Grandma's 90th Birthday

My grandma turned 90 over the weekend and my aunt and uncle threw a party for her. I haven't seen her in over 8 years and my husband and children have never met her or any of my dad's family. It's about time we made a trip to Montana to see everyone.

We started out on Friday afternoon and headed to Couer d'Alene, ID where we had reserved a hotel room at the Holiday Inn Express which is connected to an indoor water park(Raptor Reef) and a fun center called Triple Play. We didn't tell the kids they would have the opportunity to swim, so you can imagine how excited they were to be able to go to an actual water park with slides and everything. We had a great time at the water park for the evening. All of the kids just loved it. The kiddie pool had two little water slides for Cooper, Lexie and Haden, there was a wave pool that Kenedy and Hallie spent most of their time in and 3 big water slides that Haden, Hallie, Kenedy and I had a lot of fun screaming down. It was a lot of fun!

The next day, we headed to Deer Lodge, MT to visit the lumber mill that my dad works at. His cousin owns the mill and he hired my dad to help him fix some problems so the mill will run more efficiently. It was very cool and I was so enthralled as my dad was talking about what goes on there and what he does, that I forgot to take pictures of the actual mill. This is a dream job for my dad and he gets to really use his engineering degree. As my dad talked about all that he does there, I was struck by how incredibly talented he is. I've always know this, but it really hit me that day. He is truly amazing and I am the luckiest girl in the world to have his as my dad.

From there, we headed to the birthday party in Philipsburg. I was excited to go there again. The last time I visited Philipsburg was when I was about to start my Senior year of High School, but we visited my grandma a lot when I was young and I have great memories those visits. The party was really fun and all my dad's siblings were there except his youngest brother. It was so great to see everyone and catch up on what's going on in their lives.

My grandma has Alzheimer's and doesn't really remember anyone, but she really had a good time. After we ate, we had a program in which all of the families had some sort of talent to present. I was going to have Kenedy play a piano piece, but I forgot the music, so they got to hear us sing I am a Child of God instead. We started to sing our song and when we got to the chorus, my grandma started to sing along with us and that was it for me. Kenedy and Hallie finished the song nicely. There were quite a few musical numbers in the program and she sang along to all of them. Music is one of the only things that she still remembers well and it was very touching. Happy birthday Grandma! We sure love you!

After the party, we decided to walk around town for awhile. It it a really cute town complete with an old time candy shop and Ice cream shop. Everyone in town is so friendly and it was fun to wander around as my dad talked about what used to be in some of the places that have been shut down. We were even able to walk by the house my mom and dad lived in for a few years when they were first married. I hope we are able to visit again soon.

My parents lived in this house when my oldest 2 brothers were little. It's in disrepair now, but my mom kept saying, "It really was a cute house when we lived here."

Main street, Philipsburg, MT. What a cute town!

We had the pleasure of being able to witness this gorgeous sunset as we walked around town.

Here we are sitting in front of the house my mom found for us to stay in while we were there.

We headed home the next morning, but before we left, we decided to check out a little ghost town called Kirkville just a mile out of Philipsburg. It was totally amazing. It was a little mining town and you could see the smoke stacks from the mine and some of the buildings were still standing. It was fun to imagine what life was like back when the town was up a running.

I thought this huge stone wall and the smokestacks that made up the mine were just amazing to see. I wish I could have seen it 100 years ago when it was running!

I can't believe this building is still standing!

As we headed home, we decided to stop at a place that my parents always stopped when I was a kid. It was basically a souvenir shop and they sometimes let us get a little something. Other times, when they went to Montana by themselves, they brought us back things from this store. I believe I still have a ring they brought me one time while I was in High School. It was fun to go in and let the kids look around. We, however, did not buy anything this time.

We had a great trip and I am so glad that we went. I am going to remember it always and I hope my children will also.