Montana for 2 weeks

We had to pack and up and leave our house in such a hurry (1 night's notice) when we suddenyl got renters that I was very grateful that I had two months prior to slowly pack most of the house up.  Chris was already in Idaho Falls and we couldn't move into our rental house for another two weeks so the kids and I headed to Montana for a few weeks.  We had already been planning on spending at least a week up there anyway because my mom had flown in at the beginning of June for the month and my dad was going to be there for the last week of June.  My cousins, Abe and Sarah were gracious enough to let us stay at their house for the whole time!  It was great being around family and relaxing but also hard just sitting and waiting to move into our new home.

Here are some of the things that kept us busy:

Mom and dad went on a fe adventures together.   They did whitewater rafting down the Gallatin River (which was surging at this time of year) and also horseback riding.  Here are some great pictures from their rafting trip. (They are the two on the right).

We visited lots of parks:

Every day we tried to have a picnic or snacks at a different park.  Bozeman has some really fantastic parks so we tried out as many new ones as we could!  Several of them have great nature trails with ponds and also awesome playground equipment (we need more parks in Idaho Falls!)

  

Olivia's favorite thing to do:  swing!

I watched my little cousins as much as I could to help out while I was staying at their house.  They play great with my kids and have gotten pretty close during all of our trips to Montana.  We had lots of fun together!

 

Natalia and Jacobi

Swimming at Bogart Pool:
One hot afternoon we went swimming with Grammie and Grandpa.  The kids hadn't been in a swimming pool for two summers so it took them a little while to get used to it.  It made me sad because they both were such little fish in the water when we lived at Rivercrest with the pool.  Brady used to swim all around by himself with his arm floaties on.  Due to the nature of the craziness of our summer we didn't get to do swim lessons this year but we will definately be doing them next year! 

Olivia finally let Grammie take her around in the water and once she knew that she was going to be safe she loved it and even went down the little kiddie slide a few times.  There are also some really awesome water slides there that I wish I could have gone down...next year!

I tried to get some better pictures...but with lots of splashing and uncooperative kids this is all we got.

Lemonade Stand:

What do you do when it's REALLY hot and the kids are REALLY "bored?"  Have a lemonade stand!  My cousin Abe set up this table with lemonade, punch and snakcs for the kids to sell.  Brady and Natalia actually did a pretty good job of sitting out in the heat!  They each made $4.00!!! (Meanwhile, Olivia and I went to Aunt Linda's and took a nap!)

And this is the view from my cousin's front yard of the Bridger Mountains.  They also live right across the street from the nature park and Dinosaur Park (themed playground for kids). 

Splash Park:
We went to the splash park two times and also to a small pond to go swimming one day.  The kids loved splashing in the water and especially using the huge water guns/cannons.

Museum of the Rockies:
Dad went with me and the kids ad my cousin Megan to the Museum of the Rockies.  They have a lot of dinosaur and Native American displays, as well as a special frog exhibit for the summer.

     

Outside there is a working farm that is an original homestead of an early family that settled in the valley.  They have daily demonstrations on cooking and living during that era. 

Outside off of the back porch was a working well that the kids could pump and syphon out water into watering cans.  They then went around watering all of the flowers and vegetable gardens!

A small greenhouse (I think I will make one of these at our next house!)

The orchards:

And even a two-seater outhouse!  There was also a root cellar, a blacksmith shop, a chicken coop and small barn, and a tool shed.

This is a beautiful picture of wild Montana lupines that my brother, Bryce took!  Gorgeous!



kindergarten down, 12 more years to go! Brady's Kindergarten Graduation!!!

We are so proud of Brady and all that he accomplished during his first year of school!  His teacher was always impressed with how "bright" he is and he excelled in all areas.  We still have to work on reading this summer but we know with more practice he'll be reading adventures in chapter books before we know it!

Chris was in Idaho Falls so he wasn't able to attend the graduation but I tried to take some video to share.  Look closely and you'll see Brady singing his heart out!  When he received his "diploma" his teacher, Mrs. King announced what each of the students said they wanted to be when they grow up.  I think Brady may have been influenced by one of his little friends because he said he wanted to be a wrestler too!  He has told us he wants to be many things (astronaut, firefighter, even work for Enterprise like daddy) but never a wrestler!  We shall see someday.....

graduation "mug shot"

with his teacher, Mrs. King

I also recorded Brady saying his school creed.  I was so impressed that these little children memorized such a long statement!  I couldn't get it on video at the graduation so I recorded him the other day.  The video is dark (I need a better camera!) and he isn't smiling (but he did his best!)  I did not help him and he memorized the entire saying by himself and has still kept it memorized over the summer!  I am impressed!

Here are the words in case you have trouble hearing:

"We are the scholars of Oregon Trail Elementary School.

We are more than students, we are tenacious lifelong learners

blazing the trail of success for ourselves and all those who

will follow us.  Together our mission is to create a place

where we can learn, feel values and be successful.

We will achieve the high expectations set for us by

exhuberantly putting forth our best efforts on a daily basis.

We are trailblazers.  We are AWESOME!!!"

Memorial Day Weekend- Golfing

My brother Bryce came down for a visit on Memorial Day weekend and he and Chris took Brady golfing for his first time!  Liv and I went shopping and out for frozen yogurt!

   

Fat Boys

This is unfortunately the best picture I could get of Chris playing b-ball due to lighting and their "lightning fast" moves!  Chris was on a City League basketball team this past winter/spring and had a blast playing 2-3 games a week.  He made some great friends, great exercise and sharpened his ball skills.  We had a good time going to several of his games and cheering for him and his team. 

(Oh, and "Fat Boys" was the name they chose for their team name...I had nothing to do with that!)

Birthday wishes for Grandma (aka Grammie Opals)

Chris' maternal grandmother, Opal had a birthday in May.  We're so glad that we were there to share in another year of celebration with her!  She is the funniest lady and so sweet too.  I loved her right away when I first me her!  Our kids call her "Grammie Opals" which is so cute!

What do you do when you're stuck indoors?

These are a couple of random pictures taken in the spring when it was still too windy to really enjoy playing outside.  The bathtub pic was taken my my friend, Charlotte while watching the kiddos.  I guess the story is that the kids asked to go swimming, so being the creative gal that she is they had an indoor swim party!

The bottom picture is a day that I was home from work and the kids asked if we could have a picnic.  Still too cold and windy to do such outside we had tuna sandwiches inside on the livingroom floor instead!  It's small moments like these that I hope I can try and do more often.  I want to be a fun mom who took the time to be creative and take time to be silly with the kids.

Chelsae Done Did Graduate!

We were able to attend Chris' youngest sisters, graduation from Burley High school.  Here's Chelsae standing in line with a friend.  We had great seats and she walked right by us during the graduation march!

 Chris, Shawnae, Mom, Dad and Ben all watch proudly!

Class of 2011

The graduates did this dance spoof after one of the speakers.  I didn't get what was going on at first so I didn't get a full video- but it was really funny!  They all did a great job!

Picture Time!

     

 Aunt Brenda, Uncle Mike and Grandma Opal

The After Party: Opening Gifts!

  

Shawnae, Nickie and I went in on a basket- tons of goodies to prepare her for living the single life!