Princess Party

Glory has been so excited all week to go to Gracie's Princess Birthday Party. She had a great time!

Women Skiers

Liberty's grade had their Ski Trip to the Great Divide today. Somehow she talked me into joining her. ;) Neither of us have skied before so we were a bit freaked out!!! But we decided to brave it and add it to our list of accomplishments.
After waiting for the buses to arrive and everyone to get their equipment, we started out with instructions on the Bunny Hill or as the Great divide calls it- the "Backyard". We first learned about our skis, how to put them on and take them off. Then we put one on at a time and learned to glide across the hill. Next we put them both on and learned the "pizza". That's how you stop. Very important!!! ;) Then they taught us how to use the tow rope. We first only went up half the hill and skied to the bottom. But eventually, we were going all the way to the top and skiing through cones. It was pretty awesome!! We rocked the Backyard!!

Unfortunately, the Mountain Meadow Ski Lift was closed today. [That's the simplest ski trail and shorter ski lift] So, they told us we couldn't go up. BUT we had paid for a ski lift so we were a little irritated!
After lunch though, they decided they would take us up on the bigger Ski Lift. Are they crazy??? They said they would go with us up and all the way down the trail. They said that once we made it down one section, we would hook back up with the Meadow Meadow run.
OK- here we go!!
We don't care for the heights associated with the lift but we did a pretty good job getting on and off of it. Go us!

Regrettably, we barely survived the Good Luck run. [That's the Ski path we took] When we got up there the wind was blowing really bad and it started to snow. We could hardly see anything. Then we started down the hill. It was not good! Seriously... we did acrobats and tumbles ALL the way down on almost every turn we made!!! It was PAINFUL!!! We were lucky to make it down alive. Needless to say, we decided to head back to Bunny Hill.

Luckily, after awhile, we ran into a friend of Liberty's- Megan. Somehow Liberty got a dose of bravery and asked if she could go back up with her. I thought she was crazy but I let her go with instructions to Megan to not leave Liberty on the mountain. After a while, the girls came down with ALL smiles! Megan taught Liberty some tricks and she made it all the way down with not one spill. She said the weather was much better this time as well.
WHAT????
I decided to brave it one more time. [mostly so I wasn't shown up by my 12 year old daughter. LOL] I tumbled 4 times on the Good Luck run. Ouch! Very painful- by the way! But then I used Liberty's tricks and I made it the rest of the way down upright. It was very slowly but at least not face planted in the snow every 30 seconds. Wahoo!
I was done for the day- my old body had taken enough beating for one day- but Liberty ended going again several times. She loved it! I was way proud of her. Way to go, Sis!

It was a very fun, rewarding day- full of friends, snow, bravery and time together as Mother/Daughter! So great!

P.S. We stayed later than the buses so Liberty could go a couple more times. On the ride home, my left leg stiffened up. By the time we got back to Helena, I could barely walk. I think I over-exerted it. It took me a whole day before I didn't want to cry when I moved it. And Liberty's body is all achy and she pretty much looks like a raccoon from the sunburn on her face. LOL
Oh well- pains that will soon fade. But won't take away from the fun memories we made! ;)

Another Reader

Our family has been joined by an additional reader.
Glory is getting pretty good at it these days. Crazy- my baby is all grown up!!!

Science Class: Bending Water

Brett and Justice did a Science experiment today. They used static electricity from a comb and their hair to bend water. Pretty neat!

Great to be Eight!

We did lots of fun things for Victoria's eighth birthday.
She picked out tulips instead of a balloon this year. It's been fun to watch them grow. They named them all as well. ;) For gifts she got books and art supplies and a necklace. Thanks to others that sent things. She was so happy!

For fun, we did art projects, built snow forts in the Faith Lane hole, made chocolate play dough and played Capture- some of her favorite things!!!

She picked out all the food she ate for her special day. She was very excited!

When I was Seven...

