virginia city. montana.

when we were in Montana the kids and I went to Virginia City with mom, Aunt Linda and Megan for the day!  Brady enjoyed taking pictures of things he was interested in, as did my mom and I!  We all shared the camera, so I can't credit for all the pictures.  In fact, mom took most of the second half of them from the train ride and on.  I think we have the same "eye."...

Virginia City is an old abandoned mining town just west of Ennis, Montana. It is kept up beautifully and has some modern day conveniences like some small cafes and an ice cream parlor!  There are also guided tours like the stagecoach and train ride.

I just love the detail of everything...

We took some "old-time" photos.  One of the three kids and one with me and my mom.  The kids came out adorable! Me and my mom...well, I am glad that we have make-up and don't have to wear those clothes!  Thank goodness for digital and photo editing!  

I tried scanning and uploading the pics but it said the file was too big...may have to try again later

the candy shop is always a hit!  The kids each got to pick out a big lollipop and a few candies

                  

we all enjoyed some home-made ice cream at the ice cream parlor.  The fresh, warm waffle cones were amazing!

(yes, i have a thing with door knobs! or any hardware and detailing for that matter!)

when the kids were starting to get fidgety we sat down and made letters for their names out of small stones.

time to board the Hogwarts Express!

the train ride went for about 3 miles through the little canyon from Virginia City to Nevada City. 

                   

on the way home as we came down from the mountains there were beautiful, dark storm clouds all over the valley.  I have come to love the wide expanses in the west and how remarkable to views can be!

boredom busters.

here are a few ways we've been throwing boredom out the window lately...

Dinosaurs and play-doh: crazy volcanoes, man-eating snakes, and lava bridges...

Zach enjoyed playing with a friendly dino...as well as just hanging out under his favorite chair!

Masking tape roads: we would have made the road a lot longer and cooler, but alas, we ran out of tape!  After the initial bickering over who got what cars and how many and who played where they played fabulously for an hour or so...they created tunnels and bridges with all of the kitchen chairs and play table and chairs, as well as Legos and blocks

CAR WASH!!! This was my favorite!  Mom desperately needed a car wash + hot day + kids who think washing the car is super fun!!!  We included our buddies Ethan and Porter and the end result was an *almost* SPOTLESS car!!!

My Personal Quest. Update #3.

YES!!!  Another 2 lbs. down this week!!!!  48.5 lbs. to go!  woot woot!

Total weight lost in past 5 weeks: 13.6

The BEST part?  I am just beginning to FEEL a difference!!!  I fit into a pair of capri pants that haven't fit since 2 summers ago!!!

grammie morgan's visit. june 2012.

Grammie Morgan came back down to Idaho with us for a few weeks so we could have some time with her to ourselves!  She helped out a lot because I had to go down to our house in Twin and get it cleaned and ready for our new tenants to move in!  We didn't have very much good weather, but one of the days we were able to go into town and take a nice walk along the greenbelt and get some sno cones!

Then the kids and I headed back up to Montana with my mom for a few weeks.  Brady actually stayed behind for a week with some friends and was with Chris in the evenings and they joined us over Father's Day weekend and Brady stayed for the next week when Chris had to go back home to work.



We had a fun picnic at the Bozeman Pond with cousins Alden and Ana and their triplets, Aunt Donna and cousin Megan, Aunt Linda, and cousin Ashley.

Olivia enjoyed playing "climb the mountain" with Alden

                 

Mom and Aunt Donna

Later that afternoon we headed up into the mountains south of town to a friend of the families' house, where we fed their lambs from a bottle and enjoyed the magnificent views!

Olivia really surprised me!  She got right up in the pen with all of the goats and fed them for a good half hour! I practically had to pry her away!  She didn't even flinch when a bunch of them had her backed up into a corner!  My little farm girl...

That night we enjoyed a new Farmer's Market at the Rockin' TJ Ranch.  It was such a beautiful setting, nestled in a wooded valley with a gentle river flowing through.  They had some fun free games for the kids and everyone got a free hot dog and drink and you even got to roast your own hot dog!  The kids had a blast!  

This is Brady posing on one of the games- the "t.p. toss!"  

The kids also got their faces painted...

as did my cousin Megs!

My Personal Quest. Update.

I didn't have a chance to update my weight loss last week.  I lost another 2 lbs!  Yeah!  It is such a small number, but I keep reminding myself that "slow and steady wins the race!" Every move DOWN is a victory!

I have received SO MUCH support from so many of you wonderful friends!  I am so thankful to have such encouragement and understanding from those I love!

Many of you expressed a desire to be part of a private blog in which we would share our own personal quests with each other in hopes of staying strong and building a close-knit support group. My idea is to post recipes that are healthy AND good, fun exercises, personal feelings, before and after pictures (if you desire), encouragement...basically be a safe place for you to go to when you need a lift.  I know that when I have read some of my friends' blogs as they battles to lose weight it was a HUGE inspiration to me!

Here is the blog link: 

http://limitless-potential-of-you.blogspot.com

Right now it is PRIVATE and there are NO invited readers or authors.  If you would like to be a participating author with me please email me (if you have my email address) or private message me on facebook.  If you do not have either of these leave me a comment with your email please, if you feel comfortable.

I am mainly going to only allow people who want to be co-authors.  I do have a few very close friends who I trust and love enough to be readers.  To be an author you only need to be willing to be honest and post when you can.  There is no other criteria other than that we share the same personal quest!

I am hoping to get this blog up and going by the end of next week.  I would really like to enter the school year with this in full force!!

Thanks to all!  50.5 lbs to go!!! woot woot!

rainbow day.

back in May Olivia came out wearing her rainbow shirt and declared that it was "rainbow day" and could I "pretty please" do her hair like a rainbow?"

...so this is the best I could come up with!!!  she loved it!!!

my little princess.

I wish that I could take credit for all of this cuteness...Olivia loves to play dress-ups and one afternoon she disappeared up at Tiffany's for a bit and came back looking like a princess ready for the ball!  Even her Rapunzel was decked out with her own personal crown and stylish braid!

(obviously I couldn't decide which picture to post!)