Jeff just left for the National Wildlife Society Conference in Monterrey, CA. He's first driving to Missoula and then driving down with the other graduates students that are going. There is a big symposium on bison that he is looking forward to participating in. I think we're both getting tired of being apart, but the conferences are good for him to go to, and we're almost done with the back and forth for the winter.

After he gets back from the conference on the 26th, he has to turn around and head back to Missoula on the 29th for his committee meeting. I'm hoping to go with him that time to see some friends and get the rest of our stuff out of storage. We just have to find a place to stay.

We went to Billings last weekend and we had a good time shopping for baby stuff. We got the majority of what we needed bought. There are still a few things that we need to get before he comes, but they aren't a big deal. The ladies at the Community Church are also throwing a shower for me on October 18th. I thought that was very nice of them since I don't know most of them very well.

I did join a ladies Bible Study and I'm enjoying that so far. It's an interesting group of women...lots of different ages and places in life. I'm the youngest (as usual). We're studying a book called "The Excellent Wife". It's a little frustrating because not all the ladies actually come every week, but its been good to get to know some other women in the community.

So, we're doing ok up here. I'll be looking for stuff to do this week and missing Jeff and he'll be mingling and going to lectures about animals.

Hunting Season has begun

We are very excited to announce that Jeff got his very first elk last night with his bow! Here are pictures of his bull elk.

Some new baby things

We got internet!! Yay! So, I've been able to start ordering and shopping for good deals for the baby! I thought I'd show you a few things I got today.

I got an awesome deal and free shipping on this glider rocker/ottoman set from Target. It was rated really well on the website, so hopefully it will be a good one.
I also got a really cute moose outfit from Target. com. Jeff loves moose, so he'll like this outfit.
Lastly, I got some long sleeve onsies for 0-3 months age. I think were doing really good on clothes for 0-3 months. Maybe a few more sleep n' plays or a brown/neutral colored jacket or sweater would be good, but we've got quite a bit. I need to get a few more things for 3-6 month age - like pants, long sleeve onsies, and some short sleeve stuff in case it gets warm earlier here.



After that, it's kind of hard to buy stuff because I don't know when exactly he will be in what clothes and what the weather will be at that time. We are going to Missoula (hopefully) next week so I'm going to check out some garage sales and get a few more things that we need.

I've officially hit my third trimester now...three more months left!

I'm finding it very difficult to update this blog when we don't have internet access at home. I'd love to put some photos up, but I don't want to upload all the photos and such here at the coffee shop where I check my e-mail.

Jeff and I spent a few days at the Boone and Crockett Ranch for the annual meeting. We had beautiful weather and enjoyed being away from the mosquitoes for a while. Except there's grasshoppers everywhere! This year we have the largest population of mosquitoes that Montana has had in 20 years. Some farmers are suffering damage to their crops. I just get tired of them landing on me and making Jeff get them out of the truck before we leave the house :)

I had another prenatal appointment last week. Everything is fine on the ultrasound that I had and the baby is doing well. My uterus is bigger than to be expected at my gestational age, but that just means the baby is growing fast. I'm getting excited to go shopping for the baby and to get the rest of our stuff out of storage in Missoula. We were supposed to go this week, but I think we're going to go the first week of September instead. I'm hoping to find a nice used changing table at a garage sale or on Craigslist and then get all the little things like burp cloths and a bottle scrubber, etc while we are in Missoula. I also have some baby stuff in our storage unit that we got at garage sales before we moved. Jeff is just hoping that his mounted duck in storage hasn't been eaten by bugs and is ok :)

So, pray for Jeff's duck :)

Time in STL

I haven't updated recently since most of the people that read this I have been seeing. I am having a good time in St. Louis/Kirksville/Muskogee visiting friends and family. I flew in on the 22nd of July and then took off for a few days in Kirksville. I didn't get to see everyone I wanted too, but I had limited time. Jeff and I will have to catch up with everyone else when we are home over Christmas. The trip up there really made me remember how much I miss Kirksville and all the people in it. It's just a perfect sized town for Jeff and I...not a city, but not too tiny either. The youngin's had a goo representation at the Franklin Street Reunion too...go 2000's!

Then I spent a few days with Jeff's family catching up with them. Toni and I went to get mani-pedi's so that was nice... I won't have to paint my toes for a while now! Good thing too because bending over is becoming more and more difficult.