When Victoria was SEVEN...
* LOVED candy!!!
* Her favorite color was Pink
* Did swimming Lessons
* Learned to mow the Lawn
* Made lots of money with a Lemonade Stand
* loved to dance with Taelyn
* Lost a LOT of teeth
* Made "Squashy" babies with Glory
* Loved Jet Skiing at the Cook Cabin with Dad and Maggie
* Moved to Montana
* Mastered the monkey bars
* Loved to be goofy with Justice
* was the Student of the Month
* Joined Choir- lots of performances
* was always styling people's hair during scripture study
* learned to Finger Knit
* Enjoyed ice skating
* was a Great Reader
* Swam in the Hot Springs
* Loved visiting Halle in UT
* was quite the Artist
* Liked to be Silly

Snow Jump & Pool Partay

Today, we took advantage of all the never-ending snow we are getting!
This morning, the kids decided to go jump into the snow on our back patio. Silly kids!

Then the Family went out to Faith Lane for a Pool ParTay this afternoon. (They all jumped into the hole of our new home since we can't do anything else there right now) We had a blast! Brrrrr!

Brett diving in

The kids jumping in up to their armpits

Ninjas

It turned out that all the younger kids by chance ended up wearing matching black outfits this morning. We call them our little Ninjas.

Sun Dog & Nose Hairs

Taking the kids to school today in the -9 degree plus some wind, freezing-my-nose-hairs weather,  I got to experience our first Helena Sun Dog. It only lasted a couple of minutes but it's so beautiful!

I managed to take a quick pic with my phone. It's not the best photo but it was gone before I got home to get my real camera.

VeggieTales Artist

Victoria is quite the artist. She always has a pad of paper and a pencil in her hand.
On Sundays, at our home- the kids like to watch VeggieTales movies. We love their messages and they are hilarious as well.
Well today, they watched all the extras on one of the DVDs.
One of the extras included a Draw Your Own Veggie section. Victoria spent an hour watching it, pausing it every few seconds and making herself a masterpiece.
She's pretty amazing!!!!!

By the VeggieTales Artist on the TV

By the VeggieTales Artist at home

Here's Your Sign

P.S. The weather, snow and no movement on the building of our home has made me crabby, sad and a little irritated with God. I just want a sign that things are going to work out.
I had to laugh today when I went into Relief Society. This was on the board:

What's that supposed to mean???????
I'm supposed to move to Lincoln?
or maybe....
Be grateful for what I have??

As much as I appreciate the signs I am receiving lately- Could You be a little more specific? LOL

Lincoln Branch Adventure

From Helena (A) to the Lincoln Branch (B)

Our family had the opportunity to help out in a small branch in Lincoln, MT today.

Lincoln Branch -Helena Montana Stake
1349 Lone Point Dr
LINCOLN, MONTANA 59639
UNITED STATES

First Meeting: 10:00 AM
Sacrament Worship Service: 10:00 AM
Branch President James Bosshardt
+1 406-362-4602

The Lincoln Branch is pretty small. I think they had 26 people in attendance today. That included the 6 of us, 2 missionaries, and 3 or 4 men from Stake callings. Our Stake Leaders try to help them out by asking for volunteers from other wards to travel out there and speak a couple times a month. That way the members from Lincoln aren't speaking every week. Our Bishop asked our family if we would be willing to do the Sacrament talks today.
Lincoln is a little over an hour away from our home in Helena. [It took us 90  minutes in the snowy weather this morning] The kids don't particularly love early mornings or speaking but we all got up and went anyways. I think it was an awesome experience for our family!
The Lincoln Branch meets in a little home that the Church rents. The Sacrament Meetings are held in the family room. You stand in the corner and speak to 2 different rooms- one to the left and one to the right. The kitchen is right in the middle of the home so you walk through it no matter what class you go to. The Primary children (3 kids) meet in one room off the garage. It has a small room off of it in case they want to split the older kids from the younger ones. We doubled their attendance today. ;) The Young Women meet in a corner of the kitchen separated by a divider. It was Liberty, one other girl and the leader. The Relief Society sisters meet in a bedroom. It was just me and the teacher until we recruited one of the YW leaders to join us. The closet in there has been made into the Clerk's office. The other room is the Bishop's office. One of the bathrooms has a jetted tub. The garage has been insulated to be their cultural hall. They have several long tables in there for events they plan. Actually the Branch fed us lunch afterwards with the fresh bread they made together yesterday. Yum! It's actually a really fun building but so different than what we are used to.
It made me realize how very blessed we are to have such a beautiful big building in Helena and other places around the world. It was good for our kids to experience something other than what they are used to. I hope it will help us not to take for granted how blessed we are.

