Rehersal dinner, pedicures & Bingo...

My Mother wins the: MOST- AMAZING- WOMAN -ON- THE- PLANET AWARD!!! I adore her, admire her, and hope to become like her. She has been SOOOOO busy the past few months hosting, planning and preparing for about 50 thousand different events, and I have heard the exaustion in her voice every time we've spoken. Even from hundreds of miles away I could tell she was over doing, over planning & over stressing about every detail. She would tell me about the 25 pounds of hamburger she had browed and then put in the freezer, or about the deserts for a party or the things still had left on her list and I would hang up and just smile- that's my Mama, always wanting to make someone's moment special. She had a HUGE dinner to do for the rehersal and naturally it was perfect! People were taking plates of food home it was so good. Everyone was complementing her and she deserved it. She worked so hard and in all that work, hidden beneath pounds of lasgana, was her reason for doing it: She loved her Eli so much and wanted to show an ounce of it by doing something special for him/them. In addition to tons of parties, She also had an amazing turkey dinner another night when we were there and ribs another night and my homemade lemon squares made too! She doesn't know how to do anything half way, so it didn't surprise me, I'm just so thankful for her and everything she worked so hard to accomplish. (And now for my Grandparents 60th Anniversary party! You'll do it Mama!)

There is my borther Caleb holding Dexter, the dog.
And Mom & I had pedicures! Oh how I laughed...

A Night at G-ma & G-pa's....

It's tradition that when ever we come home for a visit, we have to stay 1 night with my Grandparents. It's purely selfish, let me confess... when we come, I request a few things: her homemade chicken noodle soup, waffles the next morning, a game of Super Mario Brothers on the Nintendo, and our thrift store shopping trip. It's just what we do! Trav, Trisitn & G-pa played golf while we went and shopped our little hearts out. Everyone was tired when we came back, so Daisy fell asleep early on G-ma's lap. We ate yummy food, watched Wheel of Fortune & Jeopardy, relaxed and had a fun time. I love my Grandparents with all my heart. G-pa fell in love with Willow, and she in return!

Going to see G-ma Lillian...

The morning after the wedding we drove to Sequim to see G-ma Lillian. She was heart broken that she couldn't attend the wedding, so we brought her some treats from the reception and stayed to have lunch with her. It meant the world to her that we came for a visit, it was just something we had to do, I couldn't leave without making the 4 hour trip to hug her!

The wedding...

What a perfect night! I am still in awe at how wonderful everything was- just amazing!

Eli & cindy's wedding...

All I can say is Cindy is AMAZING! The wedding & reception details were incredible and the wedding was precious. The kids did a fabulous job and everyone looked gorgous! It was a wonderful night and we couldn't be more happy for Eli & Cindy! We love you guys!

Yes, I am Alive!!!!!

Holy cow, it's been a month since I last posted, which tells you something: I've been busy! We came home from Montana and then had 3 weeks to prepare for our coast/Seattle trip.The days just flew by and I didn't get Tristin's party pictures posted either. Here's what we've been up to:

*We had a yard sale at my house (lots of work!)
*I taught my frugal living class at church.
*I taught my lesson at church.
*We bought all of Tristin's scouting stuff so he would be ready when we came home.
*Tristin had a music concert at school and did a super job!
*Tristin turned 8, so we had to have a Iron man birthday party!
*We FINALLY recieved our last insurance check, and yes our kitchen is still torn apart!
*I signed the kids up for swim lessons.
*We left for vacation on Tristin's birthday.
*Trav and I celebrated our 10th wedding Anniversary while on our trip!
*We went to Seaside & Seattle for 9 days!
*My Brother, Eli got married & the kids were in the wedding ( Daisy & Grace were flower girls & Tristin the ring bearer- They did awesome too!!)
*Willow tured 8 months old and is getting her first tooth!
*I got a pedicure with my Mama!
*Daisy starts T-ball tonight.
*Today was Tristin's last day of school.
*We are preparing for Tristin's baptism.
*We have driven over 3,000 miles this past month... and we are offically tired.

... I'll post pictures soon. I had to work the morning after we got back, run errands,un pack, clean out the van, grocery shop, and LOTS of laundry- so now that I'm almost done, I'll have a little more free time to get pictures up. (But not all 175 that I took!)

Random Montana pictures...

Here's just a few random pictures from our trip. I got a ton of Willow sleeping, I thought she looked so cute (completely worn out from all the driving!) Here's a shot of what we woke up to on the 2nd day- snow!

Day 1: Leaving for Montana...

We left our house Thursday morning (April 29th) @ 8:40 and headed for Montana. Trav's G-ma turned 100, so we had to go celebrate!
We were thankful to be making our 1428 mile trip in 4 days so we took our time- stopping to eat, let the kids play & stretch our legs. I borrowed my friend, Annikan's DVD player for the kids (so I wouldn't have to buy another one. Ours just broke because someone stepped on it. And because we hardly ever travel, I didn't want to buy a new one just for the trip- you know me, always trying to save money)The kids watched Alvin & the Chipmunks and a little bit of Barbie movie and then we stopped for lunch.When we got back in the van, Tristin touched the DVD player and it shocked him! Well, something happened and the poor thing stopped working. (I wanted to cry because everyone always borrows stuff from Annikan and never gets it back- and here I was breaking her DVD player that had worked perfectly for her for 4 years! I was so mad, but called her right away.) Somehow the kids survived almost 1300 miles without it!

Don't you love the gas station sign? We loved it! But then, we love Dumb & Dumber, so it made us laugh even more!

Day 1: Arriving in Dillon...

We finally arrived in Dillon 378 miles later. We knew that making the trip in 2 days was going to be the only way to go with 4 kids and one of those nursing. We checked into our hotel and the kids went swimming as soon as we could bring in our bags and locate them in our 6 suitcases. We met Edith, Max, Ellen & the cousins at Pizza Hut for dinner. We went back to our room, took baths, put our PJ's on and watched TV until we all fell asleep. It snowed over night and we caught the tail end of a big storm that had just passed through the mountains.

Day 2: Entering Conrad...

Trav grew up in Conrad his entire life. He left there when he was 19 to go on a church mission and while he was gone, his parents moved, which meant, he had not been back since then. It was so fun to see him get excited again, see how things had changed and tell stories about the things he did growing up. Here is a picture of his house, his high school bilboard & the creek he used to play in. It was neat to be able to see where he grew up. Conrad only has a few thousand people living there- so different than how I grew up...