Andrea and Maddie came in last Wednesday, so I've been hanging out with them and my family since then. We had the baby shower on the 1st of August and it was really fun. It was quite tiring though! We did a brunch baby shower, so we had Panera bagels, fruit, danishes, egg casseroles, and yummy cake. Toni made the cake and it turned out beautifully and tested amazing too. My mom got tons of my favorite fruits, so I've still been snacking on the lefovers.

Tomorrow we are leaving for Muskogee to take Andrea and Maddie home. We're going to stop and see my Grandpa Dahlberg in Rolla on the way and then spend 2 nights in Muskogee to see her church and her new house.

Jeff is excited since Joe and Alban flew in yesterday and they will be heading to Glacier National Park tomorrow. Joe and Lindsey also sent a bunch of baby stuff too!

I will be sad to leave here next Wednesday, but I miss Jeff a lot and I'm excited to start putting the nursery together. I'll post more about the trip when I get home.

I leave for St. Louis in 2 days! I'm very excited to spend some time in Kirksville and St. Louis with family and friends!

I think the best way to describe things with the Wrights these days is"overwhelming". There's a lot of change happening at the same time and it gets tiring and frustrating sometimes. I've decided I really am a city girl...or at least a larger town girl. Jeff and I are getting tired of having to drive for over an hour to get anything. We had to drive to Glasgow (70 miles) to get a UHaul to move the rest of our stuff into the house and we ended up driving to Havre (90 miles) to get a push mower to cut the jungle of a yard we had. I also like some of the anonymity involved in places with more people. When I go for a walk here, people slow down and look at me. We had a guy drive by our house super slow this weekend while Jeff was working on the yard. I know they are just trying to figure out who we are, but I miss just going into a grocery store getting the stuff I need, having a business transaction with the cashier and going home...not having to say who I am, where we are from, how long we will be in Malta, why we are here, and how far along I am. I also miss the cheaper prices of discount stores...like Target. Oh, and I also miss community theatre and electric guitars in church.

I'm excited to go home because some of the akwardness that I experience here at church and everwhere we go will not be there for three weeks! I'm tired of trying to make friends and I'm ready to be around people who already know me and love me.

In other news, I think we've officially decided to go to the Community Church in town. It's not really the style that Jeff and I prefer (see the electric guitar comment above), but it's the youngest church with people closest to our age and young families that I can relate too. The people have also been very nice to us so far. We visited another church in town, but there was nobody our age and while the people we met were really nice, I have a hard time really experiencing community with older people who are mostly ranchers. I don't know how I will survive for three years without being a part of a band at a church, so hopefully I can find some people who maybe want to get together and play music. Sometimes when I think about living here for three years (this far away from family and friends and this far away from a city) I get sad. I just keep praying tha Jeff will finish on time.

Jeff is down at the trailer right now working on stuff. He's coming up tomorrow evening to take me to Billings on Wednesday to fly out. Please pray that while I am gone, he is able to get a lot of work done. I know that this project is hard for him because I like being with him and he likes being home so that cuts into time he could be working, so it will be good that I'm gone for a while so he can catch up.

Well, I will try to update while I'm in STL...or at least talk Jeff into updating.

I apologize for our tardiness in updating the blog. Our internet at the trailer has been very spotty and we don't have internet at our house in town yet. So, I'm sitting in our coffee shop here in Malta so I can check my e-mail and update.

We closed on our house a week ago today. It's nice not to have to be at the trailer...although I miss Jeff a lot when he's down there. The house is beautiful though! I will post pictures once we've moved all of our stuff in. We're moving in slowly. Since Jeff had to go to Indiana for his grandpa's funeral last week, we didn't get as much done, but I was glad he could go and see his family.

I leave for St. Louis next Wednesday. I've been looking forward to it all summer and I can't believe it's this close! I am worried about missing Jeff while I'm home for three weeks, but I'm sure I'll keep busy and he will be able to get a lot of work done.

If you're praying for our family, please pray for God's provision - or rather that we would trust in his provision. He has provided so much for us already, but I still have regular freak outs, mostly about money. I don't think the pregnancy hormones help much either. :)

And, if you haven't heard from facebook or a phone call, we found out we are mostly likely having a boy. The ultrasound was cool because the technician really took time and showed us the different parts of our baby. We are very excited to bring David Joseph to the midwest to meet his family this Christmas.