My uncle Kent, aunt Kathy and cousins Makenzi, Ryan, Marissa and Payson live in Big Timber, Montana, which is about three hours from here. Ryan was turning 12 and being ordained a deacon this weekend, and Makenzi, Ryan and Marissa were all showing and selling animals or crafts at the Sweet Grass County Fair this weekend as well. My Morgan grandparents were coming up, so we talked my parents and Hanna into coming up and we all converged at Kent and Kathy's house in Big Timber. It was a crazy, fun weekend and we had a fabulous time getting together.
Jed so excited to be going!
My grandparents got to meet Jed for the first time. I was so excited for them to see him and for him to see more family. We crammed a lot of stuff into four days, and here are the highlights. We went to see the Natural Bridge of the Boulder river--the rocks along the river are limestone and very porous, so the water seeps in all over and makes cool natural bridges.
Here the river just drops down into the ground.
I really would not want to get sucked into that!
Here's the water coming out the other side. The Forest Service has done a great job making the site really informative and accessible to everyone, and we had a fun time walking around and having a picnic. We learned that Jed loves pickles. He must take after his cousing Josef!
Not about to give that pickle up!
We laughed so hard at him--he looked like he was eating an alligator!
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I was really excited to see Kenzi, Ryan and Rissa's animals and other stuff at the fair. They are so good with their animals and the other stuff they made. Ryan did a pig named Pete this year, and Makenzi and Marissa did lambs. Ryan also made some really beautiful tables (out of wood that he found at the dump!), Marissa made a table runner and a purse and Makenzi did some really beautiful photography. We went to the fair on Friday morning to see their stuff and then back on Friday night to watch the auction.
Ryan was especially proud of Pete's hams--he squeezed them and said "Look at those hams! Aren't they great?" It was so cute!
Ryan in Pete's pen at the fairgrounds. Ryan accidentally fell asleep in Pete's pen after the sale Friday night!
Dave and Jed enjoying the arts & crafts exhibits at the fair.
Wearing Auntie Hanna's hat at the sale--what a cutie!
Kenzi and her lamb in the sale ring--don't they look great?
Ryan and Pete
Rissa and her bag. I was so mad I couldn't get a better shot of her!
Jed learned he loves red licorice. He was very loth to give it up, let me tell you!
Saturday afternoon we went tubing down the Boulder river. It was a lot faster and shallower than we were and it turned out to be a pretty harrowing, painful trip. We didn't float very far because Hanna and Rissa had a hard time staying on their shared tube, and Ryan got taken away down the river! He had to wait for us to come tramping down the riverbank to find him. It was pretty scary. And...Dave and I both lost our wedding rings! My uncle Kent was teasing us that it was a negative omen for our marriage. Hmmmm. Anyway, we thought it was pretty ironic that we both lost them in the same place. I was glad, again, that we hadn't plunked down a ton of money for a flashy diamond at this stage of the game. I am so sad at the loss of our rings, but if I'd have lost something I was still paying for, I'd be sad and mad!
After church, we managed to get a couple of family pictures while we were still all looking nice. Here's the whole gang.
All the grand- and great-grand-kids with Grandma and Grandpa.
A little four-generation shot
And our little family.
Kenzi, Ryan, Rissa and Pay fell in love with Jed immediately. They were so cute with him--they loved to play on the floor with him, watch him or help him eat, watch him take a bath, tickle his toes and much more. Pay-boy especially was taken with Jed and I think he would have been perfectly happy if we'd have left Jed there. I had so much fun watching them play together.
I love this little video--it shows how sweet they are with Jed and how much fun we had.
It was a fabulous weekend--lots of laughs, great activities and amazing food. I am so glad that Big Timber isn't too far away! And I'm so grateful for Kent and Kathy putting us up and showing us such a good time, and for the kids for letting us kick them out of their beds and teaching me about 4-H animals. It was so much fun!
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