Fun in the Montana Sun

 In July we took a trip to Montana for a couple of days with my family.  One of my best friends from high school was getting married, so we all made the trek to Chico Hot Springs, in Montana, for the wedding weekend.  Chico is a rustic resort in beautiful Paradise Valley.  We rented a cabin that had enough rooms for the whole family:  Nana and Papa, Aunt Jess and Uncle Brandon, Cousins Cameron and Everett and the four of us.  The best part of the cabin was the fabulous deck with lots of chairs and a couple of picnic tables.  We were able to prepare our meals there and eat all together out on the deck.  The view was beautiful, including a couple of mule deer bucks who liked sleeping next to a rock formation right in the middle of our view.

We got to go swimming in the hot springs for a couple hours one day.  The water temperature was perfect.  The kids had a great time.  We couldn't believe how well Ava did, especially compared to her reaction to the pool the summer before!  Apparently her swim lessons were worth it.  She was happy to float around the pool by herself (with someone close by, of course) with a noodle.

Shannon's wedding was lovely.  She married her love under a gazebo at the resort with beautiful mountains, fields and views all around.  We had a blast dancing at the reception.  All ten of us got out there and boogied to every song, until finally the kiddos couldn't handle anymore.  The next day we packed up and headed back to Billings.

That night we had a birthday party for Everett, who turned three.  The kids all had a lot of fun opening presents and running around.

We had planned on staying another day, but Nana and Papa ended up having to fly out the next morning to Washington DC, for an important meeting with the Senate Judiciary Committee (more on that later).  So we hit the road for the long drive home.  It was a short trip, but it was a lot of fun.

Waiting for the adults to finally be ready to head to Chico.

The view from our cabin at Chico.

Exploring toddlers!  The kids loved hiking around the area.

Ava contemplating nature?

Another view from the cabin deck.

Visiting the Chico horses.  Unfortunately Ava wasn't old enough to do a trail ride.

The rocks that our buck friends liked to rest by.  We could see them clearly from our picnic tables.

Ha ha.  Getting ready for a little friendly competition:  Who can sit in the freezing creek longer?
The winner:  Papa Ernie!

Getting everyone looking at the camera at the same time is a challenge!  This was after the wedding ceremony.
Whose that guy in the background?

Attempting to get a family picture.  Sadly, this was as good as it got.
Apparently Everett wants to join the Kelleher clan.

Nana, Papa and the girls!  I love this photo.

Another failed picture attempt.  Ava refused to look at the camera.
All I wanted was a nice picture with my girls!

Ava loved dancing in the grass at cocktail hour.

One of my new favorite photos.

Back at Nana and Papa's house for the birthday party.  Cameron plays so well with "Baby June"!

Ava couldn't break away from her LeapPad to look at the camera.
Isn't Everett a cutie?!

Opening his "prizes"!

Ava and June {finally . . . hee hee} got their presents from Aunt Jess and Fam.

Aunt Jess always picks out super cute outfits for the girls!

Her other present from Aunt Jess:  A handmade tutu and headband!
Ava LOVES it and calls it her "princess dress".

Here comes the birthday cake!

Happy Birthday to Everett!

June got a tutu, also.  She was not as amused, but still super cute!

Mmm . . . ice cream cake . . . 

 Our trips to Montana are always so much fun.  We are looking forward to going back in October!

June Kay has a Birthday

On July 6th (yes, I know that was a long time ago), we celebrated the birth of our beautiful little June Kay.  I still can't believe she's as old as she is!  That first year went so quickly.  We celebrated with a party at our house.  The place was packed pretty full with friends, their kids and Grandpa and Gigi.  Birthday parties can be pretty overwhelming, but June did very well; especially considering she didn't get much of a nap beforehand!  Here are some pictures from her big day.

All ready for her big party (Except for her hair.  Nice bedhead, June!)

Smash Cake!

A pretty good haul for a one year old!

Junie and Grandpa

Junie and Gigi

It was hard to keep Ava from opening ALL of June's presents.

Good things come in small packages!

Of course, there were a few presents for big sister, too.

