Family Vacation Part 2 - Yellowstone!!

For the second part of our vacation Trey, Kaelen, Maddox and I headed south to the town of West Yellowstone. We only had two days in the park so we tried to hit all the major attractions. The weather was awesome and we had a ton of fun exploring during the day and then swimming at the hotel at night. I haven't been to Yellowstone since I was a little explorer so it was really fun to experience everything again with the fam. Old Faithful was still exploding, the mud volcanoes were still stinking, and there were a ton of animals to cause traffic jams along the way. Especially animals like this huge guy.........

and this guy that passed RIGHT by our car window.........

He was so close to the car we could hear his breathing, and despite the cries of Kaelen and I, Trey didn't feel it was necessary to roll up the car window.

Unfortunately, (or fortunate for us I guess) Maddox slept while we drove through most of the park. I can't wait to bring him back when he gets a little older. I have visions of him in his young park ranger vest holding maps and pointing out his favorite animals. While I couldn't convince Kaelen to wear a young explorer outfit, it was really fun to see her experience the park for the first time.

Yellowstone Falls

Maddox and Dad taking in the falls

Exploring one of the many geyser basins

Old Faithful (I think she was more excited to get back to the gift shop and pick out her souvenirs)

The town of West Yellowstone

Yep, they are dorks

The world's largest Teddy Bear, or at least that is what the sign claimed

A Grizzly at the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center

Family Vacation - Part 1

This year our family vacation took us to Montana. The first leg of our trip was spent visiting with family in Butte. We were able to see great grandma and grandpa, aunts, uncles and lots of cousins. I was so grateful we were able to visit with everyone, and that Maddox was able to meet some of the family for the very first time. Usually when we go to Butte we don't have the chance to do many tourist activities, but this trip we had a full week for fun and I wanted to take try and fit in a few activities for Trey and Maddox to get to know where Mommy was born.

The week was so much fun! We went to the World of Mining Museum, the Pit, Silver Bow Pizza, Quarry Brewing, celebrated Cole's 6th Birthday, and helped Gary Betty Joe celebrate their anniversary.

Trey and Kaelen at Jim's Bar......yep bar, only in Butte

Graysen sitting at the bar....."Jim, can I get another?"

Trey and Kaelen at "The Pit"

Trey at Quarry Brewing (awesome beer, if you are ever in the area you have to make sure to take trip here). You can see that Trey has his precious cargo in tow.........

Graysen inside Quarry Brewing testing out their homemade brew.....root beer :)

Maddox taking a look at the keg

Maddox and Logen taking a break from our outings to play at Great Grandma and Grandpa's

The great grandkids

Maddox playing with cousin Carter

Cole taking a whack at his birthday pinata

The boys being boys

Maddox and Dad riding the carousal at Silver Bow pizza

Maddox contemplating future careers.....race car driver???

Or maybe an astronaut???

Graysen and Uncle Trey playing some tunes in the Old West town at the World of Mining museum.

Lewisville Park

We spent Labor Day at Lewisville park picnicking with our friends the Hellners (they are expecting a little boy, and Maddox can't wait to have a new buddy). The weather was a tad chilly, but it didn't rain so we were lucky. Maddox had a great time playing in the park. This was the first time we visited a park and he was actually able to climb and explore all the toys.

Mommy and Max checking out the slide.

He climbed all these stairs by himself and then pulled himself up on the rail. I can't believe how strong he is! Not too much longer and he will be running all over the place.

Daddy and Max in action!

The swings were a BIG hit!

Canby Dahlia Festival

The first weekend in September we headed to Canby to check out the Dahlia Festival. This particular farm is the nations largest distributor of dahlias and they had some blooms that measured bigger than 12 inches across. The flowers were beautiful and it was really fun to check out something new. Both Trey and I love dahlias; his grandparents own a dahlia farm in Battleground and we used their flowers at our wedding.

Maddox may have been a little more interested in the dirt than the flowers.

TOYS!!!

Our sweet little boy is growing up so fast! Everyday he is becoming more mobile and is exploring new things. He started doing a sweet army crawl at the beginning of August and within this last week he has perfected his crawling skills and now crawls solely on his knees. He is definitely a boy and loves to climb, dig and bang things around. He makes everyday a new adventure for his Mom and Dad and we love him more than anything!

SUCCESS!!!

A Bridal Shower for a Beautiful Bride to Be

My best friend Jessica is getting married on 10/2 (only one week to go!) and at the end of August we had her bridal shower out at the Buhman farm. The shower was early in the day and we had a lot of fantastic brunch favorites. The weather was great and the company was even better. With a little hard work the party looked like it came straight from a magazine (way to go girls!). Here is the bridal party (minus Lisa :( ). I love these girls and am very lucky to have them as friends!

Trey is another year older........

This last August Trey turned 27. It was a hard birthday for him, some might even consider it mini mid-life crisis, but thanks to his wonderful wife (yep, that's me) he had the best birthday party! The night started with a fantastic bbq (thanks to Jesse for cooking up the steak and chicken) and then we moved on to the main event.....games inspired by Minute to Win It! I don't think I have ever heard a group of people laugh so hard! It was so much fun and I think by the end of the night Trey's spirits were greatly improved. Thanks to all who celebrated with us! Check out these great action shots.......