Oh my word.  Over 24 hours without cell phone service or internet!  Yikes!

After we left Great Falls Sunday, which by the way, our ward building in which we were baptized is no longer.    It was too sad for me.  Anyway, after Great Falls, we made our way to the East side of Glacier and stayed in St Mary’s lodge.  We were originally slated to stay in a luxury tee-pee, but because of the bad weather, they weren’t completed yet.  So, we stayed in the Big Bear Lodge with the most amazing view out our balcony window.

Eric was in a big hurry after we got our stuff up into the room to start exploring Glacier.  I was exhausted, but we went anyway.  Was I ever glad we did.  As it turned out one of the passes were closed about 1/3 of the way in, so we weren’t going to be able to travel all the way through Glacier the next day as planned to Whitefish.  So we ended up getting out of the car a few times and taking little mini hikes to get better pictures.

Then today, we got up at a nice leisurely time and traveled around Glacier to the West side and drove as far in as possible.  There were some pretty white knuckle areas, where there was a huge drop off on one side and rock right along the other side.  It definitely should not have been a two lane road in some parts.

But the whole experience was just absolutely breathtaking.  I don’t know how you can travel through there and still doubt a divine creator.  I just can’t buy that one day it just happened to be there. 

I think by far my favorite part of Glacier was the St Mary’s side.  So much more scenic.  But on the west side you have the forest and the raging river. 

Here are some of my favorite pictures.  And hey I even got myself in some of them.  Real quick sweet Eric story first.  As I was scrolling through them on the camera, I said wow, this one isn’t a bad one with me and the girls in it with the beautiful mountains in the background.  You know what that wonderful man said to me?  He said, “It’s you that makes those mountains so beautiful.”  I about cried. 

Anyway, here are some pics:

So, we are spending the night in Whitefish, Montana and will be heading to Portland, Oregon tomorrow.  It will be nice though because we will be spending more than one night there.  So hopefully it will feel a little less like we are living out of a car.  We should have better cell phone coverage, and I know the hotels from here on out will have internet.  Yay!   

And here are the “great” falls…

They actually did seem “great”er than I remember them being when we first lived here.  Eric seems to be remembering where everything was.  Buildings still in their same spots, etc.  As for me, apparently I’ve blocked most of it out.  I remember the base, the mall, where we bought our cars, a couple of favorite restaurants, the hospital where the girls were born and where all our apartments were.  The important stuff right?

Here is the base.  Without this base and this town, there would be no “Eric and Christina”, no Jackie or Ally.  It seemed so weird to know that there was no way we would be allowed to go onto base and wander around. 

We made a stop at the mall where we spent much of our time.  One of the big highlights of Great Falls.  One of the big things to do.  It was pretty cool though that my favorite Gyro place of all time was still there.  So we all had to have gyros for lunch.  It was as good as I remember it.

While we were at the mall, we went to the jewelry store where Eric bought my wedding set and proposed to me.  I told him it sure would be great if he bought me more jewelry for old times sake.  They did clean my ring for me though.

Then came the tours of all the apartments we lived in while we were here.  Here is our very first apartment.  It was in the basement of this house.  It was a 2 bedroom, one bath apartment, and I believe we were only paying $325 a month.  It was an awesome set up for a newlywed couple with a baby on the way.

We had some friends that owned a house a few blocks away, so we decided to move into one of the apartments in their house.

But after they moved on to another base, we moved downstairs into the main part of the house and had some serious issues with their manager who lived down in the basement.  I think he was losing his mind.  He would say he could hear us stomping around in the middle of the night when in fact we were sound asleep.  It was more than we wished to endure, so we moved into this house…

This was somewhat of a downgrade for us.  Everything was newer and painted nice, but it was way smaller.  But we knew it would only be temporary and would be moving soon after Ally was born.

Speaking of the girls being born, here is the hospital where they were born.  The first breath of outside air was taken just outside these doors.  They have added on a whole additional wing to the building behind the main part of the hospital.

Then we headed on to the park that we used to walk down to with Jackie as a baby.  While there we would almost always feed the ducks too.  It seemed like the ducks were hungrier this time.  They gobbled up our whole loaf of bread in no time flat.

