July 2012

I have recently been reminded by a person who will remain nameless (HI MOM!), that she does not have Facebook, so she is not able to see as much of my 'daily living' as she wants to.  So she admonished me to get back to blogging!  So, because I am a happy, obedient daughter, I am doing as I am told!  Love you mom!

So, looking back, I realized that I am MONTHS behind.  Ugh.  All the way back to July.  I am terrible at this!  So, here goes!

Because of Davids' AWESOME job, we had a random Tuesday, near the end of July off of work. Paid. Yes, Pioneer Day, July 24th. To celebrate the day, we took a drive toward Red Lodge, MT and went for a hike with all the kids. We had a fun time together. And got some great pictures!

 This shot was taken right before the 'hike' began.  It was less of a hike, and more of a 'hey-come-back-here, don't-run-too-far-ahead, get-down-from-there!' kind of wandering.  But, it was nice to get out in nature with the kiddos.  David read up on the area we would be hiking, and decided, because of multiple bear-sightings, that we would bring along a gun.  We didn't get eaten, or even see a bear!  But more then half of the other hikers on the trail were packing guns too, so we didn't feel too silly.

 And, a bit of bait!  Yes, we brought our dog.  Max LOVED the trail.  And loved barking at every other dog that was also on the trail.  After this adventure, we decided that Max is not a 'hiking-dog'.  But, the kids loved having him with us...

 We took a few impromptu pictures of the kids.  They turned out pretty good.  Here's Nathan!

And Aubrey Sue!

 And Emily Jo!

 Betsy Boo!  Or is it Ann?  Yeah, Betsy Ann!

And last, but CERTAINLY not least, Jay Clay! 

The kids found an ogre head rock.  Can you see it?  Pretty cool, huh?

 Walking part of the trail.  Yes, Nathan is sporting a 'girl bag!'  He was not happy.  And two of the five kids are headed in the opposite direction.  Yes, that is about how it went.  But it was fun!  We really liked the trail!