Montana, Home Sweet Home

Last weekend I went to Montana for my grandpa's funeral. Montana is my most favorite place in the whole world. Narrowing that down a bit I got to go to one of my two favorite places in Montana, my grandmas house! (my other fave is Swan Lake)

My grandparents house is the one place that has always been a constant my entire life. Really the only thing that has ever changed there is the carpet, some of the furniture, and their ever changing collections. This time was really no exception, it smelled the same to me and I remember the sounds of the squeaking floor and what was in all the drawers. There is still the post that has kept me and my bro and sis's height measurements for years and the place in the garage where we have all signed our names every year. This time my kids got to add their drawings and names and were both measured. How cool is it that I can compare my height to my daughters from when we were around the same age?? I can also really tell just how short my little Lando really is :) I have so many memories of staying in this house and being in Havre http://www.havremt.com/ it was really nice to get to share some of those things with my kids.

One of the highlights for the kids was getting to eat Dairy Queen Dilly Bars, playing outside, and getting to see the fire trucks.

Unfortunately our trip to Montana was to attend my grandpa's funeral which was no fun! We flew up on Friday and then drove for about 4 hours to get into Havre. There was a nice dinner buffet for us at the Elks club where there was a final 11th Hour tribute made to my grandpa. After that we went to church for a Rosary service. There was a board up with lots of pictures of my grandpa through the years. I only remember my grandpa having false teeth but after seeing pictures of him when he was young I now know where we all got the gap in our front teeth from! We are a large family and let me tell you we ALL have the dang gap in our teeth!

Anyway on Saturday there was a nice funeral service at the church and a military send off afterwards. We then went to my uncles ranch (pictured above) to bury his ashes. All or I guess most of his grandkids and great grandkids got to lay a rose down for him. It was really nice. All of his kids, grandkids, and I think all but two great grand kids were there. I think that made it even more special since it has been so long since we have all been together.

We drove back to Billings on Sunday and then flew home on Monday. It was a super duper quick trip that left me drained emotionally and physically. I am glad to be home and have it over and done with.