Afterwards we went to the scenic park where Eric’s Mom had taken our pre-wedding pictures.  Got to see the fish hatchery that is there too.  It seemed like last time we actually got to see more of the hatchery.  But the girls did have fun looking and feeding the big fish.

We’ve pretty much see the highlights of Great Falls now.  So we are back in the hotel resting and will be heading out for dinner soon.  We did drive by the nicest house in Great Falls (at least 14 years ago).  On our first date, Eric drove me up to it and told me one day he was going to have a house as nice as it.  I think he did better.  It really is kind of sad that after 12 years, so little as changed.  Sure they have a Walmart and a small waterpark.  Oh, and we were so excited about eating dinner tonight at the restaurant we had our first date at.  No longer is it a Black Angus.  Nope, it’s now a casino. 

I couldn’t believe how late Eric and the girls got back last night.  And boy were they whipped!  After the horseback riding and dropping me off at the hotel, they went to a cave, Old McDonald’s Petting Farm, Ride & Slide and back to Mt Rushmore.

I couldn’t sleep this morning, so I’m in the laundry room of the hotel doing laundry (how come that doesn’t stop during vacation) and going through the pictures.  There were almost 500 of them!  Here are the biggest highlights though…

This was taken at the Horseback Riding Ranch that we were all able to go to together:

Here is our little pony rider.  She really did have such a great time.  She looks like she belongs on there doesn’t she?

Like Missouri, South Dakota has several caves around here.  I can’t remember which one they ended up going to, but here are the girls going down into the cave:

Eric knows I’m a sucker for the typical touristy pictures and had to have taken this one just for me at Old McDonald’s Petting Farm:

It looks like they really did have a good time.  Lots of baby and small animals to pet.  Pig Races, the works.  This picture of Ally was just too sweet to not share.  I think this girl needs a horse!

Then they did this Ride & Slide deal down the road towards Mt Rushmore.  You basically take this ski lift type of chair up and then ride down on seats down the slide.  Looked really cool. 

Here is Miss Jackie:

And Miss Ally:

I’m assuming Erica must have went down the slide on Eric’s lap as I don’t see anymore pictures.

They did go back to Mt Rushmore too.  Watched all the little movies and spent money in the gift shop.  I’m so glad they did as Eric’s pictures turned out so much better.  I really like this one where he got quite a few of the flags in the shot too.

Time to get off the computer.  My laundry is almost dry and ready to be folded and tucked back into suitcases.  Then I’ll probably get everyone up in an hour or two.  Hit the hotel breakfast, load up the car and get on the road.  I’m doubting I’ll be back on today, as I’m anticipating it will be a long day of driving and many, many stops.  Not that I can imagine there being anything especially exciting to blog about after a whole day of sitting in the car.  But you never know…

Well I didn’t quite get to bed as early as I had wanted the night before we left, but it was earlier than I would have normally before a big trip like this.  And more importantly, I was rested enough to drive the entire way to Mt Rushmore. 

The girls all did very well yesterday in the car.  The excitement and the backpacks full of busy fun kept them awake and entertained for the entire ride.  I actually had fun driving.  So much that I didn’t let Eric have a turn later in the day.  The car was a dream to drive on a long road trip.

We arrived here around 9pm.  After quickly checking into our hotel, dumping our luggage and potty break, we headed straight for Mt Rushmore.  I was so excited!  It was one of my top 5 places to see in the US and I was finally seeing it!  It was rainy and dusky, but I did take pictures, and got my snow globe to add to my collection of snow globes of places we have been from this past year on.  It was absolutely amazing to see.

Driving into town last night we realized Kiera was totally right.  This really is the type of place where you need about a week to see the other attractions here.  Trying our best though, we started off the day horseback riding.  Erica wasn’t old enough, so I took her for pony rides.  The older girls and Eric had a blast.  It was a 45 minute trail ride.  And Eric got to ride the pony three times.

I’d share pictures, but my extra burst of activity and the sudden ability to relax brought on a visitor in which I haven’t seen for several months.  Sorry, I know, too much information.  So, as she is visiting with a fury, I had Eric bring me back to the hotel, and then he took the girls for the rest of day to go visit the sites that we voted on last night.  I made him promise to take lots of pictures.  I was in tears as he walked out the hotel room door with the girls though.  It totally sucks that here we are on our family vacation and I’m stuck in the hotel room.

