Clayton

Rebecca and John at Home Depot, building a tool box. She was four years old here...now she'll be starting second grade.
Clayton, age 1 1/2 months. This little monkey just turned 3.
Joel, age 1 1/2 years, with Chet, who'd just turned 2. Now these boys are 4 1/2 and almost 5...time flies.

I have no new pictures at this time...my camera batteries died and I have yet to recharge them. Anyway, maybe old ones will suffice for now.

Clayton is our musical boy and is always singing. His latest favorite is an old song about Smokey the Bear. He knows almost all the words because we have it on a CD. When he sings it in his little three-year-old voice I can't help but smile. It goes like this:

'Mokey da Bear, 'Mokey da Bear. Powlin' and gowlin' and 'niffin' na air. He can find a fire, 'fore it 'tarts a 'lame! Dat's why they call 'im 'Mokey da Bear's name!

The real words are like this:

Smokey the Bear, Smokey the Bear. Prowlin' and a-growlin' and a-sniffin' the air. He can find a fire, before it starts to flame! That's why they call him Smokey, that was how he got his name!

Last night it stormed a little. The lightning was constant, just little flashes everywhere. Clayton hates storms and last night he woke up at 3:15, carried all his blankets, plus his sippy cup upstairs to our bedroom, and crawled in with us. He lays curled up next to me and says, "Cover my ears." So I put my hand over his ear, and he puts his hand firmly on top of mine for extra good muffling. Everytime I tried to move my hand, he grabbed on tighter and wouldn't let me budge it. We laid like that for 40 minutes, well after that last thunder clap. Finally he allowed me to carry him back down to his bed.

Montana or Bust!

Before you see these pictures you might want to note that there are 84 new ones for your viewing pleasure. Maybe you need to set aside a chunk of time...Sorry. I took 230 pictures in 12 days and it was really hard to narrow it down to just a few because we saw and did so much. Here's a day-by-day record of where we were, what we did, who we were with, and what we saw.

Wednesday, July 25
We started out Wednesday morning and got to Brian and Julie's house at around 4:00 p.m. They have a wonderful log house, that reminds me a lot of our Stone Lake house (it burned down when I was 9). We got to catch up with family...so fun! I hadn't seen Audrey in ages, and had never met her kids. We might get to see Shar and Sedrick a little more than usual since Sedrick's dad lives near us.
The kids enjoyed a story read by Aunt Julie

Thursday, July 26 sights

Driving through North Dakota, we didn't see too much that awed us. Mostly it's flat and tree-less. I have to admit that I thought the entire state was this way, but when we got to Valley City the landscape changed drastically...for the better. At that point and westward there actually were things that could be described as valleys--amazing! And I never knew there was such a thing as the "Painted Canyon" near Medora. That would have been neat to see, but we wanted to go about 450 miles that day so there was no time to stop. This is part of the Painted Canyon.
Entering Montana! We'd been talking about this for a year, so it was fun to actually BE there.
Whew...a little rest for him...and me!

Friday, July 27

Our kids didn't get much sleep Thursday night. Probably a combination of the excitement, a new place, and plain old getting to bed too late. The general store in Melstone Montana is a gathering place for the locals every morning. They drink coffee, read the paper and gossip.
Joel, being a cowboy, needed a red bandana to complete the look. He found what he was looking for at the Lazy JC...Melstone's general store. Had he been needing a shower caddy, he'd have found that there too. Or a can of peaches...or a lightbulb...
This is Melstone's Main Street. I have never in my life seen a town quite like this one. Population, 82 or thereabouts.
A real cowboy!

One of our little cowboys

I love this picture.

Montana State Fair, Friday night

We happened to be in Great Falls on the night their state fair started. We went to see what it was all about with Jim and Nichole. When we got there we saw this sign...they must have known we were coming, or something. I had to laugh. What crowd?
A sand sculpture
Afterwards there were awesome fireworks. For a small fair, they sure had a grand display.

Wipe your brow, take a cold drink

Saturday, July 28
It was hot in Great Falls. According to this thermometer it was 104 degrees in the shade. The kids took a dip in the pool. I sat on a lawn chair, poolside, with my feet in the water.
For extra relief we sat in Jerry and Brina's rented, air-conditioned (for "only" $2/hour!) RV

Sunday, July 29

The girls...Heather, Rebecca, Jaina, Emily, and Leanne The families
The shoes
The triplets and their "triplets"--the little boys were born within 4 months of each other.
Did I mention that it was hot?

Common "out West" things

Windmills Abandoned buildings
Oil derricks

On the road again...

We left Great Falls and headed North and West to Glacier National Park, along with Brina and Jerry and their kids. The plan was to stay in West Glacier, the town, but due to wildfires to road to there was closed. Instead we went to St. Mary, MT and spent the night there. Smoke from the wildfires
A cow, on the wrong side of the fence. In Wyoming we saw signs that said "Open Range/Loose Stock" and "Wildlife at Large." Wow, where we're from all we have to worry about is the deer...out West you might hit a cow, or even a buffalo?
In St. Mary we toured this neat teepee. I don't know if I spelled that right. Anyway, I thought it was such a unique sight but as we travelled south through Montana and then into Wyoming I realized that everywhere you looked was another one. After awhile it's not such an original thing.
Indian , Canadian, Montana and American flags

Glacier National Park

Monday, July 30 We didn't see even one bear...it was a bit of a disappointment after all these signs warning us about them.
We followed Jerry and Brina's motor home
When we saw this red tour bus we had to stop and get our picture next to it. They are old buses that have been refurbished by Ford...they look like they'd be fun to ride in. Unfortunately, you have to pay for these tours.

While we were eating our lunch we were visited by this little deer. When a large crowd gathered to take her picture she got the headlights look. Or maybe it was because she saw Joel's gun..."Hey, where's Sacajewea when we need her? And why is her name so hard to spell?"
The tour bus Jer's family got on. These yellow buses are free and go up and down the mountain. It's especially helpful for those who, like in Jer and Brina's case, have an RV longer than 21 feet that can't go past a certain point.

Jer and Brina and their kids. This cute couple recently celebrated their 15th anniversary. It was on August 8th, to be exact. And here we are. It was very sunny, and hard to squint into the brightness.
Clayton and John on the way up.
Aaaaaaah. Our hot little toes found cooling relief in this icy stream.
Hey...someone's getting a free ride. And Brina's going the wrong way...
It was a beautiful day...sunny, 77 degrees, cloudless...we couldn't have ordered a nicer day. Unfortunately we didn't know we'd be hiking six miles, or we'd have applied sunscreen beforehand. I ended up with a burn, and a few thousand extra freckles. And Joel and Chet were wearing cowboy boots! Of all choices in footwear...but they were little troopers and walked the entire way on their own steam. They were amazing.

This mountain goat was not afraid of people. It was so neat to watch this one and the two others following (one just a baby). Of course, we didn't approach them because that would be foolish. They came pretty close to us and pretended we weren't there. Ooooooh! Aaaaaaaah! It's even better in person.
Happy Birthday to Clayton! Now how are we going to top this? A guy who celebrates his third birthday in Glacier National Park might not be satisfied with pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey next year...

Joel and Chet