Nine is Fine!

We got to celebrate Colter's Birthday (July 10th) at the Family Reunion! Daddy lit the candles and we all sang Happy Birthday too him. It was so fun to celebrate with Grandpa Larry and so many aunts, uncles, and cousins!

Happy Birthday Dear Colter!

Here are all the kids lined up waiting for cake and ice cream...
Ready to open presents...
Walkie Talkies are always a hit with nine year old boys...

Someone thought it would be very neat to have their own tent just like their big sister! Someone was very happy to get their very own tent for their ninth birthday!
Colter set up his tent several times over the last few weeks... outside, in the basement, and in our livingroom. But, it just hasn't worked to sleep in it yet.

So, today was his birthday celebration day with Grandma Judy and Grandpa Steve. Finally tonight he is getting to sleep outside in his tent in their backyard. It was cute to see his tent, Kyla's tent, and Grandma and Grandpa's tent all set up in their back yard tonight when we left. It's a real backyard camp-out happening! Hopefully they're all getting snuggled in right now for the night...

goodnight,
Alison

Family Reunion-July 7-10, 2011

The next portion of our trip was spent at a Family Reunion for Randy's Mom's side of the family. Grandpa Clarence is in the center of the picture above and this was 'some' of the family that attended the reunion. People came and went, so it was impossible to get everyone but this may have been the majority.

Below is pictures of our family. Everyone made it!


Auntie Aleta and Melita...
It was SO fun to be with Russ and Andrea and family and finally meet little Trevin...

It was such a special time to be together with so many that we don't see very often. Here are some more random pictures of the days...






















We also enjoyed time at the waterslide/pool, seeing Uncle Don's bees and gold panning machine, playing Foosball and ping-pong, singing and listening to beautiful music, fireworks and pit fires, good food and visits, and wonderful studies and fellowship together. Saturday evening also included birthday cake for our 9 year old! Pictures to come.

We had such a restful, enriching time together. We left on Sunday feeling like our trip was complete and we could just as well head home, but then we remembered we still had a week to go!

Where to next?
Alison

The Gates of the Mountains

On July 6th, 2011, over 200 years later, we are in the area Meriwether Lewis and his Corps of Discovery encountered so long ago. Instead of canoe's we are getting ready to board a tour boat. The boat is behind Randy and the kids to the right...
Here are the kids and I on the boat, pulling out from the docks...
...and headed into the 'gates'. Our tour guide/captain Kyle, is silhouetted in the bottom left of this picture. He was super informative and a great story-teller!
We saw many interesting limestone formations...
A naturally occurring 'monster face' ...
And a 'bridge'...
This is the place (below) where some believe Lewis and his men spent the night after entering the gates that evening of July 19th. The campground that is here now is named after John Colter, one of the members of the Corp of Discovery with Lewis and Clark. He was the first known white man to set foot in Yellowstone Park and not many in those days believed his tales of what he saw there. We were surprised to see this sign spell his name 'Coulter' as all of history records his name as 'Colter'. Maybe someone didn't use spell check!?
How neat to see Indian pictographs as we went by these rocks...
The cauliflower looking flora that we saw on these cliffs in the canyon are actually part of the rose family and they bloom with a tiny purple rose in the early spring. There is only 2 other places on the earth that they are known to grow...

We also learned about the Mann Gulch fire that occurred here in 1949. To read about this most tragic event go here. It forever changed the way fire fighters were trained to survive in a fire...
Looking back on the 'open gates'...
...and watching the gates close.

A lot has changed in 200 years. I try and imagine what Mr. Lewis and his men would have felt as they came to this part in their journey along the Missouri River. Maybe Steven Ambrose says it best in his book about the expedition, Undaunted Courage. On page 253 he writes...

Lewis led the canoes up the river. It was hard going, whether using the cord, the setting poles, or the paddles. Whenever the mountains broke back to give a view, there was to their right the disheartening sight of lofty summits all covered with snow, standing between the expedition and it's goal.

Alison

Holter Lake!

The next two nights on our trip were spent at Holter Lake, a place were Randy remembers coming when he was younger, to camp with family. He also remembers time spent fishing there with his uncle in his high-school days. It was fun to finally see it and spend some time there after hearing so much about it over the years. The days were very warm and we were lucky enough to get a site right near the swimming area!

Here is our little bathing beauty blowing bubbles (say that fast 10 times)...
A lovely swimming area...
...but the little 'bathing beauty' decided the water was much too cold! She didn't even want her feet in it. lol!
So the next day she and I stayed in the trailer in air-conditioned comfort while the rest of the crew swam.

Sleeping sweetie...

And I scrap-booked on my computer! What's not to love!
The evening was beautiful for fishing...
I can almost see his Daddy fishing here 30-some years ago. Not so much has changed...

While we camped here we also got to do something we've (Randy and I) been wanting to do for years-see The Gates of the Mountains! Coming up next...

Have a great weekend!
Alison

Bread Sticks!

We interrupt our family trip posts to bring you these...


Here's another great bread idea for my favorite bread recipe. The bread recipe it here. The bread stick directions are here. And in case you forgot, Country Kitchen Recipes is here.

Enjoy these with your soup or spaghetti like we do,
Alison

The Sleeping Giant

A few days before we left on our long awaited summer vacation trip, the kids and I headed to the library in town to check out some books and some Hank the Cow Dog CD's. One of the books we checked out was a cute story called Carolinda Clatter about a little girl named Carolinda who loved noise. One day she made too much noise and stirs a sleeping giant and she is sent to put him back to sleep. She soothes him by singing him lullabies...

This sleeping giant had been sleeping for hundreds of years. Grass grew all over him and his eyes became two ponds, his beard and the hair on his head became forests and all kinds of animals came to live in them. People came to live on him too and they said "This mountain looks just like a sleeping giant. We must be quiet and careful not to wake him." They were very careful to be quiet... but then Carolinda Clatter came along...

It was a fun, picture filled book to read.

A few days later on our trip, IMAGINE our surprise when we were driving en-route between Helena and Great Falls and Randy says, "There's the sleeping giant!" as he pointed out the window in front of us. We all looked in total disbelief out the window and this is what we saw...

We really never imagined we would see the sleeping giant on our trip! The big scary, sad giant that Carolinda had encountered so long ago!

We certainly didn't want to wake the sleeping giant so we tried to be very quiet and careful! We saw him for a few days and we traveled through and around the area and he continued to sleep on and on, happily dreaming that he's dancing with the moon...

So if you're ever heading through Montana on I-15, look up and see the Giant. Hopefully he will continue to sleep on as he has done for hundreds and hundreds of years! It is said that even Lewis and Clark looked for him as a landmark on their exploration trip across the country after hearing about him from Indian tribes further east.

If you doubt this post is true, check out this story Carolinda Clatter! by Mordicai Gerstein
and this Wikopedia information on The Sleeping Giant near Helena, Montana.

I 'nose' I've said it before but... I love it when life happens this way,
Alison