We Love Montana

I love Montana. My kids love Montana. If I could convince my extended family and Rob's extended family to move with us, we would move to Montana in a heartbeat. The mountains are breathtaking and the rivers were made for fly fishing. I think, though, the reason we love Montana so much can be traced directly to my Aunt Mary Jo and Uncle Lynn. Anyone who has met them knows what I am talking about. They are the kindest, most caring people who are generous with their time and their home and their horses. They are down to earth and so easy to talk to and be with. There is a spirit of love and welcoming in their home that makes you want to stay forever. My girls and I got to sneak away for a girl's weekend a few weeks ago when Rob and his dad and brother went steelhead fishing that same weekend. We rode horses, had a campfire, Lynn taught Ellie how to rope (and she caught on so quickly!), we watched General Conference, went on walks, played with cousins, ate yummy food, and had tons of fun.  I know there are lots of pictures here. I couldn't help myself. My girls and I were in heaven!

Piper and Lynn

Ellie on Diego 

Having too much fun

Check out that view!

Lynn working Diego with Ellie

Ellie and her new buddy, Alex. My cousin came down for the weekend with her two boys and my kids had a blast with them!

Also, could Piper sit any closer to Lynn? This picture just makes me smile.

Cowgirl Ellie and Tuf

Piper's new best buddy, Tuf. This is a big thing for her because she is normally terrified of all dogs. We would have loved to take Tuf home with us!

Lynn and Ellie

Happy girl and her horse

If you look closely, Ellie's horse had just jumped the log on the ground.
The picture below shows her reaction:

Love her face!

The kids trying not to get roped by Uncle Lynn. 

Taking Tuf for a Sunday morning walk

How'd You Get So Cute?

Latest and greatest from our girls

Piper :Daddy! I need to tell you something!

(in a sing-song voice) Sunshine sunshine, roly poll away.

Roll and roll and do a little bouncy.

~~~~~

Rob's brother, Rich (riding with Piper in the car behind a car waiting to turn): Outta the way old bittie!

Piper (laughing her hilariously deep laugh): Hahaha!! Old bittie!

~~~~~

Piper (playing the game, I'm Thinking of Something): What's white and thick and funky?

Piper: SNOW!

~~~~~

Rob: Hey! You need to quit growing up!

Ellie: Hey! You need to quit getting old!

~~~~~

My Mom: Why are you going to preschool?

Piper: Oh, to learn to fetch dogs and take care of babies.

~~~~~

Rob: What do you want for your birthday, Piper?

Piper: A diving suit and you and Ellie and mommy and eyebrows.

~~~~~

Rob's brother, Rich: How'd you get so cute?

Piper: Jesus made me that way.

~~~~~

Ellie: Dad, how old are you?

Rob: I'm 32. And in twenty years I'll be 52 and then maybe I'll get some respect around here.

Ellie (rolling her eyes): Whatever.

~~~~~

This is a conversation that took place between Piper and my Dad and I found it so sweet and cute.

My Dad had been reading books with Piper for a while:

Dad: I'm going to read my book for a little while now.

Piper: Okay. 

(He starts reading silently. She watches him for a while then decides to climb up on the couch next to him)

Piper: Why aren't you reading? 

Dad: I am. I'm just reading to myself and I hear my voice in my head.

Piper: Oh! Like the Holy Ghost?

The Awesomest $2.50 Ever Spent

Do yourself and your kids a favor and go buy these right now. They provide hours of awesomeness.

A Pep Talk

This video totally made my day.

You should watch it right now.

Not cool Robert Frost!

Island Park!

As usual we had a total blast camping in Island Park over Labor Day weekend. The weird thing about this year is we had almost the entire campground to ourselves. It's usually packed every holiday weekend but this time there were only two other campsites being used besides ours. It rained half the time and was sunny half the time. Rob and I were really grateful that we borrowed his parent's wall tent this time because it rained so much one night that there was a puddle of water under our tent but it never soaked through. Phew! We took advantage of the sunshine by taking the girls and their cousins down to the water to go for boat rides, to swim and play in the mud and catch crayfish. Piper loved holding the baby crayfish. Ellie and her cousin spent lots of time burying each other's legs in the mud. 

I went for a run on Saturday morning and it was four miles of heaven. It was chilly and overcast which is my favorite running weather. The only thing I don't like about running in Island Park is the chance that I may cross paths with a bear. As much as I'd love to do some trail running up there, I tend to stick to higher traffic areas in hopes that there will be fewer bears. I've never personally seen one in my 10+years of camping in Island Park but every year it seems like there are more rules and warnings concerning bears and campsites and hiking and it freaks me out just a little bit. So I'll either be sticking to the roads or I'll have to buy a bear gun to take running with me.

Also check this out

Epic Hash Browns

Photographic proof of the best hash browns I've ever had in my life:

Courtesy of Rob and his brother Rich and my super awesome idea to flip them all at once. That's one big slab of heaven right there. 

Ride, Ride, Ride

Seriously love autumn. We had the best day the other day. Ellie had the day off of school so we loaded up and drove to the fields to take our yearly ride in the beet truck with Grandma Marti. The girls always have a fantastic time because everyone we see smiles and waves because they love seeing these two cute little redheads bouncing along in the truck and of course Grandma always has a bag full of the best treats ever. We couldn't have asked for better weather. 

After our awesome ride in Grandma's truck we headed over to Uncle Bruce and Aunt Valerie's to ride their horse, Splash, play on their swing set, jump on the trampoline and pick pumpkins and apples. The girls were in absolute heaven. Aren't they just so cute? :) Thanks Bruce and Valerie for a super fun afternoon!