"Finally they give me the crown I deserve!"

"Are you sure this is okay?"

Nom nom nom.

Most of it was gone by the end!  She did pretty well!

All cleaned up, in her jammies and enjoying her new swing from Mama and Daddy!

Ava's Big Birthday Weekend

On June 25th our little Ava Marie turned three!  I can hardly believe it.  She's such a big girl anymore.  And she has been looking forward to her birthday for months.  She still doesn't totally understand the concept (she seems to think that her 'birthday' is just the part where we sing and she blows out the candle, not the whole day) . . . but she knows that it is something great and fun!

We were very fortunate to have Nana and Papa come down from Montana to spend the weekend with us.  It's always a party when Nana and Papa are around!  Papa helped Tim with building Ava's birthday present from Mom and Dad and Nana and Papa:  a new backyard playset!  They started the construction on Friday morning, but then we went out to lunch (vodka gimlets and burgers at Coopersmiths . . . YUM!) and to do some shopping and errand running and . . . ear piercing!!  In case you haven't seen the pictures yet, our little girls are pierced!  It's super cute.

On Saturday, Daddy and Papa really got busy working on the playset (after our tasty brunch of bacon, eggs and mimosas that we enjoyed on the patio).  At first we had planned to try to hide the construction of it from Ava, but you just can't keep the girl away from her Daddy, no matter what he is doing.  :)  She didn't really have any idea what it was until the basic frame was put together and they put the little door on.  Then she started referring to it as "my house" and went in and out the door about a million times while the guys continued to put it together.  They were able to finish it while she was *supposed* to be napping.  We brought her outside to see it after she got up and she was so excited!  She kept saying, "It's beautiful!" and, "It has swings . . . and a slide!"  She started swinging right away.

The framework.

Ava being a big helper.

It's beautiful!

Even Nana made a few trips down the slide!

She was a great playmate.

Eating snack on the bench by her "house"
with her new snake.  :)

Swinging with Nana.

Junie grilling with Papa later than evening.

On Sunday morning we dedicated June at our church.  Unfortunately it is really hard to take good pictures due to the lighting in our church, so I'm not posting any here.  It was a special event and we were glad to have family here to celebrate it with us.  That afternoon we had Ava's birthday party!  Things didn't time out so well; Tim's Grandpa had to have heart surgery the Wednesday before in Denver.  He was still in the ICU on Sunday and not doing that well so Grandpa and Gigi were unable to make it to the party.  Tim's Grandpa is doing very well now, though, and is back home in Grand Junction.  So it was a rather small crowd at the party, but Ava didn't mind.  Her best friend Sydney was the only kid that came who was old enough to play with her on the playset and boy did they have fun!  They ran all around until their cheeks were nice and rosy and their heads nice and sweaty.  :)  We enjoyed having the Fitzgeralds, Uncle Toby and Nana and Papa here to celebrate with us.

The party was sort of themed "Pizza Time and Cookie Dough".  Ava used to recite that phrase all the time and we are still not completely sure why.  We decided that pizza and cookies were good ingredients for a party, so that's what we had; pizza for dinner and a giant 12 inch decorated cookie from Eileen's Cookies as our "cake".  Ava's face lit up when we sang "Happy Birthday" to her (because, as you know, she believes that to be the actual birthday part).  It was cute to see how happy it made her.

Yummy Eileen's Colossal Cookie!

"Happy Birthday, Dear Ava!"

Mmm . . . delicious . . . 

Then it was time to open presents!  Woohoo!  What kid doesn't love that part?  Even at 3, Ava already knows present are a good thing.

PRINCESS SHOES!!!!

A classic.

She's getting pretty good at tearing that paper.

Junie thought the paper was fun.
Later she started filling Skylar's car seat with it.

Putting on some princess shoes!

New tiara.

Helping Sydney put on some princess shoes.  :)

Practicing walking like princesses!

A little piano time for the two princesses.

Papa Ernie was having some fun with the balloons.

All in all I'd say it was a successful, fun weekend.  We are so thankful for our little Ava!  Now . . . on to June's birthday . . .