Merry Christmas to Me

We spent Labor Day weekend at our house in Montana. Oh, how we miss our house! I miss the long, hot showers, and the tile that I laid myself. I miss our neighborhood and our friends. It was a bitter-sweet trip, to say the least. I got most of my tears out of the way the first night, so then I could just enjoy being there.

We drove all the way to Deer Lodge before stopping for a break. We'd had short, potty-breaks too early in the trip, and Nathan gets antsy to just get there. So, finally, we stopped at McDonald's in Deer Lodge because they have a playland. To our frustration, McDonald's had taken out their playland last year. So, we drove around Deer Lodge looking for their city park, which we found, and unlike McDonald's, we had the place all to ourselves.

Only in Montana would you find a horse-shaped jungle gym.
Hey, wait for me!

Mazie, the wild cowgirl.


"I can do that, too!"
"Hey, look at me! I'm a wild cowgirl, too."
Here comes trouble...

I'll pretend not to see him.
"Too high? No way. I'm having fun. Go away, Dad."
Hear me roar! You may be stronger, but I scream louder.And then we all got back in the car. Isn't that always how the pit-stops go? Everyone's having fun, but when it's time to get back into the car, everyone is mad and crying?

Anyway, we arrived late Thursday night, and Friday we went to the school and around town to see our friends. The school was so nice about our visit. The teachers let us interrupt their classes and everyone gave the boys big hugs.

On Saturday, I was able to enjoy last year's Christmas present. Remember how Nathan bought me a four-wheeler? This was the first time I've actually been able to ride it on trails. We've used it around the farm, but this was our first real family ride. It was also the first time that I'd been back into the mountains that burned during the 2006 Derby Fire. The destruction was pretty amazing. Everything is still black three years later. We stopped near a Forest Service cabin and let the kids play in the creek. Then we headed back because all the kids wanted to play with their friends.
The water was ice cold. Josie would dip her feet in, squeal and scramble out again. Not the best picture of Nathan and I, but our photographer is only ten, so we'll let it slide.Getting ready to roll.
I'm short on pictures of our ride because as soon as we unloaded the four-wheelers, I realized that I'd left my camera at the house. Thank goodness for camera phones. However, my phone doesn't have a cord, so I have to email myself the photos using my cell phone. (I wouldn't recommend this unless you have the data package, or you'll end up with some big charges.) That's why I only have four photos.


I'm glad we made this trip. I needed to see it all again and remember that we'd had a good life there. Still, I hated the drive. Every time we drove that trip, it got harder, and we were seriously considering not coming home anymore. The roads are always nasty at Christmas, and the kids never travel as well as we hope they will. While we were there I had this weird anxious feeling like it wasn't home anymore and we needed to go. I had the realization that you can't recapture a life that you've lost. For better or worse, this is our life now.... Now, if the house would just sell, we could move on.