B-Town

After we left Lander we headed to Billings for a few days. A month away is just too long for my heart. It's going to be tough when we actually move to Iowa long-term.

Anyways, we always stay busy while we are there and the first day we were there, we took Graham to Hawthorne wading pool. We got up early and were so ready to go that we got there an hour before it opened. So we went to target and walked around there for awhile. Then we headed to the pool.
Two of my absolute fave boys hanging out in the grass. Graham loves loves loves Garrett and it is totally understandable.

We would snack and then swim. Snack and then swim. 

Graham absolutely loves the pool! It was the perfect day in the sun (minus my ridiculous sunburn).

I was so happy that Elle and Graham were still in Billings when we got there because I thought I had already said goodbye to them for the summer back in Rexburg. So I was pretty happy to be able to spend a few more days will my littlest boyfriend. 

Later that afternoon we ran across town to pick up Sophie's car and to find a gift for Emmett. We walked around Toys R Us and Graham tried out all of the cars. 

Then, my dad came over and met us. Sophie is OBSESSED with Jeeps and our family friend Greg Kemmis has a jeep that he let my dad borrow for the evening. So Garrett, Elle, Graham and I hopped in and drove home. Graham LOVED it. It was so fun! 

We were singing and dancing and then next thing we know Graham had his hands up in the air. 

After dinner, Garrett went up to the golf course with Payt to hit a bucket and my dad, my mom, Sophie, and I went for like a 2 hour drive in the jeep. We were JAMMING. It was so much fun!

On Friday we went to the Zoo. It's not the absolute best zoo and my cousin refers to it as a "Nature Walk" but anything with Graham is fun. There weren't many animals out but we took advantage of the selfie stick. 

 Graham got ahold of the selfie stick and his cheesy smile is EVERYTHING. I'm so in love. He was so happy seeing himself in the camera. 

We saw a few tigers and a few bears and fed the goats! Graham loved riding in the wagon and dumping water on his head. They had gone to the zoo earlier in the year with Graham already so he already loved feeding the goats and after awhile he would do it by himself. 

 

 

Checking out the tigers with Grandma!

And the bears with Uncle Garrett!

Graham would not let go of that water bottle and he loved pouring it on his head and in-between the top picture and the bottom picture I got drenched. I will love these pics of the three of 

On Saturday the boys were in a golf tournament out at Pryor Creek. It was a scramble.. and they ended up WINNING! They shot 21 under. Garrett had the very best time! After they were done we all met out at Jim and Margies for a BBQ with everyone! It was way fun to catch up with everyone!

While the boys were golfing, my mom, Soph and I went shopping! We hit up a bunch of different places and got a little lunch at Applebees and then went and saw Finding Dory! I love spending time with these two. 

On Sunday, we went to church and then had a delicious meal, played some spike ball and spent the last little time together that we had. 

We love being in Billings and this was no exception. I love when the whole family gets to be together. See you in a couple months. 

Mount Rushmore 2016

We set out on our second cross country road trip and made our first stop at Mount Rushmore. Garrett had been before but I hadn't! It was just a little bit out of the way and was a perfect way to break up our day 1 drive of 13 hours.

We thought that because it was a Monday that it wouldn't be super busy... we were way wrong. It was swarming. But it was a nice warm day minus all the wind and trust me, there was a lot of wind. Just look at the pictures. 

 

Montana was the 41st state admitted to the Union in 1889.

Wyoming was the 44th state admitted to the Union in 1890.

After we walked through the Avenue of Flags we went and watched the short informational video and learned about how and why they were carved. Then we walked around the museum! 

A few things we learned were that the reason for doing these carvings in South Dakota was to bring tourists to the Black Hills. Which is kind of funny and smart because why else would we or anyone else ever stop in South Dakota. 

 

It was amazing that there were NO fatalities, especially due to the way they had to go up and carve them. They used dynamite to carve about 90% of it as well which is nuts! 

 

Overall it was very impressive and we highly recommend it. As we were leaving we could see how you could spend a couple days doing everything that there is to do in the Black Hills! 

Fourth of July Weekend

After we got all packed up and moved out from Rexburg we headed to Lander for the fourth of July. Saturday after we got there and Micah and her friend Devin made it down from the mountain we went to Tony’s for pizza and sat on the roof. Brought back a lot of memories because it was the first time we had sat on the roof since our “official first date.” The sun was SO bright but it was a perfect night and the gluten free pizza completely hit the spot. I love that place.

Later that night I really needed to go for a run because it had been a busy week of playing spikeball every night instead of running. So Micah, Vince and I went for a 2.5-mile run, which actually felt really good. Afterwards Vince made the best cranberry lemon smoothie while we watched Garrett and Debbie smack talk while playing Rummikub. Garrett was winning 2-1.

On Sunday we slept in, went to church where Garrett got asked approximately 50 times, “what happened to your head?” 3 times in the first 3 minutes we were there. Then we took dinner to Jim and Wendy Gibson and chatted with them for a long time.

Monday was the 4^th of July and it started at 6:00 am. Our 5k race started at 7 am so we were up and headed out around 6:40. The last time I ran a race was 2 years ago on the 4^th but I felt much more prepared this time around. Micah, her friend Devin, and Vince all ran it as well. I was SO bummed that Garrett couldn’t run it but we didn’t want sweat all up in his wound. 

Pre-race pictures: 

I had the mindset that I just wanted to finish in under 28 minutes. The whole time I was running I felt like I was dying after 2^nd street hill but my knees felt good and I just wanted to get it over with. I ended up finishing in 25 minutes and 10 seconds. I took 23^rd place out of like 500 so I was pretty pleased with myself! I was so happy to make Garrett proud especially because he couldn’t run it with me after training. I downed watermelon and water afterwards. It took awhile to catch my breath but felt good afterwards! 

 

They had a pancake breakfast with ham but I just had ham, watermelon, and a banana. We hung out there for a while and then Garrett took Micah, Devin, and I home to shower and get ready for the parade.

Post Race:

We went and met Debbie and Vince at the parade around 10! It was a good parade! Micah and Devin were in the parade riding their bikes next to the Louis Lake Lodge float where they work. This is not even being biased. They had the BEST float. It was so good and creative! We sat in the shade, didn’t get wet, and a piece of candy rolled right to me so it was a successful parade.

Then we headed over to City Park for the Buffalo BBQ. It was seriously the perfect day. We kept on saying that. Then the wind went crazy later that afternoon.

After the lunch we came back from lunch, we all kind of just hung out and chilled. We played some cards after everyone got back. Then Garrett's grandparent's all came over along with his cousin Travis for dinner. We ate and then we all went over to the Rodeo grounds and watched some of the events. 

 

Then we watched fireworks in the backyard with everyone and watched them over the valley and then we ate ice cream that hit the spot. 

The next day, we had to get Suzy fixed, Garrett had to go to the dentist, and we ran a ton of errands and got a lot done! We had a great weekend with everyone in Lander!