Montana

Amazingly enough, our little ranch in the mountains of Montana now has wireless web,(really what is this world coming to!) so i thought i'd write about the trip so far.
Getting here was a bit rough. We had a great time visiting with out friends, the Soth's on Friday night. They fed us an incredible dinner and breakfast as well as housing us for the night. Cade hit it off with their nine year old Barrett right off and it was a little sad to leave them behind this year. I also had a good time beating four men at Princes of Florence (how's that Marko- your argument is suffering tremendously).

Jaydon, Barrett, and Cado

Saturday was a little rough. Between two seperate car troubles, SLOW dinner service, and a little side of unrelated drama, we didn't end up reaching our hotel til one a.m. The kids did surprisingly well though and it was just us big people who were a little tired and grumpy.
Fortunately, that couldn't last for long because we were headed that day to one of the greatest places on earth, Clydehurst Christian Ranch. On the way down the little "highway" (really, can you call a dirt road a highway?) we saw an antelope an elk and several deer, including two adorable fawns. The Boulder River Valley is incredibly beautiful. There's no question why it has been chosen as the backdrop to so many movies.
Being here is incredible. The beauty, the way the kids just thrive and run around- dirty and with total bliss, the horses, the staff, the camraderie... Really there isn't a way to bring justice to the Clydehurst experience. Those of you that have had the privilege of being here know what i'm talking about.

Sunset at the corral

Monday night I went on an hour and a half night ride. We started out at dusk and rode up onto the mountainside overlooking camp and the valley below. Then we made our way down and back to camp by the glow of the golden orange moon. It was breathtaking.


Fishing on the Boulder

We've been doing so much- horseback riding-which ella can NOT get enough of!, fishing, volleyball, swimming in the river, games, shooting, archery, reading, napping, eating, kitten smothering, boulder hopping, the list could go on and on...


Justin says we looked like a girl band. I can't quite think of a clever name yet.


me and ella at the river



kaia, blythie and friend

Today I've been mostly sleeping and reading. I'm not feeling so great. There seems to be a little bit of a bug that's going around, so I'm taking it easy and saving my energy for my ride at three. (We're going running in the meadow across the river!)

Camp is definitely too short.