October Trip to Montana

With a last minute email, and just barely two weeks notice, Laura and Hayden decided to fly up to Montana for a few days. Laura's Grandma Dinnell, Aunt Nina, and cousin Andrea - whom she hadn't seen in a few years, were planning on a quick trip to visit the University of Montana. Since Laura's sister, Carol, had just moved up there from North Carolina, we decided there was no better time! And plus, we got to see all of these beautiful colors, which south Texas just can't compare to!

Hayden absolutely LOVED playing in the leaves! The first few days we were there, the weather was so warm, the sun was shining, and the leaves were crunching and crinkling under our feet. We spent a lot of time examining their pretty shades of yellow. Throwing them in the air and watching them fall was also a favorite.




Hayden had so much fun playing with all his friends! He and his cousin, Karlie (Carol's older daughter) had lots of fun tugging each other along all day. Hayden especially liked Karlie's dog, Maggie - and of course he loved visiting the horses!

-I couldn't get both Hayden and the horse, Junior, into the photo very well. If I backed up any further, one of the two of them would try and follow me! I was lucky to catch this look of amazement on Hayden's face! (click on the photo to see it larger)

-The picture on the right is Hayden's view of the horses. No wonder he likes them so much! What a silly view!

Above are some photos of Nick (Laura's brother) and Andrea (Laura's cousin) taking their turn on Junior.

-Grandma Dinnell helping Karlie ride her bike. What a couple of cuties!

Mike (Laura's Dad), his sister Nina, and Grandma Dinnell

Grandma Dinnell with a handful of her Grandchildren

-Nick, Grandma, Carol, Billy-

-Sarah, Laura, Andrea-

We tried to get a picture of Granma with just her Great Grandchildren, but every last one of them were throwing fits, running away, or just plain cranky so the mothers (Sarah, Carol, & Laura) had to step in and help.

-Sarah, Grandma, Karlie in Carol's arms, Hayden in Laura's arms-

-Addison (Sarah's), Sage and Gabe (Carol's), and Trance (Sarah's)-

After a few days of 9-11 adults and 4-6 kids running around the house, Nick decided to show us all that it could in fact get a little more crazy and crowded - so he brought Goliath in the house at breakfast time. Nick's other intention was to show Andrea what she missed out on by not having any crazy brothers.

Hayden with his Uncle Nick and cousin Karlie Lynn

Grandma Teri and Hayden, getting ready to say 'bye bye'



Grandad and Hayden, getting in one last snuggle, before we headed to the airport.

All in all, our trip to Montana was fast, fun, loud, and definitely worth it! We got to see some family we'd never met, and some we hadn't seen in years! Autumn is Laura's absolute favorite season to visit Montana. Flying home was a very long day. Hayden was tired, refused to sleep much, and teething. While we were trying to jugle luggage and a stroller, while getting onto the second flight, Hayden was throwing himself down on the floor and screaming. So because of his little tantrum, the flight attendants let him meet the pilot, they gave him his first ever wings, and neat trading card of the plane we were on, and a Halloween sticker! Because it was the night before Halloween, we also got to go trick-or-treating on the plain to all the flight attendants, and got candy (there were only about 15 passengers total, so this was quite easy).

Below is a picture of Carol's family on Halloween! We left the day before, but we didn't get a picture of all of them together, and this was just so cute!

-Travis, Gabe the pirate, Karlie (pink tinkerbell), Carol, and Sage the ladybug-