One of my jewelry pieces

September 2013

September...Tyler and Dad drove to Great Falls on the 2^nd as they both had doctor appointments on the 3^rd. I went with both of them with lunch in between at the El Commodore. They left around 3 and Mike and I headed to our Dentist appointments. It was a busy doctoring day!
On the 6^th we headed out for our last RV rally for the summer. This trip was the 120 miles to Lewistown. We took in the Chokecherry Festival on Sat. (the largest street fairs we've seen in Montana) and the Bale Trail 'What the Hay' event on Sunday. It was a fun weekend!
I stayed busy making up jewelry pieces to put in the Beauty Salon in Turner.
On Friday the 13^th we drove Dad's Motorhome out to the farm. I took the jewelry to Denise's shop and set up a sales display. On Saturday we attended the Missoula Children's Theater presentation of 'Blackbeard the Pirate' in Turner. Shay had a great role as 'Peach Fuzz'. Sunday Denita, Fran and I went through the storage room in the shop and got ride of a bunch of stuff! We went back home on Monday, with another stop at the courthouse in Chinook...this time to license the motorhome. Dad came back to Great Falls with us.
Monday the 16^th Brenda Maloney and Shawna Billmayer overnighted with us on their way to Milwaukee. On Tues. evening Doug/Fran & Steve/Denita overnighted on their way to Yakima, WA to buy a semi truck. We went to the Stein House with them for a late dinner. They left at 630a on Wed. but had car problems just out of Simms. We took our car and met them at Vaughn where we switched cars. We took Doug's car to the shop. The got back to Great Falls late Thurs. evening and left again on Friday. I made more jewelry this week ~ this time for the Sugarbeet Festival in Chinook on the 28^th. Fran is going and offered to try and sell some of my jewelry.
Friday, Dad, Mike & I had brunch at Perkins and then went to a 'Mature Driving Class' in the afternoon. It was pretty interesting and it gives us a little discount on insurance.
We also attended the farmers market on Wed. and Sat.
Sunday the 22^nd was church and spending time getting organized for our move back to the motorhome which will take place mid-Oct.
Monday was a trip to the eye doctor with Dad and then for groceries and gas.
Dad drove to the farm on Tue. (his first one on his own ~ not sure that it was a good idea but we didn't have much say in the matter). Mike had his annual doctor visit and I gave blood. I also made a trip over to Dad's so the repair man could replace a blind cord.
We spent the rest of the week sorting through items going to the motorhome and/or storage or give away! We made a few trips to the MH and storage...glad it is in the same facility.
Thur. we ended up taking our computer to CTR Computers to install additional ram memory ~ we ended up leaving it with him so he could wipe out everything and take it back to it's original purchase state. There was Malware that was slowing it down a lot! Denita/Steve/Shay overnighted with us Thursday evening.
On Fri. we loaded up our spare bed, desk, chair and stools for them to take to Levi. He has an apartment in Missoula that needed furnishing....between all the family he is furnished! We picked up the computer Fri. evening and oh how much better it runs. We do have to reinstall the software that was on it but it is better than trying to remove all the junk! All total it cost $185 but that was much better than what Staples wanted!
Sat. was more running around. Denita/Steve/Shay came back through on their way home. Fran sold 4 pieces of my jewelry to the Sugarbeet Festival in Chinook ~ that's 6 so far! We went to the Stein House of dinner.
Sunday & Monday was spent getting more stuff ready for the move to the motorhome. The list is whittling down. Next Sat. we are schedule to go to NC for a week.

 Alpacas for Sale at the Chokecherry Festival in Lewistown

One of the Hay Bale displays from the 'Bale Trail'

Just inside the Park ~ near West Yellowstone

August 2103

August...On the 2^nd we headed to the farm once again! We had dinner at Denita’s. Jody, Jay and Ashley came from Butte. On the 3^rd we attended Aunt Pearl’s 100^th Birthday party in Chinook. Aunt Shirley came out to Hogeland and we all had a wonder dinner and time at Doug & Fran’s. We headed back to Great Falls on Sunday. Dad stayed at the farm. On Wed. Denita, Steve, Tyler, Shay and Dad came to Great Falls for a doctor appt for Tyler. We all had dinner at Howard’s Pizza.

