Montana Trip August 6th - 11th

On the road again...this time to Florence, Montana. Collette and I enjoyed the 6 1/2 hour drive chatting and singing to the oldies stations on the radio and when they faded out, we rocked on with favorites from Collette's ipod. Heading over the mountain pass just past Salmon, we saw a big horned sheep and lots of deer on the side of the road. We wondered if we were really in Montana when we hit Darby, just south of Hamilton, because the smoke from forest fires had the area completely socked in with what looked like thick fog. You couldn't see any of the beautiful Montana mountains on either side. The kids were waiting up for us and were so excited to have us come for the whole week.
Tuesday morning we headed to Hamilton for Zadyn's physical therapy. We had a fun time playing at the park near by with Avery and Kyler while Zadyn had her session.

They loved playing with Aunt Collette, especially taking imaginary trips in the jeep!

We snuck in at the end of Zadyn's therapy session and I was impressed as I observed the interaction between Zaydn and her therapist, Holly. Zady enjoyed showing off for us as she "worked" in her swing. She is really making great progress and had a successful day.
We celebrated Zadyn's 2nd birthday on Thursday, the 9th. Alisa made her a Princess Cake, aka the traditional Barbie in the bunt pan. It turned out way cute and Zady was excited. She loved the purple and pink streamers and her special balloons, but she didn't quite know what to think about the candles to blow out. She loved all her presents and was really the "Princess" on her special day.

I loved going to school with Avery and Kyler in the afternoon. Alisa home schools them and I was very impressed with their skills. Avery read to me, I watched them do Math pages, they did art projects, and we played so many fun games together. Friday morning we went to the library for story time and learned all about panda bears. We went for a hike on a nature trial in the afternoon and then had a "reward" treat they earned for completing points from their library summer reading program. They shared the new "Charlotte's Web" movie with Grandma and Aunt Letty, we really liked it.

It was hard to leave Saturday morning, knowing that it would be a long time before we could visit again, due to distance and weather conditions of fall and winter. Avery and Kyler promised to write me letters and send art projects so that we can keep in touch. I am thankful for the blog sites so that we can stay tuned "heart to heart", too. Thanks for a great week!