/cpa/news/nwview.php?article=8548.

Last weekend was the baby shower.  We are forever greatful to all of the friends and family that insist there is still hope for us and helped us prepare for the next chapter.  Kristin and Tamara, two of Beth's fellow classmates did an amazing job and the shower was reported to be a blast.  It was a wonderful weekend including swimming, lots of time with our niece Audrey, and an off road adventure in the torn up street in front of the house.  Thanks there goes to Jon for the generous use of his freshly washed vehicle for the fun.  We have no clue where any of that mud came from....   

Well the rain and snow finally looks like it headed north for the winter and the temperature this past weekend climbed from the 40's to 70's overnight.  We are loving it and to quell some of our cabin fever we decided to do a little more exploring.  With Beth temporarily out of the running for mtn biking (now 36 weeks pregnant) we decided to head for the national park since their silly rules against bicycles and dogs normally send us elsewhere.  We saw some cool new things including a sunken area filled with natural brick that was baked by a lightning ignited natural coal seam that burned underground for over twenty years.  Didn't know that was possible.  There were also lots of wild horses and buffalo, many with very young calves.  We concluded that the views in the park (with silly rules) were nice but no better than those we had seen previously along the Maah Daah Hey Trail where dogs go nut and bikes roll free.  Anyways beautiful day with a beautiful wife.  So far everything ls going well with the pregnancy and Beth is hoping he sits tight until she can finish up third year in another month... so we expect him any day.  Here are some pictures.  

With Beth working in Beulah this month I got the opportunity to bring the dogs along on my weekly commutes.  To make it more fun I was blessed with the opportunity to stay at a friends farm outside of town which the dogs love.  Max has been re honing his hunting instinct and Roo just wanders heading know-where in particular for hours at a time.  It is a bit like staying at my parents old cabin.  Luke warm bathing water, and lots of peace and quiet.  It has been a wonderful time and here are a couple pictures.  Last year at this time the cabin and barn were both still under several feet of water so I picked a perfect year. 

For Easter this year we joined Katie & Jon at a little golf & water park resort near in Ottertail MN.  I know you are wondering what we were doing near a golf coarse.  Don't worry, we played with Audrey while Katie and Jon golfed and then took the dogs out for a little ticky fun at a state park before we went to the water park for some high tech fun.   

I started the weekend by installing our new rocket box on the Subaru.  Thank you mom & dad.  They took pity on our upcoming  homelessness  and figured a little extra cargo space would be a good thing.  


Next we headed to Ottertail where the dogs kicked off the swimming season in a freshly thawed lake and hit up an old school playground.  You wouldn't believe how tall they used to make the twirly slides. 

The next morning while Katie & Jon golfed we took care of Audrey (Max helped) who has doubled in size since we saw her last and was wonderful.  She was not sure what we had in mind for the eggs but was good enough to put them all safely away in a cabinet drawer.  

That just leaves the water park.  Audrey took a few minutes to warm up to everything but ended up having a great time.  The rest of us did to and I rode my first water slide with touch screen controls.  The slide was filled with light and sound effects controlled by your selection on the screen at the start.  Kind of cool.  Beth even took a couple rides to ensure that our future little guy would be extra comfortable with x-stream sports :)