Go West...

After weeks of being gone for work, my man came home with a chunk of days off.  Needing a change of scenery, he told us to pack our bags and be ready to ride early the next morning.  Time for a road trip (yippee!), we were heading west...

We left North Dakota behind before the sun had even shown it's face.  By the time the sky was regaining it's color, we were well into Montana...

With no definite destination in mind, we just drove.  Following the Hi-Line as it snuggled up close to the Canadian border...

This old church caught our eye and we spun back around to get a closer look...

Enchanting, isn't it...

Into the afternoon, the terrain started to change.  We were finally leaving the plains behind and entering the mountains.  So pretty :)...

The road followed along the most beautiful stream...

...and led us straight to Glacier National Park! 

Mmhm, sure did :).  Only a tiny bit of the park was open due to the season, but that's ok.  It was Glacier National Park!  And we were there! Hahaha...yes, I was pretty tickled to be there ;).  More to come ya'll, check back later...

Before the snow...

Winter comes early in the far north...  Knowing this, we made an effort to get out and enjoy every last ounce of warmth we could before the freeze set in.  Bet ya'll can guess one place we went...

The lake :)!  Of course, hahaha...we love the lake :)...

see the lights in the distance?  flares...

Fishing, sunset watching, building with sticks and rocks...it's all fun at the lake...

That flare again, I just can't get over how enormous it is...

Another day, another fish...

These kiddos are getting pretty good at catching those things :)!

Bountiful Baskets...

The kids LOVE to go early and volunteer with me...

This site is really (really!) early in the morning.  Before daylight early.  Our reward, besides the awesome fresh veggies/fruits, is this:

A gorgeous sunrise that reminds us to stop everything and just breathe it in...<3.

Loads of fresh foods means fun new recipes up in here.  Two keepers...the first is a Honeydew Smoothie.  Sounds weird, but it's very good.  Honeydew melon, vanilla yogurt, a little fresh apple juice, a bit of raw honey, and some ice...

The second is a pesto that is super simple and super delicious.  Fennel fronds (the feathery part that usually gets thrown away), sunflower seeds, parmesan cheese, fresh garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper if you need it.  Great on pizza...

We just had to sneak down to the North Unit of TRNP one last time before the interior roads closed for the season...

It was c-c-c-old the day we were there, the wind was whipping.  We ate a fast picnic lunch then went for a scramble on the rocks.  Our favorite part of the park :)...

checking out a little cave...

the cannonball concretions are so cool :)

When we were driving back into the farther part of the park, we spotted a Bighorn sheep!  First and only one we have ever seen in there (or anywhere in Nodak)...

He saw us, too, and headed down into the shade to "hide".  We still see you :)...

Brown, brown, brown...

The wind was shoving him forward.  If only we had wings, we could have taken off ;)...

One lone buffie...

We had planned to hike down to the river and back up, but it was just too windy (sand blowing) and cold.  Instead, we just monkeyed around at the top for a while...

Back to the car and back to Williston...

My girl with her new (to us) treasure...

Williston has a couple of really good thrift shops.  I try not to go in unless I have something to donate, because we ALWAYS find at least one treasure.  For any of you folks that like to read...all books at the Wise Penny are free.  Yep, free!  The kids love going in there to look at the books and always come out with something good :).

Life lately...

Ya'll know that I am behind on this blog.  I'm trying to get caught up, but it's hard when we rarely seem to stay still long enough.  We came up to Williston and rented this apartment to be with my husband...traveling is fun, but family time is even more fun.  Right?  Right.  Well...since we've been up here, he has been getting sent away for work.  Like all the time.  BIG *sigh*...  For the last several months he has been working (and living) in Colorado.  We, the kids and I, are in North Dakota.  We would just pay out our apartment lease and be free to go with him, but this is Williston we are talking about.  Highest rent in the country and all that fun stuff.  So yeah, no lease paying out will be happening this time.  Another lesson learned, I suppose...

It's not a simple situation with a simple answer...but I don't suppose most things in life fall into that category, do they?  

Anyway, what this has meant is lots of travel between North Dakota and Colorado for our family.  Lots and lots.  He comes up when he gets time off and can, and we go down when he can't.  We actually just got back to North Dakota late Wednesday evening.  So anyway, that's part of why I am so far behind on here.  Now you know...bear with me or bail, the choice is always yours (I do hope you stick around...and say "hi" sometime!  I love hearing from ya'll :)...).

