Friends Forever

Remember the old Michael W. Smith song, "Friends are Friends Forever"?...   Sorry, now I have it stuck in your head!  Well, that song came to mind as I was blessed to spend a few days with my old college roommate who came to visit last month.  Chrissy is one of those friends who I haven't seen for about 10 years, but she's still as close to my heart as she was in college--perhaps even closer.  Michael W. Smith was right:  "Friends are friends forever if the Lord's the Lord of them."  Chrissy's love of the Lord and love of others is absolutely awe-inspiring.  She has a heart bigger than the "Big Sky State."  She works as a physical therapist for special needs children, and she usually takes a mission trip each year to use her medical experience to help handicapped kids in other countries.  It was a joy to watch her play so naturally with all my kiddos while she stayed with us for a few days.  We had a blast doing all the touristy things in Helena, some of which I had never done yet in my 8 years of living here!  Here is a photo tour of our time together...

The kids wanted to take Chrissy to our famous carousel for a few rides 

and, of course, some homemade ice-cream

We also took Chrissy on the tour train to learn all the local history of Helena.

Nathanael loved the ride, but the history lesson eventually put him to sleep!  :)

I took Chrissy on the gorgeous "Gates of the Mountains" boat tour

which gave us more history about this area.

I had wanted to take this tour for the past 8 years,

so I was delighted to finally get the opportunity!

The towering rocks on both sides of the river were breathtaking,

and it became clear why Lewis and Clark nicknamed this area 

"the Gates of the Mountains."

We also learned about the Mann Gulch tragedy while we floated down the river.

What a heart-breaking story!

We saw lots of wildlife from the boat, including merganser ducks, osprey, turkey vultures, pelicans, and these pretty deer taking a drink at the shore.

We also saw this majestic bald eagle.

We even saw a monster in the rocks! 

We took a tour of our capital building,

which was also a first for me.

Inside the capital, we were able to see this famous C.M. Russell painting

depicting Lewis and Clark's encounter with the Indians in this area.

The painting is 25 feet wide by 12 feet high!

We learned lots of history on the capital tour, but my favorite story was

the one about the statue of Mike and Maureen Mansfield.

Mike was a great Montana politician, and when he was initially approached

about the sculpting of the statue, he consented only under one condition:

that the statue feature his wife along side him because he considered her to be

"the greatest influence of his life."

I thought that story was very touching 

and hopefully it inspired me to be a better wife!  :)

Our family took Chrissy on a hike up to the top of Mt. Helena.

We were proud to show her the gorgeous view of our city surrounded by mountains...

...and it was especially fun to show her the famous "Sleeping Giant"

who forever slumbers in our valley.

Here's me and my two sweet gentlemen who picked me wildflowers on the hike.

Here's my handsome husband with our littlest hiker :)

Here's a photo of the beautiful view as we hiked back down the mountain.

Thank you for coming to visit, Chrissy!

What treasured memories we made while you were here,

and what a treasure God has given me in your friendship!

I'm quite certain we will be friends forever.

Pray for me, and I'll pray for you!