a loooong work in progress finally pays off

The first summer Dave and I were married (2006) we worked at the Big Hole National Battlefield near Wisdom, Montana. It was SUCH a fun summer! We had a blast as a newly married couple working in an absolutely gorgeous place.

 We started our jobs the week after we got married, after our honeymoon at Camp New Fork. This was our first view of Montana--snow the middle of May.  

 It wasn't all cold and snowy, though--usually the days were breathtakingly clear and beautiful. Dave and I had so much fun working together during the day and exploring the surrounding area at night.

And every night we were treated to a GORGEOUS sunset.

We played around a lot and had such a great time! Here Dave is playing with some mining equipment from the ghost town of Bannack.

I had a lot of fun off and on the job, since I got to do some interpretive work as a Lewis & Clark ranger. 2006 was the last of a 3-year-long celebration of the 200th anniversary of Lewis and Clark's journey across the country and the Big Hole valley had many L&C sites nearby.

One of our favorite things about that summer was all the wildflowers. Above are Camas flowers, which are members of the lily family and have a bulb that the Nez Perce Indians used as part of their diet staple--they would eat it roasted, dried, etc. I collected many specimens of wildflowers, pressed and then mounted them. Some of the specimens I gave as a gift to the BYU-Idaho herbarium (plant library) but some I kept for myself, intending to frame them and display them in our home. We moved so much between then and now, and the cost of framing was prohibitive, that it never got done. And every time we'd move, I would nursemaid the box of mounted plants along, lecturing our helpers to please not squash that box.

Finally for Mothers Day 2011 Dave started building me some frames for them. He got them all built and painted, but we couldn't find a glass source. So when we moved here, not only did we have to watch out for the flowers, but the fragile frames as well!

Then, at Christmas, I opened a BIG box from David and the finished frames, complete with glass, were inside! I was SO thrilled to finally have this project complete. We immediately selected our favorite plants and hung them up in our stairwell. 

I love how they turned out. Dave did such a great job and they look so beautiful hanging there.

I am so proud of how well they've traveled and what a good job I did mounting them almost 7 years ago.

Such a great memento from our Newlywed summer and definitely my favorite pieces of art in our home!