Baker, MT

     We've been settled into our summer town for over a week now and so far it's great! The population is around 1,700 but it is the county seat in O'Fallon county. This means activities like rodeos and 4th of July fireworks all happen here. We have a grocery store, Ace Hardware, Post Office, Napa, and a number of other small stores and a few restaurant/bars. Although it's small, the city has a gorgeous fire station (seriously, it looks amazing), two big and newish playgrounds, and a huge splash pad. It's mostly new too, since the tornado of 2016 wiped it out before it was finished so last year they had to replace nearly everything. There is a number of projects started that will make this small town even lovelier but I imagine it could take a while. The 60 acre lake is currently drained and being cleaned out from the tornado I mentioned earlier. The park close to us also has a bridge being built and some landscaping projects started but it does't seem to be a priority :).

Home

     Our "campground" is really just a gravel parking lot with about twenty hook-ups. When we pulled in no one else was here but there is now one other rig. Rumor has it that the pipeline is coming through in a month or so and we are thrilled to have our space reserved before it fills up! It's nothing to brag about but it's got some awesome perks. The hospital is only 3 blocks away so Eldon walks to work every day. The city park is right in front of the hospital so nearly every night we go play awhile and walk home with Eldon.

They blend in so well!

     Soon after we pulled in we noticed a pair of Killdeer acting hurt anytime we came outside. Concerned that we would accidentally drive over or step on their nest, we searched and observed them for 2 days before Michael spotted the nest - right behind our camper! We steered clear but every day or so I'd try to walk close enough to check if the eggs were still there. Amazingly, we saw the babies the day they hatched but by the next day, they had moved on already.

I loved watching the parents-they did an awesome job of distractiog us from the nest!

The babies!

Great exercise!

     Our campground is at the back of town so it works great to walk circles around the half block. Five times is a mile and now that Ethan finally figured out how to pedal, he likes to bike around at least 5 times a day. I have to nearly run to keep up with him but I can barely bike slowly enough!

Check out this massive snowplow!

     Fifty feet behind our camper is the railroad track. Anywhere from 4-10 trains go through in a 24 hour period. We've concluded that there is no schedule. Thankfully, after the first night, the children have all slept through the whistles. The Eastbound trains blow right at our camper since the crossing is right up the street. It's been a lot of fun seeing all the different loads go by. Most of the loaded ones have oil or coal but frequently empty cars go by and they rattle and crash around much more then the full cars! Michael has been writing down all the engine numbers and we're finally starting to see a few of them come through the second time. The railroad switch is within easy view too and they often stop and the engineer has to get out and make the switch. In typical Emily style, she loves to stand outside and wave frantically and hope they notice her. A few days ago an engineer blew the whistle 2 short times at her and she nearly turned inside out for joy!

Reading!

     Typically our first three things when we get to a town are to find the hospital, a church and the library. The hospital was easy. We'd been praying that we'd land the church God wants us at quickly and within ten minutes of walking in Sunday morning we knew we were at the right place. The children all get to go to Sunday and they especially enjoy the singing and jelly beans they earn for memorizing verses. I love that they sing out of the Baptist Hymnal so it's very traditional. I'm always a bit scared that it will be a fiasco getting a library card but once I explained our situation, it wasn't even an issue. We visited 4 times in the first week! We've been checking out stacks of books and the kids are just mowing through them incredibly fast.

"Our" playground

So much fun!

She tried a long time but eventually climbed to the top of the pole.

The hospital where Eldon is the ER nurse. The clinic, nursing home and assisted living type apartments are all attached as well.

     We're loving the small town life. It's a very Western town where people act like they know you and don't think twice about asking what you're cooking for dinner or just exactly where you live 30 seconds after they meet you. It's normal to see a 9 year old bike to the grocery store and buy a candy bar. If you are waiting to cross Main Street, cars (more like big, dirty ranch trucks) stop even though there is no crosswalk. Everyone waves everywhere. I don't even consider NOT leaving the children in the truck while I run into the Post Office because kids everywhere are hanging out in vehicles. And you can rest assured, if anyone tries to pull anything, the old guy next to you will whip out a shotgun, pistol, or maybe both. Yep, it's that kind of town and we love it :).

Peeling eggs is such hard work, you must sit down :).

This boy loves the hot glue gun. Every now and then shrieks of pain erupt when he burns himself but he keeps on working!

Ethan and the stapler........

Our clock quit working so Makayla designed this one. Its got a road around the edge and the minute hand has a truck and 5th wheel on it. The numbers are on road signs. Very creative!

And here's Emily being bored.

Love this so much!