My 35th Birthday!

I had a wonderful 35th Birthday with my family and friends. My girls dressed up in their princess (rock princess?) attire and put on a show for the rest of us. They were so cute I could have gobbled them up. Unfortunately, they chose to look toward the speaker rather than toward the crowd, but we still enjoyed the show thoroughly. Gavin gave me a wonderful little video camera with an SD card so I can now add video to my blog entries. Technology is amazing.

The show went on even after Brighton spilled on her dress and asked that it be removed. . .

Miss Katie Glennon and Gavin organized a small dinner with good friends on Saturday night. We had a a great time eating at Samarai Gardens, and then hit the town. I was able to get my groove on at Asian Nights - a "club" on the westend in Billings. While I cannot see myself ever going back there, it was really fun for a 27th birthday party! Of course, I didn't get any pictures at dinner or while having cocktails at the Granary. I waited until we were at "Asian Nights" to pull out the camera. I only wish these pictures provided a better image of the atmosphere at Asian Nights - picture flourescent palm trees and a tiki hut covering the dancefloor.























Katie, Amy Dettbarn (soon to be Fuller) and Dana Sorenson all helped us celebrate. Dana is 8 months pregnant with her second child (a girl -Avery), and Dana was amazingly patient with all of us - it was a late night.

Father's Day Fly In - Twin Bridges

We had a fantastic Father's Day Weekend in Twin Bridges for the Annual Father's Day Fly-In at the airport. Once again, Ruby Valley Aviation did a fantastic job of putting together a lot of fun activities for young and old alike. Unfortunately, it poured all day on Saturday, and they had very few of the 100 or so planes that normally "fly in" for this event. The weather was sooo bad that we left the airport and headed to the ranch for a dip in the pool. Well, it turns out we missed the "ping-pong ball drop," which is an egg hunt of sorts where a helicopter drops marked ping-pong balls for the kids to pick up. The marks on the balls correspond with prizes for the kids to claim. Since we missed the event at the airport due to our swimming escapades, and Grandpa Bradley had some extra ping-pong balls, Grandpa Bradley and Uncle Bill flew out to the ranch and dropped ping-pong balls right in Mom and Dad's backyard for the kiddos. It was VERY exciting, and all the kids, even Brighton as you can see, were able to score some ping-pong balls.

Above, we are all gathering the backyard to wait for the helicopter to fly by - everyone was watching the sky. It didn't take long before we spotted the helicopter. It was so much fun for the kids to see it come in and then watch as Grandpa Bradley tossed the ping-pong balls down to them. Very coolEven Brighton was able to score a few ping-pong balls!




The weather was much better on day two of the Fly-In. We were able to watch the airplane bowling (they actually throw bowling balls out of the airplanes at barrels, which are the "pins") and the "flour bombing" (bags of flour are dropped from the planes at targets with the closest bag winning).

Smokey the Bear made an appearance.












Max was able to go on an airplane ride with Grandpa in the Birddog, which was very exciting. He was a bit nervous before the ride, and kept saying to Gavin, "Grandpa is the best pilot here, huh Daddy, that's why everyone keeps talking to Grandpa." When Grandpa and Max returned from the ride, Max told us all about all the "tricks" they were doing and how they flew upside down and how Grandpa let him "fly the plane all by myself." It was a memorable ride for our Maxer; he thinks he might like to be a pilot someday.

The big "thumbs up" from Maxer, above and the two get ready for take-off, below.
What a handsome young pilot!Well, while Max was completing all sorts of fun maneuvers in the Birddog, Bella and Brighton decided they wanted to go on a helicopter ride with Uncle Bill. It was a bit scary for me, as there wasn't room for another adult in the plane. Brighton is going through a bit of a mommy stage right now, so I was shocked when she told me that she would "go wid Bella" in the helicopter, WITHOUT Mommy! She insisted, I relented, and according to her adult chaperones (who I did not know), she did not make a peep the entire flight. She held her sister's hand, and simply enjoyed her adventure.

Above are my two girls before take-off, and the beautiful heli that Bill brought over to the thrill of folks of all ages.



A large fire helicopter flew in for the event, and the kids were able to tour this large bird.

Grandma and Brighton getting in a little one-on-one during the day.Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Rice were at the ranch over the weekend as well. It was great to see them. Max sat on Great Grandma's lap during the airshow. It was a fabulous trip.

