What a busy week! It's kickin' my tail! Monday, Rich's brother Mark arrived with his family from New Jersey for a 2-week visit (staying at the in-laws' house). Wednesday the whole family drove to Billings and met up with Rich's other brother, Jess, and his family from Minot, ND (Jess & Mark are both Air Force pilots). We went to Zoo Montana in the heat of a scorching hot day, then had a family dinner buffet at Golden Corral (Grandpa's treat), then swam for hour and hours at our hotel pool, which had a 90ft. waterslide. Believe it or not, my two girls rode the slide about a million times, some of those times ALL BY THEMSELVES! They are fearless little fishies and I was so proud of their gusto!
Sadly, the fun ended there for me, as Heidi was up sick most of the night with a croupy cough and vomiting. Rich got up at 6:30am and went to the temple with his siblings to do family baptisms, and we sisters-in-law were to follow at 9am to do an endowment session with our husbands. By that time, Heidi was feeling better, but I was throwing up, so we skipped that session. We did take our kids up to the temple to touch it an see the pretty fountains and flowers, then had lunch with all their cousins and grandparents at Wendy's (oh, and grandma bought them all toys at Walmart). We drove the two hours back to Livingston in an exhausted stupor. The kids were well and played hard with their cousins, and Rich and I struggled to keep our eyes open til bedtime (actually, Rich went to the rifle range with his brothers from 7-9pm, and I think his eyes were plenty open cuz he scored 16/25).
This morning I had an ultrasound to measure baby's growth. Everything looks good and baby is about a week ahead of dates, but legs were crossed and we couldn't identify the gender AGAIN! This tech said she would expect to see a bulge if it were a boy, even with legs crossed, but she also didn't see the "lines" that indicate a girl. So the mystery continues, although we are hoping our first glimpse of boy parts was for real! I am relieved that baby looks good...my blood pressures have been much lower this week, too, so thank heaven for that.
Today and tomorrow are sort of hang out days; my sister Jill and her kids will arrive late tonight to spend the weekend with us. Saturday is a Scout Pancake breakfast and we plan to swim with the kids, swap clothes, and CHILL! Sunday is church, of course, and the enormous Livingston Roundup Kick off Parade, followed by family dinner and lots of fireworks. Sounds fun to me!
We got some great pictures this week--when I get them downloaded, I will post them. Meanwhile--enjoy your weekend and leave a comment!
Mike, Mark, Jess, & Rich Melin with Livingston in the background
Jess found his plaque!
The boys called us from teh top and told us to watch the peak while Mike signaled us with this contraption.
All the boys chill on the ridge
The hikers: Jeff & Shaun Spalding, Jess & Rich Melin; 
Mike, Mark, Jess, & Rich Melin with Livingston in the background
Jess found his plaque!
The boys called us from teh top and told us to watch the peak while Mike signaled us with this contraption.
All the boys chill on the ridge
The hikers: Jeff & Shaun Spalding, Jess & Rich Melin; 
