Well the holidays came and went with a flash.... Beth worked almost straight through, but we spent lots of time with family enjoying the lights and trains of Christmas.  The snow was not great but we did manage to get some good times in and we even got a quick new years dip in the lake at the cabin.  To be honest the swim was easy compared to navigating the treacherous rocky hike out past the grounded dock to find water.  Andy is thriving in his rough and tumble way... did you know how much fun it is to run out of control down a steep trail... or jump off the bottom of the stairs.  He remains very focused on mastering everything physical he tries and can't be distracted... His vocabulary continues to grow slowly, and while he seems to comprehend everything he is still content to grunt, chirp, and skwak for his way in life.  How every body had a wonderful holidays.... Cheers and Good Health from Mike, Beth, Andy, Roo, and Max.

Well the past few weeks brought us all kinds of fun... we replaced the Subaru's brakes only to turn around and blow the head gasket a week later... All fixed and good as new now.  On friendlier notes, Beth is back home now, we got a chance to visit Nick and Jeannine in Silverdale, spent lots of time in CDA with Nanna and Poppy including a nice trip to the pool, and winter started.  Andy loved the snow, we got him out sledding a couple times and even tossed him on his skis for the first time.. Bindings are still a bit loose for his pint sized feet, but there was no lack of enthusiasm.  For Thanksgiving Beth didn't get much time off, but I did get a day of skiing in and we spent a nice night out on the lake with the whole family.  hope everyone with well and loving life, we sure are. Happy holidays!

Well it has been a busy couple months.  We have been doing lots of biking and Beth has been working hard.  Andy continues to thrive and is turning into quite the little helper... at least when he wants to be.  He loves to empty drawers and shelves only to pile everything right back where it came from a moment later.   Enjoy the pics and hope all is well.

Well its been another busy month.  Andy is all over the place. Scampering up and down stairs over tables and down the sidewalks whenever the urge hits him.  Which is most of the time.  He has also continued to rack up common day care sicknesses at the rate of about one a week which doesn't leave any down time.  However through it all the world remains wonderful and interesting and his little legs never stop moving making him a lot of fun.  Last weekend we made it over to Missoula where I dressed up like a penguin and we enjoyed a very nice wedding.  Congratulations Ben & Katrina!  We also enjoyed a very nice weekend with Andy's grand parents and great grandma.  He loved the freedom that a dog door brought to his life but scared himself pretty good when he backed up into his water basin and landed submerged to his chin in cold water.  Upon arrival back in Spokane Max turned Beth's Tuesday night ride into a porcine hunt which resulted in two late nights at  the vet and who knows how many quills.  Max never seems to do anything half way and must have bitten down hard on the thing despite the obvious discomfort.  Picture below.  His mouth, tongue, and through were full of quills and we are still finding more buried in his cheeks and nose.  He was obviously viciously attached :)   Hope everyone is well! 

Finally the cake pictures I promised.  Summer has finally arrived and while Andy is slowly settling into the daycare routine we fit in another long weekend at the cabin.  This time with lots of friends and playmates visiting.  We even fit in some mountain biking with enough mechanical issues for a season.  Whats a couple hour ride without an hour of mechanical work.  Either way it was great to get to ride together for a change since we usually have to split up so that the other one of us can entertain Andy.  Andy is turning into a real character, despite being a bit grumpy over daycare illness and a slew of new molars, he loves playing on reactions.  He thinks it is hilarious and loves to do anything that he isn't supposed to do.  This results in a high speed chase for a giggling little man who wants nothing more than to be caught.

