A Beautiful Day in Paradise?

Yesterday at school Melena's teacher announced that it was going to snow today. Then she turned to Melena and said "I'm sorry!"

Poor Melena.

We woke up this morning to snow flurries. We are just trying to figure out the weather patterns and what clothes we are supposed to be wearing. Once the temperature hits 40 degrees half the kids at school show up in shorts and flip flops. We are so confused! We are not quite sure when to expect the last snow storm. When does summer arrive?

This is the view out our front door. See all the white fuzzy looking stuff?

No it is not static nor is the picture out of focus.

It's Snow

Here is a close up view of the snow on our deck in the back of our house.

How To Top Off the Perfect Look!

Nothing completes an outfit like a butterfly.

A Beautiful Day for the Park

The snow from yesterday had completely melt by this morning so after spending a couple of hours unpacking we were finally persuaded by Camryn to go to the park. You know the one. Her favorite with rocks and swings and other things.

It's nice to know they love each other.

Just a friendly push to get them going.

Please note the contrast from yesterday's post - Green today - White yesterday!

Big White Surprise!

We woke up this morning to a winter wonderland. It is snowing today. I checked the calender and it is late April you know. Montana is full of surprises

It's A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

I think that Spring is finally here. The weather is so nice I can't believe it. Ethan even wore shorts to school today. It is supposed to be 80 degrees on Wednesday, I just might like living in Montana (for the Spring and Summer at least).
I decided to get out and walk today. There are hills with trails near where we live so I left an hour early to go on a walk before I walked over to the school to pick up Ethan and Camryn. Oh my (to borrow a phrase from Melody), There was quite a bit of up and down terrain and quite a bit of huffing and puffing on my part. There just aren't hills like these in Florida. It takes a little more work to get into good walking condition here but I'll be fit before you know it if I go out walking every day.



Last week when Ethan, Camryn and I walked home from school we went through a little foresty area. All of a sudden a bunch of heads popped up and we found ourselves in the midst of a herd of deer. (It was so cool, amazing, incredible.) They blended in so well into the surroundings we didn't see them at first. The deer are so use to people, they didn't even jump up or run away. I told Camryn and Ethan to just walk quietly and not to make any loud noise or sudden movement. I didn't want to startle them into running into us. Nature up close and personal.

Heading to Billings For Stake Conference

Today we are going to Billings for Stake Conference. We left around noon so that we could get a little shopping in. We needed more paint to finish up the basement. The adult session is tonight at 7pm like every other stake conference except with us we live too far away to return home tonight and then get up in the morning to drive back to go to the regular session. So we are getting a hotel and spending the night. Apparently that is what everyone else does. We are kind of nervous though because we have to leave the children at the hotel while we attend the evening meeting. Again that is what everyone does. I know it sounds funny to say - It's what everyone does - but after much consideration we did what everyone does. We found a hotel close to the chapel so that we wouldn't feel too concerned about leaving Melena in charge. We left strict instructions not to leave the room under any circumstance. (In an emergency they could call us and we were just minutes away.) Thankfully my children are very good at obeying and everything turned out well with regards to the hotel stay. We had actually thought about not attending because of the distance and the hotel situation but then we found out that Elder Dallin H. Oaks was going to be speaking and we knew we could not miss that opportunity to see and hear an apostle speak.
It was well worth the trip. We heard several very good speakers. With very important messages. Elder Oaks' speaking companion was Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Seventy. I can't even begin to explain how spiritually fulfilling the meeting was. A few things that I learned.

1. Stand for what you believe in - it won't always be easy. No sacrifice is to great if it gives us an opportunity to show the Lord where we stand.

2. There is a God in Heaven - He knows us - He cares about us - He sent his son to us.

3. Be of good cheer. This attitude will pull us through whatever comes our way. The future is as bright as our faith.

4. When things get in our way and stop us from doing the things that we need to do. We should be like Nehemiah of the Old Testament and remember "I am doing a great work and cannot come down."

5. When we touch the temple the temple touches us.

And speaking of moaners and groaners - Some members are called to offend and they really magnify their calling. (This is a calling that I have decided that I never want to get.) I can't wait until tomorrow morning for the next session of conference.

