Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Thanksgiving

Great Falls was cold and frosty and GORGEOUS on Thanksgiving this year.  Willa took these pictures as the sun was coming up for a project at school and I'm so glad she did because it really was a pretty morning.  There are only a few days like this every fall.  The thick frost happens when the river is still warm and the temperature drops so the steam from the river freezes on the trees.  Plus it had snowed the day before.  Such a pretty day!
 




I cooked my first turkey this year.  Last year was the first year Matt and I made a turkey on our own, but this year I did it without any help (unless you count youtube!).  We've been married 13 years and we were lucky enough to be invited somewhere for thanksgiving or visited family for the first 11 years. 

One of Matt's partners offered to switch a few hours with him on Thanksgiving so Matt was able to come home and eat with us.  We lucked out in the radiology group Matt joined.  You never really know how well a group works together after interviewing.  All of the physicians in Matt's group are super nice and family oriented.  Some of my best friends here are wives of Matt's partners.  It has definitely made the transition to living in Great Falls easier!

 
We spent the day toasty warm inside enjoying each other's company (and missing Matt, of course!).  The kids decorated the tree in their PJs and we listened to Christmas music.


 

 

Chopping Down Our Christmas Tree

It was Matt's turn to work on Thanksgiving and all of Thanksgiving weekend this year.  Boo!!  I have quickly adjusted to having Matt around on holidays now that he's out of residency.  It helped knowing that he was going to be off the whole week of Christmas and get a three day weekend the week of New Years.  Anyways, since he wasn't going to be around Thanksgiving weekend and since I was determined to chop down our own Christmas tree this year, we went the weekend before Thanksgiving and found our perfect tree.
 
We went to the Lewis and Clark National Forest in the Little Belts about an hour from where we live.  It was one of those perfect fall days... or maybe I should clarify... it was a perfect Montana fall day where everything is covered in snow, but it's warm - you know, in the 50s.  (That seems like a joke to Florida me, but it was a warm day for Montana.)
 
We brought our sleds.  My kids LOVE sledding.
 


 
And here's where our tree used to live.  I've had real trees most of my life and never felt bad about it.  But I actually felt bad chopping down a perfectly healthy tree.  I got over it, but it did seem wasteful.
 
 
Matt and our tree. 
We wore hunter's orange since it was still hunting season and we heard gun shots in the distance.
 
 
 
We played in the snow and took lots of pictures.  The kids and I were so busy sledding (and chasing after Oliver - that little stinker!) that we missed the actual "timber" part of the day.



I like this picture of Clark.  I'm not sure why.  He's not even looking at the camera.  I think he looks older and handsome.  Clark is a hard kid to parent.  He's super stubborn and sensitive.  But we sure do love him and are grateful he's part of our family!




 
Another exciting November event - Willa lost her two front teeth!  She lost them on the same night.  Matt pulled out the first one and she asked him to pull out the second and it was ready also.  I can't watch!  I used to let my teeth get so loose, they would literally fall out.  Willa likes to pull hers out as soon as they start to wiggle.