September

Our September in pictures...

Our first and only Doland cousin, Charli visited!  

Gramma L with Orion + Charli

While they were here, we visited Glacier National Park.
This was my first time on the Going to the Sun Road.

Trying to capture the immensity, the majesty, the beauty of
this park is futile ~ you just gotta see it yourself!

We went to the top of the pass and hiked the Hidden Lake Trail

they day our company left, our kids fell really ill
I was glad they mostly slept it off;
here is our living room littered with pitiful sick children!

Somehow food is more fun to eat when it's out of the ordinary!  

Our good friend Amanda came to visit, and we got the idea to take a bike ride!
With the neighbor kids thrown in there, we took 9 kids on a 3 mile ride! 

next, we visited Anaconda.
When Adrian's job took him to that part of the state,
we decided to tag along and say a quick hello to friends!

as kids always do ~ they had so much fun together!

and we were happy they lent us their leaves!

super happy memories from this beautiful place

Two Bear Kids' Marathon

 All summer long, our 3 girls kept record of how many miles they ran (1/4 mile at a time!) or hiked.  The goal was to run a marathon in the summer.  T & J both made it to 25 miles; Ella went on to log 48 miles.  At the beginning of September, they held a "final mile" celebration for the kids.  It was 1.2 miles long, and the kids looked forward to it all summer!  Aaron wasn't old enough to register for the program, but ran the course anyway.  Each child had a buddy to complete the course with: 

Jaci ran with Daddy

Aaron ran with Uncle Paul

Ella ran with Grandpa

Tessa ran with mommy

 Other than the fact that a trip to the bathroom got some of us off to a late start .... and the local ice cream shop that was promised to be there wasn't... and there wasn't face painting ...  it was a pretty fun celebration.  And yes, they all ran the whole way, they all sprinted at the end, and they all impressed us soooo much!  When Aaron ran across the finish line (I wasn't there yet), the announcer proclaimed that he was the youngest kid in the race!  He just might have a future in running!  

red faces, happy hearts, and medals!

 Through September and October, the girls also participated in the local cross country program.  It's free, it's fun it's well organized, and its an activity all the kids can participate in!

There's Jaci on the right, nearing the finish. 

E&T at the starting line

finished!

Somehow I missed photos of Uncle Phil's visit, but I'm thankful to pick up the camera as often as I do!  :)