Montana Part 2

For weeks 2 & 3 we made the 3 hr drive from Chads parents house to my parents house in Libby.

It seriously always takes my breath away at how beautiful Libby is. (I have NO idea why this is underlined!)

(notice the snow still in the mountains in July)

My first week all 5 of us siblings were able to be there and spend some time together.

My brother Josh...who will eventually have a post of his own for the "uncle of the year award."

My sister Riki
and my other 2 sisters Ryanne and Amber
Our first few days in Libby were spent camping up by the Dam. It rained a few times but was still beautiful and warm. And I am SOO THANKFUL to my Uncle and Aunt who let us use their great camp trailer. It made things super easy...except for the 1st night when at 1 am I was hauling 2 of my 3 kids back to the house and my mom wrecked my sisters car in the process. But that is a different story. On with the pictures.

I have nothing else to say about my baby then that he was GREAT each and everyday! Thank you!
Caleb crashed on his first camping trip


"Hey Grandad, lets go explore."


We made it up to Ross Creek Cedars one day. Here is all of the cousins. My 3 and little Spencer.
The kids LOVE that they are able to go in side the trees...Even I STILL think it is really neat.

LOTS of 4-wheeler rides

This is the 4th of July parade in Troy. Yes, I said Troy. Troy is the tiny little town next to us that we always made fun of...and I guess now its kind of cool.
My brother-n-law Casey sat out on the street with the kids and told them to do three things. 1. Make eye contact 2. Smile 3. yell happy 4th of July
I guess it worked because my kids made out like bandits!
Last pic of me and the kids before finally calling it a night. (out of order, I know)
My sis Ryanne with her little family Casey and Spencer.
Yep my kids are in their pajamas and its broad day light out. That is because it doesn't even get dark until AFTER 10:30pm. That is why we decided to do fire works at our place instead of hauling them back to Troy at 11:00 at night when the towns fire works started. And fire works are not illegal in MT like they are in some states...so this is what we bought and it was fun!
I went in to check on Caleb and when I came out my sweet 5 yr old boy was lighting fireworks with a BLOW TORCH!!! Thanks Levi for thinking he was old enough.


Horse rides
I LOVE Justins hand on his sisters back in this picture. She was a little timid at first because she is right eye level with them. And he kept telling he "its ok, they are nice"



(see this white bandana. Justin got it at the parade and I swear I didn't see his hair for 3 days)

Chad flew in about day #20 and we were all ready to see him. The kids and I had missed him A LOT. I drove back to Missoula to pick him up. We met his parents for lunch, did a little shopping around town, then were able to stay the night at some hot springs on our drive back to Libby. Thank you Mom and Riki for keeping all 3 kids over night!
One afternoon Casey, Spencer, Chad and the kids and I took a little hike up Cedar Creek.
Justin caught on camera pooping outside for the first time. He is definitely going to have to learn to do this with out his momma!
quick family pic
(Baby Caleb was very content to stay at home and have special one on one time with Grandma)

Casey and Spencer
Lots and Lots of fishing with Grandad. I think Justin caught a total of 10 fish and Jessa some where around 5. They loved it and I know Grandad did too.





I had my 10 yr class reunion and Im not going to lie...it was pretty lame. Not very many people showed up. It was nice to see those who did but most importantly to spend time with my favorite girls. Lame or not we had a good time.

Saying good bye was hard but we enjoyed EVERY minute we had up there.

One last picture of the kids with my mom.

Montana Part 1

Our yearly trip to MT came fast and went fast. We were gone almost exactly 4 weeks (including driving time) and we had a great time. My sister Riki flew into Phoenix on a Wednesday and early Friday morning we were all loaded up and off. I just have to say that my kids were GREAT! The first day of the drive they were PERFECT...seriously...and I dont say that too often. We made it to Pocatello, ID (742mi) and that was with a 2 hr stop at my grandparents house in Layton, UT. The 2nd day was good too but they were tired of being in the car. When we got out to take this picture I thought I was going to die. It was so cold and all I could think was that I only brought 2 pair of pants for each kid.
I can't thank Riki enough for taking the time off work to drive up with me. My kids LOVE her and ALL my babies and always loved cuddling to her.
Our first week was spent with Chads parents in Florence just outside of Missoula. I was lucky enough to see some of my cousins that I don't get to see to often. The 2 girls on either side of me are from Dutch Harbor, Alaska (have you even seen "Deadliest Catch"). The blondie had just moved down a few months before about 10 min. from my in-laws and her sister came down from AK to visit. Next is my sister Riki and the one on the end is another cousin that lives there in Missoula. Even though it was only for a few hrs it was still so good to see them. AND my grandparents from Boise came in too.
Papa has 2 riding lawn mowers a red one and a green one. He asked Justin if he would help him mow the lawn and Justin said "sure, which one do I get the red one or the green one."
Jessa was GLUED to his hip the whole time!
The weather did get warm enough for us to go to Splash Montana. It is a fun (and cheap) water park. Especially for little kids. My kids had a blast! And although Justin was bummed he couldn't go on the big water slides we reassured him that one day he would be tall enough too.




Chads sister lives just 30 min south of his parents and we were able to go and play at there house. She has 5 kids and my kids LOVE hers just as much as hers LOVE mine. Cousins are great!


All the grand kids know its kindof a tradition for Papa and Nana to take them to the Carousel in downtown Missoula. It is a fun place but I get dizzy after one ride. Its a good thing they would rather go with Papa and Nana then me.


Roasting marshmallows...who doesn't love that!

We were also able to spend an afternoon with 2 of my other cousins and their kids. I think this picture caught Jessa in the middle of a sneeze.
Caleb and his petite cousin Jaycee (she is only 6 weeks younger)