Ok, regular post with pictures coming soon :)...

Back in Williston ~

Hey ya'll... 

I've been distracted for a while now, I sit down to type...and nothing.  I just can't think.  It's not that I don't have anything to say...yeah, right, hahaha!...I always have something to say ;).  Things have just been even crazier than normal lately and I've been busy dodging the curve-balls of life.  On top of all that dodging, we have been sick.  So yeah, a hefty dose of brain fog over here.  Anyway, the sun is shining in North Dakota...it's finally starting to warm up a little (YAY!)...and we are well on our way to feeling like ourselves again.  I still don't know what to say, I've gotten sooo far behind on here, so I am going to do what I've done before when this happens...just start going through my pictures and talking about them.  Lucky ya'll ;).  Forgive me if I sound crazy, it's only because I am ;)...

Shopping in Minot, North Dakota...

gots to practice your Judy Chop...yes, that's what they were doing ;D

they wore me out, ya'll...and they don't even look slightly tired.  kids...

soooo windy! hahaha!

I told ya'll about our shopping adventures in Wyoming and Montana, well we weren't done yet.  After running around Minot, we were able to either get everything we needed or at least figure out what sizes to order online from home.  Shopping for winter gear when you are starting from scratch is a pain, ya'll.  For real.  One of the younger kids asked me if we couldn't just migrate south instead...hahaha...funny.  Apparently the birds are smarter than us people sometimes ;)...

Pumpkins and teeny, tiny toothpick teepee's for fall...

The kids crafted and I baked.  This year was the first time that I actually cooked up a whole pumpkin.  I don't know why I have never done it before, for some reason it just intimidated me.  Well, take it from me, don't fear the pumpkin...it's easy!  We have even gone on to bake up some acorn squash, butternuts, and spaghetti's...all easy and super yummy :).

The moon from our balcony...

...cause I like the moon :).  Living in an apartment has not been the fun adventure that I thought it would be.  Probably because the apartment is in Williston, North Dakota...'nuff said.  I still think living in an apartment in a big city would be fun...someplace where you could walk/take public transportation everywhere...and actually have places that you want to go and interesting things to do...yeah, the opposite of here.  NYC, Boston, SF, Seattle...maybe someday.

The lake...

Oh how we love the lake (Lake Sakakawea, btw)...

driftwood <3

Definitely too cold to swim in the fall, instead we stick to the shore.  Having a rough day?  Go to the lake...it's guaranteed to cheer you up :)...

Oh my goodness...these next pictures...

...show our newest addiction.  Coffee!  Oh boy...yes, my kids drink coffee.  We bought one of those single serving coffee makers, you know the one, and I'm not so sure it was a good idea...hahaha!  We had to pretty quickly make some rules for the coffee consumption around here.  More hot teas, less caffeine, etc.  So funny ;).

This picture right here...

blurry, but that's the beginnings of the SUNRISE my friends ;D

...proof that I have actually been up and out of my house BEFORE the sun is up.  HAHAHA!  I'm the complete opposite of a morning person, so if you know me in real life, you know this is a big deal ;))).  One of our Bountiful Baskets sites here in Williston is pretty early in the morning and the sun is barely starting to light the sky by the time we head back home with our veggies/fruits...

And back to the lake...

...always :)...

This was the first time that just the kids and I went fishing.  They go with just their dad and not me all the time, but he was away working.  I don't touch squirmy bait, I don't touch squirmy fish, so I don't take kids fishing...it's just not one of my talents ;). 

"mountain climbing" up the steep bank using a stick for the rope ;)

Dan told me that the biggest boys knew what to do/and could do it, all I had to do was drive them...

...and he was right!  The kids did great, I was so proud of them :). 

We (well, they) fished til sunset, then we packed it up and headed back to our car.  So beautiful...

See that light in the distance?  The flame?...

That is a flare.  I don't like them, but that's what it is.  This one is HUGE.  It sounds like a jet engine roaring when you go by it...they had to put up those panels because it is so intense.  You can still feel the heat from it way down on the road...

At the end of the lake road, there were some horses this day...

We just had to stop, my girl looooves horses :)...

She stood there, watching them watch her until it got too dark...

Her wish is to have a horse of her very own...that makes it my wish, too.  One day, baby girl, one day...