Flathead Lake, Montana

Chris and I were invited to a (mostly) expense paid vacation to Flathead Lake, Montana, this last weekend by the owner of Farr West Outfitters, the company Chris brokers for. It was so nice to get away without the kiddies, which doesn't happen very often. (The boys stayed with Grandma and Grandpa McDowell, always a favorite for them.)

After about a ten hour drive, we finally made it. Flathead Lake is unlike anything else I have ever seen. It's a piece of heaven on earth! Our condo walked right out to the lake. The first thing we did was jump in the water before the sun set!!

The next morning we had a chartered fishing trip on Flathead Lake. It was awesome! The lake is so big that without wind there is 4-5 foot waves! You have to have a nice big boat to go out on it, which our guide had.

The fishing was fantastic! We had four poles on a couple of down riggers and by the time the guide had the 3rd or 4th pole set up, we'd have 2 or 3 of us reeling in a fish! It was just solid fishing like this for about 2 1/2 hours. The guide was running around crazy getting one pole set up, just in time to get the next pole set up.

We caught some nice fish, a lake trout called Mackinaw, or Mack for short. Between 4 of us, we pulled in around 30 fish, maybe a little more. The largest fish was about 35 inches, caught by Dave, the owner of Farr West Outfitters. Christina caught a 34in fish weiging around 18lbs. Most of the fish were about 8-14lbs and they fought pretty hard. Chris's last fish gave him a pretty big fight!

I didn't dare take my camera out onto the boat because I was worried about it getting wet, so we just have a couple of pictures of Chris on shore. Although, Dave has some pictures I'm waiting for him to e-mail, so I'm sure I'll have another post soon with all the rest of the pictures.

After fishing, I needed some time to settle my stomach, so we opted to take a quiet afternoon napping and picking fresh cherries. All along the lake are endless places to buy and pick cherries. We found a really friendly place that just happened to win best tasting cherries of the year, for the area! They were only $1 a pound!! We loaded up!

We, also, enjoyed walking around the town of Big Fork. There was just one little street with all kinds of art galleries. There were some interesting things and cute little buildings.
The next day was probably my favorite. We went white water rafting down Flathead River. It was wild!! Oh it was such a rush and so crazy! We had so much fun. Chris and I were the pace setters for the raft (we went on a paddle raft). That means we were the ones in the very front, the ones that got pounded in the face with water, over every rapid.

We had a great guide, who taught us what we needed to know. After the first set of rapids (and not doing so well) he gave us all a lecture about what would happen if we didn't do what we were supposed to do and in the lecture he said, "You have to get aggresive with the water! Don't be scared of it!" So I just kept thinking, "BE AGGRESSIVE! BE AGGRESSIVE!" and then I'd paddle like crazy!

I got knocked off into the middle of the boat once or twice, got a few mouth fulls of water, but it was way, way awesome!! Our last rappid was called The Buffalo. It was about a 15 foot drop, straight down! When the boat peeked the top, Chris and I just looked down and saw this big drop and then huge rapids at the bottom. It was slightly intimidating, but so worth it!

We have a great picture that the raft guide took for us. We wont get it for about 2-3 weeks though, so I'll have to wait to post it.

Later that day, Chris and I decided to split by ourselves and head home. We took it slow through Swan Valley, just outside of Flathead. Chris and I both agreed it was the most beautiful place we'd ever been to. The pictures just don't do it justice! You have to go there to truly appreciate it's beauty.

That night we ended up in a private cabin on the side of a highway, about an hour outside of Missoula, Montana. It was a nice little place with friendly people. We asked the owners if they knew much about Utah and they just said, "It's flat and there's Mormons, not as nice as here." lol!

The next day we were pretty tired of driving, but we headed out in full force, hoping to get home. We didn't hardly stop, but we did manage to get this great picture and to stop in Spencer, Idaho, to check out the Opal Capital of America (and to buy Landon some opals).

After a very short visit with my sister, Victoria, at a gas station in Pocatello, Idaho, we headed over to Lava Hot Springs, Idaho for the night. We went to one of the oldest hotels in Lava, built in 1918, but it had been fully renovated just before we got there. Our room still had that "new" smell and the sheets still had the fold lines from coming out of a new packet. We were the first people to use the new room.