On the 8^th it was time to leave for another FMCA Rally in Ennis. The next day we drove to West Yellowstone and into the park a short ways. On Sat. we drove to Virginia City and Nevada City. We had another great rally visiting with everyone. We drove back home on Sunday. 
On Monday the 12^th we attended a memorial service for our condo neighbor Bev Knoll. Tues. Dixie drove to Havre to pick up Dad. Denita and Steve brought him to there. We had lunch at Uncle Joes and drove back to Great Falls. That evening we had dinner at the house and then went to Gibson park to listen to the municipal band. 
Dad had an appt. with Dr. Williams on Wed. as well as a couple of therapy appts. On the 15^th we attended our condo association and picnic. After that we picked up Dad and went to Alive @ 5. Friday we went to the Stock Car Races. Saturday we made dinner @ Dads. Sunday was church and breakfast out. The 20^th was a visit to Dr. Pike for a follow-up on his shoulder. Wed. night was music at Gibson park and Thurs. after Dad was here for dinner we walked to the park for the last Alive @5....We seem to stay quite busy entertaining Dad!!!. 
Denita & Levi came that evening (22^nd). On Fri. Dad, Levi, Denita and I left for Missoula. We left Dad with Aunt Shirley at Clearwater Junction and we continued to Missoula. We spent the afternoon helping Levi move his stuff into his dorm room ~ it's amazing how much stuff you can get into a small room! We had lunch at McKenzie River and dinner at the Mustard Seed. Sat. we shopped a bit, had lunch at Red Robin and dinner at the Missoula Club. John Anderson was working at the Mo Club so we went in to see him....it was extremely busy since the “Root Festival' was going on the street outside. We left early Sun. morning and drove to Seeley Lake to pick up Dad. We said hi to Shirley and Jay and left for Great Falls. Dad went with Denita to the farm. 
We spent the last week doing the normal stuff. We took in the last music night at the Library Park. Mike took the motorhome in to have the noise in the jacks checked out ~ of course it has to be the motor that is going bad. Guess that will get fixed before we head south. I ordered glasses online but they didn't fit too well. After having them adjusted 4 times I sent them back to have them checked out. The pressure sore on the nose just hurt too much. I am now waiting to hear from them and will most likely order a different pair....the downside to ordering online ~ you can't try them on. The price is definitely the upside!!!! Another summer month is gone!!!

 A print at Dr. Williams office..."Chief of the Medical Staff"

 Buffalo from the range near Ronan

Deer in Aunt Shirley's yard...tame or what?

July 2013

July...Boy is it nice to be done packing and moving! On the 2nd we drove out to the farm with Dad & Elaine. We stopped at the courthouse in Chinook and licensed the Tracker. We had a wonderful 3rd and 4th picnicking at Doug & Fran’s and other neighbors. We checked out Doug & Fran’s house/garage addition. It’s coming right along. The evening of the 4th we sat up in what will be the master bedroom and watched fireworks in all directions. The big show was God’s fireworks of lightening. Around 11pm it started to hail and pour rain. Unfortunately there was damage to some of the crops.

We went back to Great Falls on the 5th. On the 6th we helped Elaine’s sister and brother-in-law (Lynn & Ken) move into their new home in Great Falls.

Dad had his post op and pre op appointment with the Dr. Williams, the surgeon on the 10th. We spent the rest of that week prepping for our garage sale which we held on Sat. the 13th. We got rid of quite a bit of stuff and the rest went to Goodwill!!! We took our small proceeds and went to dinner at Mary’s Tavern near Vaughn.

Unfortunately the next day was spent helping Elaine move her stuff out of Dad’s condo and later out of the motorhome and boat. They are splitting and she will be going back to Lake Havasu.

On Monday the 15th I drove Dad to Chinook to meet with Doug, Fran and the lawyer. Dad is selling some of his land to Doug & Fran. After that stop we visited a bit with Aunt Pearl and Helen Stevens at the Villa.

Dad had his right carotid artery surgery done on the 17th. Denita came up that day and Doug & Fran came up the next day. He ended up having to stay an extra night in the hospital, getting out on the 19th.

We left for another FMCA RV rally on the 18th. This time it was held in Ronan. We had a great time and while there we visited with Russ and Cheryl at their home in Polson. On Sunday we left and headed for an overnight at Aunt Shirley’s. We had a great visit with her and headed for home on Monday. We were about 20miles out of Great Falls when we met a couple of large gravel trucks...you guessed it – 2 rock chips in the motorhome windshield and some on the front cap (it sounded like a hail storm). Of course it was the side that we just had replaced a year or so ago.

The 2nd half of the month kept Dixie pretty busy taking Dad to therapy 3 times a week. We also attend a couple of Voyager games. Dad and Lexi came on the 20th and spent most of the week at the farm. They left on 27th after 2 attempts of getting on a flight. Dad, Mike and I went to the Horse Races that afternoon at the State Fair. Later we went to the night show that Elaine gave us tickets for. The act was Kip Moore and it was a more rock than country so we left a bit early. We took Dad to the Rodeo on Wed. the 31st. Another busy month gone!