visitors

Once we moved to Great Falls and got settled, our next big project was convincing my Grandpa to come for a visit. Rocky Boy Indian Reservation is just a few hours north of here and he worked there in the 50's for the Bureau of Indian Affairs and in fact my Dad was born there and is an honorary member of the Souix nation. Some of my Grandpa's old friends still live there, with old being the operative word there! We knew if we were going to get him up here for a visit it needed to be sooner rather then later. So my parents and Aunts kind of shanghaied him into coming. Cheap airline tickets were found which is a must for my Depression- era Grandfather and conference weekend my Grandpa and parents came it visit. We had an absolutly fantastic time and made some great memories. We were unable to make it to the Hansen Family Reunion this year so I was so glad that my kids got a chance to visit with Grandpa one on one.

So Saturday Dad and Grandpa got up and hit to road to Rocky Boy. They had a great time and a wonderful visit with Grandpa's old friend. The rest of us got to spend the day with Nana. We went to the local corn maze which is actually the largest corn maze in the country! There was a big hay slide, hay jump, a smaller maze for kids, a cow wagon ride (which was hilarious) and a more traditional wagon ride. There were also these corn boxes (instead of sand boxes). I think we had the most fun here and everyone had to be buried!

Here's Nana and some of the grandkids on the wagon ride.

Sunday was a quiet day watching conference and then a quick trip to Giant Springs State Park. This is a very beautiful spot along the Missouri River and includes the shortest river in the world.

Here's a picture of Grandpa doing what he does best, teaching the young'ins how to appreciate the world around us. Here he is teaching about the different types of pine trees and how to identify them.

One last picture of Nana with all the grandkids but Weston. We had such a fun time and can't wait till they come again. Soon!

Autumn Leaves

Fall has been late in coming this year in Montana. Or so all the 'old-timers' say. Apparently we should have had our first snow by now, or at the very least the first frost. But last weekend we made it up to 90 and my tomato plants are still bursting with summery goodness.

However. Change is a-comin and coming soon. Eva and I go on walks down by the river while the kids are in school and we are seeing the leaves change color as the trees get ready for winter.

Here Eva holds out a fine specimen she picked herself.

There is not much in the way of reds and oranges in the foliage; mostly yellow. Here are some red leaves we found from a bush. I haven't seen any red on trees yet. You can get an idea from her shirt how windy it is here. I got this picture right before the gust of wind almost knocked her off her feet!

I thought Pullman was windy but it can't compare to Great Falls!

Camping

Last weekend was our very first Montana camping trip. We went to Gibson lake with my sister and her family, just for a night. This was the first time Eva has ever been camping and the first time I've been since she was born. All the kids get along pretty well, and there were no major disasters, so I'm calling it a good time. The hammock was the biggest attraction for the kids. They took turns lying in it while the others pushed them as high as they could go. No one fell out and there were only a few tears when turns were skipped. Eva thought sleeping in a tent next to Mom and Dad was GREAT and not to be wasted by actually sleeping, so Rob and I didn't get much sleep at night. But the weather was nice, we got to do a bit of canoeing on the lake with Rob's old/new cedar-strip canoe and the kids got as wet/muddy as they wanted. We had one little mishap on the way home driving through some construction where our tire picked up a 6 inch rusty old nail. We had to stop in Small Town, MT to get it removed and the tire patched but it gave us a chance to watch the natives while we waited. All in all it was a fun trip and we're hoping the weather doesn't turn cold too fast so we can go again soon.

First Day of School!

We were all really excited today for the first day of school. I was a little worried that Grace would turn suddenly shy and refuse to get on the bus when the time came, but as you can see, she was way too excited to worry about being shy

I can't believe how much Sam has grown this summer! I saw my little nephew yesterday wearing one of Sam's old shirts and could hardly believe my little boy is now this big kid!

Going to a new school where you know no one can be super hard, but luckily they have each other and are very good at taking care of one another.

And let me tell you, nothing could rival this little girl's sadness when she realized that she wasn't getting on the bus with the big kids. She wore that backpack all day, asking over and over when she was going to school. Sorry baby! One more year with Mom till pre-school.

Home

We're here, we're settled, we're unpacked (kinda), we finally have internet (seriously, how did we live without it?!?), and we're happy. The picture above is NOT the view from my deck, more's the pity, but it is a view from not too far from here in Glacier National park. Come visit and we'll take you there!