First weeks in Billings

Where to start....the last few weeks have been a whirlwind. We've been so busy trying to get unpacked and settled and the girls into their routines, and the world around us just won't slow down to let us do that. Josh has been very busy with his new job, and is usually away 2 or 3 nights a week in eastern Montana and North Dakota. As for me I finally counted how many weeks pregnant I am (34!) and figured I should probably go to a doctor soon and visit the hospital and - heck -  pick a name for this baby girl! But who has time for that? And in the midst of all this our hearts are with our families - especially our Mimi. We want to see her and talk with her and visit with her. Why can't life just slow down and let us tackle these things one at a time??

 

Anyways, enough rambling. It's been just over 2 weeks since we unloaded everything into our new home. It was great to see my swagger wagon again. It really felt like home when we first loaded up the kids and went on school runs into town.

We've really enjoyed it so far, and here are some of my "first impressions" of life in Montana.

 

Winters are pretty mild in Billings, Montana

On most days the temps are in the 30's and 40's. We've hardly had any snow, and when it does come, it melts by the afternoon and is never enough to even go sledding on. I'm not complaining though. As long as the sun is shining the girls want to play outside.

 

 

Our neighborhood rocks

Mostly because there are so many great families. Nearly every home in Ironwood has a playground in the backyard and a minivan in the garage. Our neighborhood alone fills up 2 school busses of elementary kids in the morning. And everyone is so nice - during our first week here 4 different neighbors came by to drop off treats and introduce themselves, and I already have 2 babysitters just a block away that I can call on. I love that.

 

Montana kids are...well...not Texan

On Lydia's first day at her new school she wore a sparkly skirt with leggings and black boots. I looked around and noticed that no one wears skirts - girls just wore jeans or snowpants to school with their snow boots or uggs. And there are definitely no big hairbows, or headbands, or accessories of any kind. But I realize that they really have to dress for being outside so much. In fact, when the kids get to school they aren't allowed in the building until the bell rings! They just wait outside with their friends even if its snowing and freezing. They also have 2 recesses during the day, and they will go outside regardless of the weather, unless it is below 0 degrees Farenheit - which is 32 degrees below freezing!! Of course the kids here have thick skin, and when the temps are in the 40's they won't even wear jackets - just a hoodie :)

 Everyone hunts

Billings is small - about 100,000 - but it has a Cabelas, and its always busy. It's Josh's favorite store, and possibly my girls' too. We were spending a day with Flat Stanley (sent to us by friends from Lydia's old school) and took some pictures of the animals inside. Every house we've been in so far has a few mounted antlers inside, and everyone has hunting stories to share. Josh is ready to hunt next fall, which makes me a little nervous because the big hunting is in western Montana, which is near Yellowstone, and it is full of bears. He doesn't seem scared though, because as he says "my gun is my bear spray.." Whatever.

 

 

Billings is very safe

Crime rates are low, and you can tell by how comfortable the locals are with their surroundings. For example, after school the kids are just let loose into the neighborhood, whereas in Texas the young kids weren't released until their parent was there to collect them. I've also seen a lot of kids left in cars while mom is inside for a quick errand. I am sometimes guilty of the same thing, but at least won't be reprimanded here.

 

Anyways, we are really enjoying our new home, but we're anxious for the temperatures to rise so we can go camping and hiking and fishing, and enjoy the great outdoors that are in our backyard. There is so much on our "to do" list for Montana, but first things first - we gotta get this baby girl here. April 6th is the date we've set with the Dr., but she may want to come sooner than that to see Montana ;)



Babymoon and a Birthday in San Antonio

 It's been a busy month, but with all that's been going on we were determined to go on our "babymoon" - a nice romantic trip for Josh and I before the baby comes. We briefly talked about going to New York, but at this time of year there is no better place to be than the great state of Texas. So for my birthday/babymoon we headed to San Antonio, our favorite Texas city.

It was so lovely it almost makes me angry that we are leaving this gorgeous weather. It was sunny and in the 70's the entire trip, we were hardly indoors. We walked along the riverwalk every afternoon for lunch, and came back in the evenings for a late dinner and to "people-watch" as all the night clubs opened up. I desperately wanted to feel young and pretend that we were going clubbing too, but then I look at my giant belly and realize I'm a mother of 4 and I wouldn't look very sexy trying to dance while I'm obviously knocked up.

The Riverwalk was busier than usual this weekend with graduates from the Air Force base in San Antonio. Well, we're guessing it was graduation, because a lot of them had families touring the streets with them. It made us proud to see all of these young men and women so happy and proud to be serving their country.

We have been to San Antonio many times, but haven't experienced many of the"tourist" attractions there, other than Sea World. This time we took a tour through Tousseaud's Wax Museum and Ripley's Believe It Or Not museum. They were both a little...creepy...but definitely a unique experience.

 

(me and Beyonce, and William &Kate)

 

Josh and Lance. We still like him, even though he's a cheater ;)

Everything's bigger in Texas! For Saturday breakfast we went to Lulu's bakery for my 4 lb cinnamon roll. Since it was featured on the show Man v Food, I always want to stop there to pig out. We ate leftover cinnamon roll for most of the ride home!

 

32 years old, 3 and 1/2 kids, and 9 years of marriage. This may be our last babymoon, but we hope to take anniversary trips every January from now on. Nothin better than a weekend away with this guy :)

Sarah's trip to the temple



 

Just after Christmas, my little sister Sarah went through the Lubbock temple for the first time, for her personal endowment. We are all so proud of her for making this decision, as usually people wait until they are married or going on a mission before they go through the temple. But Sarah is different. She was more spiritually prepared than I ever was, and it was a beautiful experience for all of us who got to be there with her.

Our family - minus Chelsea who was stuck babysitting!

 

Our dear friends the Whitesides came up from Houston

 

Josh and Scouting

 

Josh has been the president of Young Men's organization in our church for the past 5 years or so, since we lived in Aberdeen. He really really enjoys it, and has developed a great relationship with these boys and the other leaders in the organization. The best part is that our church is very actively involved in the Boy Scouts of America, so Josh is a certified scout leader and gets to plan all sorts of high-adventure activities to help these boys earn their badges and get experiences that will help them achieve their Eagle.

Sometimes I want to complain about the time he spends away from home for these scouting activities, but when I pause to think about it I realize what a great person he is because of it. He strives to be better to be a good example for these boys, and he gets to do things that me and the girls wouldn't do with him. I think Heavenly Father knows that as a dad of 4 girls, this guy needs some "boy time" :)

Here are some of the activities he's been a part of while we've lived in Texas.

 

 

Fishing Trip off the Texas Gulf Coast

Four-Wheeling adventures

Canoeing at the Minnesota Boundary Waters Canoe Area

 

And lots of other camping, hiking, and outdoor adventures