Montana trip

On a whim (yes, this man is changing me into a spontaneous person haha) Travis and I decided to take a quick trip to Great Falls, where he grew up.  With his new schedule that leaves his weekends free, we called his mom, checked for flights and booked them.  A whirlwind trip got us there on a Friday night with 3 full days to take in what we could and meet who I could. 

We landed at about 9pm local time and it was still light.  Talk about strange, but since they are so far north this is what it's like in the summer time.  We immediately hit one of T's favorite food spots - the Taco Treat - and had dinner with his mom.  The next morning, we were up early and ready to see the sights.  The three of us drove around the city, they showed me lots of personally important places (houses they lived in, schools they attended, etc.) and it was so much fun.  Since they'd had so much rain over the last few months, everything was so green and very wet. The Missouri River runs through the city and was so full and flooding certain parts of the city.  After a nice afternoon nap, we went out with T's good friend Jason and hit all the local night spots and had a great time!  Getting started while it's still light out felt odd, but closing time came quickly! 

The next morning (on just a few hours of sleep), we headed out to Jason's cabin about an hour out of town to meet up with his wife and kiddos.  The twins, Bree and John, are about a year older than Brenna and are precious.  They made me wish she was with us...next time she will be.  We took a drive to the nearby ski resort, where there were still patches of snow!  We had a snowball fight and took in the gorgeous setting.  We then enjoyed a beautiful hike over to Memorial Falls, it was beautful.  I wish I'd been feeling a little better (my own fault for having so much fun the night before I guess haha).  The drive back that afternoon was just as gorgeous - and a really nice time with my love.  It is so much fun to just be with him, even in a car on a long drive.  We took some more pictures of the amazing scenery and headed home.  Since it was 4th of July weekend, there were stands selling fireworks everywhere we went.  We didn't buy any, but could hear them being used all over town.  It sounded a bit like we'd imagine a war zone to sound, but fortunately, it was just fireworks.  We tried to stay up late (remember it gets dark way later there) to watch fireworks from the back patio.  We didn't quite make it - saw a few, but were so tired we just went to bed. 

The next day was more sightseeing, eating and visiting.  Some napping and enjoying the weather and each other's company as well.  Since our flight was late at night, we were able to visit with T's aunt and uncle who made us a fantastic meal and told some great stories!  As our plane took off, we could see fireworks which was very cool. 

BTW, I love all the subject matter for taking photos and I like a bunch of them (if I do say so myself).  For more, check out facebook...

June

June was an eventful month that FLEW by...it began with Jamie's visit and Gran's funeral all within the first week of our move to Travis' house.  So we are now officially living together - gasp!! (that was for you mom) and we are so happy.  Although it was a rough transition time with so much going on in both of our lives (funerals, job changes, etc.) it really made our relationship stronger.  Travis is by far the most fabulous man that I could've ended up with.  He has been an amazing support through this and has made me so proud dealing with some major transition in his career. 

Travis and his dad helped prepare for our move in by painting Brenna's room!  They did a wonderful job and she LOVES it.  It's all girl and glittery and fits her perfectly.

During the beginning of the month, Brenna got to spend an entire week in Show Low with Grandma and Papaw - she was soooo excited to go without me.  I think she thought that she'd be able to get away with all kinds of stuff and that she'd get anything she wanted.  Well, I think she was right :)  She had a great time and although they were worn out from all her 5 year old energy, I think they had a great time too. 

Brenna also began attending a new daycare summer program following our move.  It is located in the school that she will attend this fall and so far, she seems to like it.  With a crazy busy summer, she's only going to attend a couple of weeks before school starts, but it's a good introduction to the location and some of the kids will at least be familiar faces when 1st grade begins. 

Brenna spent Father's Day with Justin, but got a special card and gift for Travis too.  He has truly become a father figure to her, and especially now that we all live together.  The two of them have formed a special bond and share some fun times together.

May

As usual, I'm behind on the blogging...but since I want to keep a record of this, here we go:

• Brenna grew leaps and bounds in swimming lessons, even in the short time she was enrolled before we moved.  She now literally leaps into the pool when she has the opportunity.  But, she knows her limits and stays away from the deep end.
• Brenna completed her first year of school and "graduated" from Kindergarten.  It is so hard to believe how big my baby is - and that she's FINISHED with Kindergarten.  She learned so much and it is awesome to watch her sound out words, write things out (even if they are slightly off) and just generally LEARN. 
• The end of the month was a difficult one.  On top of planning a move and finishing the school year, my Grandad was ill and had to move into a full time care center.  He ended up in the valley and my parents were here to be with him for a number of weeks.  I wasn't able to provide much support in terms of time since I was working, and because of the move I was limited in what I could offer for a place to stay as well.  It was so hard to see my family dealing with so much stress and not being able to help in the ways I wanted to.  Gran ended up in a Hospice in Mesa and I was able to visit with him on a number of occassions and will forever be grateful for that.  He passed away on May 29th.  It was much harder than I could've imagined.  Having lost my other grandparents when I was very young, he was the only one that I knew as an adult and as a result I formed a much stronger bond with him.  He was an amazing man and lived a great life.  Jamie and I gave his eulogy and I'm so glad that I decided to do it.  It was a wonderful feeling to tell everyone how much he meant to me and to show what an amazing life he lived.  I still miss him so much and even though we knew how ill he was and his passing was expected, it has been very hard to process.  I know that he is not hurting anymore and that he is with so many of his family members in heaven and that he's watching over all of us. 
• The bright spot out of the sadness at the end of the month was that Jamie and Mia got to come for the funeral.  Since I hadn't met Mia in person, I was SOO excited.  She is such a precious little nugget and I got to cuddle and love all over her for a few days.  It was wonderful.  It was also FANTASTIC to have my sissy around.  We got to have so much visiting time and she got to spend some time with Travis, which also meant so much to me.