Happy Monday!

Back from our vacation, unpacked and cleaned up, kids all in school- this should be a day of relaxing and blogging BUT instead...
Two phone calls from the school nurse for 2 different kids for 2 different things. Including a day full of dealing with this....

Oh man! Happy Monday!

Scones, at Last!!!

We have tried several times to get together with the Genger and Weaver Families.
We met the Gengers through football this past season. {Noah, Jenny, Jake, Clara, Cici and James} Noah was one of Justice's coaches and their son, Jake was the quarterback. I also became friends with Jenny through Crossroads (my gym). We have become quite the Zumba buddies! My three younger kids got to participate in the Wilderness Escape hosted by their church group back in October. The Genger girls do ballet with the Fife family. [small world] The two older Genger kids go to school at Montana City with our kids as well. [just not in same classes] I also had talked to Jenny about the Mama Rave and she got a huge group of friends to come. They are this amazing family!!! We just adore all of them. We've talked several times about getting together but it hasn't ever worked until now.
The Weavers [Jonathan, Emily, Makenna, Clara, Tyler and Lyric} are our neighbors across the street. We have met them a couple of times by taking treats over. They were actualy the very first people to bring us a treat and welcome us to the neighborhood.  They weren't able to come to our Block Party we had back in September. So we have been meaning to have them over forever. Such a beautiful family!
It also turns out that Jenny & Emily know each other.
We are so excited it finally worked out to get us all together. We had a fabulous time! I'm so happy to keep meeting such amazing people here in Helena!

Fairmont Vacation

We spent a week at our Fairmont Time share. I finally posted details. See our fun- a few posts back....

Fairmont Vacation: Polar Plunge

The temps dropped so badly this week but it didn't stop us from completely enjoying our Hot Spring Swim Fun! We actually swam in -4 degree weather! We are CRAZY!!! The girls and I also enjoyed the steam room each day before we got dressed.

Brett and the kids even rolled in the snow before hoping back in the pool. Silly family!

One night, we took turns trying to get the biggest icicles in each others hair. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

One of our favorite parts is the slide. During the winter season- it's only open in the evening but we had a blast. Because it was soooo cold- the steam made it nearly impossible to see anything once you made it up a couple flights of stairs. It was hilarious!

They actually cleaned the indoor pool at the beginning of the week (closed, drained and painted it) so we had to use the outdoor pool. However by the end of the week, it was back open. We had fun jumping, sitting in the hot tub, and of course, eating Tropical Sno! Our favorite!

Fun Family memories @ Fairmont!

Fairmont Vacation: Condo Fun

Soon  after we married, we got roped into one of those Timeshare presentations and ended up buying one. We paid way more than we should have but with joining the exchange program, we have definitely done some fun things and shared it with others. So not a total loss. However, after we moved here, we used our exchange to visit Fairmont Hot Springs. It's only a little over an hour from our home. After one visit, we were hooked. We even bought a week from them so we can go ever year. We hope to sell our other one and just enjoy time here instead.
We really like to visit when it's cold and possibly snowy. That way we take full advantage of the HOT Springs part of it. Our family loves it there!
Check out this shot of the resort one morning we were there. That's steam coming from the pool.

We bought a week with a two room condo. We enjoyed hanging out together- playing games, watching movies, making yummy food, popping popcorn, sipping hot cocoa, climbing trees and being together. We also LOVED swimming! But that's another post. ;)

The day we left- it snowed ALOT!!! We took advantage and played in it. Snow much fun!

Our whole family LOVES pretzels so we treated ourselves to some before we left. Poolside as well. Luv it!

Surprise Party for Bri

Allie set up a surprise dinner for Bri's birthday. (It was yesterday) Five couples met at the restaurant early to be seated before they got there. I think at first, he thought we all had gone out together & not invited them. His face was priceless. Allie made him this awesome chocolate cake and the restaurant let her bring it early so he wouldn't know. It was fun to be together and celebrate with him. Happy Birthday Brian!

10 Mile Bike Ride

For Scouts, Justice had to do a 10 mile bike ride. Brett said he would do it with Justice. We are running out of days that will be warm enough and not snowy so...
This morning, I drove Justice out to the Tubbs' house the way we thought they would do their ride. We clocked where the ten mile mark was. Then this afternoon, Brett and I loaded the bikes in the van and drove out to pick up Justice. I dropped them off at the 10 mile destination and off they went. It took them a little over and hour but they made it home. Way to go guys!

The Boys:

 Off they go:

I love this shot of the haybales on the side of the road. There's just something gorgeous about them to me!

Justice in Contacts

Brett & Justice did eye exams last month. Brett came home and informed me that he got contacts for Justice. After the fiasco we went through in teaching Liberty to put hers in- I was less than excited about our 11 year old beginning that task. But... after less than a week of practice- he's got it down. AND he loves them!!!

