ch-ch-changes

Hey, ya'll...

I only have a minute or two, but I wanted to pop in and let ya'll know that I will be away from this space for a bit.  Life has taken one of those unexpected turns and this one is shaping up to be a real doozy.  Changes are afoot, big ones.  I'm not trying to be elusive, I just don't know where up is right now (or down, left, right...you get the idea...) or what to say about any of it. 

We are all healthy and we are together, those are the most important things.  The rest will sort itself out eventually and when it does, I will be back...

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 :)...

Theodore Roosevelt National Park, South Unit ~

We visit the North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park pretty often, but we had never been down to the South Unit.  The weather was changing fast and we decided to take a little drive before the snow and ice settled in for the season...

As per usual, we started off in the Visitor Center.  Checking out all the displays and reading up on the sites within the park...

The Maltese Cross Ranch House sits right behind the VC.  A cool old structure that is definitely worth the few minutes it takes to walk back there...

We got back in the car, ready to head deeper into the park, but we didn't get far before we stopped again.  Wild horses!!!

Yay :)!  This was the one thing that we were REALLY hoping to see :).  The North Unit doesn't have any horses, just the South.  That we saw them so early into the day, AND got to see a baby, just awesome :).

Next up was a prairie dog town.  These things are so funny...they carry on, running around making weird little noises and acting all kinds of silly.  Fun to watch for a while :)...

The badlands...

I just love all the different colors and shapes in the hills...

Around the next bend were the buffies, just chillin'...

My boy, fearless...

There was a hill with some neat looking formations that I wanted to get a closer look at...

The kids weren't really interested and opted to wait in the car while I took a quick walk up and back.  I was climbing up the hill when I heard a happy "woohoo" yell.  Say whaaat???  I looked back, and this:

Rotten.  Completely and totally ;).

I got my closer look...

...then we wrapped it up with another stop at the prairie dogs. 

I'm telling you, these things are really funny :)!  When they are startled, it's hilarious (if that's mean, then sorry...but it's SO funny).  They go from being down on all fours to standing on their back legs...heads thrown back, arms up in the air, and they let out a squeal...then drop back down and eyeball you...HAHAHA!  Really, it's funny.  Well, maybe you just have to be there ;)...

"eeeeeeek!"

hahahahaha!