Well we are finally getting settled in our new inland northwest home and beginning to dig out and catch up on things.  Beth starts residency in Spokane soon and I already landed a job with FLSmidt and started last Monday.  So the retirement was short lived, however we did manage to fit lots of fun trips into the break.  First a great trip back to New Jersey to introduce Andy to his other remaining great-grandfather and spend some quality time with family.  Next we shot back into Montana for Audrey's 80th birthday and an unexpected extra visit that brought Noreen, Katie, and Audrey to visit us because Amtrak was under water.  This meant we spent two of our first three nights in the new house with visitors.  Finally we slipped in a quick trip to Glacier and spent a little more time with the Johnson's at the cabin.  We relaxed a lot and attempted some hikes but the combination of underwater and snowdrift engulfed trail kept us from reaching any of our destinations.  Glacier is going to have a very short season this year.  Andy tolerated all the drives and worked hard to perfect his walking skills in all the different environments.  He is even getting a handle on moving up and down stairs with a new sense of safety.  His faithful spotters now enjoy a near absence of heart stopping saves.  More pictures will come soon as Andy just turned one so stay tuned.    

Well it was a big day here in Minot.  Beth's last day of her last rotation of medical school.  So tomorrow we hit the road to jettison belongings and have some fun on the way to graduation.  There we look forward to seeing lots of family and then turning the caravan around for the big move back to Spokane.  Andy is walking more and more of the time and thoroughly enjoying every step of it.  Some of the landings are a bit rough though :)  So its good by to our favorite apartment and off into the wild blue yonder.  Someone better warn Max and Roo we are coming for them.  Enjoy the last of the Minot pictures... the Minot zoo opened and Andy really loved the otters, we on the other hand really liked his hair styling in the tube slides.

Well Easter is upon us again and for the second year in a row we met up with the Junkers at a water park.  This time it was in Fargo and with the whole state sinking under flood water this time golf was out of the question.  The swimming was fun for us and the car and the company great.  Of coarse the weather was with us as always and we drove both directions in snow storms and the news reports were full of reports of drivers sliding off icy roads only to be rescued from the flood water later by the local dive team.  Only in ND.  Upon returning to Minot the weather took a turn for the better this last weekend and we decided it was time to shake some of the rust off the mountain bikes.  The weather was great and the views of the still frozen Lake Sakakawea from the Indian Hills trail were amazing, however the ride was short because all the north facing sections of trail were still under drifts of snow and It was a it much to pull the Burley through.  Andy is loving all the trips to the park and is choosing walk more and more.  He now routinely catches his balance, crawls up stairs, and climbs into and on-top of everything.  The fun continues.

Well wile the Eastern side of the state is disappearing under flood water the weather here is feeling great.  Beth reminded me this last weekend that there was exactly five weeks until graduation.  You don't think she is counting do you.  The nice weather has allowed us to get out an play a lot.  Last weekend we made a trip down to Bismarck to retrieve our much needed vacuum cleaner out of storage.  Using this as an excuse we booked a room at the motel allowing Andy to fit two swim sessions into the time between his visits to the science center and the zoo.  He loved it all, especially the water time and animals at the zoo. The pool was nice and warm and the cooler weather and lack of visitors seemed to make all the animals extra active and excited to see us.  To Beth's horror one of the cats even seemed to want to play with Andy and kept pawing the glass inches from him while one of the Alaskan grizzlies seemed possessed and ran up and down the fence line next to us.  Andy loved it all.  All the playground time also seems to be reminding Andy he still isn't walking much and he has taken up a renewed interest in walking around the apartment.  Enjoy the pictures and see you soon back west. 

Well spring is proving elusive this year if the negative 3 degree morning temperatures or last weeks 10 inch blizzard mean anything.  Beth even got a snow day because all the hospital clinics shut down until travel improved.  We didn't think twice about the need to pack our bikes along on this segment of road living but they may go unused.  However the XC skis that we skeptically decided to pack in have been getting daily use and at this rate with several feet of packed snow on the ground and temperatures well below freezing they will get lots more.  Life in Minot is going well and we have been finding lots of time to play.  In addition to lots of skiing, and some soggy trail running we took advantage of a long weekend and visited Katie and Jon in Minneapolis.  It was a fun weekend that involved a surprise birthday party for Jon and Andy's first trip to the aquarium that he really enjoyed.  In other big news anyone that hasn't already heard Beth matched to her first choice in Spokane, WA for residency so we will soon be heading home.  Enjoy the pictures.