Hiyalite Canyon for Labor Day

Yesterday we decided to get out and see some of our beautiful surroundings that are so close. So we headed to Hiyalite Canyon and within about 30 minutes we were here and it was gorgeous! We actually drove up to this beautiful reservoir but it was warmer up there and very crowded so we headed down where it was a little cooler and not as populated.

I am definitely the wimp of the family when it comes to weather. I even put on a coat after this and the girls were calling me crazy. I wasn't cold, I just like to be comfortable... The coat did come off as did the long-sleeve shirt eventually when the sun came out.

The girls had gotten up early and made lunches for each of us. We all had our own decorated lunch bag and while the girls got pickles in theirs, Nate and I both got apples along with our sandwiches and granola bars.


Then it was time to play in the creek and boy did these girls have fun while Nate and I sat back on our camp chairs and enjoyed the beautiful scenery, weather, and the happy squeals of our three little girls. It was a great day.

Pookie loved splashing.


This is one daddy's girl if I ever saw one. She is constantly asking where he is and I know it's going to be hard for her when he goes to the academy next week and will only be home on the weekends. We were spoiled when we moved up here and had him to ourselves for three whole weeks. But now it's down to business and he had his last week was his first week full of fun. It started with two grueling days at the shooting range - yes, grueling - holding up a pistol and shooting literally ALL day can make someone's arm mighty tired. Not to mention, you have to be accurate in various situations and stances they put you through.

Then on Thursday he got tasered - not something he ever wants to do again. I thought taser guns just shocked you, but there are actually needles that go into your skin with a barb at the end and then you can shock them from there. Two of them went into his back and he said it felt like he was dying (mind you, he's never had a baby naturally). He and another guy did it in front of a group of firefighters who watched as part of their training and were there to catch them when they fell. I suppose now he'll be responsible with his taser gun now that he knows what it does. I wasn't too happy about the holes in his shirt and blood on his undershirt (you know).

Back to School!

Last week the girls started school. Savannah 3rd grade and London 2nd grade.
They were excited to get back to school and meet new friends.

London was sure that everyone would know how much she liked monkeys due to her monkey shirt and space-monkey backpack (plus she wore another monkey shirt the next day just to make sure). Savannah was thrilled to have a purse-bag instead of a backpack.

This is the oldest part of their school and other buildings have been built-on over the years. I love it! It's hard to see, but there's a school bell on the top and that's what rings! So classic and historical -- in fact, Nate and I were at the bank and saw an old picture of our town in 1908 and there, amongst the farms and Main Street, was this building, standing tall. Very cool. The girls were also thrilled to have their own lockers although I'm not so sure they'll think it's a good trade-off when they realize they're for snow pants & boots when it's FREEZING. I'm interested to see how the whole weather thing goes with them.

Savy's teacher - I think she'll be great for Savannah because she seems more old-school (no groupings of desks - yeah!). Savannah seems to really like her so far.

London's teacher is the one with blonde hair and the light blue sweater. She is the sweetest lady from Kansas and the best word to describe her is "cozy." I think London will love her.

Is that a metal slide I see?

London was afraid to go down it because she thought it'd burn her, but I assured her it wasn't that hot in Montana at 8:15 in the morning. I laughed but it did bring back childhood memories of me burning my little bum on a slide like this and literally having to stay at home because the peeling was so bad I could even wear undies! Oh the memories. And who could forget my lovely brother, Tyler, telling the whole school that it was me who burned my bum after the principal made a warning over the announcements about the slide being hot.

Anyway, Reagan and I have been busy still getting the finishing touches on the house and garage done. She and I both have missed the girls a ton! She's lonely and I miss my little babysitters. I swear, you don't see her for two minutes and she comes back like this. . . notice anything different? (not her band-aid from the ER trip)

Let me give you a hint:

She wanted to be like London who just got her hair cut for school. It looked really bad that day, but once it was washed, it curled right back up again and just looks like a cute ringlet bang.

She's the first child of mine to do that, the first to go to the ER --- I wonder how many other parenting firsts she has up her sleeve for us....

Tomorrow I hope to have pictures of the house because I know everyone's dying but my room is still a mess so we'll see what I get done today.