THE MT ADVENTURE!

OK, so i decided i can't wait to blog about our trip, plus I don't know when Lisa will be getting us the pictures. So here it goes, our first big adventure with Jordon. Brace yourself, this will be long!


I guess I am just like my sisters and mom who whenever there is something big coming up, especially with the daunting task of packing for a trip, I freak out. Packing for two I thought was a challenge, but when you have a toddler, the packing is even more intense, at least for me. I think I started a week and a half before hand preparing for the trip and packing. I had to think of all sorts of things to pack and to have entertaining things for Jordon during the trip. Chris helped a little but with work being all crazy, the trip's packing was all up to me and getting the house in order for it to be left, etc, etc. So many things to do for a trip.


Things got even more interesting with who was to take us to the airport too, Stu was planning on it, but with his work rescheduling his flight, we ended up having the Hauth's take us. Thank you so much!


The night before the flight, i put Jordon down as soon as i could. He got about 10 hours sleep that night, but it seemed like he didn't mind me getting him at 6 am. I gave him all the sleep i could getting him last, and when i walked in his room he was already sitting up looking at me as if to say, where we going mommy? Our flights went alright, he was too excited to sleep, he might have slept about 40 minutes on the first flight, but other than that he was wide awake looking around, trying to crawl away in the airport and getting mad i wouldn't let him. We bought him some new toys and books for the trip but even with that he was such a wiggle worm. I think I'm favoring the car seat on the plane for a toddler so I don't have to hold one. But he was a trooper, or I should say we all were. It was just a matter of entertaining him more than normal. We had an hour layover in SLC but it was just enough time to have bathroom breaks, diaper change, a snack, and find our next gate.


As soon as we got into MT, Jordon gave Gramma Gallis a huge hug and snuggle, mostly cause he wanted away from us probably but then again you never know. He knows Gramma's voice since she is able to call us a lot during the week. I gave him a snack in the car, and he fell back asleep and took a little nap that afternoon. Ever since day 1, Jordon and Gramma were inseparable, they just had a hoot together. He would just laugh and giggle. He is quite the smiler, even giving Grampa some crazy grins.


We had him sleep in a pack n play all week since the crib they had was old style and not able to accommodate an Alleman boy. He would've jumped out even with the mattress as low as it could be. He did pretty good with sleeping before all the cousins came, after that, we did the best we could. He was such a trooper, but had so much fun with everyone.


Our first day of being there was just relaxing and re cooping from the flight but it was also my birthday. Mom made us a roast dinner with mashed potatoes, and pie! Homemade pie, can't beat that. I don't remember too much about the first day except for the flight and going to bed early that evening.


The next morning we enjoyed the great outdoors and waking up to 50 degrees! All week actually was like that and every morning at 3 AM i would get cold so i would wake up, put a flannel blankie over Jordon so he'd stay warm and put a blanket over me. Nights were muggy there even with fans going on. Believe it or not, MT was pretty hot for MT. It got up to 100 a few times so far in the month of July, but while we were there i think it didn't break 90. Wonderful weather, we loved it! We walked around and explored the "barnyard" and going down the road for a stroller ride. Jordon couldn't get enough of it. The first couple of days though he didn't know where he was, but it didn't take him long to remember where all the toys were and the stairs, and the kitchen!


The next day we went to town, which is kindof a big deal, in order to go anywhere it takes a good 20-30 minutes, so we always had to plan it out. Half the time, Jordon would fall asleep in the car. We went grocery shopping at my old work place, Safeway, which isn't what i would call my old work place. They completely tore it down and redid the whole thing making it into a Signature store with a Starbucks inside. Too fancy for my taste and for the city of Whitefish. I only saw one person there that I remembered. We also went back to Bargain Barn, to see my good friend and former employer. We were also able to see a dear family friend of ours that has been having some major challenges this year. She has diabetes and lupus and this year her diabetes went crazy and has had like 5 surgeries(amputations) in order to stop the infection from going up to her heart. She is a wonderful lady, in good spirits, and very excited that she'll be getting a prosthesis for her leg. Jordon charmed her like he always does with the ladies. He kept begging for kisses and hugs from her and came out from her house with lipstick all over his face! Such a ladies man!


I can't remember what we did on that Friday, all I know was that that was the day the rest of the crew came, but it wasn't until about 6 pm. The days went by so fast it's hard to know what we did. We enjoyed lots of time with family and plenty of fresh MT air. It was so great to see Erin and Matt and their two kids, Anya and Brinton. They came and enjoyed the chicken enchiladas i made for dinner. Jacey and Ellisa and their daughter Ella got in around 8:30 that night but spent the night with the Morine family.


The next morning we had absolutely beautiful professional pictures taken of our family as a whole and separate family group shots. We are still in the process of getting those pictures, but they are breathtaking. The crazy thing is that people would pay a fortune for a background like that but to me it's just part of my home life, my back yard. By the time we got pictures done, Jordon was so ready for lunch and a nap. He definitely gave plenty of smiles though! The rest of the day we just all hung out, playing with kids, playing outside. Jordon started to get a cold this day, mostly from the weather change, lack of sleep, and the room we slept in was pretty dusty. But he did well playing along with everyone all week. All of us went out to dinner that night to Apple bees. We sat outside and enjoyed the evening and Brinton and Ella were so cute with eating lemons! Yes, lemons, wish i had a good picture of it. Ella is quite the talker these days and would go around saying I love you to everyone by name. Chris actually took care of Jordon for me that night, he just wasn't feeling good, he went to bed super early. Thanks honey for the night out with my fam!


