Montana here we come…

After the family reunion Robert and I had planned to visit our friends in Montana, but figured since we were going that far, we would make a few stops along the way… On Saturday, Robert, Brian, Mom and I headed up to Aurora to spend a couple of days with my mom and my sister, Cindy. We went to church with Mom on Sunday and then Robert, Brian and I travelled up to Provo after church. We stayed with Robert’s brother, David and his wife, Vicki, Sunday night. On Monday, we had a great breakfast with David and Vicki and spent some time visiting with them. We then headed over to BYU to drop Brian off for a week at EFY. Brian goes to EFY and usually doesn’t have a roommate planned ahead of time but he always has a great time. checking in outside of the stadium at BYU

He stayed in the E. Richards dorm in Heritage Halls, which is the same dorm that I lived in when I was attending BYU. He almost stayed in the same apt. as me… just two doors down! I got pretty nostalgic… that’s his window on the bottom right..

After we dropped Brian off, Robert & I drove up to Idaho to see Sister Sue, Robert’s Mission Mom from when he served in Spain. She lived in SLC for many years but recently moved to Idaho. It was great to visit with her again and get caught up on all the news.

After visiting with Sister Sue, we headed to Rexburg to see our good friends from California, Ross & Kathleen Baron. Ross is a teacher at BYU-Idaho and this was our first trip to visit them. We went to dinner at the hot spot in town, "Wingers" . Ross & Kathleen took us on a tour of the campus after dinner and we loved it. It really is beautiful there and we really enjoyed the cooler weather. This picture is taken from one of the buildings on campus and overlooks the valley and part of the campus.

The saga continues… after leaving Rexburg, we traveled to a little tiny town and were lucky to find lodging at one of the motels in town. There were only three… and they were all full. This place did have a couple of vacancies. I guess Idaho is a pretty popular place in July with all the fisherman and hunters, etc. We were lucky to have a place to sleep! We did love the accommodations, though, it was very picturesque.

The next morning we headed out again, slowly making our way to Montana… We had been told to stop and see Upper Mesa Falls if we were able and it was right along our way, so we did, and we were so glad! It was so beautiful!

The whole drive through Idaho and into Montana was so beautiful and we enjoyed it so much… even the potato fields were beautiful because they were different for us.

the potato fields… they were endless!

the Tetons from a scenic point in Idaho…

fields of horses grazing (my personal favorite…)

beautiful scenery of mountains and rivers in the Gallatin National forest

and then, finally, we arrived in Montana and to our friends, Ron & Dee Helling’s, home. I think it looked just like I thought it would! Dee and Ron have their own distinct style and their home and everything there reflects their love of animals and flowers and nature.

This is the backyard, where we had lunch, in the gazebo, and their garden is in the background.

We loved meeting their dogs, Harry & Hermione. We took a couple of hikes while we were there, we visited the museum where Dee works as a docent and Ron & Dee volunteer at a living farm exhibit. They dress up in period attire and play at the farm! Actually it’s a lot of hard work, but it seems like they’re having too much fun for it to be work.

walking across a foot bridge and standing in a field of flowers. the picture doesn’t do justice to the beauty of this place!

We also went to a farmer’s market and to a local concert in the park that was so much fun… and the music was even good!

We hope to make this trip again someday and bring some of our kids with us. It was a blast and we saw so many pretty things and had such a fun time with good friends.

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