Congressman Rehberg & Senator McCain in Great Falls

 Ken Overcast at the Gospel Concert at St Johns Lutheran church in Gt. Falls

Since we didn't take any photos of harvest you get this one of Doug during a skit at the school reunion!

August 2012

August...Were is the summer going? Tyler, Levi and Mikenda stayed with us overnight on the 4^th. They came to attend a concert at the fair. Danny and Lexi flew in on that day as well. They headed to the farm the next day so we didn't see much of them. Bob & Paula Cox were in Great Falls visiting so we met them at the Voyager baseball game on the 9^th and also visited with them at Dad's on the 11^th. Danny & Lexi left the evening of the 11^th . On the 13^th we met the cousins at McKenzie River Pizza. Bob & Paula, Mark & Debbie, Doug & Fran, and Cheryl were in attendance. It was another fun night of catching up. On the 14^th we attended the annual condo picnic. This month we inventoried & appraised Howard's coin collection, attended an informational talk from Denny Rehberg and John McCain & enjoyed a gospel concert with Dad & Elaine where we listened to Ken Overcast and other good music. On the 21^st we drove to the farm to help out some with harvest. Dixie did some cooking and we both helped moved vehicles. Dixie also did a lot of Fran's work. We ended up staying for a week! We got back on the 28^th and left again on the 31^st. This time we took the motorhome to Seeley Lake to Aunt Shirleys. Dad and Elaine took the boat, Steve & Denita took their camper & Doug and Fran decided to stay home as they were tired after the long harvest! We had a great time boating on Sat and Sun. Levi came from Missoula & Jody, Jay and Jim & Shelly came from Butte. Also Billmayers, Maloneys and Gail & Monte were out on the water. We came back on Labor day!

 AT McKenzie River Pizza with the cousins

Big Sky FMCA Rally

July 2012

July...We got back home on the 1^st , only to leave again on the 4^th for Hogeland. Danny flew in on the 3^rd and we all went to Hogeland for an all school reunion in Turner. We had 4^th of July dinner at Doug & Frans. On Friday Danny & I helped Darla Van Voast set up the AV equipment for the slideshow at the banquet. There was a very large crowd in Turner (around 600). It was fun seeing lots of people that I haven't seen in a long while – some since high school. There was live music each night. On Saturday, Mike & I helped Doug, Fran and Tammy sell drinks at the tent/dance. We were kept quit busy!.

On Sunday the 8^th we buried Mom's ashes at the Silverbow Cemetery and said our finally goodbyes. You may be gone, but never forgotten MOM!

On the 9^th we were back in Great Falls and helping Dough & Fran move Howards things to their house. We have Howard's car in our garage with the hopes of possibly buying it. We took it in for maintenance work on the 13^th for a 'groan' in the steering. It took quite a while but it was finally fixed. We worked a lot on preparing for the FMCA Rally we are hosting – getting gifts, creating agendas, purchasing items, etc. Other things that kept us busy in July – attended a Denny Rehberg talk at the college, walked the rivers edge trail, went on a short ride on the river on Dad's new pontoon boat, Dixie's annual doctor visit and we inventoried and appraised Howard's camera collection.

We put the motorhome on a site at Dick's RV park on the 26^th which was the start of our Big Sky FMCA rally. We had 17 rigs in attendance, which as a very good turn out. It was a busy 4 days but we had a great rally and a fun time. The weather cooperated for the most part. It was quite windy on Sat. so we had to moved our dinner inside the small building. It was hot but at least it was out of the wind. We were caught at a weak moment and both agreed to hold offices for the next 2 years – Mike, President and Dixie, Secretary.

 Howard's Memorial

' Lillian Miller Hamilton Nace' Family at Beaver Creek Reunion

Brother Roger, Mike and Brandon

June 2012

June... June started the Farmers Market, Alive @ 5, Voyager Baseball and Garage Sales. Denita and family were here the first weekend. They purchased Bill & Gloria's living room furniture so they came to pick it up. We helped Bill & Gloria with their garage sale on the 8^th. Doug & Fran used our passes to take a trip to northern CA. They had a bit of a problem with flights on the return so they were gone a few days longer than planned – the fun of non-reving! We made a trip to Houston on the 9^th where we saw Brandon and family. We stayed at Barbara's with them. We attended a wonderful BBQ at Mike & Hopes, a Sugerland Beeters baseball game, lunched & visited Roger, Karen and families, visited the Firefighers Memorial (Jason) and also spent a morning with Ruthie. We had a wonderful time and arrived home on the 12^th. (we had to try 2 flights out of IAH before getting on). Denita, Steve, & Levi passed through on their way to U of M for Levi's college orientation. On the 23^rd we were at the farmers market with Doug & Fran when we received the news that Howard Nace had passed away. It was a shock as he had not been sick. We spent the weekend making arrangements. On Wednesday we took the motorhome to Beaver Creek Park for a Miller family reunion. We drove the car to Hogeland for Howard's funeral. We enjoyed our time visiting with some of his family that we have not seen since childhood days. We went back to the motorhome that evening. Shay went with us and stayed overnight as well. The rest of the family arrived on Thursday for the reunion. The Butte crew were also there. We had a great time visiting and catching up with everyone!

 Tyler with his diploma

 Levi & Aunt Dixie

Mom's ashes are buried

May 2012

Apr 27 – May...Dixie started out by working the day after we returned. On the 28^th our dryer quit working (the washer was the one that really needed to be replaced). On the 30^th we began our washer/dryer shopping and made our purchase on the 1^st where we bought a ---- at Eklunds. It's so much fun researching and making a decision (NOT)!

May was a busy month catching up – there were flowers to plant, visiting to be done and some work in there. We attended Levi's divisional track meet that was held here. Elaine arrived on the 17^th to spend the summer with Dad. We went to the farm on the 18^th to attend Graduation on the 19^th. Levi graduated from High School and Tyler from 8^th Grade. It was a busy & fun weekend, but how can they be that old? Dixie had to have her ring repaired and then while wearing 'Moms' ring, lost the diamond in it. (luckily Doug found it on their floor). Both rings were now in the repair shop. Dixie dug out some old gold pieces that were broke or no longer being used and sold them to cover the repair costs! We gave blood. We had snow on the 27^th! On the 31^st Dixie helped Gloria price items for their garage sale – they sold their house and will be moving to the motorhome. (sounds familiar).

Another Successful Trip South Completed!

Apr 23-26...We left Laughlin around 740am for a trek north. We decided to take an alternate route turning off the I15 north of Vegas on Hwy 93. We drove 377 miles to Ely, NV. We arrived shortly after 330p – we fueled up at the Shell station ($4.19 a gal) and parked in their lot. We had snack and drinks at B&G's. We went to Taco Time in the shell station for dinner. There were several trucks that arrived by bedtime so we decided it was a Tylenol PM night! We had breakfast at Subway and were on the road by 735a.

We stayed at Ft Hall Casino parking lot on the 24^th. They have an RV park so they wanted us to stay there but since we were just doing a quick overnight they let us park in their parking lot. The 25^th we spent in the Butte Walmart parking lot. We met the family there for drinks and chicken at the Freeway Bar. Once again a good time was had by all. We arrived home on the 26^th, unpacked and had dinner at Doug & Frans. ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL WINTER SOUTH!