Glacier the Beautiful!

This blog is really to entice all those friends and family out there that have thought about coming to Montana to visit this summer, but have not committed yet!  These pics are just a few from our latest adventures in West Montana...

Lots of rustic mountain lodges with antler chandeliers and grizzly bear rugs on the wall behind them...

 Lake McDonald, West Glacier, so serene... 

Views that you can even capture with your camera on a timer...sort of...

Pretty wildflowers...

Your hunting binoculars will come in handy to see these mountain tops!

Cute cafe with yummy food, fresh lemonade and chairs with birds on them-cute!... ;-)

Downtown Bigfork!

Mountain goats all over the cliff edge... 

Two Medicine, East Glacier, spectacular!!!

St. Mary's lake, East Glacier, crystal clear water!

Moose hanging out by the side of the road... just waiting for their picture to be taken...

Many Glacier, East Glacier, breath taking...

And tons of hikes all over the park for all kinds of fitness levels.  Make sure you have your bear spray though... note: Ben has his strapped to his right hip just in case ;-)

Trip to Cali

About a week ago I got back from a 10 day trip to California to see family and friends.  It was so nice to get out of Montana for a bit and spend some time with some of my favorite people.   The trip included lots of golfing, yummy food and quality time with my family.

I'm still not very good at remembering to take pictures, but here are just a few from the trip.

(Aunt Melody and Grandma)

My grandma had surgery when I was home... she did great!  She is such a strong lady and I'm so thankful she is doing well- huge answer to prayers!  

(Cousins-Danielle, Natalie and Sierra)

Spent lots of quality time with my mom.  Wow, do I need a tan! ;-)

And I got to meet my neice- Chloe Marie Dalton!  She is such a cutie!!!  As is her momma Emily.  

Bulgogi night

This was my first "real" attempt to make Korean food.   I can't believe I just turned 30 and I'm finally saying that!  A friend of mine from work wanted some help making the Bulgogi marinade recipe she got from a local Korean lady so we turned it into a cook off.  Her recipe against the secret family recipe!  We had a great time cooking and I learned a lot in the process.  Thanks to Aunt Miriam for helping out with the spinach and sprouts... they turned out great!  I'll have to get her cucumber kimchi recipe for next time though because mine only turned out so so.  Overall, the family recipe shined and my first attempt at the other sides was pretty good, but nothing compares to the family gatherings at Aunt Ruth's and Aunt Miriam's for Korean food.  I will never forget "washing" our kimchi cause it was too spicy and eating the little "fishies" like it was going out of style.  I've got a lot to live up to!  ;-)

Mustache March

It's been a few weeks now, but I'm know I'm not the only military wife that is thankful for the end of the month of March.  Every year we get to experience the furry caterpillar around this time... and for those of us that are not used to it, we can't wait till it's over!  Let's just say, March=fewer kisses.  Thank goodness for April!  ;-)

PW comes to Great Falls

During my jobless months earlier this year, I had a lot of time on my hands.  So I worked on trying to be more frugal and healthy while keeping a tidy home for my husband.  This led to endless hours learning how to coupon, cooking new recipes, keeping a budget and trying a new workout.  After all that I learned a lot of new things about myself including the fact that I could stay really busy just being a housewife... and I could get used to this!

Now that I am working, the "couponing" has slowed down and the workouts were reduced from daily to "as much as I can," but I have really tried to keep up with the cooking.  Part of this is due to the blogs that I started following when I had a lot of time on my hands.  They automatically keep me filled with so many ideas for new recipes every week- it's hard not to stay inspired and motivated!  One of my favorites is the Pioneer Woman (PW).  I may have been one of the last to discover her in this world, but at least I made it eventually!  ;-)  Her blog is filled with new recipes, photography tips and funny stories about her daily family life... 

Well, the real reason I'm blogging about it is because PW made a visit to Great Falls this weekend to speak at the "world-famous Western Art Show."  She just shared about her life (really all the info she has already shared on her blog) and was there to visit and sign books, but it was fun to see/hear her in person instead of just online.  

She sounded just like she does on her blog- go figure...

Again, picture quality is terrible from the iPhone, but for anyone who has seen her blog you will recognize the picture on the screen... makes you want your own husband to wear chaps every once in a while... hehe

This is the line I waited in for 2 hours... 

This is what my husband got me so I could survive the 2 hour line while he watched basketball in the hotel bar and looked at art...

It worked!  She was sweet and signed my book... and she reminded me of my Aunt Carol up close.  ;-)


-Rhiannon

The Boiling River

So we are a little behind in keeping up with this blog, so here goes a little bit of catch up!