Eye Appointment

Yesterday Kyle had an appointment with the eye doctor in Forsyth. The kids were out of school so we all decided to go to Forsyth with him. As an added bonus there was a Dairy Queen in town and my kids love blizzards. Who doesn't - right? I am constantly amazed that whenever we have to go somewhere it is always so far away and there is nothing in between the towns except for rolling hills (mountains, if you are from Florida) and herds of cows with lots of baby cows. Or as Camryn calls them pequeña vaca or bebé vaca which means small cow or baby cow. She is still keeping up her spanish.
We arrived in Forsyth after about a 45 minute drive through really pretty country side. Dropped Kyle off at the doctor and headed over to Dairy Queen - mission accomplished everyone is happy for another day. While in town we saw a large white "F" on the side of the mountain. Ethan asked what does the "F" stand for and Camryn piped up "Florida" It was really funny. We explained to her that is stood for Forsyth. In her mind an "F" could only mean Florida.

What's for Dinner

We got home from church today and found that we had had a visitor - eggs seemed to be hidden all around the house. Camryn had a field day finding eggs with Ethan's help. Melena followed them around taking pictures.

Camryn on the hunt collecting armfuls of eggs.

I think the Easter bunny left us a two year supply.

We had a really nice dinner planned for after church today to celebrate Easter. We had gone shopping yesterday to get everything we needed to make our traditional Easter meal - Ham, a potato casserole, deviled eggs, ect. As we started getting ready to make the potato casserole we realized that we had forgotten a key ingredient - sour cream. In another world - in another place we might have been tempted to break the sabbath and make a quick run to the grocery store but not here. Everything (meaning the grocery store) was closed and we didn't have to face that temptation. We laughed off our mistake and decided to have Easter dinner tomorrow night when we could get all the ingredients we needed. Instead Melena made egg salad sandwiches out of our deviled eggs and we remembered why we celebrate Easter.

Saturday's Birthday Adventure

Today, for those of you who don't know is my birthday. I won't go into the year that I was actually born in but Camryn thinks that I am 23 and that works for me. We decided to take a drive to Sheridan Wyoming (a town of about 16,000 people). Why you may ask? Because there is a Walmart. (I'm becoming a believer.)
It is also a touristy town and we thought it would be a fun scenic drive. It is just about 100 miles away from Colstrip. We drove through the town of Lame Deer (gotta love that name) and Busby on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation. We saw plenty of deer, antelope, turkeys, pheasants, cows, horses and an Alpaca farm. Every time we saw a different animal the kids had to shout out a phrase. For antelope the phrase was - "You can't elope with an antelope." When we saw the alpaca they shouted - "Alpacas will steal your heart." What an adventure. It was pretty silly but it kept them occupied on the way down and back home again.
We drove to the Big Horn Mountains and saw actual snowmobiling snow and real mountains.





We drove up the mountain as far as the road would take us. The sign says "Road Closed to all motorized vehicles except for snowmobiles and ATVs." Melena snapped a couple pictures of the surrounding area. This is the deepest snow that we have seen this year. Something to look forward to next year maybe. We are still getting used to the altitude. It is a bit of a change to move from sea level to actual mountains.
We had lunch at a Mexican Restuarant and of course ate too much so we walk around the historic district of Sheridan. I tried to talk Melena into getting some western wear clothing. But she just kept shaking her head no. Doesn't she want to fit in? Actually she is perfect with or without ranch wear (as they call it).
No trip is complete without running to Walmart - this time to buy cleaning supplies. I've never been to Walmart so much. This was a really fun day spent with family. One big benefit to our move is that we are a lot closer as a family because we haven't gotten many outside interest yet to fill up our time. We are spending lots of time together. It's wonderful and the best birthday present ever.

Friday Afternoon At The Park

The kids were out of school today and Kyle had the day off from work so we decided to go exploring. This is the first really nice day we have experienced since moving to Colstrip. The weather was warm and sunny (almost Florida like except no humidity and not as hot). Colstrip has lots of little parks scattered throughout the town. Here is one that the kids really like.



This is Melena, Ethan and Camryn climbing all over this huge sandstone rock. The playground area of the park is surrounded by these rocks. They are lots of fun to climb on..

Camryn spending a day at her side job - modeling for Melena - too bad she doesn't get paid.

Ethan the power swinger


Ethan, Melena, and Camryn hanging out in the sun. Still too cold for short.


Here is the whole family except for me. Someone has to take the picture.

This is a herd of deer we see almost every night near our home. They must be taking a break. Usually they are standing up and eating. I love their big ears.

