Arctic Freeze

Cold days in Montana. 7 degrees this morning! Kids made their 1st snowman and a couple adorable Snow Angels. Cute stuff!

Helena High Fire

Sadness today for some bad choices a couple kids made on Monday. Luckily no one was hurt but there's so much damage! Prayers appreciated as Helena High tries to pick up the pieces & clean up the mess.

Mt Ascension Family Hike

I took my family on my favorite Helena hike to Mt. Ascension. There was some tired kids and a bit of whining but we all made it! Thanks guys for sharing the beautiful day and adventure with me!!!

Almost to the Top:

We made it!!! even with a pouty face teenagers. LOL

Farmer in the Dell 2016

Another year of our family attending & volunteering at the Farmer in the Dell. {Although they now call it Family Fun Day at WestMont. ;) }

After Justice's, football game, we all headed over. We missed lunch this time but enjoyed finding a Pumpkin & playing a couple games. We ran into the Fife family and used them as stand-ins for our older kids not being available for our family pic. Thanks Ethan & Quinn. We said we could photo-shop our kids faces on their bodies but I'm way too behind on my blog so we'll just say we adopted these 2 for the day. ;)

Games & Volunteering:

Hiking Mount Ascension

For those of you who know that I haven't been to the gym in about 9 months or more- you'd be proud of me. My friend Brenda has taken me on a few hikes up Mount Ascension. I thought maybe she would kill me- but I've done pretty good. Leann joined us this last time. Way to go, girl!!! ;) She'll "probably" come again with us. {Personally joke because sometimes I'm not sure she knows any other words except- "probably" LOL Luv ya, girlie!}

Here's us at the top:

Here's a Pano of the higher peak we went to last time. Gorgeous!!!

Helena's Farmers Market

We've never been before so we decided to take the girls down to the Farmer's Market this morning. It was so cool! We got apples, pears, headbands, Christmas Ornaments, Mexican Street Corn, Huckleberries (Yum!), Kettlecorn and corn to take home. There were musicians and vendors and food. What a fun time!

www.helenafarmersmarket.com

Symphony Under the Stars: Broadway

We attended the Symphony Under the Stars again tonight. We have loved it in the past. See 2015 & 2014.


This year, it seemed like the kids were more interested in friends and rolling down the hill than the music but we all had a great time. The theme was Broadway Music. The night was amazing!!!!

BROADWAY!

Allan R. Scott - Conductor

Doug LaBrecque - Vocalist 

Christiane Noll - Vocalist 

HELENA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Michael Marsolek - Announcer

Overture to Gypsy
“There’s No Business Like Show Business” from Kiss Me Kate
“Begin the Beguine” from Jubilee
“I Could Have Danced All Night” from My Fair Lady
Highlights from Show Boat
Overture to West Side Story
“Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better” from Annie Get Your Gun
“Something’s Coming” from West Side Story
“You Can't Stop the Beat” from Hairspray
*** Intermission***
“Willkommen” from Cabaret
Overture and “All that Jazz” from Chicago
“Bring Him Home” from Les Misérables
“Defying Gravity” from Wicked
Highlights from Mamma Mia
Overture to American in Paris
“Phantom of the Opera” from Phantom of the Opera
“Music of the Night” from Phantom of the Opera
“Seventy-Six Trombones” from Music Man (with fireworks)

The younger kids brought their Pokemon cards to play with until it got too dark.

Then they "spy"-ed on their sister and her friends. LOL {See Glory in the tree??}

Fireworks were awesome! Fun night!

Lewis & Clark Caverns

Brett had the day off so we took the family and headed down to check out the Lewis & Clark Caverns.
We have been meaning to make it there since we moved to Helena. Victoria actually missed her class field trip to them this last month because of our "Trek to the Temple" so we promised her that we would get there soon.


<< This picture is a model of the caverns inside the mountain behind the kids in the picture shown below. You start at an entrance up at the top and wind your way through them until you get to the bottom.

It was sooo HOT today!!! But we braved the hike up the mountain to the cave entrance. Because of a miscommunication, we only brought one water bottle on the hike so the kids and I thought we might DIE before we made it to the entrance. ;)

The caverns were pretty amazing!!! It was a 2 hour guided tour. The guide showed us some awesome things and had great stories about the caverns and the stories behind it's history. It was pretty chilly inside- most of us put jackets on before we finished.

We made it! Back into the scorching heat! What a neat experience for our family! (The bottom right photo is a picture of us hiking back down. The Visitor Center is that tiny building in the valley to the right)

Montana Capitol Tour

For Justice's Citizenship in the Nation Merit Badge, we needed to visit a historical sight. We decided to take a tour of the Montana Capitol Building. We invited a couple other Scouts to join us. It's such a beautiful building. Our tour guide knew a lot and tried to make it as interesting as he could for a bunch of little kids that were thirsty and kinda whiney. LOL Oh boy! Outings with kiddos is always an adventure!

Dishers on the Walking Mall

We took the Disher ladies up to the Walking Mall for a stroll. The kids played chess and slide down the firepole. Glory caught bugs.  We checked out the Toy Store. We walked all the way to the Library to show them the Firetower. On our way back, We made a stop at the candy shop for some chocolate and some Turkish Delight. Delicious! And we ate Big Dipper ice cream/shakes for lunch!