Sunday we enjoyed going to church without worrying about callings. All of the kids had fun sitting together playing with everyone's church toys and books. Ella and Brinton went to nursery, but with Jordon having such a cold i just kept him with me. He barely made it through all of church, Erin and Ellisa took him out several times during Relief Society. He crashed right afterwards in the car, but we sure had a lot of fun showing him off to everyone. It was nice to be able to see my old friends again too. That evening we went to a barbecue with Jacey's parents. They even had venison meat to share with everyone. I used to not like it, but it wasn't too bad. I think out of all game meat, elk would have to be the best. The kids were all pretty tired so we didn't stay too long, but it was sure great to spend time with the Morines.



Monday everyone except for us went huckleberry picking. By this point on the trip, Jordon was feeling pretty sick, he scared us a few times through the trip because he would throw up a lot. Most of it was during naptime and bedtime because i think he was just so overtired he didn't know how to wind himself down and he wasn't feeling good which compounded the problem. We also didn't have any clothes to get dirty in so we felt we should stay home with mom, who was also trying to plan the big birthday party that evening for everyone. Chris and I stayed and helped out with the cleaning and planning. When they did come home Jordon absolutely loved the huckleberries and so did Chris, who has never tasted them before! Matthew made some wonderful huckleberry muffins too. It takes a lot of work to pick huckleberries, but it is so worth it. The party went well, we had about 15 people altogether and enjoyed a wonderful feast and cake that our neighbor made with putting all of our names on it. My mom doesn't get to see us except for once a year, so it was a birthday celebration for everyone!



Tuesday was our big adventure of what we thought would be a great outdoorsy activity for everyone. The Morines had planned a hiking/fishing trip. From the last time that they had been there they had remembered it as a 8 mile round trip, beautiful and no brush. Of course that was about 10 years when they had been there last. Well, i guess since then it wasn't traveled much, and so the hike actually was a 12 mile round trip, with 95% of the trip being overgrowth and brush. Several people including my sister, Erin, wore shorts that day and it tore their legs up pretty bad and the overgrowth also had some plants that were sharp and when your skin would touch them, it would give a bump on your skin and feel like a mini paper cut. Not fun! Lisa was nice enough to give me a long sleeve shirt on the way back. It was very miserable, the lake was very pretty though, even though infested with lots of bugs and mosquitoes. The best thing was that everyone who fished caught them right away. We enjoyed a nice lunch there and left pretty soon after because it started to storm and we didn't want to get stuck in mud on the way back where there were some very steep declines. We all survived but it was a very long trek, walking about 8 hours, and then we were all limping for the next day. Chris sang us lots of songs to get us through the last part of the trip! Thanks honey! Thankfully the Gramma's watched the children for us. We left the house that morning around 5:30 AM and got back around 6 PM. We celebrated our trek by watching the new Journey to the Center of the Earth, except all of us except Erin and Matt and Chris went to bed early.



Wednesday we went to Woodland park and enjoyed feeding the ducks, playing on the slides and walking around. It was great to show Chris around where the Gallis family would always go in the summer. It isn't a small park, it has lots of ducks and a duck pond, a couple areas to play at, a water park, a bridge that overlooks where the ducks are at, and a pavilion they just put in. There is also a floral garden there too where our Grandma would always take us to. Jordon enjoyed looking around and seeing all the ducks. He actually fell asleep in the car on the way there so Gramma and him stayed in the car for a little while so he'd get a good cat nap for the day. After the park, the boys went home to take care of the kids while us girls went out for a girl date and went out for lunch and shopped in the mall. Of course this mall shouldn't really be called too much of a mall, more of a shopping center, but it's the only one really around. But there is a JCPenney's! I was able to get a couple pairs of shoes and a few shirts with my birthday money. Still have a bit left, so I'm trying to decide what to use it for. It was nice to get away from the kids and enjoy sister and mom bonding.



We had a wonderful time in MT, there were so many things that we did. The kids enjoyed the kiddy pool to play in, had fun up on Grampa's tractor, and Jacey and Chris enjoyed figuring out the Rubix cube three or four times! (Please don't get Chris a Rubix cube! The first time they figured it out it took them a whole day) I believe i truly lost my husband that day, you'd ask him a question and no response! Well, it was a brother in law bonding experience. It was great to see all of them having a great time socializing together and getting to know each other. Jacey hasn't gotten to know him that well. The last time we were all together was after Jordon was born, and that wasn't the best time to do it.



That evening was our last night we spent in MT, we packed everything up for our trip the next day. That night we stayed up way too late but it was well worth it. I don't know why when us Gallis girls get to gether we always have to have arm wrestling matches, but we did that, got into some laughing attacks, and finally bid our farewells. We had to wake up at 4 AM to catch our 6 AM flight. Matt was kind enough to drive down with Mom and us to the airport. We actually barely got through security and on the flight on time. But luckily for us the way back was a lot easier, Jordon slept pretty much the whole way home.



We loved our trip but are so glad to be back home. Jordon recuperated from his cold and from his sleep deprivation. I have never seen him so tired. He slept on the planes, we had dinner over at the Allemans(thank you so much!), and he crashed in the car before 7 that night and slept straight until 7:30 the next morning, took a three hour nap that day and went to bed early that night. After a week, he's back up to his old more happier state! It was so cute to see Jordon miss his toys so much and to be so happy for his crib.



We are all back in the swing of things now, even though it took Jordon about a week to stop whining that i wasn't paying attention to him all the time. He got spoiled in MT with being around his cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents giving him lots of attention all the time. He's doing better now, and his cold is all gone, thank goodness!



Well, I think that sums it all up, told you it would be long. Thanks to everyone who took us to the airport and thanks to mom and dad and Raechel for watching Patches! Enjoy the pictures!