Working out at the CPRD

I got up this morning and decided I had to get back to my habit of going to the gym again. I had been doing so well in Florida. Six months straight of working out on the treadmill at the Y at least twice a week(usually more) with my workout buddy Kristen. Now here I am in Montana with no workout buddy. It really is hard to get motivated. But I did it. I got up this morning and took the kids to school and ran down to the CPRD (Colstrip Parks and Recreation District) or the gym. Its a little more wordy than saying the Y but it is essentially the same thing. The big bonus is that if you are a resident of Colstrip you can use it for free. Whoohoo! It has a cardio room, weight room, all sorts of aerobic type classes, and an outdoor swimming pool with an amazing water slide(the kids can't wait until summer).
Anyway, I did my 60 minute workout on the treadmill and I feel great. One day down and the rest of my life to follow.

Shopping Run to Billings

We got up Saturday morning and decided we needed to make a shopping run to Billings. This is a first for us. We have always lived in an area where you could get pretty much anything right at your finger tips. Not so here in Colstrip. We have a smallish grocery store, an Ace Hardware (that sell fabric. Have you ever heard of that?), a Subway and a video store. Everybody shops in Billings (120 miles away) or there is a Walmart in Miles City (80 miles away) and best of all there is a variety resturants. Anyway we left the house at about 10am - it was snowing- in April and headed for the big city. We had a mission to complete.
First stop: TARGET - looking for winter type clothes because it is still winter out here. Melena got some long sleeve shirts.
Second stop: Lunch at Fuddruckers because by the time we got to Billings it was lunch time and we were hungry after shopping at Target.
Third stop: LOWES - Buying paint for the house because we are painting the basement as the workmen get it ready for us.
Fourth stop: WALMART - My idea of hell - to crowded and crazy but you can't beat the prices and we had to stock up on food until our next run to Billings.
Fifth stop: BEST BUY - because I forgot to look for a vacuum at Target or Walmart and I wasn't going back to either store. I found a nice little canister vac. and was made happy.
Sixth and final stop: COSTCO - We need our food in bulk - Think 2 weeks before we get back to Billings. We also found Melena a nice winter jacket. That was a lucky find because all the spring and summer clothes are in stock now.
By the time we were done shopping we just wanted to get home and remember we took all the kids with us. You know what happens when kids get tired of shopping - they start touching and annoying each other and that in turn annoys their mom and dad and then we are sorry that we brought them with us and then we remember that we live 2 hours from Billings and there is no way we are leaving our kids home alone and be that far away from them without a responsible adult babysitting but we are too new to town to know any adults well enough to leave are kids with them and then what is we got in an accident, or snowed in or something. Oh no the kids are shopping with us and so we suffer through our first shopping run to Billings. Thankfully its a once or twice a month occurrence. (Hopefully).

Welcome to Montana

We have been in Montana for almost 2 weeks. We are moved into our home and have finally got Internet service. We are kind of remote so we had to find an Internet provider that serviced our area. Then it took them awhile to get out here and set us up and then it took 2 days to complete the job.
We are living in the upstairs of our house while we wait for the workmen to get the basement completed. We thought that they would be done before the kids and I arrived but that was wishful thinking. It is very messy and disorganized and we have dust everywhere and we can't put very many things away because we can't use the basement yet. Melena and Camryn are sharing a room now (the guest room) and Ethan (lucky boy) has a room (my craft area) to himself. Hopefully they will be finished soon.
Everybody is set up in school. Ethan and Camryn go to Pine Butte Elementary. It is close to where we live. They could walk to school but the weather has been kind of bad lately. They really like there teachers and have made lots of new friends. Camryn already has a marriage proposal from a little boy at church but she is not interested. Melena goes to Frank Brattin Middle School and is back in Band and Spanish class. I drive her to school in the morning and she rides the bus home.
There are three schools in town, the elementary, the middle school, and the high school. The kids from all three schools ride the bus together and all three schools start and end at the same time. Wednesday when Melena got on her bus to come home she over heard two elementary school kids talking.
Kid #1 " Look its the new girl. I thinks she's Ethan cousin"
Kid#2 "No, I think its his sister"
Kid #1 turned to Melena and said "Are you Ethan's sister?"
She answered "Yes."
Apparently there is no way to be anonymous in a small town. Everybody knows who you are before you have any idea who they are.