Road Trip

Mom and I left Great Falls at 5:30 a.m. to get the girls in Pendleton.  By 6:00 a.m. we were calling Dad to report that a silly little deer had run into us!  The poor thing was confused and ran right into the side of us.  She bounced off the front side panel, missed the driver door, and bumped her way down the rest of Dad's Suburban.  Mom kept driving...I asked if maybe we should stop and check out the damages...I guess we didn't really need to since there wasn't anything we could do.  My Dad said exactly the right thing..."Was anybody hurt?"

This is our route for the whole trip! If photos are proportional to miles...I only took one for every 200 miles...poor documenting on my part but I can't say I wasn't etching every second of every day in my memory.

We pulled into Pendleton just in time to get our hair cut by my beloved hair dresser...man I miss her!  Ummm...no pictures but imagine a beautiful Carolyn and Stacy walking down Main Street Pendleton :)

After enjoying a night seeing my much missed girlfriends we picked up the girls and hit the road.  First stop was the Bend/Redmond area.  The girls talked the whole drive and had lots to share about their busy and fun summer with Joe. 

We tried not to make the drive to California too rigorous by making several stops but somehow we did it on one day! Thirty miles out of town we had to take a detour in the dark off of I-5.  OnStar guy got an earful when he told me to pull over while he downloaded a new route.  They didn't have the updated maps of the area...thankfully my iPhone was there to save the day.  Pam's beautiful home and family were all waiting up for us as we wearily pulled in.  

Look at these beautiful girls! 

 Kyndra and Avery learned how to make friendship bracelets this summer.  This is Syd showing off her new addition.

I tend to be a local traveler...exploring the place I'm living not traveling too far from home.  If it wasn't for my sister I would have never gone to Ohio, Minnesota, Iowa, Japan, and now this part of California.  As usual, we were on the go during our stay....even with an infant, have I mentioned her? We went to San Francisco two days after we arrived in California.  Dan and Mom stood in line for tickets and we ran to be the last 9 on board.

There was a Giants game that day and many of the passengers were headed to the game.  I must have looked like enough of a tourist shivering, freezing, sipping my Irish Coffee out in the splash of the waves that one of the fans explained to me that in San Fran during baseball season you dress like it's football season, and in football season you dress like it's baseball season.  Did you know that?

We watched the sea lions roll around and push each other off the dock.  Why do they go to that one dock and only that one dock?

 We waited for the Golden Gate Bridge to clear off.  It never happened.  By the time the marine layer cleared off it was rolling in again.  It still was a perfect day and the girls enjoyed every minute of it.

 Morgan and half of the boat fell asleep on the way back.  I love this picture.  Ever since Morgan was a baby she has needed her sleep.  What made me giggle was that half of the boat was asleep!  Look at these people behind her!  SLEEPING all of them.

Everyone held the baby...good grief is she cute or what?

Next we packed Amelia and the other 8 of us ladies to the Jelly Belly factory.  We went on the tour of how they make Jelly Belly, got samples, and ate lunch.  It was crazy with kids, sugar, and smiles.  

Cameras weren't allowed on the tour...it would have been fun to shoot with all the colors and smiling sugared up faces...but I restrained myself.

On the way home we hit Larry's Produce that had the same effect on me as the Jelly Belly Factory did on the kids.  I couldn't believe all the fresh, cheap, yummy, delicious, produce!  What a place.

This will be such a nice change for Pam and her family who have been living on over-seas horribly expensive produce in Okinawa...ok, I found one thing to not like about Okinawa...glass half full, right?

That evening Amelia Grace started interacting.  I swear the little darling was smiling.  Look at all this love witnessing the youngest edition to our family pass gas...I mean smile :)

Pam and I had been talking about a photo shoot for this little Made in Okinawa girl.  We went through all of her treasures from their time there and found this wood basket-carrier that we thought would work great.  Pam called it...she said "Should we try?" and I ran to get the props ready...

I had asked my boyfriend Tony's advice on setting it up...he said a shop light with a soft bulb or a window.  They hadn't  bouthtand then my favorite lens decided to stop working so we just set her in the wood basket.  She immediately went to the bathroom and started crying. 

It only took Pam a couple minutes to settle her down and I folded the green poop inside the blanket and we kept shooting in the hot upstairs bedroom. Pam and I were sweating but little miss was happy as a clam in her soft blanket in the sun.

A couple of things got done on Pam's lists...not many...but one was painting some book boxes for Brenna's room.  This brave girls starts high school next week in a new school...good luck lady!

Then the next picture was us at home...somewhere in between there was a trip to IKEA and a celebration of Pam and Dan's 19th wedding anniversary and friendship bracelet making and cousins giggling and Shadrach waiting at home for us...and and and.

We are home...it was a great memorable trip...and we are all home.  Thank you Pam and Fam!  Glad to have you all stateside where we can get to know you again via texting from one time zone away.  Love you all!