Chris "charmed" all the old ladies at the check in desk. He had them all giggling and laughing. What a flirt! lol. They must have liked him because they gave him free tickets to the World Famous Hot Pools. So, we headed to the pools that night. It was nice to relax and stretch our legs after such a long drive home.

And finally that brings us to today. We woke up at about 5:45am and headed out to pick our boys up in Evanston, Wyoming. The trip was great, but the best part was seeing the smiles on the boy's faces when we went to pick them up! What sweeties they are.

My Birthday

Chris made my birthday so fabulous, I just had to share!
After sleeping in until like 8:30, we all headed over to The Oaks for breakfast. My mom met us there. If you haven't been to The Oaks you are missing out! They have the best breakfasts around and it is in such a beautiful location, in the Ogden Canyon right next to the river. They have outdoor seating just literally right at the water's edge.
Later that afternoon Chris had arranged for my friend to give me a massage. She's wonderful!!! She used to be a massage therapist instructor, so she knows just about everything! And the best part, is she's one of my good friends so we got to chat girl talk.
After that, Landon stayed at my friend's house for his 1st sleep over! Korbin came with Chris and I and we went to eat at Ruby River. YUM!
Then, we headed home and Chris had arranged for a babysitter to come over and watch Korbin, so that he and I could go for a horse ride.
So, we loaded up Kayden and Eden and headed over to the Middle Fork. It was a lot of fun, although, we didn't make it very far. Eden is ill. We believe she has caught a bacteria from the cougar. (We didn't know she was sick when we took her out.)
She had scratches on her neck from the cougar, not deep, but some people we have talked with said that it doesn't have to be deep for her to catch an illness from him.
I actually think Eden was trying to help Thunder out and that's why she got scratched, she's really sweet that way. Anyway, I road her for a short while, until she suddenly just stopped and had a major coughing fit. When she put her head back up, she had snot running out her nose. So, I didn't want to exhaust her, so I got off and walked the rest of the way back to the truck. Which wasn't too bad.
Poor little Eden though, kept stopping and just refusing to move. She was being such a sweetie pie, but just feeling rotten! We got her down to the bottom and she was running a fever.
Anyway, it was a fantastic birthday, just the same!! We watched the Spiderwick Chronicles when we got home. And little Eden is on the mend with antibiotics.
Don't I have just an awesome husband?! I had the best birthday ever! It was so relaxing and fun. He just took care of everything!

I'm The Baby!

Yesterday all my family went over to my mom's house for dinner. My sister, Victoria, was there with her new baby. She's sooooo tiny and adorable...oh and the baby is tiny and adorable too! lol! Seriously, Victoria looked awesome!

Each time I held Bailee Korbin would cry and throw himself to the ground, until I gave Bailee back to Victoria. lol!

I little while later, I was holding Korbin and pointing to Bailee saying, "baby, baby". Korbin replied, "I baby". lol!

Korbin ADORES Jacqui's older boys, Josh and Tally. He would fuss and cry each time a "girl" picked him up, like Jacqui or Caroline, but would stretch his arms out wide each time a "guy" wanted to hold him, even the guys he didn't know very well! My boys have always loved their uncles, grandpas and boy cousins!

Pictures By My Dad

Most of the pictures we had, lately, have Kamber in them and as much as we love her, I needed some pictures with just our little family. I asked my Dad to snap a few pictures for us really quick today.

My mom said it was the most nerve racking photo shoot she's ever had to whitness...lol...it was on the edge of a great big drop, over the North Ogden Divide, but that's what makes the location soooo cool!  To top it off, my dad did a great job!

It was hard getting Landon to open his eyes, but I still think they are adorable! Even with Landon's mouth wide open...lol...that's my Landon for you and I love when personalities come through on pictures!

My family truly is amazing!

The Treehouse Museum!

Today we took all three kids to the Treehouse Museum. It was our "goodbye activity" for Kamber. (She spent the night with her new family, and then came back to us for the day, to help her transition. She will be going back to them tonight and staying.)

All the kids had soooo much fun! I usually take the boys to the Treehouse each Thursday, while Kamber visits her mom, so the know the place pretty good. When we got out of the car, Korbin realized where he was at and got very excited!!

Kamber had never been before, so she was excited to go, too. Landon was the leader and led her around everywhere!

They all had so much fun!  I always love taking them out to do fun kid activities.  I LOVE being a mommy!!!  Being a mommy to little kids is the best!!  They are at such a fun age.

I wish they'd never grow up!