farewell montanny, birthdays, slc

Monday brought the best news ever---we were assigned to leave Montana and go to SLC for a few weeks!!! After four months I thought this day would never come. I was so happy and really excited to go to SLC. Montana is beautiful but eating out every day gets old after awhile, you start to miss going to your own ward, miss seeing people you know and staying in a hotel really isn't all that after four months. So we are here in SLC now staying with Keith's Grandma and loving it. I'm excited for In and Out, Ikea, friends, family, conference, Temple Square and just being able to do more things and be around people I know. Tuesday (the day we left Montana) was my little sister Misti's birthday. I told Keith that we should just go to Rexburg and stay the night there then head to SLC on Wednesday because the trip would be shorter by about five hours if we did that instead of go home to Boise then SLC. Besides the trip being shorter that way I also wanted to surprise Misti for her b-day by showing up at her apartment and taking her out. I told her that I had a delivery for her coming that day and she needed to be home for it. So when we arrived we had Kolton (Catherine's finance) take Carson to Misti's door and tell her he had a delivery for her. Misti was confused at first and had no idea who Kolton was and why he was holding Carson, it was funny, then we all popped out too and surprised her! She was so excited and totally surprised because she didn't think we were coming. We took her out to Craigos (yes, it's Craigos to me and not Pizza Pie Cafe) for her b-day dinner and had a such a fun time. I can't believe she's 23!! I turned 23 when I was pregnant with Carson, seriously it does not feel that long ago. I'm getting too old!! I'm so happy we got to be there for Misti on her birthday! I hope it was a good one Misti! We love you. We are now here in SLC, Keith is working during the day and Carson and I hang out with Grandma. We're having fun here and excited for fun things ahead.

fall oh fall

So it's been a little while since I've updated this thing. We are still here in Montana and hoping we get to go home soon. We've been to Billings, Kalispell, Missoula, and Helena all within just over a week. It's been a lot of traveling but we've been having fun as a family experiencing it together. Keith's sister and her fiance came to visit us and we went to Glacier Nat'l Park again and this time saw two bears! Keith was pretty excited about that. We have pretty much eaten at every place in every town we've been-- man we're ready for a good home cooked meal. I can say though if you're undecided on what to order for the 2 for $20 at Applebees-- I love the fiesta lime chicken, Keith loves the shrimp pasta and we always get the honey bbq chicken wings.

I'm loving that it's fall time and everything pumpkin and halloween are hitting the stores, I gotta go shopping for Carson's Halloween costume and think of one for me. One good thing about a season ending (besides another one beginning) is the clearence sections! I've done some summer clearence shopping loading up on clothes for Carson for next year and for baby shower gifts, oh man do I love clearence sales! Seriously, go check out Target, Shopko, Macy's, K-Mart, and JcP I've gotten some stellar deals at these places within the past few weeks. Can I just say how excited I am for the cool weather, changing leaves, Halloween, pumpkins, carmel apples, corn mazes, haunted houses, Halloween movies, trick-or-treating with the lil' buddy, trunk-or-treats, and Halloween PARTAYYS!!! Oh I love love love the fall!! My absolute favorite season ever! Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and can I just say how excited I am for football season too! BSU plays BYU next week and you better believe I'm rootin' for my hometown!!!!

Glacier National Park

Yesterday we took a family trip to Glacier National Park. The park is only about 45 minutes away from the town in Montana we are currently staying. Keith has been dying to go to Glacier so we decided it was the perfect Saturday activity. When we arrived in the park they were waving cars on through because it was getting to congested and blocking intersections so we didn't have to pay the $25 fee to get in! That made the trip even better. The highlight of the trip was probably going up the going-to-the-sun road. It's the longest road ever up a mountain and it literally looks like you're driving to the sun because it keeps going up. We saw some some gorgeous views, mountains, & lakes. I gotta say that I love Yellowstone but Glacier is BEAUTIFUL! I guess both parks have their own beauty. We saw some animals but not a ton because we were out during the heat of the day and that's when the animals are hiding to escape the heat. It was an awesome trip and I'm so glad we were so close to be able to experience this beauty!

Lake McDonald

McDonald Falls

Not gonna lie this made me a little nervous

Lovin' the view

You could rent these cute long cars to drive the going-to-the-sun road

Mountain goats!

The boy who lived....

Seven years ago today my love fell off a 40 ft. cliff onto rocks and LIVED! Now who can say they've survived that?? Doctors told him they didn't know if he'd be able to walk, run or enjoy things like he used to, but he beat the odds and proved that he can do those things. I'm so blessed to have met him and am so thankful to the Lord that he survived that fall so he could come into my life and make me truly happy. I'm grateful that I also have Carson because of him. I know miracles happen, my husband is proof.

Lake Time

It was a hot day, we grabbed our suits, got in the truck and headed to the lake for some summer fun. One of my favorite things about summer is going to the lake. Growing up in Idaho means swimming in lakes or pools, no beach here. Sometimes I wish we lived near a beach and think Keith's parents live in the ideal spot in Jersey, not too far from the shore, but I love swimming in a big ol' lake too. We found a lake a few miles from the hotel we're staying at here in MT. Gotta say MT is one beautiful state.

We ended the night with applebees 2 for $20. I'm loving the fiesta lime chicken. We also watched Hunger Games. Honestly, neither of us were fans of the movie, too violent and sad, but then again we haven't read the books so we're not huge fans to begin with.

Growing Up

My little man is growing up so fast right before my eyes! It seems like he's always doing or learning something new. Here are some things he does that I love---

Waves bye-bye
Loves clapping, esp when we say "yay!"
Says hi, thank you, daddy, and mommy most frequently
Loves calling daddy and saying "hi, hi, hi, hi"
Loves playing with mommy or daddys phones and texting random people
Feeding mommy his food
Loves throwing anything in the toilet (ok I don't love this one at all but he does)
Understands me when I say, "go get your shoes," or "can you throw this away,"and will do it for me
Loves copying whatever Keith or I do- like putting lotion on his legs like mommy, shaving his legs in the shower with his hand when I do, blowing on his own food when it's hot, or brushing his teeth when mom and dad do
He loves oranges, yogurt, hashbrowns, eggs, pasta, fries (we don't get them to him often but he sure loves them), and CHERRIOS. Man he loves his cherrios.
Loves being independent when we take walks or go to the park by walking/running by himself and getting up on the slides all by himself
He loves anything and everything WATER- swimming, baths, showers, water water water
Loves napping next to daddy or mommy
Hates shopping with mommy
Is climbing up on everything and getting into everything
Thinks he's so funny when we tell him not to do something and he does it over and over
Loves giving hugs and kisses
We sure love this sweet little boy and feel so lucky to have him in our lives

He's so big! ah!

Ridin' the tire swing. Reminds me of my childhood

I just love this boy

Wasn't sure what to think of the ducks

He wasn't sure if he liked the merry-go-round

Love playin' with this little one