MBI Youth Days

Liberty had the opportunity to attend a MBI (Montana Behavioral Initiative) Youth Day in Bozeman with the SRO from her school. It's like the Student Body Officers but with a lot more students. "The purpose of MBI Youth Days is to strength communities, schools and provide opportunities to develop current and future leaders." Kris F. & I took a load of kids down after Church on Sunday. Liberty got to stay over night with some friends in a hotel. She said the two days were a little long and at times boring (they did a lot of lecturing). But they all enjoyed getting out of school for a day, doing a service project, hanging out at the hotel and enjoying a coversation with Mikal while she sleep-talked. LOL

Liberty, Aimee & Mikal

Mama Rave '14

At the end of September, my darling friend, Kris, shot out a text inviting a bunch of women to join her for a GNO opportunity- a Mama Rave. She was hoping to get a group of her "high-on-life" friends to join her for a night of dancing and fun.


Hot mamas, mama mamas and grandma mamas -- in fact, some aren’t mamas at all. These ladies just love dancing at Mama Raves. Mama Rave is a ladies-only, pop-up night club that will pop up Saturday, Nov. 1, from 8 p.m. to midnight at ExplorationWorks. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. 
Come escape with your friends and party like you're in Vegas. We provide a no-host bar, the hottest dance beats, complimentary red carpet photos and AWESOME door prizes. A great opportunity to dust off your high heels and meet your friends for a night on the town. All ladies welcome, over 21!

In preparation for the night, Kris thought it'd be fun if we had a theme for our group to feel like we belonged together. (See! Kris & I are destined to be friends. LOL) We decided on red & black with Zebra accents. So fun! I did a little searching and I came up with some awesome outfit choices. It was so fun to find things zebra-ish. Luv it!

We all met for dinner at Applebee's first. It took soooooo long to get our food and get out of there but we sure had a great time visiting with all these beautiful ladies!

Dinner made us super late but we finally made it over to Exploration Works to join the Rave. We took time to get our red carpet pictures taken. Everyone was so darling!!!

 We danced the night away! Oh we've got moves, baby! LOL It's all about the bass! ;)

Downstairs they had bean bag chairs & water for us "high-on-life" friends. What a fun night!!!!

Thanks Kris for all you did to get us all together. You are the BOMB!!! Luv ya!

Halloween Fun

I've been loving decorating for Holidays again.

After the Trunk-or Treat, the older kids went out with their friends.

Justice went home on the bus after school to hang out with Bryson.

The Allens brought him to the Trunk-or-Treat.

After those festivities- Tresa took Caleb, Bryson & Justice out Trick-or-Treating. 

Then they went back to the Allens for games.

 After the Trunk-or-Treat, Liberty went to a Haunted House with Mikayla. 

Afterwards, they met up with some other friends for trick-or-treating. 

Then went back to Jordyn's house to hang out.

Brett & I took the little girls out to do some Trick-or-Treating. It was chilly but we ran into some of our friends, the Mergenthalers and collected candy from one street before calling it a night. It was nice to chat with friends while the girls filled their bags. So fun! Then we headed home for a movie and snuggling by the fire.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

2014 Trunk-or-Treat

The three wards that go to Church in our building decided to do the annual Trunk-or-Treat together this year. I love this safe way to gather candy. Plus showing off & seeing the costumes of those you care about is a huge bonus. I love it!!!

After the trunk-or-treat candy was gone- a large group of us walked up to the Governor's House for a full-sized candy bar. What a cute group of friends. Luv them!

Stake FHE

Our Stake planned a community event for this evening. I again helped with the poster. (I think it turned out pretty cool) Plus they asked Brett & I to lead a small group discussion. Our family invited 3 non-member families. No one came this time but it was a good night to be together & a good reminder of how important families are to God's plan!

Caramel Apples

We made caramel apples tonight as a family. Yum!

Stephens Visit

We were super lucky tonight and had our friends, the Stephens, stop by on their way back to Fargo from visiting their Grandpa in Canada this last weekend. They ran a little later than they wanted to but we had dinner for them when they got here. The kids just jumped right back in like we had never been apart. Even though it was a super short visit (and Brett was out of town), we were so glad they came to see us! Miss you guys!!!

MSC Monster Mash 2014

The Montana City School throws this huge fundraiser/Halloween Party every year called the Monster Mash. It is a super big deal! And they go all out!

Check out what they did with the foyer: (Creepy Fancy!)

Every classroom made a basket for the auction tables and set up a game booth. Every game took 1 ticket to play and you won a prize at every one. The SRO (it's like the Student Body Officer group) also put on a Haunted House. It cost three tickets instead. Out in the hallway, they served a couple dinner choices for a pretty reasonable price. The kids had a good time! And the school made lots of money. Fun times!