What a fun visit! Thanks ladies for coming all this way to spend time with us! Luv ya!

Dishers at Spring Meadow Lake

After Church, we took Becky & Josie out to Spring Meadow Lake for a picnic lunch. It was a but warm but such a beautiful day to be outdoors.

Grammy & Grandpa Randy Visit: Spring Meadow Lake

The first day Grammy & Grandpa were here- it was like Summer. We were even sunbathing on the back porch. However, the rest of the visit was more like Fall time weather! (Sorry Edette) Despite the chill in the air, we decided to share with them a walk around Spring Meadow Lake. It was so peaceful!

We spent a good chunk of our time looking for the Alphabet in nature so we could spell our last names. Here's what we found for CRUMP. Awesome!

Thanks for the visit, Grammy & Grandpa Randy! 

We love you guys! Come back soon.

Grammy & Grandpa Randy Visit: Walking Mall

We took Grammy & Grandpa to the Walking Mall. We showed them the historic statues and murals. We stopped by the Birds & Beasley shop, the Lasso the Moon Toy Store, and the Parrot Confectionery for some candy. We took them all the way to the end to show them the Helena Fire Tower.

Then we took them to dinner at the Staggering Ox. Delicious!

To the Top of Rattlesnake Hill

While Shauna was visiting, we decided to climb to the top of Rattlesnake Hill. It was a little chilly but a way fun walk/hike. It got pretty step right at the top but it was so worth the work.

Ethan & Justice celebrated being the first ones to the top! Woot! Woot! {Justice & Ethan wanted to hang out so he came with us while Liberty hung out at their house with Mikal}

There was awesome views from the top! How gorgeous!!!

To the other direction, you could see George, the sleeping Giant and our cute little home

Shay & the kiddos saw a herd of antelope down the other side so we headed that way. At the bottom of the hill, you can walk under the freeway and end up in Ethan's backyard. We made Shadow Monsters with the setting sun.

What a fun activity! Here's a view of Rattlesnake Hill from our back porch. Love the memories!

Fesitval of Trees

We took most of the family up to the Festival of Trees at the Civic Center.
The trees were quite pretty.

The music and dancing was impressive.

But the kids loved the Children's room the best. We spent tons of time in there. They made Christmas spiders, snowflakes, and gingerbread cards. They got their face painted. And we all decorated cookies. Fun times!

Our 2nd Farmer in the Dell

Our family attended the Farmer in the Dell Harvest Days again like we did last year!

This year Liberty volunteered to help at the booths with her friends, Mikal and Aimee. They had a blast!

The rest of the family came over after football. We ate lunch and went for a wagon ride.

We also picked out pumpkins and played games. It was a fun day!

Happy Fall Days! 

Symphony Under the Stars

Dig those old Mouseketeer ears out of the closet. The Magical Music of Disney is here in Helena for this year’s Symphony Under the Stars on the Carroll College lawn.

Now in its 11th year, the Symphony Under the Stars is one of Montana’s star summer attractions, drawing crowds of up to 15,000.
And this year, as a special treat for Helena’s 150th birthday, the Helena Symphony collaborated not only with the Walt Disney Company but also with guest composer Kile Smith, who is composing a work to premiere at Symphony Under the Stars.
“If you want a Disney blessed concert … it’s not easy,” said Music Director Allan R. Scott. “They allow very few Disney-sanctioned concerts.”
When they heard about the audience size and that it was the 150th anniversary of the city and the 60th anniversary of the symphony,” they jumped on it,” Scott said.
“I wanted it to span generations,” said Scott of the program he’s designed, which includes excerpts from the musical scores of “Mary Poppins,” “The Jungle Book,” “Lion King,” “Aladdin,” “Beauty & the Beast,” “Toy Story,” “Pocahontas,” “Cinderella,” “Little Mermaid” and “The Pirates of the Caribbean.”
“It’s just so great to do stuff like this and live fireworks and tuck in the premiere piece to celebrate the city’s 150th,” he said.
The 8:30 p.m. concert is free and attendees can bring their blankets, lawn chairs and picnic baskets to enjoy the summer gala. A limited number of reserved seats are available for $25 each through the Helena Symphony box office at helenasymphony.org, or by calling 442-1860.
The concert closes with a bang — with one of the state’s biggest fireworks displays, sponsored by Helena Community Credit Union.

We had heard about this event but hadn't planned very good so we figured that we'd just try it next year. However at the last minute we ran by Carroll College to see if there was any grassy area left for us. Pretty much- there WASN'T!!! But on our way back to the car we came across this little shrine hill above the grass. It turns out no one was there and it was the perfect spot to see and hear the concert. We set up chairs and blankets to mark our spot.
After dinner, we headed back up to our place and had a fabulous night under the stars. We enjoyed popcorn, music, each other and were joined by Heather, Jared & baby Hud. And even got to see the Andersons for a bit. What a fun night!

The weather & the clouds were amazing!!!

Check out this view of the crowd!!

Our spot was perfect for an unobstructed view.

They finished the night with an awesome fireworks show that was pretty much right above our heads. Crazy good!

And on the way back to our car, we got to enjoy the wildlife. Oh man! Only in Helena! ;)