Summer Catch Up - August 13th - August 21st

After a great trip to the beach we traveled another 10 hours to White Fish, MT where we stayed with Paul's family at his aunt and uncles beautiful cabin on the Big Mountain. We had a great time there with the kids enjoying more time quality time with their cousins. The last time we had seen Paul's family was Christmas of 2010 so it was a much needed chance to catch up and enjoy each others company. We had a great time seeing everyone and it was wonderful for the kids to catch up with even more cousins. Jackson and Jeffrey kept Riann and Colby SO busy and Colby did a great job keeping up. He learned how to climb stairs and became a much faster crawler because everyone was really keeping him on his toes. On this trip we also got to finally meet our first niece Emily and had a blast getting to know her and making her smile.

We got to participate in SO many fun activities on this trip there was very little time to rest. Here are some of fun activities we got to do, it was an amazing vacation!!

Dave got a special paper airplane book for the kids and on one of our lazy mornings Dave, Paul, Scott and the kids pulled it out and spent all morning making planes. After everyone made the special plane they wanted we went out to the balcony and the "race" was on. The kids loved flying them down and then running ALL THE WAY down to the street and running them ALL THE WAY back up to the balcony. They had a great time seeing who's could go the farthest and the fastest. They also enjoyed going on "hunts" when they couldn't find their plane in the tall grass. It was a lot of fun to watch them play. Just the other day Riann found some colored paper in the house and asked Paul and I to make her planes because she wanted to "fly them like she did with her cousins".

We took a beautiful evening at the beginning of our trip and took some family pictures. We try to do this every year and it was a lot of fun, and a little stressful, to be out with the kids this time around. It was also nice to have up to date family photos with our new additions over the last year. We're so happy to have both Colby and Emily in the family.
They are the cutest kids ever!!

One of our many adventures was the Alpine Slide. We all got a chance to ride down and all of the little kids, even Emily and Colby, got to go down too. It was so much fun to take Riann down and have her enjoy something fun like that. Colby seemed to enjoy it but didn't show any really "joy" either way. It'll be fun when he gets excited about stuff like this when he's older.

On a different day Scott and Casey took a trip back up the mountain with the boys. They all had a great time but unfortunately they had a rough go at in and they crashed a few times while they were coming down. On Scott and Jackson's last run down they just happened to crash right in front of the photographer and he caught the WHOLE thing!!! Jackson was a super stud. Everyone got a little "road rash" from their crashes but Jackson never complained. He did awesome considering what you see above.

Taking a break from the mountains we got to go down to the lake and play in the water. Dave and Kathy rented wave runners for the day and the kiddos loved being out on the water and playing. It was a little cold so they didn't go for long but they had a great time. Both kids LOVED the water.

Another one of our amazing adventures was the Zip Line on the Big Mountain. We were so blessed to be able to do something like this and had an amazing time. After a short class on safety we were sent on a hike up the mountain to various location on the mountain and we were sent flying through the tree tops. It was so fun to be out with Paul's family and to get to spend time with them joking around and just being together.

On one of our last days in Montana we decided to go up the mountain for a hike. Unfortunately the lift that takes you up to the VERY top of the mountain was down for repairs so we had to go up a different route. We were up there a little later in the day and probably shouldn't have gone as far as we did but it was too beautiful of a day to pass up. Riann and Paul had been sick the day before so we let them set the pace. Riann was a little upset about how far we went but she did a fantastic job. When we got to the top we realized we wouldn't make it to the lift back down in the time that we had so we took our time getting back down. It was a VERY interesting hike but both kids did great. We'll make sure we never hike again without a baby carrier but Paul was a champ and toted both kids up and down the mountain. He was even so good at how he carried them he had Colby asleep for quite a while before we made it to the top. He's a pro!!!

These last photos are from the top of the mountain. I got distracted and took TONS of scenic photos that included a LOT of wild flowers. I tried to minimize how many of them I posted because I know I can get a little out of control. It really was amazing at the top though and I'm so glad we all pushed ourselves to make it up there.

This trip was a fantastic way to end our summer trip and we are so glad we got the time to relax with Paul's family. It is so hard to be away from them while we're away in Idaho doing school and we love anytime we get to get away with them. We love them so much and we're so grateful for any chance we get to see them.