thanksgiving 2013. montana-style.

last Thanksgiving (2013) we went up to Montana to be with my extended family.  we always enjoy our big family dinners!!  we stayed at my aunt donna and uncle jim's house and my cousin megan enjoyed having some younger cousins around to play the Wii with her-

thanksgiving dinner was hosted at my cousin abe and sarah's house.  they have been very gracious to host it several times in the past few years.  they have a large living space that allows for the multitude!  these cousins get along great and are always so excited to see each other:

-jacoby, natalia, olivia, brady, zach and rajon-

uncle jim is always a "turkey" {yeah, bad pun}, but it's true!  donna and megan 

-chris, arison, aunt linda, alonzo, ashley and her brother, tyler -

megan and the kids put together some gingerbread houses to get into the holiday spirit for christmas

my cousin, josh and his fiance, jami were in montana for the holiday but were with her family in butte on thanksgiving so we had a second thanksgiving dinner at aunt donna's house! another delicious meal!

that night we tried to watch a family movie all together.  we were going to watch "Prancer," my aunt donna's favorite movie.  it's a really cute christmas movie if you've never seen it.  their tv stopped working and chris said that the flatscreens were on sale at walmart.  surprisingly, uncle jim got up and said, "well let's go then!" and he, chris, josh and jami took off to go get a brand new tv, after which, chris hooked everything up for them.  he loves doing that kind of stuff.

we didn't get t he movie in but setting up all the blankets and trying to find space for everyone sure was fun!

uncle jim took me, josh and jami out in the montana backwoods to take some pictures for their engagements.




i love this white horse-

this is the picture they chose for their engagements-





this one would have been perfect for a christmas greeting-




a few others-

aunt brenda invited us over to her place for a bonfire and some chili and hot dogs and to visit since they had their own plans on thanksgiving.

brady loved hanging out with josh and was his little buddy

we also got to go over to alonzo and ashley's new place that they had just moved into 2 days before thanksgiving and celebrate his and arison's birthdays!

my adorable cousin Miella.

it was a great weekend and so much fun to be able to be with family.  

we are so blessed and thankful for all that the Lord has given to our little family

Brazilian BBQ Montana-style. Happy birthday Chris & Olivia!

              

We went up to Montana for the weekend of Chris and Olivia's birthday.  My cousin, Alden and his wife had invited us to Redneck Brazilian BBQ they were throwing and that's what Chris wanted to do for his birthday.  We stayed at my Aunt Donna's and she and Megan had a great time spoiling Olivia with a birthday cake cupcake and princess gifts!!!  Donna and I didn't forget Chris either, we went all out on a french toast and bacon breakfast!

(There is a picture of Chris, Olivia and Alden blowing out candles on the cake at the BBQ floating around somewhere...I'll try to post it if we can track it down!!!)

              

The Redneck Family!  

Alden, Ana, Sammy, Victoria and Elizabeth!!!

Beautiful Montana rainbow on the drive home through Ennis

beautiful montana.

what beautiful country Montana is!  I was able to enjoy a few days all to myself in remote northern Montana at the end of June for a training on holistic health.  breath taking scenery!

houser lake. montana.

the last hurrah in Montana before returning home was a big family get together at Houser lake just outside of Helena.  It was a glorious afternoon spent in the sand and sun.  We picnicked for lunch and dinner and got to spend time with my cousin Ike and his wife, Erin and their three kids, who were visiting from Oregon.  Aunt Brenda and Uncle Mike had their boat and took us all for rides.  It seems like when I'm having fun I forget to take pictures, so no pics of the cousins together!  Darn!

 zach loves the sand and the water!

my auntie cracks me up! she is so hilarious! this was her throne and she was very safe from the sun!

Olivia held on tight when we first took off in the boat!  she was unsure if she liked it at first, but soon remembered the thrill of the ride and stayed on for a few hours!

my little cousin Jacobie, with his Grammie (my Aunt Linda)

Brady was there too, as were many others...like I said, minimal pictures taken!

college "M" hike. me & the kids.

Brady had been begging me to hike the "M" every time we go to Montana so we finally did it!  I strapped Zach into the front carrier, packed some snacks and water, which Brady carried in a pack and away we went!  This momma was out of shape but we did extremely well given high heat, overhead sun, and three small children!  We took our time, sang songs, sat and had snacks, picked and admired wild flowers and petted friendly doggies.

about 1/4 mile before we turned the last corner and got to the top Olivia really wanted to go back.  Her little legs were starting to hurt and it was pretty hot.  I convinced her to go just a little further (not realizing that we really were almost there).  It was so awesome to make it to the top with my kids and to see the proud excitement on their faces!  It was a good learning opportunity for us to talk about not giving up and to do our very best, even when something gets difficult!