But as I was griping about it to myself this morning, I realized although it’s not perfect timing, it is a blessing.  I have recently discovered, that buried deep down, I really do want another baby.  I want one more so bad that it just hurts to the tip of my toes when I think about it.  So I have to be back on track in the female department if we are meant to have another baby.  Heavenly Father really does know what he’s doing.

So, that’s our trip thus far.  Tomorrow we leave for Great Falls, Montana.  Where I met the love of my life.  Became a member of the church.  And the birthplace to two of my beautiful daughters.  Eric and I were thinking about places to go and where we wanted to eat while we are there.  We know we are going to church Sunday in the very first ward we were members in and were baptized in.  I suggested that we go to Black Angus (assuming it is still there), the place where Eric and I went out for our first date.  I did promise him though, I would not be ordering the Chicken Sandwich (I figured he was making the same amount of money as I was, so therefore it was probably as tight for him as it was for me, and didn’t want to be an extra expense for him).

If they get back early enough and all chaos doesn’t break out, I’ll try to post pictures tonight of Mt Rushmore and the doings of today.

My procrastination that is.  I’ve been thinking I could get everything done for the trip in less time than I thought.  I figured, part of a day for shopping/packing.  Another day for laundry/housework.  Ha!

So, as in an effort to leave the house as quiet as possible for Eric to prepare for his big Webinar tomorrow night, I took Erica to swim lessons and then after a quick stop past home for a dry change of clothes, list in hand we hit the stores.  Let’s just say, I spent the entire one of my last two days to finally begin getting ready for our three week trip shopping.  And what’s even better?  I still have more to do tomorrow. 

I have piles of shopping bags on the couch, and haven’t even gotten the suitcases down from the top of the closet.  Let’s just hope my cleaning and laundry take less time than I’m anticipating so I might be able to get everything else that still needs to be done and get some sleep tomorrow night.  Oh, and Erica has dance class and swim practice in the morning.  And I’m in desperate need of a pedicure.  I can do it all right?!

We did meet up with Eric’s parents for dinner tonight.  That way they got to see the girls one last time before we left for our big trip.  We are planning to head out to Michigan the very next weekend after we get back for his cousin’s wedding reception and a bunch of the family is going to rent RV’s and camp on the Graham farm.  I’m really looking forward to it.  And the girls are really excited as their cousin has two horses, and the girls are really looking forward to riding them.

Okay, now I’ve spent much too much time on the computer now.  I better get going as I want a really good night’s sleep tonight so I can dive headfirst into everything I HAVE to get done tomorrow.  I’m choosing to think positively now and believe I can totally get everything done and get to bed early. 

Don’t let me forget I need to pick up a set of kids headphones for Erica tomorrow.  She has really been pleased that she can tear off the foam to the headphones that came with the car, so I’m going to get her a cheapy pink pair that she can just plug into the player and will be just as happy with them.  Oh, and I need to call Meyer Music and let them know the girls won’t be back to music lessons until the end of next month, Gymboree to let them know the same for Erica.  I totally feel like I’m forgetting something.  Should grab a pad of paper and a pen and stick on my nightstand so when I wake up in the middle of the night remembering it, I can write it down.  Okay now just babbling, time to go. 

That pretty much sums up our day. 

Until today I had actually enjoyed sitting out in the hot sun watching Erica’s T-ball games.  But today we were running behind, Erica wanted her hair pulled back in two French Braided pigtails, and so the sunscreen was forgotten.  So as we watched Erica’s last T-ball game we sat there and cooked.  Well that is Jackie, Eric and I.  The other two just turned slightly brown.

In spite of the heat the kids played a pretty good game for their last game of the season.  The teams weren’t too unevenly matched.  And the little guy who normally isn’t as enthusiastic about hitting the ball and running the bases was totally in the zone today.  Erica was at the end of the line up and each kid only runs one base per hit, so she only made as far as 3rd base each time up.  It was pretty cool though when Erica went up to bat, we overheard one of the other Dad’s telling someone she was a pretty good hitter.  We of course were quite proud.

