Montana Vaca

Wow, we crammed a lot into 10 days! But it was 10 days of fun and adventure. The girls and I headed up to UT on the 9th. We stayed @ Destiny and Shay's. Then the next day we followed them up to Hamilton. With 2 kids and a guinea pig, we only had to stop 4 times. :) We were at my parents' house for almost a week. Then Benj flew in and we headed to Kalispell for a long weekend. Our "new" minivan made the trip even better... we brought a lot of stuff back with us, hehe. We got to stop and see friends/sights on our drive home too. Here are some pics:

HAMILTON
We all stopped @ Big Hole Battlefield for a break... the girls with Tiggz, Destiny's pet.
Bubbles with Grandpa
Helping mow the lawn


Shannon, Julie, and I

All our kids!

My mom, the girls, and I at Skalkaho Falls- so pretty!

Popsicles after running through the sprinkler.

Leaving for the airport to pick up Benj ... Romeo wanted to come with us. ;)

Lunch break in Polson @ Flathead Lake

Kalispell

Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park... we went on a boat ride (the big one)

Benj's dad, Benj and the girls... taking a rest along a hike

SNOW!

On our way down on this hike, we saw 3 big horned sheep

And goats

Playing @ Whitefish Lake

Took a walk through Woodland Park

I love these poses, lol!

Picking vegetables from Grandma Baumann's garden

On our way home, we stayed the night in LOGAN! We got to eat @ The Bluebird... mmmmm, that Bluebird chicken, I sure miss it. We went up to campus and walked around... it's changed since we attended there, oh 6 years ago! The whole town has in fact...

Waaaaaayyyy too young to become a "true Aggie!"

We also stopped in SLC and walked Temple Square. This is at the top of the Conference Center.

I miss MT already... family and friends, and those cool MT temps!! But we had a great time with everyone we saw there and along the way. Now it's back to reality!!!

Happy 6th B-day Lexi!

I can't believe my girl is 6! Time goes waaaaayyy too fast. I told Lexi to stop growing up and she said, "I can't wait til I grow up. Then I can do whatever I want!"
She had her friend party yesterday, it was a bug party. Yep, my girly girl didn't want a princess or a Barbie theme, just bugs. ;) The kids had fun going on a bug hunt (fake, plastic bugs of course) and eating bug cupcakes. Tonight we had her family party and I made an inchworm cake (thank you http://www.betteycrocker.com/) . Lexi knew her big present was a new bike cuz she picked it out like a month ago. She is getting the hang of riding without training wheels, but as soon as she realizes Benj isn't holding on anymore, she freaks and stops/falls. Keep it up Lex! Happy Birthday, we love you!!!

4th of July

We had a fun 4th this year... it's exactly what we did last year:

Parade in the morning

Benj went to work for a few hours while the girls napped

BBQ in the evening

Bowling @ Red Rock

Fireworks @ Red Rock

Ice cream

I'm so grateful to live in America, for our freedoms, for those who have fought/fight for our country!! Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!

June Happenings

The month of June was busy, busy! Lexi started swimming lessons. She was pretty timid at first, but she warmed up fast and really enjoyed it. We weren't really allowed to take pics, but this one is before class one day.
Father's Day weekend we went hiking @ Red Rock. It was really great because the weather (until THIS week) had been pretty mild, in the 90's and even some upper 80's, it was glorious!
I got to have 2, that's TWO girls' nights this month! Plus bookclub and enrichment. So fun! Thanks to my fantastic husband for letting me get out 3 weekends in a row. :) It was VERY much needed.
Apryl, Ashley and I attempted to do a 4th of July craft with our total of 7 kids. I think it went well and they turned out cute (www.familyfun.go.com).
Hope ya'll are having a great summer!!

One of the girls' favorite caves on our favorite hike.

Father's Day 2009

Craft day! Doesn't Ava look enthused?

Kindergarten Graduation

Lexi & Mrs. Leary & Singing piggies

Put your gang face on!

Lexi is done with Kindergarten! She had such a great year. I know she will miss her teacher, Mrs. Leary, she is sooooooo wonderful. For their little celebration last week, all the K classes put on a little concert, the 3 Piggy Opera. Then they had a party with cake/treats. We took Lexi out to lunch, her choice and she picked Subway. Haha, she really is my daughter. :) I can't believe this fall I will have a first grader! For now, summer time, here we come!!

More May Happenings...

So this is how we ended our May:
The new park FINALLY opened by Lexi's school, the closest park to our house now, whoo hoo! All the Kindergarten classes went and sang at the opening of the park. Ava had a blast playing in the water area. She was just starting out in these pics, but she really did get SOAKED. :)

Benj's bday was Friday, he turned 33!! After he worked a 14 hour day, we went out to dinner at Outback to celebrate. The girls and I made him a cake (but I couldn't find the other #3 candle, so I used just 3 separate candles). And he got what he's been wanting for a long time now, GUITAR HERO!!

Lexi really wanted to try. She did a great job, but wanted to quit during the first song, lol.

And Lexi lost her first tooth! The thing had been hanging there for a few days now and after church today, she stuck it in my hand. She said she had just been pushing it with her tongue and it fell out! YAY! You can hardly see a hole (bottom left, her right), her new tooth is about grown in. Perhaps the Tooth Fairy will make a visit tonight?! ;)

And yesterday (while daddy was working yet again... I'm thankful for his job, I'm thankful for his job...), I took the girls to see "UP." It wasn't amazing, but it was good. My girls really liked it, except for "the scary dogs." :)