Camp fire, Cemetery, Chicken Chilly & Cranium

We had a great end of the week, full of visitors. First Granny and Aunt Sandy came over for the day on Thursday, Jeff & Deaette came over for the day on Friday and our Dave and Em came over this past weekend to visit us. Addi was thrilled! Addi and Em had so much to catch up on! Friday night we had a fire in our outside fireplace.



On Saturday the boys went fishing and us girls went up past Boulder, MT to visit the Elkhorn Ghost Town and Cemetery. The few buildings that are left are remnants of a once bustling mining town. At it's peak the town was home to over 900 miners, their wives and children. It was a rare mining town in that many families came to live where the miners worked. They mined gold and silver. The ghost town was so weird. There were original buildings, boarded up and abandoned and next door is a newer home that had someone living there. One man was chopping wood outside his home telling us the building across the "road", the old fraternity club, was open and we could go on in. His beautiful wolf dog came up to us to say hello and the man's three-legged wolf hybrid lay in the road. It was not creepy in the way you expect a old, mining town to be. It was interesting how the possible ancestors of this mining town were still living there. I would really like to know more about the people still there and why they are still there.










The cemetery on the other hand was creepy the way I expected it to be. Creepy and devastating. About every other headstone belonged to a child, someone's baby. Several belonged to siblings, some dying on the same day. A sign explained the 1888 diphtheria epidemic which took the lives of many Elkhorn children. One family buried seven family members in one week. I can't imagine the degree of grief that was apart of everyday life in the 1800s. There were modern headstones placed next to very old headstones. People had recently placed flowers and flags at some headstones. Some headstones had elaborate writing and statues of lambs. Bible verses, nicknames and birth dates let us know who was buried there. Others were a simple, faded, nearly rotten, slabs of wood held erect by piles of rocks. No name, no birth date, just a pile of rocks.





On the way home we stopped and had lunch at a little cafe in Boulder. We also discovered that this area of Montana is also somewhat famous for Health Mines. People voluntarily go into old gold mines to soak up the healing powers of deadly levels of radon gas. Apparently hundreds of people come to this area in the summer to spend a week (3 -4 times a day) playing boards games and reading in the gas. Some say it has the ability to heal arthritis and other ailments.

The boys came home after a slow day of fishing, we had dinner and Dylan and I won a game of Cranium! The boys got up early on Sunday and tried to find the famous Helena elk. They did get within 40 yards of a few cow elk, but no bulls were with them.

Grandpa & Grandma Powell Visit

Grandpa and Grandma Powell came over to Helena to visit us for the day! They brought Addi a treat bag, full of treats and craft projects. Addi and Grandma had fun painting, making a necklace and putting monkey stickers on EVERYTHING! We went on a walk around town. We visited the Parrot Candy Store, visited Dylan at work, played at the carousel and went out to eat at the Brewhouse.

Something Sweet from Addi

I knelt down to Addison's level this morning, got all emotional, and said to her, "I can't believe you are almost three years old. Where did my baby go? I don't want you to grow up. You will grow up and leave me." (I know pathetic, but she is growing up too fast and it makes me sad.) She got all serious and said, "But mom, I want to grow up. It's ok, I will still hug and kiss you when I am big." And then she gave me a big hug and kiss!


My beautiful girl...all grown up -- October 2010, 2 years, 11 months

The Little Things

Every once in a while I get a gentle reminder that it is the little things in life that matter the most. The little things, like Dylan walking in the door with lillies (my favorite) and a bottle of wine in his hands. Or Addison climbing up on my lap, giving me a hug and saying, "Mom, you're the best. I love you this much." With her little arms outstretched as far as she can get them.

It is all to easy to get carried away by life. Busy planning our future, stressing about money or worrying about Addison's safety. When I stop, literally, to smell the lillies, I find a fresh perspective on what I am doing and why it matters.

Hills Family Camp-Out

In August, Sara, Ellie and Uncle Roger were in town and we all went camping up Gold Creek! The girls LOVE, LOVE, LOVE camping. They love exploring, fishing, looking at the frogs I catch (either of them are interested in touching or holding them!), riding the four-wheeler, walking with Papa, helping build the fire and eating camp food! Dylan and I took a long, long four-wheeler ride by ourselves and saw a beautiful black bear!

(In this picture, Addi is saying to Ellie, "See Ellie, over there is the deer. Do you seem it?" There really was a deer over on the far hill!)

Mom Update #7

Mom finished her Chemo treatments a few weeks ago and has started radiation. If I remember right she will have 8 weeks of radiation and be all finished by Thanksgiving. She had a feeding tube put in as her throat will be very sore and she will be unable to eat. She is feeling ok, considering, and is looking forward to the day when all of this is behind her.

Pumpkin Painting

We are still getting used to Helena and what is has to offer. Last year in Missoula we were able to wander around Bensen's farm, right in Missoula, and let our Addison meticulously choose her very special pumpkin. This year however I am having a hard time finding a local farm to support. So we haven't picked our our pumpkins yet, however, I did pick up a few small pumpkins and let Addison paint them. Dylan and I also got in on the fun!

Impromptu Birthday Party

Addison decided she wanted to have a birthday party. It was nobody's birthday in our home, but she wanted one anyway! She got out her last year's decorations and decorated the coffee table. We cooked pizza and chocolate cake. We decided to celebrate all the children in the world who are unable, for whatever reason, to celebrate their birthdays. We even wore party hats, sang Happy Birthday to them and blew out candles!

Fall Family Pics

A couple times each year I force my family to pose and smile so I can take our pictures together. We have mastered using a tripod and the camera timer! Rock Creek, Montana Sept 2010. Addison - 2 years, 10 months old.

It Has Been Awhile

Only a few weeks have past since I last blogged, but a lot has changed in our lives. Dylan graduated, officially, passing his boards! We had a little gathering of our closest friends and family to celebrate.


He accepted a job in Helena, MT and we moved into a little rental house in the center of town. Dylan is working at an urgent care in town and so far is really enjoying it. Still waiting on his license to be approved with the state he isn't officially working as a PA but is following the doc around and rooming patients. It should be only a few more days, unless some more government hoops present themselves. He likes the work and usually has an interesting story to tell us each night. His schedule is great and allows him to spend a lot of time at home with us. With Dylan working 3 - 12 hour days per week he is looking into a part time PA job filling in one of the nearby ERs.

Addison and I bump around the house, spend a lot of time at the park and go on lots of walks. I have been applying for jobs and looking into daycares/preschools for Addi. She is really craving relationships with kids her own age and is quickly outgrowing spending every waking moment with her boring 'ol mamma! She constantly talks about "going to school" and pretends daily that she is going to school with her friends.

Something Funny from Addi

Something funny from Addi: New posts on the things my Addison says...or does...or both...

Addi and I have a very close relationship. Some may say too close, or too personal, or some may say gross...I mean she is usually accompanying me while I use the bathroom, while I am taking a bath or whatever else I may be doing, she is usually under my feet. Well, I do draw the line during my time of the month when certain protective female thingies need to be inserted (I know too much information, but it's worth it). During this time I ask Addi for some privacy and lock the bathroom door. Well, for almost three years when I ask for privacy she sees me grab a tampon out of the drawer. So the other day, I shut the door while going to the bathroom, Addi entered and I asked her to please leave as I wished for some privacy. She obeyed, but a few minutes later she came barging back in with a tampon in her hand and said, "Here mamma, here is your privacy." And handed me a tampon! Through my hysterics and tears I tried to explain to her what privacy was and why mommies needed tampons! Oh, to be in the brain of my toddler!