All Because Two People Fell in Love...

This summer my parents' celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.  What an accomplishment in today's day in age!  50 years ago they went to Custer State Park for their honeymoon, so it seemed only fitting to celebrate their big anniversary at the same location.  Not sure if it was like a "second honeymoon" or not since they were surrounded by all their crazy kids and grandkids, but we could all tell that mom and dad were beaming with happiness!

Many special memories were made during our week together.  Hundreds of photos were taken.  I'll try to just pick out a few of the best and use them to give a summary of our wonderful week together...

My parents rented a spacious, gorgeous cabin for all of our families to stay at...

Mom and Dad were so happy having us all together

and reminiscing about old times...

They also did lots of dancing to Don Williams,

still their favorite singer after all these many years together...

He sure does have some great love songs that seemed written just for them...

My mom had more than one handsome partner to dance with...

We gave mom and dad gifts from the heart;

this one is a photobook of memories through the years...

This gift is a family photo puzzle for them to work on together...

Of course, we had to go see the "Great Faces" on Mt. Rushmore...

We did lots of little hikes...

and lots of laughing along the way...

All of the cousins loved touching reptiles at Reptile Gardens...

Dominic's favorite was the giant yellow python!

He thinks Grandma Theresa should get one for a pet :)

The giant tortoises seemed as ancient as the dinosaurs!

We also saw wildlife along the road...

and wildlife IN the road!

These donkeys are nicknamed the "begging burros" :)

We also made a trip to Bear Country USA, 

a highlight for the whole crew...

It was surreal to see giant bears surrounding us,

and even crossing the road in front of us!

But the best part was the baby bears,

who were so playful and just plain adorable...

They climbed the trees like it was as easy as walking,

and would even play-fight high up in the branches!

It was so cute to watch them wrestle,

and made you want to take one home as a cuddly pet!

Bear Country not only had bears,

but fox, mountain lions, big horn sheep, and many other animals.

In the evenings, we enjoyed hanging out around the campfire,

and eating smores, of course!

The kids had a blast catching and collecting fireflies for hours every night!

During the day there was plenty of time for outdoor pastimes like bocce ball...

More hiking...

Card playing...

...and LOTS of eating...

(good thing we had a big table for our big crew!)

...thanks to our 3 great chefs for the week!

Thanks, Steve, Mike and Jon!

We love you, Mom and Dad!

Thanks for the great anniversary celebration together!

We pray you have many, many more anniversary together!!!

P.S.  We were also blessed to have a professional photographer come take some family photos, but I'll save those pictures for another post coming soon!  :)

Legendary Memories in the Making

Yesterday we dropped our 2 oldest boys off at Legendary Lodge for Catholic boys camp.  I miss them already--not just because they are my biggest helpers around the house, but because their fun personalities fill our home with so much joy-filled energy.  Even though it was hard to say goodbye to them for the week, I had such peace leaving them behind for three reasons:

1)  They had each other...

...I hope they don't hurt each other before camp starts!

2)  They had their very best friends...

As soon as they picked their bunks for sleeping, they ran out to play dodge ball.

I have a feeling they aren't going to miss me at all...and that's OK.

3)  They had the Blessed Mother...

Thank you, Mary, for keeping my boys in your care since I cannot be there!

As we waited for the boats to arrive to take the boys across the lake to camp, the boys kept themselves very entertained catching snakes and enjoying the scenery.

Our community is abundantly blessed to have Legendary Lodge to help light the young people's faith on fire! Please pray for my boys this week...that they will have fun and that they will listen to what the Lord is whispering into their hearts---THANK YOU!

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!

Consolation from Padre Pio

A few nights ago my family gathered for our 1st ever "Catholic Family Movie Night."  I have wished for this for years...to gather with my husband, my boys, and perhaps another Catholic family, to watch a movie that will point our hearts towards heaven.  It finally happened.  For my birthday I ordered $100-worth of great movies about the saints and some old Catholic classics.  Then I invited some of our favorite friends to come over, but sadly, their kiddos were sick so they had to take a raincheck...which will certainly happen because we plan to do this once a month!

The first movie we chose to watch was "Padre Pio:  Miracle Man."  I highly recommend it.  There were parts, however, that were dark and heavy and even hard for me to understand.  But, all in all, it certainly inspired our faith and gave us a deeper awe for God (not to mention a more intense fear of the devil!).  One theme that really struck me and gave me some consolation was the fact that Padre Pio often felt frustrated in his faith and didn't fully grasp God's will--even though he was obviously a very holy man, a man so close to Christ that he shared the wounds from the crucifixion (a miracle called the Stigmata).  He also was given the gift of reading people's souls to help them make a worthy confession and had the rare ability to bi-locate (to be in two places at the same time) if the Lord felt it necessary to accomplish His will.  How could a man with these miraculous gifts be so down-hearted at times and unsure of God's plan in his life???  I don't know the answer, but I do know that it somehow consoled me because I often feel like the more I mature in my faith, the more confused I am by God's ways, and the closer I get to Christ, the more lonely I feel.  It reassured me to know that even the saints felt this way too.  Perhaps I'm on the right track after all!

St. Pio, please pray for me to stay on the path that leads to heaven and to trust in God's will even when I don't understand it.