In January we met some friends, Skyler and Amber Clark, near Yellowstone to make a day of snowshoeing and dipping in the hot springs.  We got to try out some new snowshoes... they were an awesome purchase, but we have not used them since!!  Yikes, better get on that.

We did see a little bit of wildlife while we were out there.  Tons of elk everywhere!  We even saw what could have been a snow ferret??!  Not really sure, but he was fast and cute.  Too fast for me to get my phone out and capture his cuteness.  And yes, these pictures were all taken with the iPhone... hence the lack of quality.  ;-)

After hiking around all afternoon, we rewarded ourselves by taking a dip in the boiling river.  There is a hot spring that joins the river you see in the picture above and people flock there to relax and enjoy the mixing of the hot and cold water.  People have taken stones from the river bed and arranged them to create several pools to sit in.  The temperature varies in every pool so there is a place for everyone!  We could have stayed there for hours if it weren't for the impending darkness.  Next to us in the cold river was a river otter??!  You can tell I'm not real good with naming the wildlife.  He was definitely having a good time swimming up and down the river really close to us... very entertaining!

As we drove out of the park we saw more elk.  And they were not scared of our headlights!  When I took this picture, this guy was just standing there on the edge of the road, practically posing.  It was a nice way to end a great day with good friends enjoying some of God's amazing creation.

A Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas from Montana!

The roads are icy and the animals somewhat furry, but our new rental house is packed with warmth and lots of love.. which we are sending to you right now!  Hopefully we'll be able to pack more into this new home in the next few years, so the invitation is open.  5 extra beds and Ben's heaven of a basement (no dual chipping/putting green yet) are ready for visitors!  All in all, God is in control and 2010 is another example of His wonderful blessings.  

We started the year off finally getting the opportunity to adapt to life together (or "compromising" as Ben calls it) on a daily basis.  Our first home on Mountain Home AFB in Idaho was surprisingly enjoyable.  We think it has something to do with having a snuggle buddy... especially when you are living in a snowy place for the first time!  "Rhi Rhi" fit right in with the squadron, and "Trap" seemed to never let the gas peddle up as the new Weapons Officer.  Regular snowboarding trips to Bogus Basin were standard.  You should see Rhiannon shred those cat tracks.. get outta the way!   She also got a new job on base in the Family Practice Clinic.  Being a phone nurse is not all it's cracked up to be, but we were thankful for the opportunity and the great M-F schedule.  

Family time is obviously very important to us and included Levi and Katie's (Ben's sister) wedding in Houston, a De Jong family vacation to Whister/Seattle in May and a day in Newport with Rhiannon's brother Billy.   Ben's parents visited us in July and we exchanged visits with the Dalton trio (Ben's sister Emily and hubby Joe... love that Nate-dogg kiddo!).  We loved getting to play golf with Grandma Wirth and Bob as they made a stop in Idaho along their motor home road trip.  Momma Kimberly graced our presence in temporary lodging on base (in Montana) in hopes of helping us move in.  It has been a busy year!!!  Somewhere in that blur, approximately June 19, we spent our romantic 1 year anniversary in beautiful San Diego.  It just happened to coincide with one of Ben's TDYs and everything worked out like a champ.. got to share more memories with old friends from school and past assignments.  

Already mentioned hobbies.. Ben can't get enough of mountain biking.  So much so that he roped Rhiannon into that extreme sport.  It resulted in an "over the handle bars" experience and only two scraped up knees and a bloody chin.  We got our moneys worth in that helmet and count our blessings everyday.  We also got to spend some time in the Sawtooth mountains on a camping trip.  Ben continued to make time for his golf game and wound up qualifying for the US Mid-Amateur Championship in Sept.  Didn't make the cut but he's still #1 is his wifey's heart ;-)  

On a sad note, the 390th Fighter Squadron de-activated as an F-15C unit in September, which explained our move to Great Falls, MT.  We sincerely enjoyed the wonderful friends and experiences Idaho brought us, even if Ben was constantly working and we were only there together for 9 months.  We haven't stopped going since driving into "Big Sky" Country in early October.  We were fortunate enough to get a month off from the Air Force and travel Europe.  That trip started off in England with visits to old friend, Matt & Ashley Minkley and Rhiannon's cousin Matt Leusink and new bride Elizabeth.  We then proceeded to Dublin, Prague, southern Germany and all over Italy.  It was an incredible trip that went pretty smooth for our first big Euro-trip!  Some of our favorites were the focaccia bread and hikes in Cinque Terre, art in Florence, parks in Dublin and ambience of Prague.  

Rhiannon just finished unpacking the last box today and the final Christmas decorations have been hung. During this time we celebrate the birth of Jesus.. and pray for our country and the amazing life we are able to live.  Hopefully our paths with cross again soon.  Love to all and Merry Christmas!!

Ben and Rhiannon