Here is our little T-ball player.  They each got medals after the game today.

Wow!  I can’t believe how much has happened since my last blog entry!  No we didn’t fall off the face of the Earth.  Let’s see, where to start…

Ally’s Birthday:  We celebrated her birthday a day early as she and Jackie left for camp on her actual birthday.  First we went to lunch at the restaurant of her choosing then went bowling.  We took all of us and Eric’s parents to Ruth’s Chris for dinner.  Ally has a very expensive palette and loves fillet Mignon, so we thought it would be a nice treat for her birthday.  It was really, really good.  We gave her, her present that she really wanted.  She said it was her best birthday ever and she was so happy she could almost cry.  Then we came home and lit a cake on fire as a formality and sang happy birthday to her.  Somehow her and Erica actually managed to choke down some cake.  The rest of us were beyond to full.

Girls Camp:  I was really looking forward to the both of the older girls getting to go to girls camp this year.  Sister Kanenwisher came over to our house bright and early to pick them up and give them a ride to camp.  Of course about half hour before she arrived, Ally got sick.  I knew it was because of the richness of the food from the night before, not to mention how much that child stashed away.  Anyway, after a hugs and kisses and after they disappeared around the corner I was actually already missing them.  Bawling I watched them through the door disappear out of site.  It felt so lonely in the house without them there.  And of course they were gone when all the storms were going on.  So of course that added to my worry even more.  But they stayed fairly dry and had such a wonderful time.  On the last day of camp they even got up and boar their testimony.  I was so proud of them.  It really is such an amazing feeling watching them grow on their own in the church.

The day after the girls left for camp, Eric hopped on a plan for Vegas for almost a week and a half for back to back seminars.  Talking about feeling so abandoned and lonely.  Erica did her best happy dances to keep up our spirits and was rewarded with an upgraded Fisher Price Loving Family dollhouse, complete with all the furniture sets available for purchase.  And I did get lots of closets and drawers and cabinets reorganized.  So that helped ease the loneliness a little.

Coco Key:  Ever since the commercial came out, Erica has been dying to go to Coco Key.  It’s the new indoor water park across the street from the ball stadiums.  So we decided that while Eric was in Vegas, we would take a break and go have some of our own fun.  Jackie at the last moment ended up deciding that because of her visit of a certain unnamed Aunt would be more comfortable staying with Grandma and Papa.  So Erica, Ally and I spent 2 nights there.  It was pretty similar to Great Wolf Lodge, but with more of a tropical look and a smaller scale. 

And finally Eric just barely flew back into town way late last night.  And our family is finally back together.  I’m noticing it’s going to take some patience to readjust.  Plus it doesn’t help that I’m feeling out of place at church right now.  I know it is where I am supposed to be, but quite a bit of the time, I feel invisible.  It actually had me in tears the other day.  I was s depressed the other day, that Erica was picking up on it and acting out and I sadly snapped at her and hurt her feelings.  I felt so horrible and scooped her up and apologized.  Her exact words were Mommy’s aren’t supposed to be that way and upon apologizing again, she told me it was okay and petted my head.  It was then I decided I needed to not let myself feel that bad again, that I needed to snap out of it and be the Mom my daughters deserve.  Yeah, I am still bumming that I am having such a hard time feeling like I fit in at church.  I expected that when the ward split that it would make that situation better as it would allow more opportunities for fellow shipping each other.

I did go to lunch with a few of my friend today, and it was exactly what I needed.  Erica and I took a much needed nap after I got home.  Then we all grabbed dinner and hit the Drive In Theatre and watched Kung Fu Panda.  It was a pretty cute movie. 

Just a few more days before we leave on our big vacation.  Of course I have done very little to get ready for it.  It’s getting to the point where I just can’t ignore it anymore and it’s all going to catch up with me and I’m going to be up all night the night before we leave scrambling to get everything together.  No.  That just wouldn’t be me.  i just need to get myself together with a printer, some suitcases and a folder and focus and I’ll be just fine. 

