SETTLING IN

Waking up the very first morning around 5, Dave started a fire while I started the coffee pot. I got the brisket all chopped up for my chili and put the crock pot to good use once again. We had planned to go to church but we changed our minds feeling we would be pretty rushed throughout the day since we were hosting a small get together that evening for the Contractor and our Realtor/Property Management guy along with their spouses. I hadn't been able to find a key ingredient for the Kahlua Pecan Pie the day before so we ran back into Kalispell where we also made another stop at the hardware store.

(Starting the very first fire in the new wood stove that was installed in the dining room.)

(It's cranking out the heat!)

(A good start to the day!)

(Dave hung the new juniper wood clock in the dining room. We had sent several boxes a week before our trip to our Realtor's house and we picked them up after we flew in.)

(While I was throwing the pie together for baking, Dave was sprucing the place up before our guests came over.)

We had a lovely evening with our dinner guests, visiting and getting to know one another better. Dave had only met our Realtor once last summer when we had went to look at a house while we were on vacation and he had only spoken with our Contractor over the phone a couple of times. Our first dinner party was a success!

The next day while awaiting the delivery of the guest bedroom rugs and our new washer and dryer from Lowes, Dave ran into town to get more firewood and to look at a rustic shop to see about replacing the cheap cabinet in the upstairs bathroom.

(Delivery and installation of our new washer and dryer!)

(The new rugs for the guest bedroom are from the same collection as our area rug in the dining room.)

Once the deliveries were done we decided to take a drive over to Eureka to look for an Amish run business called Montana Woodworks. Our main log furniture "supplier" has contracts with other builders and our TV stand and guest bed came from them. Dave was still wanting to replace the bathroom cabinet with something more rustic. We made a quick drive down our road, looking for access to Spoon Lake but all we found was this little guy, probably looking for the lake as well!

The drive over to Eureka was a pretty one, with the sun roof open and the windows down but it was a bust in terms of finding the furniture place. It turns out that it was * 30 miles west in Kootenai and Dave wasn't interested in driving further! We turned around and headed back to Columbia Falls. Along the way we made the decision to go into Glacier National Park for a brief time. Dave was still amazed at how close the Park is to the house! Once there, we decided to take a nice little "evening stroll" through the Trail Of The Cedars and Avalanche Creek!

On the drive home, going through "Hungry Horse" there's a place called the Huckleberry Patch which sells every kind of Huck product under the sun!! They also make the most incredible Huckleberry milk shakes known to mankind! We picked up an entire Huckleberry Pie to have throughout the week.

Warming up chili for dinner, next to the wood stove in the family room, a little 'Lonesome Dove" on the TV and then pie for dessert! Living the good life!