Part 3

On the way home from Cody, Wyoming we decided to take the scenic route through Montana and go North.  Seriously if any of you think my parents live in the middle of NOWHERE!  You have to drive out there....   I mean... rolling hills and open land... we drove miles without seeing a cow or a horse!   We even stopped in this small town about the size of Lake Bronson, MN... maybe smaller... the topic in the gas station consisted of 10 beef steers at the local fair... which had been up since the last few when there had only been 2-4....   the lady who did all the talking had been working all day at the fair for over 10 hours and then to work at the local gas station for the night.  I've never heard anyone so proud of her county.  She bragged about the bread she had made for the bake sale and all the help she did with the younger kids.  She could have gone on for hours telling us how great her little fair was.  We actually ordered our dinner in this little town.  Homemade burgers and fries filled our tummies...while we listened in on the small town gossip...    hmm.. this sounds familiar.. oh yeah, that's because I am from a small town!   One doesn't forget the little things in life that you actually miss from time to time. I actually miss going to the Kittson County fair...   and I look forward to the day our kids are making projects at the last minute and were volunteering to paint benches and bake pies.  As a mom, I finally understand why PARENTS do the things they do.  There is NOTHING in this world more exciting to me than seeing the faces of my children light up with excitement. Being back on my parents ranch and taking the kids on horseback rides was one of those times.  Also, because maybe horses were my first love.  I'm hoping that one day they'll follow my footsteps.  

We celebrated Colton and Mallori's bday together

Colton's was on August 12 and Mallori's on the 10th!

This is my beautiful sister Katrice and her little man Will!

We got to visit my Grandpa Floyds grave site... I still miss that man every day!

This is Hudson, my new little brother and Stetson's cousin :)  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My handsome dad with his two youngest grandsons!

Beams from the twin towers in NY.

International Peace Garden

                            Colton and Kenai

These last three pictures are from the International Peace Gardens.  We had to stop there because we were so close.  I had lived there with my parents when my dad worked at the Customs station as a Customs inspector.  We moved there after moving back from California where my dad had previously been a Border Patrol.   So, I got to see the house we lived in and make the walk around the beautiful garden.  We drove the 6 miles loope around the outside as well.. and it brought back vivid memories of when my dad used to go running and I'd trail behind on my bike.  I actually don't remember exactly how I kept up.. but it must have been a bike because I was only about 6 years old I know I couldn't run as fast as him!  But the trails were just as I had remembered. 

Family Vacation ............. Part 2

after leaving yellowstone we stopped at our friends Cody and Jessica Morris' house.  Their baby girl Abigail was only about 2 weeks old!    We met and had pizza at the coolest pizza place ever... they had a huge play area with giant blocks and a climbing tower and tonka trucks for the little ones to push around.  The kids had fun getting to know each other there before going to their house for the night.   Plus after being in the car all day it was nice to let them wear off some energy.

I caught this picture of Sean holding Abigail... isn't she an angel?

Samuel is quite the ham himself... he likes to sing and dance and play with his dog.   Kenai and Toby got a long GREAT and I think Kenai thought he was him mom at first!  Sorry pal... there is no milk down there!

The rowdy bunch~

Cody and Jess watched ALL the kids while Sean and I went on a two mile jog down this road... 

it was just beautiful... I think I could definitely live in Wyoming some day!

Family Vacation....... Part 1

To start off our long 4600 mile road trip we picked up a free puppy on the side of the road about an hour from home!  We had been talking about getting one and hadn't really decided for sure yet.. but this little guy was way too cute to pass up... needless to say the kids adore him!

This first picture was taken west of Denver, Colorado... we were on our way to stay the night in Craig, CO.

Ironically I had been to Craig before with  Josh Lyons doing a riding clinic! We tried to take roads to Yellowstone that we had never taken before....  we were very glad we did!

We took our time getting everywhere because our main purpose of this trip was to spend "TIME" together!  Sean had 2 weeks of block leave before deployment and this was our first trip together as a family of 5!

(Click Pictures to ENLARGE)

The picture below was taken after the hike, right before
the rain storm.  We made it back just in time!

Our first night camping by a river......near the Grand Teton Mountains!

We had to sleep in the van due to Grizzly bear attacks and 

my fear for Mountain Lions... which would be worse?  YIKES!

BTW... I had mastitis the whole time at the river AND we got a flat a tire!

The kids enjoyed helping Sean carry firewood and tossing rocks into the 

river... more like creek!

Carley is loving on Kenai!

Grand Teton Mountain Range

And here is our second night of Camping between the Tetons and 

Yellowstone National Park... (Where the camping is free)

They made their own Mountain :)

The rickety bridge we had to drive off of to get across....

Then we head to Yellowstone....

 Colton got to take a picture with Old Faithful on his fourth 

Birthday!  We also have a picture of him here in this very spot when 

he was only three weeks old!

Near Old Faithful... we had so many people stop to pet

the puppy and tell us that he was the cutest puppy they had 
ever seen... ah huh!Yeah right...... One lady even said... "this beats seeing all the scenery"  point is... we could hardly get to

where we wanted to go without having to stop a hundred times!!!! ughh......

Then... I have to say I have never seen this sign before....  Just had to take

a  picture ;p

and of course the famous Buffalo...