Max's Shark Party

Max decided he wanted a "shark party" and he chose The Reef Indoor Water Park for his birthday destination. The boys had a ball swimming and sliding at this FOUR hour long party (yes, THANK YOU ALI AND JOE FOR HELPING CHAPERONE, this was a HUGE time commitment). The boys all had fun and Max was thrilled with his party. Only issue of the day: he used the work "sucked" for the first time on the way home. Here was the context: "yes, I had fun, but it REALLY SUCKED that I wasn't tall enough to ride the big water slides." Ummmmm, yeah. He learned that one from his father.

The boys were hysterical throughout the party. The lunchtime conversation was especially entertaining.

Swimming fools - in the "wave pool."

Below is Connor coming off the "big" slide. Max was able to sneak down the big slides a few times before the attendant noticed that he had a stripe on his bracelet. He was bummed since about half his friends were tall enough to ride the big dogs, although he still had a great time playing in the pools and other slides.

Max and his goofy friend Drake. They have a lot of fun (and get into a lot of trouble) at school together.

Max was very amused with himself when he was blowing out his candles. He said "I wish for a toilet" and he and his friends thought this was hysterical. I guess that's little boy humor?

Riley Bergeson and Max. This was taken toward the end of the party, the boys seemed to get a second wind after lunch and cake.

Family Birthday Fun

On Saturday night, Grandma Barbi, Papa Jerry & Pam, Ali & Joe and cousins Connor & Carter joined us for Max and Bella's Birthday Dinner: crab, shrimp and mushrooms. I don't know where the kids acquired their taste for seafood, but our dear friends Eric & Amy Fink were able to oblige us with 10 lbs of the biggest crab legs any of us had ever seen, and we made a shrimp and mushroom fettucine for the kids as well. Dinner was a hit, as were all the presents. Best of all, the twins were lucky to have so many family members there to celebrate their 6th Birthday with them.

Grandma Barbi gave Max this awesome cowboy hat, while Papa Jerry and Pam scored a big hit with Pogo Sticks for the kiddos. What a fabulous birthday for two lucky little kiddos.

Bella's Build-a-Bear Party

Well, Bella turned SIX on Saturday with a Bear . . .I mean Bang . . .at the Build-a-Bear Workshop in the mall. She had so much fun with her six little girlfriends, and they all enjoyed the process of "building" their bears, or lambs, or dogs.

Here she is, the Birthday Girl, growing up on us way too fast.

The girls before they stuffed, bathed, and dressed their bears, lambs or dogs.

And her little girlfriends (clockwise beginning in the back row): Reese, Greta, Brynn, Bella, Cassidy, Katie, Ava and Flora. This picture was taken after the stuffing, bathing and dressing process was complete.

The girls being silly.
Here the girls march through the mall on their way to enjoy cake and open presents.

And the birthday girl blowing out 6 candles. What a party.

Bella Billings in Concert - PART II

For her second performance of the evening, Bella performed to a song about driving her car. The costumes were as cute as the first song, and she hit all her moves on cue once again.

Here is her little class - aren't they adorable.

Finally, my tired girl at the end of a long night. Her daddy gave her that beautiful bouquet of roses to congratulate her performance, and she was just thrilled. Thanks to Grandma Deb for coming all the way from Twin Bridges to enjoy the show, and Grandma Barbi, Papa Jerry, and Pam for cheering her on for the three hour extravaganza (7:30-10:30). Special props go out to Max as well, who sat quietly throughout the performance and cheered on his sister when it was her turn to dance. Bella was great! We can't wait until next year.

Bella Billings in Concert - Part I

A full 9 months of hard work came to fruition on Saturday night when Bella performed at her first dance recital. The recital was at the Alberta Bair Theater here in Billings, which was VERY exciting for the girls. Bella worked really hard getting ready for her debut: she had 4 rehearsals last week, with only Friday night off (which was a good thing, since Max's last t-ball game was Friday). She was absolutely stunning out there and clearly loved every minute of it. We were very proud.

Here she is, in her first costume of the night.

The song was entitled "Combing my Hair" and each of the girls had a large comb they used as a prop during the performance. Adorable.

She hit all her moves on cue.

Bella was the "leader" on and off the stage, which made her father very proud.

Max's Last Game!

Max's last T-Ball game was on Friday night. He played catcher for an inning and hit the ball "coach pitch" (rather than off the T) all three times he was up to bat - great hits, too! We were so proud.

All smiles coming in after the last inning.

Grandma Barbi and Brighton attended - notice the attire - it was a cold baseball season this year.

Here Max is at the pizza party following his game. He was given a medal for participating this year, and wore it to school today, he was so proud.