Weekend in Billings

This last weekend, B and I took a fun trip up to Billings where my mom is from. Her parents and 2 brothers still live up there. We found tickets that were alarmingly cheap ($84 per person... AFTER all taxes and fees!!!). Because they were such a good deal, others down here decided they couldn't help but get in on this little trip. Cousin Z came as well as my two little sisters, Katy and Mariana. We all had a lot of fun and here is some of the evidence of that!

Here are the boys as soon as we got on the plane just before take off. The excitement was palpable!
The main thing B wanted to do when we got there was to play in the snow--specifically to have a snowball fight. They had 18" the weekend before we got there! Their weather even made our local news. They had power outages, and church was cancelled. Anyway, following the snow, they had some very warm weather---upper 60s, low 70s. It was pretty remarkable that this much of it lasted for them to play with. It was only there the first day. By Saturday, it had all melted. Didn't stop them from having fun. After all, it was still more than they were use to!

(B is running and Z is wearing his coat. I think that is the only time he had it on the whole time and no matter what, I couldn't convince B to put his on.)

B

With his prized snowball just as he was launching it at me!

This is my cousin Tabby with her cute little Griffin. She works for my aunt and uncle and she was just leaving for the day.

Mariana, Whitney, Katy

This is my cute little cousin Tanner. He is 3 1/2. Everyone just loves him and B told me Sunday night, "Mom, Tanner is a fun little brother." B is a great big brother to his little sisters, but playing with Tanner made him see just how fun it would be to have a little bro.

Carson and Jason (Jason is the same age as B and Z, and Carson is the same as D) both had soccer games on Saturday. We had fun being there. The weather was gorgeous. B told me this was one of the best parts of our trip. He didn't watch too much of the game, but he, and a bunch of other little boys, sure had fun playing their own football game.

Sunday afternoon, Katy playing soccer with the little boys in Dan and Julane's backyard.

B, Jason, Carson, Z

For all the fun the boys had playing outside, there was still plenty of time they spent indoors... I took the boys shopping and told them they could each pick out a toy. We went to a sports store where they had tons of Bronco's things. Both Carson and Jason picked out bronco footballs, but B and Z didn't find anything they wanted. B insisted on going to Target. He picked out a little video game that you plug into the TV and Z picked out a transformer. When the boys weren't playing outside, he was begging me to let him play this.Z, Grandma Lorraine, B, Grandpa Bub, Me

Mariana, Grandma, Katy, Grandpa

We are now back and glad to be here. We had a fabulous time, but we missed everyone here. It felt good to get calls from D crying and telling me how much he missed me and from Dave telling me he is ready for me to come home again. He had the kids at church and in their seats at 7:50 am, had them fed lunch and down for naps afterward, plus did rolls, salad and pumpkin pie for dinner at my parents. He really did a great job being Mr. Mom, but I'm quite happy to reclaim the my role. L is now telling me that she wants to go to Billings for her trip. She is also telling me that we are going this weekend for her birthday. She mostly wants to go so she can play with my cousins Whitney and Steve. Steve is 18 he does a great job making her feel special... so does Whitney which is why she wants to go and see them. While that sounds fun and I did find the same fair available for this weekend, 3 weekends in a row is a little much! We need a break.

Here are just some videos I took. The first is playing in the snow on Grandma and Grandpa's backyard as soon as we got there. The second is the boys playing football while the soccer games were going on.


Finally, I just have to put this one on here. My aunt has the most amazing kitchen, laundry room and pantry. It is my dream laundry room! Mine is about 6x6 and when you get the washer and dryer in there, there is barely enough room to walk. So, I took this little video of how beautifully laid out it is just so you know that if we ever decide to build our dream, you can bet you will see something like this!