Daddy's Girls

There are only a few weeks left of summer and we just got back from a trip to Baton Rouge to visit with the family before our world changes.  Janet's daughter, Rachel, and I had this planned for a while so that we would have a chance to meet before the wedding in October. We had a nice dinner Friday night and had a chance to meet her and also Janet's Dad, Stepmom, cousins and aunt.  It was a different trip for the kids because all of the cousins were at the beach on their annual trip with Ryan's side of the family.  I usually don't have to do anything to entertain them because they are happy to only play together so this time I had to be a little more creative.  On Thursday I took them to the BREC water park, Liberty Lagoon. We had never been there but of course they loved it!  Friday we went to the mall to ride the carousel and play awhile before lunch with one of my friends from high school.  And yesterday we went to the movie, Inside Out Of course there was lots of t

Happy Birthday to the best husband and Dad your girls could ever ask for!! You're my best friend and we love you toooo much! 34 years old today.  He gained a year though because he thought he was turning 35. :) He doesn't have the same need to celebrate his birthday for a week as the rest of his family but we did try to make it a nice weekend for him.  He started with shooting in a tournament with Wesley and then we cooked a big meal Saturday night. Yesterday he slept in and caught up on shows while I took the girls to church. Then we all went to lunch before coming home for a nap. I've got another meal planned today with a couple small things from his girls. Hope you a great one Matt! 

Making the move to First Methodist last year was one of the best decisions we've ever made.  I've gotten involved volunteering at the food pantry and as a greeter and really enjoy my Sunday school class. But the best part is how much they do for the kids.  I know lots of churches have great programs but I feel we "fit" here.  Every Tuesday all summer they have "Sonlit." It's a ministry for all of the kids in our church (and guests) and they have so much fun! They've done everything from renting a bounce house, to swimming and this week we went to see The Minion Movie.  They always tie it in to a Bible lesson too. This week we talked about what God teaches us about fear before we went which was perfect as a lot of the little kids could be scared of the dark theater or loud noise.  We had 16 kids and it was so fun! It was Katie's first movie (well 2nd, but the 1st she only lasted about 20 min) and she did great. She sat in her own chair the whole t

We spent several hours this morning shopping for school uniforms and supplies.  I can't believe Lilli starts school one month from tomorrow! Sniff... She looks so grown  She wasn't so sure about uniforms when we were looking but she liked them after she tried them on.  My kindergartener! 

Saturday night was the event we had been waiting 18 months for- Shanon and Alex's wedding!! It started about 3:00 that afternoon with getting ready.  And then the bride and groom went and took pictures for their "first look." I was really impressed they had managed to avoid seeing each other with their cabins right next door. The photographer has posted a few pictures on Facebook that I managed to steal. They are absolutely gorgeous! The dress, the flowers, the scenery! I guess Shanon's not too bad either. ;)  From there we took a few wedding party and family pictures before sneaking to our tent to hide and have champagne  before the ceremony.  The ceremony itself was short and sweet and our very own Cap'n Reverend performed it.  He did a great job and everyone was tearing up by the end.  From there it was time to party! Alex has amazing taste and everything looked beautiful.  We had a delicious sit down, family style dinner which was perfect for our intimate grou

The 4 of us got up bright and early Saturday morning to make our way in to Glacier National Park for a drive down Going to the Sun Road to Logan Pass. It's located along the Continental Divide and, at 6,646 feet, it is the highest point on Going to the Sun Road. This was the one thing I really wanted to do and I'm so glad we did.  At first we were wondering where the name Going to the Sun Road came from but it didn't take long to have a good idea.  It was a 32 mile drive up winding, narrow roads.  Some of which were a little scary with drops not far from the side and it made us wish we had put insurance on the rental car. :)  We hiked about 1/2 mile to a good rock to stop and look at the view. The whole hike was 1.5 miles up (3 miles at some times but half was closed due to bear risk- yikes!). We would have done the whole thing but Katie Jane was refusing to walk so that was far enough carrying a 30 lb weight. This was by far my favorite spot the whole trip.  The mountain g

Friday morning, Matt and I got up and took the girls for a drive to Hungry Horse Dam.  The whole road was full of beautiful scenery but especially once you got to the dam.  You can see Katie's mood didn't start out great but it got better. :)  As we were enjoying the scenery we got a call from Shanon saying he had found a spot the girls would love so we drove a few miles to meet him at Lion Lake.  We were the only ones there and it was a pretty place for the girls to swim and collect rocks and for the guys to fish.  From there we went to Flathead River for more rock skipping and fishing.  It was also right next to Belton Bridge which is a favorite spot to watch people make a 35 foot jump in to the crystal clear 50 degree water. Sounds crazy to me but it was fun to watch.  This was my favorite spot of the day.  And to end the day we all enjoyed a good BBQ meal following the wedding rehearsal.  It was a fun night and the little but of rain didn't bother anyone.  In fact, I