Happy Easter to all! It's days like this that we really miss family and those friends far and wide! Hope you are all having a special day remembering Jesus came alive again!! Woo Hoo!

Friends run a greenhouse run by hydroponics (sp??). They had a super healthy crop of cucumbers and brought us some. Simon was having fun talking on the cucumber phone :)!
The boys' indoor soccer season ended yesterday. They've enjoyed teaching Simon all the "moves" with our backyard goals. Outdoor soccer will begin in a few weeks, but it can still be really cold. The fields are up on a hill and can get super windy. Jeff coaches their teams, and Kara and Simon and I enjoy cheering!

Tuesday, we went on a VERY adventurous hike up the mountain near our neighborhood. It was a beautiful day at our house, but the trails in the woods had not seen enough sunshine!!! Don't let our apparel mislead you - it was NOT warm enough for summer gear! We hiked up and down on much ice and snow!! Dad made it fun (Mom was a little overly cautious and stressed out - especially as we practically slid our way down), and the boys' were THRILLED to "conquer the mountain". (The "bike rides" were the last few shots in Missoula. We also had a great time seeing a friend from camp and playing a game at her house after dinner :)!

More Missoula pictures... There's a fun playground and carousel by the river which we enjoyed for hours. Keith must have been moving too fast because I didn't get any pics of him at the park :)! There were many fun Ortling (or Dad) created games played and lots of smiles :)!

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AAAH, spring break!!!! We've had such fun this last week while the boys were out of school! It certainly makes us all look forward to the summer days which will come SOOOOON! This is the first installment of photos of our activities this week. We drove to Missoula on Monday and enjoyed lunch at Red Robin (yummy burger joint). More pics to follow...

Here are a few photos of the fun we have at our Friday Night Out program every other week. It's been SO neat to see the friendships God is developing between some of these fun folks! It's also been a GREAT answer to prayer to see some of them grow in showing kindness to one another - helping each other do crafts, play games, and work out differences :)! Wish you could ALL come sing praises to the Lord some Friday night - we really groove :)!

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The kids have been involved each week in our church's Awana program, where they work very hard at learning verses, playing games, and listening to some great teachers! The program ended for this year, and they all received awards for their hard work. I love that Jacob was trying to clap for the others' receiving awards while attempting to hold his :) - the leg works for applause!!