On the road again...

Once summer weather starts to crowd out the lovely spring weather in south Texas it is time for us to head north, where we can enjoy the arrival of spring weather all over again in northwest Montana! We chose April 16th as our departure date this year so that by the weekend we could be in Billings for a very special occasion. We stopped in Salina, Kansas the first night, then in Rapid City, South Dakota the second night, before arriving in Billings on the 18th. Most of this route was on state highways rather than the freeway, and often times we were the only car on the road! But it was a beautiful ride through Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming to Montana. We were so excited to finally pull in to the Vernon's driveway and get our arms around Leo, June, and Ruby!

We kicked off Saturday morning early with Krispy Kreme donuts at Leo's soccer game. June loved showing us how she can climb trees and Ruby loved being able to run free while Leo played a great game, kicking a goal in the last minute of the game.

Then we had just enough time for everyone to get cleaned up and to the church building for Leo's long-awaited baptism. Nick's parents came to visit for the weekend as well, and Leo had asked all four of his grandparents to participate on the program. June was thrilled to act as the usher and proclaimed "It's great to be 8!" to everyone as she welcomed everyone to find a seat. Leo asked me to be the chorister for the opening and closing songs, and I was so proud of him being the pianist himself. It was a wonderful program that concluded with another of Leo's favorites, a beautifully decorated Costco cake for refreshments. Next it was on to a celebratory dinner at Red Robin. Leo had planned every detail of this very special day in his life, and we were so grateful to be able to share it with him and his family.

This weekend in April was especially eventful, as we also celebrated Easter. The kids colored Easter eggs, Alex and Nick planned an Easter egg hunt in their front yard, the Easter bunny left baskets full of surprises for everyone, and Alex prepared a delicious ham dinner on Easter Sunday.

Leo had no school again Monday, so we stayed one more day to spend time playing with the kids. We walked to the park, flew Leo's drone and June's kite, played kickball, and played fetch with Bonnie. Alex and Nick surprised us with yummy Moo-yah burgers, fries, and milkshakes for dinner to cap off an extra special visit for the Vernons with both sets of grandparents. The next morning it was time for us to hit the road again, and drive the final leg of the trip to Sigh-Bar.

It is still cold in Montana and there are still a few big piles of snow left in the yard, but spring is on its way. It always takes a couple of days to settle in -- get the house warmed up, furniture uncovered, lots of dusting and vacuuming, all of the vehicles checked out, the fridge and pantry stocked up, and an inspection of everything. But within a few days we were ready for our first visitor, Tara! She finished up a Dance-0-Rama in Seattle, then stopped over for some much-needed R&R at "home" before heading back to Miami. We loved sleeping in and waiting for the sun to warm up the air enough for us to enjoy a hike each morning, trips to Zip Trip, watching the deer (and a fox!) in the field, going to see The Avengers movie in Kalispell, dinner and tv in front of the fire, and ice cream at Sweet Peaks. Tara helped us get out the picnic table, hang up the big swing, and welcome Beau back from the Bar W. It was a lovely way to kick off our 2019 season at Sigh-Bar.