trip number 1

Our 3 week vacation has begun. First stop, Sheridan, for rodeo weekend. 

Our trip to Sheridan started a little rough. Elliott locked my keys in the car while we were loading up, then we were stuck in construction, which added extra time in the car for us, plus it was raining for the first 1/2 of the trip, but we made it. 

Friday, we got up and headed downtown to the parade. We aren't professional parade goers, so we didn't save our spot in the shade the night before, and were stuck in direct sunlight instead. It was still fun. Hot, but fun.

After a restful afternoon, Joe took the kids fishing and to dinner and I met up with Jenny and Gwen for some Sandford's dinner. Yummy fried pickles. :)  

The next day was my 10 year reunion picnic in the park. It was nice to see so many people I haven't seen in years, and of course we had to get some ice cream at the ice cream stand. It was just as awesome as I remember it. 

It was super hot in town, so Gwen and I took the boys out to the lake.

You guessed it, rock skipping. :)  

And swimming. 

It was the perfect way to cool down and enjoy the beautiful day. 

I took the boys to the rodeo in the evening.  

It was a full house, and super hot, but it was fun to hang out with my boys. 

We were going to leave Sunday, but the kids really wanted another round of fishing, and I wanted to join them. So we spent Sunday just hanging out and then went fishing. It was nice and relaxing. 

Ethan caught the first fish (and about a dozen more after that). 

Elliott has no fear. He loves the worms....... 

And the fish. He caught a couple. This was his first! He was so happy. 

I had Ethan remove the hook from his own fish. This picture was right before the fish wiggled and he screamed. LOL. 

He got the next one by himself though. :) 

Monday, we drove to Billings. We stayed the night with the Childers Family (thank you all), ate great food, the kids swam, and had some great laughs. 

On Tuesday, Erica took us to the airport (thank you), and the trip from HELL began. We made it to Phoenix almost 3 hours late, with tired and hungry kids. My mom is the best, and met us at the airport with a nice cool car, and food. It made it all better.

We are safe at our second destination of our vacation, and had a great first day. Pics to come soon. 

Black Hawk Dust Landing

Dust landing training in New Mexico.

history museum

Who knew that Helena would have the most interesting history museum in the state that I've ever been to? Ok, it doesn't have much competition since it's the only one I've been to, but I was still impressed. 

The first part was all "hands on". 

There was cowboy stuff.... 

And Indian stuff. 

Hehe.  

All three boys had a really good time, and I loved how they were so interested in everything. 

Thank goodness for big brothers. Elliott wanted nothing to do with the wolf den, but Ethan said he would go in with him. 

This is the UGLIEST buffalo ever, oh wait, I mean this is a very rare albino buffalo (it's ugly......really).  

This had to be the Ethan's favorite part. This is outside the museum, and the second we pulled up he pointed it out and told me, "that's just like the skull on daddy's stuff!" Jason's unit logo is a red cross with the skull in front of it, so of course we HAD to have a picture. This thing stands 7 feet tall. 

There was a whole floor dedicated to the military stuff too. The boys were most impressed with the giant bullets. 

Ethan is already talking about going back. I think it's a must.

new mexico trip

 Our trip to New Mexico

 From our stop in Roswell

Picture taken between Midland TX and Roswell NM

Can you see my shadow?

4th of July weekend

I kept this surprise from the kids for a few weeks. Not an easy task considering everyone kept asking me if/when Jason would be home, and my kids hear everything I say when I don't want them to. 

So Saturday, I left the boys home with Tyler and went to pick up "milk" at Costco. They were so surprised when their Daddy was at the front door with me. Elliott's hug lasted forever and was so tight that his fingers turned white. 

After finding out that we live in the county and not the city (I love Montana), we went to the fireworks stand and for a little entertainment. We told the kids they could have $10, and we should have stuck with that, but after Jason and I were finished picking out items, we were well over budget. Oooops. We saved the big ones for the 4th, and ended up going back for a 2nd round after this purchase.  

Sunday, I didn't get any pictures, but we took the kids to the movie to see Cars 2, then we hung out at home, and in the evening, Jason and I got a sitter for the kids and had a night out to ourselves. It was so nice to get away. 

Monday, we were invited to barbecue and set off fireworks at the Hellbush house. It was such a great time. The kids played basketball, and with the dogs for several hours and the food was amazing! It's so nice to have so many people who have already become like family here in Helena.

Chris, who is deploying with Jason, had an arsenal of fireworks, and we added in ours. It made for a great show. :)  

Elliott just likes the poppers............ 

And the sparklers.  

It was a really late night, and none of us were looking forward to the next day.

We took our time in the morning, and Jason and the boys got in a quick game of hockey before we had to head to the airport. 

Jason gave Ethan and Elliott their own patrol caps. Ethan wore his for the rest of the day. 

Aren't they so cute?  

We had a fabulous weekend, and crammed a lot of family time in too. 

Craftaholics Anonymous Gift Exchange

Linked to:

This is a blog I started following a while ago, and she recently hosted a gift exchange. I had never participated in one, but thought it sounded really fun, so I signed up. I'm always excited to show off my "skills". Lol. 

If you click on the link above, you can see all of the cool things people are giving and getting.

Here is what I sent my partner Bethany: 

Thank you Bethany for sending me a pic.

 I am clearly a rookie, and forgot to photo my items I gave.

Ooops.

And here is what I received from Bethany:

Awe-Some!

A scissor case, and matching pin cushion in a frame, and amazing smelling soap! 

I am so excited! This was a lot of fun, and I am waiting for the next one. 

the lake

I wanted to post this before it got lost in the shuffle. 

Last weekend, the Family Readiness Group had a family picnic at the lake here. It was a great day for it too. Not too hot, and not raining. :) 

The boys and I went a little early to make sure we could get a good spot. I was shocked to see that there was almost no one at the lake, and we had a huge selection of picnic areas. Almost immediately after setting our things down, we walked down to the water, and off came the shoes. 

Elliott liked just watching.  

Ethan on the other hand went right in. :) 

The water was FREEZING! 

Elliott's favorite part was watching the boats go by. 

Rock skipping was, again, a big hit.  

And Ethan is getting really good at it. 

After the other families showed up, we ate and chatted, and all the kids played together in the sand and water for hours. We had a great time and I can't wait to go back.