That now that the kids are out of school, life would slow down now.  Yeah, right!  It feels like I have been living in non-stop Crazyville since. 

Trying to look back on the last few days and figure out where they have gone, it’s hard to put my finger on it.  We’ve been grilling fools over the weekend.  I’m back to wanting to cook and eat at home more than out.  We’ve had a couple of nights where we’ve played board games.  Eric and I have finally made it up to the neighborhood fitness center and worked out (more to come on that).  Played a lot on the Wii.  Swam almost everyday possible.  T-ball game Tuesday night.  Summer clothing shopping for the girls.  Shopping for camp stuff yesterday.  ANOTHER trip to The Urgency Room!  Just crazy!

So back to the Eric and I exercising…  Not sure that is ever going to happen again.  I actually enjoyed working out.  However, it pretty much dampened me ever wanting to go back an do that, as my partner for the evening took several opportunities to call me a wimp!    Then after I finished all the weights, I hit the treadmill, and not wanting to die of a stroke, just walked it at a fast pace.  I was then told I could have just walked home after weights.  And then to top it all off, he came home and told Jackie I wimped out.  Yep, sounds like good quality couple time that I want to subject myself again to. 

The T-ball game Tuesday night was pretty exciting.  Erica was disappointed last time she played because they put her at first base, and the ball didn’t come to her much over there.  So she was pretty excited when coach put her in the pitcher’s position!  The look on her face was priceless!  She felt so big.  And she got a lot of action.  She got pretty overheated pretty fast though, because not only did she play her position but anywhere else the ball went on that field she would chase it down.  So after the game she old us she doesn’t want to play anymore because it’s too hot.  But my rule for activities is you follow through for the season/year.  Then if they don’t want to do it anymore, that’s fine, I have no problem with that.

So the trip to the Urgency Room.  Just the girls and I went out yesterday to get them summer clothes and all the things they were going to need for camp.  After a trip out to Legends we came back over to Zona Rosa.  Parked right between Old Navy and Dick’s (perfect, I wanted to hit both stores).  Put an hour’s worth of change in the meter.  Got to the corner of Old Navy, Erica ran around behind me, tripped over the back of my big feet and started crying.  Looked down at her and she had tore her big toe nail half way back.

I don’t do well with any type of injury that involves blood.  But Eric wasn’t there with us, so I didn’t have the luxury of running around like a chicken with my head cut off.  I had to remain as calm and cool as possible for Erica’s sake.  Immediately I thought of scooping her up and taking her to The Urgency Room.  It was close.  So the older girls and I pulled together as a team to get Erica what she needed.  So, Jackie grabbed my purse and keys, I scooped up my baby, and Ally called Eric, he was wanting me to just bring her home to look at it, and fix it.  And I know he was pretty capable of being able to do so, but in my gut I felt it better to take her to The Urgency Room.  So we agreed on that course of action.  Then he called me back to ask me more in depth on the wound.  I told him about it, and he suggested I push the toe nail back.  Ummm, nope think I’ll let the Doctor do that.

As soon as the receptionist took her name she took us straight back to a room.   They xray’d her foot to make sure she didn’t break anything.  The Doctor that was working ended up calling her husband and having him come in, because then he could give her the attention she needed as shots of anesthetic in the toe was going to be needed.  He was wonderful with her.  His nephew actually had a foot injury earlier in the week and was in there to get his dressing changed and with our permission he had him come in and tell Erica she would be okay and now that she had the shots in the toe it wasn’t going to hurt.  It was so sweet.  He must have been about 6 or 7.

She got her toenail cut off to the break point, got her toe wrapped up, and then was on her way.  So we went back to the scene of the crime and continued on with our errands.  She was totally fine.  And took every hair raising opportunity to prove it.  Of course this means no swimming for about a week.  And she is so sad she isn’t going to be able to go to swim lessons.  Called the instructor this morning though, and she told me she’ll just put her in the next session and hopes her toe gets to feeling better soon.

So that my friends, is the beginning of our crazy summer.  Girls leave for camp next week.  Eric leaves for Vegas for two weeks around the same time.  Then our 3 week vacation.  Then it’s about time for Summer Stars for Ally.  And then it will be time for school again!  Hold on!