All the fun times

We LOVED having family here. It was definitely worth the stress of cleaning the house for them. Our lives seem boring without them here. On Thurs night our first group arrived from Seattle. I thought my kids were asleep because I had put them to bed 2.5 hours before company arrived. It must have been like Christmas, because neither of them were asleep. So we let them out of bed to play with their cousins. We got everyone settled in to their rooms and then went to bed.

The next day we went for a walk to the school playground. It was so hot that we called home for a ride. We were lucky to be picked up by Grandma & Grandpa Lyons who had just gotten off the plane. We then went home and waited for Grandma, Grandpa & KayKay. Then we ate lunch and headed to SPLASH MONTANA. This was one thing little miss really wanted to do with everyone. We spent lots of time on the slides and in the lazy river. It was so much fun. We came home, had a BBQ in the backyard, and then went to Big Dipper for some ice cream.

I already told you what we did on Sat. in the post below. Then on Sunday we took it easy, went to church, came home and ate some dinner, and then headed up Pattee Canyon to roast a few marshmallows. The kids had fun exploring the woods and seeing all the little bugs. We really enjoyed our time with our family, and were super sad to see everyone leave on Monday morning.

Feeding baby chocolate chips

Big Dipper Ice Cream 

Hanging on the porch

Cousins goofing off (I love that they played well)

A friendly dragonfly.... and some leftover smores 

We luckily had a couple guests linger a few more days. So on Monday afternoon we headed up to Glacier National Park. We stopped in Big Fork on the way to Kalispell. Checked into our hotel, and the headed up to Whitefish. We went to the lake and played in the water for a bit, then went to a few local shops, and the to MacKenzie River Pizza. YUM! The next morning, we woke up and headed to the park. We did the going to the sun road, and hike up by the Logan's Pass Visitor center. The hike was covered in snow, and was a little tricky since we had on tennis shoes. We were able to see some mountain goats on the trail. Little Man and I headed back halfway through the trail, and the rest finished the hike. Then we regrouped, ate some lunch/dinner, and went back down the sun road. We were all tired out. The next morning, we got up again, and headed to the park. We did a few easier trails, hung out by Lake McDonald, and wandered around the village. We then headed back home in the evening.

The next day we were so tired out that we didn't do much. We went to the movie theather, the mall, and the carousel. We just hung out that night, and enjoyed the last few hours we had with family. The next morning they woke up and left on the airplane. We didn't have any more family here to hang out with.

We were so tired from late nights, and so many activities with family, that we did NOTHING the whole weekend. And just today, are getting back into our normal rountine of things.

Whitefish Lake

Train Station in Whitefish

View from the Going-to-the-Sun-Road

Traffic Jam, so it was a perfect photo-op

The Weeping Wall (a highlight for sure! where else do you get to drive through a waterfall?)

Hiking in the snow up to Hidden Lake

Hidden Lake

Jackson Glacier overlook

Silly Faces on the Trail of the Cedars

  

All of us crammed in a tree stump

Hanging out at Lake McDonald

We love family, and feel blessed to have such a big family, and so many wonderful examples. We love spending time with each and eveyone. We also were excited that we were able to go on a mini trip up to Glacier and see the beauty up there. We LOVE that place, and are so excited when we have a chance to go up there.

Baptism

I always thought it was cool that Kenny was baptized on his birthday. So months ago when we were getting ready for the little miss to be baptized, we worked it out for her to be baptized on her actual birthday. It was a neat experience:)

 We started out the day opening presents. Then we went to the farmer's market (where she had to get a drink and sit in the shade because it was too hot). We then got dressed and ready for the event. We went to the church house and discovered the men's toilet to be overflowing. (YUCK!) This delayed the program by 15 minutes, but in the end, it was just fine. It was such a sweet program, with Aunt Sari playing the piano, Grandma Lyons leading the music, and saying a prayer, and Grandma Lexie giving a great talk. We also had the Grandpas as witnesses when she was baptized, and also confirmed, along wtih Uncle Travis. It was a spiritual program, and I loved seeing how happy she was to be baptized. I was greatful that Kenny was worthy to baptize her as well.

After our princess was baptized, her and I were in the bathroom getting her dressed. A little girl was there to see her cousin be baptized, but had to use the potty real quick. She came up to our little miss and hugged her for a good minute. She wouldn't let go. After the program, her mom told me that this little girl thought my daughter was an angel. All through the program she kept saying she wanted to go sit by the angel and would point towards our little miss' direction. I thought it was so sweet.  I truly feel this little girl could feel the spirit and also little miss' sweet spirit and her purity at that moment.

After the baptism, we went to favorite local restaurant. We've always been seated quickly, but when you have a group of 13, and are there on a Sat night at prime time for dinner, you are required to wait an hour. But the food was delicious and worth the wait. We headed home for some ice cream sundaes and hanging out on the porch with the beautiful montana summer evening. It was a good day!