We went, we saw, we
survived a week with my family!
This was the
first time the girls had ever been on an airplane. I don't like flying. Sydney felt pretty sick during take off, but once we reached our cruising altitude and got some snacks and a soda she was just fine.
On the way to Montana we had a female pilot, the girls thought that was pretty cool. We also had an amazing flight attendant named Kim with us. If you ever fly
Allegiant Air and see a brown haired lady named Kim passing out snacks, tell her we said Hi. The girls also got these super cool certificates and gold wings for it being their first time flying.
Once we got off the plane it was time to meet
Uncle James. Then it was off to Conrad to see the rest of his family. It was a beautiful drive.
This is his back yard. Everyone has
grassy yards and the air smells
soooo good.
Then it was time to meet our newest cousin.
James Mason Stanley. What a cutie! He was such a good baby. Tammy was very nice to let me hold him as much as I did. I loved every m
inute of it. I was such a baby hog but I couldn't help my self.
Tammy was
amazing. Never skipped a beat. She cooked us amazing food every day, had a new baby, tons of family staying in her house, and it was no big deal. Seriously, she was a super mom!
The girls loved playing with
Araya too. Since mom was always holding Mason they had to find a new friend to play with.
Araya is so cute and sneaky. She loved to drink
any one's drink but her own milk. I love the way she got so excited when she saw James. She would wake up in the morning or from a nap and you would hear her walking around saying Hi to all of us. She was so much fun. I loved snuggling and loving her. Who knew you could have so much fun with a 2 year old.
Anytime you said
"Say Cheese", this is the face you would get.
Araya made me laugh so much. Uncle Will was a great babysitter and
Araya kept us all on our toes!
I couldn't get enough of these kids. I don't remember my kids being so much fun when they were this little. I know I wasn't as happy or as organized when I had a
two week old and a two year old!
James took us on a couple of drives during the week. There was so much to see. The scenery was amazing and green! We couldn't get enough of the cool weather and all the wildlife. Everywhere you looked there was
beauty.
On this truck ride Sydney was a little too tired and cold to get out of the truck for a picture. Like I said
BEAUTIFUL! 
On the way home we ran into some sprinkles and then a complete
DOUBLE rainbow popped out. It was the coolest thing I've seen. We were all glued to our windows.
Almost every night we played games and had Snack Time! This is how the
Grandpa's lived it up at the party....
and here is the rest of us.
Party time! 
I didn't realize how much I missed hanging out with my
brothers until this trip. I had such a good time. It made me really miss the times when we would all get together and play games at mom's house. This was one trip I wish could have lasted longer. We had such a good time, I was sorry to see it end. I bawled like a baby when James left the airport after dropping us off. I really miss him and his family. Thanks for everything guys! We love you.
Araya was always the
life of the party!
The girls loved being outside with
Precious and throwing the ball to her. She was a very smart and
lovable dog. She'll be greatly missed.
This is James back yard. He has grass out front and back without even trying to get it to grow.
Grass is everywhere! We loved being outside in the cool weather and having grass to play in.
We took daily
walks. Alex snapped this picture on one of our walks. We love you
Araya!
My girls were outside a lot. If I couldn't find them, all I had to do was look
outside and there they would be.
Why a picture of a clock you say? It's almost
9 o'clock at night. Should be dark right?
This is what it looked like at 9 o'clock at night in Conrad Montana.
CRAZY! We ate dinner late, worked outside later, played late. Come ten o'clock when it was time for bed you could still play outside. This was the biggest
adjustment we had to make. Then come 5 o'clock in the morning the sun was already back up and waiting on us to get out of bed.
Alex and Sydney loved the truck rides we took. I don't think they saw much of the scenery but they had a
good time.
BEAUTIFUL! 
We saw mountain goats, among other things, on one of our drives. You can't see them in this picture. Will was looking at them, they were
WAY up on the side of a mountain.
We were watching a
mountain goat drink from the river when something scared it off. Then we saw the water rafters. Can you see their blue raft?
It was a lot of
fun to spend time
with the girls and my family for week.
Will was a real trooper for hanging out with all of us and his
nieces and nephew for so long without complaining. My girls love their
Uncle Will.
Sydney standing out on a rock being Sydney.
Ms. Nature herself! 
We were all a little
sad to say
goodbye to
Araya and the rest of the family. I want to go back again sometime in the near future!
Sydney loved
Mason, she wasn't the baby hog like her mom and sister. She held him for a few minutes the last day we were there. That was enough for her.
Then off to the airport to come back to Arizona and it's dry heat. We arrived early like we were
supposed too. Then we find out our plane has been
delayed a couple of hours. The nice people of
Allegiant Air played games with the crowd, gave away
Walmart gift cards (I won one), and served soft drinks to all of us to help pass the time. We had an excellent flight home. Kim (the flight attendant from before) was on our flight on the way home as well. She sat by the kids and asked them all about their trip. She was great! The trip was memeroble. Now it's time to do mountains of laundry.
I LOVE SUMMER VACATIONS!
This was the first year we had been to Whoop up days. My parents went last year. People from all over go to Conrad Montana for this event. There's a parade, a rodeo, mud trucks, rhubarb festival and lots of vendors selling things.
Tammy's next door neighbor came over and asked if the kids wanted to be in the kid parade. Of course they did. The neighbor supplied the costumes and off we went!
Araya was the cutest little lion I've ever seen!
I tell ya, Montana sure knows it's farm equipment. We're use to seeing big mining trucks, fire engines, and police cars.
Here it's all about the farm! The parade lasted over an hour. It was amazing. The best parade we've ever seen. There was a huge variety of floats. tons to look at. The kids made a pretty big haul of parade candy too!
Then it was off to the rodeo grounds. I can't tell you the last time I went to a rodeo. Probably for Butterfield Stage Days in Benson when I was in high School. This rodeo was awesome.
The wind was blowing but it didn't spoil the day. We all went home a little sunburned
Z-MAN rocked. This is one of the coolest rodeo clowns I've seen. He was so funny and entertaining. He's in james ward too. What a hoot!
The rodeo clowns stole the show. Not one of the bull riders were able to ride for 8 seconds, but man could the clowns keep us entertained for hours!
I don't have pictures of it but Sydney got to ride a sheep in the Mutton Busting competition. Both girls were signed up to do it but when it came time for us to go there was only one sheep left. There was a long line of kids behind us too that didn't get the chance to ride. The little girl just before us fell off the sheep and hit her nose on the ground. There was quite a bit of blood from her bloody nose so Alex very quickly decided that Sydney could have the last sheep. They got a shirt for participating. After a day out in the wind in sun, we were all ready to get home and shower and take naps. This made the trip memorable. I think we're going to try to make it an annual visit. WHOOP UP!
