mom & dad in Glacier

Enjoyed a visit from mom and dad riggins! This was taken near Glacier National Park.

Visit from the Hillenburg Girls!

The Hillenburgs visited us and we went up to Glacier National Park! This photo was taken at lovely lake Josephine.
This was an incredible rainbow we found in Missoula. The weather was pretty rainy for most of their visit...

Big thanks to them all for coming! We had a great time and love to have visitors to show off our beautiful state to!

http://www.krtv.com/news/students-learn-about-msu-great-falls-wind-turbine/

Todd took his students on a walking field trip today to the new wind turbine. The college of technology put on a presentation as well. He was interviewed on video, but for now it looks like we just have this fine quote from Mister Todd Riggins, teacher man. I think he is the best teacher in the whole world.

here's the video: skip to about 17:25 unless you want to watch the entire great falls news for the night...

accident

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20100524/NEWS01/5240310/Great-Falls-woman-dies-in-Idaho-rollover

Two students from my school were in an accident last night; the mother was driving them to pick up their father. The car rolled over in Idaho and the mother was killed instantly, the two children were thrown from the car. One has since been pronounced dead, the other has a 50/50 chance. Please pray for the family. It's incredibly sad. So much loss. I can't imagine the pain, especially the father's. Wear your seat belts. sigh.

prickly pear

Hiking out at the North Shore Trail the other day. Just a few minutes from our apartment, it's become our go-to hike. Great views of the Missouri. Prickly pear catcus and yucca plants all around. We saw a snake on this hike, but I don't think it had a rattle. Heather's celebrating her birthday (it's June 7th) in Indiana right now, with a surprise party.. Wishing I could be there for it. Having her gone makes me feel a bit bewildered. I ate General Tso's chicken last night, and a ridiculous hot dog today, if that's any indication of how I'm feeling. Then just now I bought brussels sprouts, broccoli, and frozen spinach at the grocery, hopefully to inspire me to eat healthier while she's away. I sure miss her- even though it's only been two days. Things are so much better shared. Happy birthday, darling.

geese

So heather and I went to the park by our river (about 1/4 mile from our apartment) and went crazy for the little baby geese. it seems that little else could be cuter.. the windy day made for awful sound quality, so i put some music on it instead(it's the david rawlings machine). perhaps it's the child growing inside my wonderful wife that makes me appreciate the baby geese more than ever. I barely could keep myself from running at the group and stealing one of them. They look so soft and fuzzy.

becoming more and more excited about the bun heather's cooking. we got to hear the heartbeat again on wednesday (still about 160). lovely, so lovely. we're looking into buying a doppler fetal heart monitor so we can listen anytime we wish. life is good- springtime confounds us up here; it'll be near 80 one day and then snowing the next. keeps things interesting. heather made homemade noodles last night and i absolutely love it. so delicious-- true comfort food. huge thanks to heather's mom for the recipe! I can't believe that i've got less than a month of school left. trying out a writing project on haiku. we'll see how they turn out.

Loot

Last week my Mom sent me a box of hot maternity shirts, including a darling little cotton one with tiny red birds all over that she wore while pregnant with me. I think she tried without success to get my younger sister to wear it during her pregnancy! It's perfect. She also sent dried fruit for Todd and my childhood stuffed dog "Jermie" which Todd & I think looks exactly like Bingo! Funny how we attach ourselves to things. Jermie is in a million childhood photos. It made me feel somehow

small and young and so happy to see him again. Also, she sent buttons from Margie, her mother in' law who passed away. I'm developing quite a collection of old buttons from very special people I love. It was such a good gift.

After that we received a sweet little baby blanket in perfect 'Todd & Heather' kinds of colors from Aunt Karen. It's lovely with vibrant green, yellow, purple...

Yesterday another package came in the mail from Melanie, full of lotions for the belly, bath salts, and this crazy cool pregnancy belt full of rice that you can make cold or hot for comfort. There was also some of her favorite maternity clothes worn while she was pregnant with the lovely Isabella and even some new tank-tops and an awesome maternity skirt! Best of all, there was a card. Melanie can really fill a card. I get so excited when I get mail from her. I suppose I just love what she has to say. Also, she and Amanda have the most fun to read writing in the world.

My neighbor brought us a jar of some incredible bath salts, which he said is closest in minerals to that of the hot springs I can no longer get in. Hot springs are one of my favorite things. I'd surprised Todd with a stay at Chico B&B/hot springs for his birthday, but the mid-wife said it's definitely not safe for the baby. Amit got us the bath salts and told us we could soak in the tub without the possibility of boiling the baby. We like this idea.

I guess we just didn't know so much loot came with a new baby! We feel pretty blessed. Thanks for all the gifts, everyone, and especially the letters and cards. Gma and Grandad, your letter meant so much to both of us. We love to hear stories and details from your lives.

We've decided to move down the hall to the two bedroom that is being remodeled as we speak. It should help tremendously with our lack of space and addition to our family. We'll let you know the new apartment number once we know our move-in date. The landlord says June 1 (which would be amazing in the event that Todd's parents come to visit), but their son who is doing all of the work on the apartment says "by November." Quite a difference...time will tell :)

All is very well here. We're still enjoying many hikes and tried tennis out for the first time ever. It's actually quite fun! Thanks for the rackets, Mel & Emmanuel! Several students from Todd's school happened to be at the courts and while we were pretty shy about having an audience our first time, they gave us lots of "Nice one!" "Whooooaaa...he can really hit it!" I don't think they knew the rules either. We felt so very cool. His turtle is a huge hit (and major distraction for kids who don't feel like listening) in the class-room. A handful of children are now begging their parents for turtles. One little girl even got one. When brainstorming potential names for her new turtle with Todd she said, "I don't know...I was thinking maybe "Doggy" or "Kitty"...not to far from our turtle's name, "Puppy"! Ha.

Todd is the dreamy husband he's always been, so patient with my random bursts of cravings and nausea. He never stops making me laugh. I'm a little tired of the name "Moody Monkey" but I think making up silly names for me that include kernels of truth in them is just his way of coping while living with me, the walking emotional roller coaster. He is reading a book called "Don't just stand there!" which I believe is a guide for men with partners in labor. It looks hilarious. We have lots of plans for hikes this summer in Glacier and are welcoming all to join us!