Wedding to remember

This was taken in Helena at my second cousin's wedding. This same day Kyndra was in the emergency room! We left Missoula in the morning and she was complaining of a tummy ache. Then we hit the Missoula Farmers Market (if you ever have the chance this is a must!) and she was still not feeling well. Thinking she was just hungry, we went to Bagels on Broadway (another must) where she got sick (out of both ends). She was crying so hard it was really scaring me but we loaded up and pushed on. Kyndra fell asleep immediately and was fine until McDonald Pass outside of Helena where she threw up in the barf bag she had been sleeping with. Once in Helena, we thought we'd find a nice park to relax in. Kyndra started doubling over in pain and crying like I'd never seen her do. My big sister (who NEVER takes her kids to the dr) said she thought we should take her in to the doctor. We went to the Urgent Care first who sent us to the Emergency room. In between these two places, she had another episode of cramping and pain. The emergency doctor didn't find anything wrong!! He said she probably had gas, and didn't see any reason to test for appendicitis.

By this time, my dad had met us from Gt. Falls and the rest of the crew had gone onto the wedding (why we were in Helena in the first place). Avery informed me before leaving that she "wasn't with me anymore, she was with Aunt Pam." Funny girls.

At the wedding, which was at this amazing barn, my mom brought me a beer (Oh yeah! my kind of wedding. They had a reception before and after) and I made my little girl get in her pretty dress. She promptly had another "gas attack." After it passed, my dad sat with her on a blanket during the ceremony while the rest of us girls headed up to see the bride.

It was a beautiful wedding regardless of our troubles. This picture was taken by the brides aunt, Janice. Check out the size of this barn! It was built in the 1800's to house an entire herd of cattle during the harsh Montana winters.

BTW: Aunt Pam taught Kyndra how to get the gas out (something I've been negligent to do) and we didn't have any further episodes after arriving at Gma and Papa's house.

Anything is possible

It's possible...

...to ride for an hour with a suitcase on your lap.

...for the kids to take care of their own bedtime stories.

...to still fit in the baby swings.

...for it to rain this hard in Great Falls.

...to find treasure...
...in old buttons.

...to enjoy the same lazy stretch of river time and time again.

...for cousins to become friends.

...to help Papa get downstream.

...for a honeymoon negligee to find a second life with a princess.

...to not get one good picture of five beautiful girls together.

...to force yourself to stay awake on a 11 hour car ride!

Happy

We are definately happy! Mom and my sister, Pam, and her 3 girls are all here! All of us girls are making a road trip to Montana tomorrow. Except for Brenna, who is 11, these girls will all be one year apart in school. It is just cool watching the dynamics and interactions. Yesterday, Anne, met us at the pool with her 3, giving Brenna a chance to hang out with someone closer to her age. The two girls hit it off and have vowed to write "3 times a month!" Thanks Anne!

Posts might be scarce for awhile.....just know that we are happy and we know it!

Missouri Float

We hit the weather just right and got our float in before it turned cold and windy. We had the perfect day. The stretch we did took us right by Grandma and Grandpa's house, well where their house used to be. It was a familiar stretch of river that brought back memories, all enjoyable. Now we can share these experiences with the kids, how lucky. They all did great, now we are ready for an over-nighter.

Day at the pool

We spent a fun afternoon at the pool the other day. I couldn't believe it when Kyndra wanted to go off the board after watching her cousins launch themselves off. She immediately went off twice, the second time landing on her belly. Then the next time she stood up the line for about 5 minutes while I treaded water trying to coax her to jump. She did it and went back for more! Avery sat on the end but I couldn't reach her hand so she wouldn't do it. But she assures all of us next time she'll go "lots and lots." Pam's girls are little fish in the water. They'll have such fun at their tropical paradise over the next few years.

One of my only memories as a 2 year old is my sister pushing me off a diving board in California while we were visititing family friends. We have a picture of it to prove it! Yes, it was a short board, only about a foot off the water, but still!!!

We are all holding it together pretty good, only a few bouts of tears here and there. I have not ever lived near my sister but they have always been in the country, always come home for Christmas, always been in a time zone that was at least the same day! This is going to be rough on Tuesday saying goodbye to them all. But for today, we are going to float the Missouri River up near Grandma and Grandpa's old house. It should be great fun for the kids and bring back a lot of memories for us.

Tie-Dye Cousins

Miles - 600
Hours - 10 1/2
Movies - 4
Stops - 3
Minutes napping - 63
Sore bums - 4
Waiting family members - 11
5 matching cousins - priceless

Okinawa Here They Come

Finally! We know that my sister Pam and Fam are headed to Okinawa. They were supposed to find out before Christmas where Dan would have his Air Force assignment for his Orthodontics program. The Air Force just couldn't get it together. They had to sell their house, and start making plans to move...somewhere.

Brenna will start fifth grade, Morgan first, and Sydney will be in pre-school. There are American schools on base but Pam has mentioned putting Syd in a Japanese pre-school, I guess she'll have to see what is available. What an experience for these girls.

Over the course of their marriage, Pam and Dan have lived in Lompoc, Dayton, St. Paul, Virginia somewhere but I can't remember the exact place, Iowa City, and now Japan. I also want to say they were in the Seattle area for awhile before getting married but again, I am not sure. Their spot in my address book is worn thin. They have experienced a hurricane in Virginia, tornado in Iowa, and probably the earthquake in Seattle :)

One thing I admire about Pam is her ability to make friends everywhere she goes. She and the kids are involved in everything you can think of and just go-go-go. On top of that she finds time to be a great mom, scrapbook, exercise, and sell jewelery. I am sure their stay in Okinawa will be no different. They will be exploring temples, the beach, and things I can't even imagine. I am excited for you Pam! I hope we can all come out and spend some time with you while you are there.