Here you will find Tales, mostly true, about the goings on in our lives. Enjoy!

Moving to Helena!

Scott has taken a job as the Public Safety Systems Administrator with the City of Helena. As of Dec. 31st, these O'Connells will be moving East of the Divide to Montana's Capitol! We are all excited to see what opportunities await us there. While we will miss our Missoula friends and family, we are excited that Scott, Brandi, Sean and Katy will all live in the same town!!!

Daiquiri Disaster!

After a rough day at work, Brandi decided she needed to make a daiquiri. As soon as the chance presented itself, she broke out the ice, the mix, and rum, and combined everything in the blender. No sooner had she started the blender when there was a Valdesian flow pouring out the bottom of the blender!

Scott suggested using the Food Processor instead, since all that was really needed was to chop everything up into finely blended pieces. This effort was destined for failure as well, since the food processor was intended for FOOD, not liquid. After the second attempt, Brandi decided to abandon her visions of strawberry relief, and poured the concoction into the toilet!

...and wouldn't you know, since the toilet wasn't made to process the ice cubes, it forcefully rejected the donation! I don't know if this was the first time a toilet was the one throwing up (un)mixed drinks, but it is the first time I ever saw it!

Neon blows a gasket

After spending a day in Helena with Katy, we were pulling out of town when the neon came to a grinding halt! We wound up calling Katy's Helena home, and her Mom, stepdad and Grandpa John came to our aid. Her mom Sara and stepdad David let us hang out there for a couple of afternoons, even feeding us! Grandpa John loaned us a car, and let us crash at his place overnight. He even let us borrow the car (dubbed 'the turd') for a couple of weeks, until we were able to get back to Helena to pick up the Neon.

Our good friends the Ballingers loaned us their truck to tow the turd back to Helena, and Neon back to Missoula. Once it was back to Missoula, our church (King's Christian, out towards Lolo) put us in touch with a mechanic who helped us get it back on the road, in better condition than it has been for a looooong time! Talk about mysterious ways! We wouldn't have been able to do it without the amazing support of Sara, Dave, Katy, Michael, Marcus, Grandpa John, the Ballingers, and Ken Ellingson and his family. (And two vehicles called the turd and the ugly truck!!)

Thank you!

Sean Patrick Joins the O'Connell Family!

Here is the link to the online baby announcement welcoming Sean to the world!

Are you shi--ing me?

After months of nagging, pleading and begging, Scott finally proposed to Brandi! The full story is here.

Thanks for visiting!