I wanted to share a couple neat, spiritual experiences from today that I think are note worthy:

* We were asked to speak today on “Behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass..." (Alma 37:6–7.) Each of us spoke on a completely different topic.
Glory- small and simple things that the Savior did- that I can do.
Victoria- By small and simple things, I can make my home a holy place
Justice- Small and simple things I can do to prepare for a mission
Liberty- Becoming Spiritually prepared by small and simple things.
Shay- Serving others by small and simple things
Brett- By small and simple things- great things some to pass
(Even our RS/Priesthood lesson talked about small and simple things and service. Luv it when it works out like that!)
We love how Gospel Principles can be applied in so many ways. And it really is by small and simple things that we can make the world a better place and return to live with our Father in Heaven.

* Since I was one of two students in RS, I had lots of opportunity to make comments. We were taking about how important it is to attend and serve in the Church. One of my comments was about a friend from Fargo that was having a really rough time in her life. She was in the midst of a messy divorce due to a cheating. She had 3 kids, had been a stay-at-home mom and was without a job. She felt alone and overwhelmed. She first asked to be released from her calling. Then she made an excuse to not come to Church sometimes because of sick kids or custody issues. Pretty soon her and her kids were completely inactive. Life didn't get easier because she didn't have a calling or didn't come to Church. In fact, her and the kids have really struggled emotional and spiritually. It has taken her several years before she found the courage to come back. And it's hard! I talked about how it is so much easier to just stick with it- even when it's hard and seems impossible- than to try to make up for all the things Satan can bring into our lives if we fall away from the Gospel.
My comment was just something that I felt added to the topic of the lesson but little did I know that the other sister there today is going through that EXACT same thing. It lead to me pleading for her to stay strong and stay close to the Lord. I don't know if it will make a difference but it's crazy how the Lord knew I needed to be there in that class today!!!

* The Lord was definitely looking out for us this morning. We feel like He really wanted us to be in Lincoln today. The roads getting there were a little freaky but God really watched over us. The bad storm that was supposed to hit this area last night- it waited one day before it hit. It was a small thing but we were very grateful!

Scout Chariot Races

Here in Helena, the Scouts participate in the annual Chariot Races. They met at EVMS and had a great time. (After a bit of an attitude adjustment. ;)

Justice raced with the Webelos. Their team won 2nd place. Way to go, guys! Fun times!

Scout Spaghetti Fundraiser

Our Ward had their annual Scout Spaghetti dinner tonight. It's a fundraiser for the Scouting Program and Youth activities for the year.
They had a Silent Auction, a Live Auction, a Spaghetti dinner and a Dessert Booth for 25 cents.
The Scouts were most excited about all the knifes in the auction!!!! Most of them guarded their bids the whole night. So funny!
All of my family came home with something.
Justice got a double knife set.
Brett got a fishing floaty?
Liberty got a knife as well.
Victoria and Glory got super-soft scarfs.
Shay got an awesome granite cutting board.
It was fun night to support the scouts and enjoy our friends.

Flat Stanley Visits Montana

Victoria was so excited to get a letter from her cousin, Halle. Halle's class is doing the Flat Stanley project and asked Victoria to participate. We had a fun time taking Stanley to places around town. We made up some collages of our adventures. We bought some treats for her class to share. And Victoria wrote her a letter.

We took Flat Stanley to the Last Chance Gulch Walking Mall. It has quite a history and it's a fun place to hang out.

We also took Flat Stanley up by our property. It was really windy that day so he got to experience that as well. Just over the hill we showed him The Sleeping Giant mountain.

Then we took him to the Great Northern Carousel area. It has statues of the local wildlife. Unfortunately, he got eaten by a bear. Oops! At least we got pictures of him before we lost him. LOL 

Seek the Sweet

Liberty had her New Beginnings- Seek the Sweet activity tonight. The leaders spoke about the sweetness of... life, the love of God and being a young woman. Sister Lay (the PP leader) spoke about the Personal Progress Program and the sweetness it can bring to the girls lives. Each of the girls shared about a different value. Then they introduced the Beehives that will be coming in this year. Followed by some fabulously sweet treats. The whole night was very sweet! ;)