Clouds on the Hills

One of my Thankful Thursday posts was about how I loved the rainy/cloudy weather in the hills because of how beautiful it was (see that post here), well this time my Handsome was driving so I was able to snap some pictures...though the pictures do NOT do the beauty of this ANY justice at all! See how the clouds just roll over the hills and come into town...LOVE IT!




There are houses up in those clouds!

I just think it is BEAUTIFUL!

***Countdown to my birthday: 3 days!

Topless through the Canyon

The car, that is....was topless! The last day of May we were able to use a friend's Mustang.Convertible to take a drive up the canyon. With all the moisture that we have been receiving, it sure was green! You really notice things you would not have in a car with a top! It was a great afternoon! Thanks Mark!My Bridal Veil Falls!You cannot see Boo, but he is in there!So what does one do while in a topless car? Take pictures of the beautiful clouds!Look straight above the 'tc' in Patch and notice the wind whipped clouds flowing over the thunderhead!The sky was an amazing blue, and the thunderheads looked like they were glowing!I mean really, it was glowing!Then the thunderheads crashed together to form this storm that we tried to outrun!But, we failed and got a little shower!

Even though my Handsome really still doesn't love convertibles, he did enjoy driving one for the day!Looking back over Deadwood...SO.GREEN!Again...
Oh how much fun we had that day. We got to Sturgis and stopped by DQ and headed home for the church's softball game!

***Count down to my Birthday: 9 days!

We live here? Really?

I know I post alot about how I think the hills are so beautiful and how we are so thankful to live here. But seriously, when you see sights like this every day you have no choice but to be thankful for living here! I really want to make sure that our children grow up knowing what a treasure it is to live here, and not to take it for granted! I know that getting 72+ inches of snow in less than 2 weeks is not alot of fun and it hinders funds as you have several unpaid snow days, but it sure does enhance the natural beauty of Gods creation!

Seriously, who wouldn't want to live here?

Time with Family

On Sunday the 29th we had the chance to get together with my cousin A and his family. They were out in the hills for Spring break and we were able to steal them away from their sight seeing for a couple of hours. I took a bunch of 'candid' pictures but only one turned out. I did get Princess & her daddy to pose for me and this is one of my favorite pictures of them together! It sure show that my little girl isn't so little anymore!
*If you click on 'cousin A' up above you can check out his blog!

Needed some time to wiggle!

After having snow from Sunday (22nd) ~ Wednesday (25th) the kiddos & Mommy needed to get out of the house. We all went to see our wonderful chiropractor and the kids got their stickers for letting Dr. S work on their backs with no fussing we went and visited our dear lawyer friend E. Had some paperwork to sign, and then brought it to our dear car friend MG as he had to sign it too! These two guys are just adored by our kids and they make themselves at home whenever they are around! Anyway, we decided to go out to our fav G.uadalajaras for supper, since we heard snow round 2 was coming!

Sunshine took the chance to look over the menu to see if there was anything other than Chicken & French Fries that he could eat...

Princess did it just like a big person, she looked at the pictures and pointed! He is still hard at work looking for something on the menu he can have...the jury is still out on that one!We then went for a short drive and Sunshine tried to charm Mommy with his smiles...Take 2...

Still round ONE

Just a couple of pictures of what town looked like last Wednesday after we were FINALLY able to get out and about! I tell ya, living in a house this small with 2 two year olds you start to notice it when you are trapped for that long! This is not a complaint...I would rather live in a small house than not have one and I would rather have boxed in frustrated children than not have any!

Where we live....

I am thankful for where we live. While growing up on the other end of the state it was a big deal to come to the Black Hills on vacation. As a family we tried two different times (I believe) and didn't make it out either. I had to wait until our honeymoon to get out here! Aside from the pure beauty of living in this area, there are all sorts of fun things around. Here is a list of some attractions that we have done and then some we have not but would like to do over the next few years, along with their sites so you can check them out yourself!

Have Done:
*Driving through Spearfish Canyon is always beautiful!
*Bear Country USA (one of my Favs!), Rapid City
*Reptile Gardens, Rapid City
*Several different Caves in the area, we have been to Rushmore & Jewel, I liked Rushmore Cave better of the two.
*Presidential Wax Museum, Hill City (I believe) It is a little 'old' for the kids to enjoy this but if you have an interest in our country's history it is lots of fun (or if you are like me and didn't really pay attention in History ~ I liked to have the visual to go along with the word tour)!
*Mount Rushmore, Keystone
*Crazy Horse, near Custer
*Devil's Tower, near Hulett Wyoming

Have Not Done:
*Roo Ranch, Deadwood
*Storybook Island (free), Rapid City
*The 1880 Train Ride, starts in Hill City goes to Keystone and back

I am sure there is more that I am forgetting and even more stuff I don't even know about...though I do hope this is helpful for you and if you need a place to stay or need anything while you are here please feel free to let us know! Just try not to come the first 2 weeks of August because everything costs so much more and is super busy with the Sturgis Bike Rally!

I am so thankful that the Lord has brought us out here, we live in what I believe is the most beautiful part of our state...and honestly one of the most beautiful places I have visited! In addition to that we have GREAT friends that we enjoy spending time with so often. We have an AWESOME church and church family that we have loved getting to know over the last few months. Both J & myself enjoy our jobs and we believe it is a great blessing to be able to live here and be living the life that God has for us! If you are in the area look us up...the H Hotel is always open!

Sunday afternoon Walk

The second Sunday of the month we went for a family walk. It was a beautiful day, and I needed to get out and move after my little ice accitdent. We were exploring a new park closer to where we live than the one that we used to go to. It isn't as big, but it is not as busy either. On the way there we found these statues of horses that Princess was all to excited to 'ride.'

Ethan was not so sure... Princess has a new found love of the creek. Every time she sees water she yells out the name of the creek and gets all excited! Here are Daddy, Princess, & Sunshine looking at the beauty.Walking away... Playing at the park

The view was saw as we turned around and went home!

Visit with Aunt Kisty & Uckie Uckie

At least that is what my kids call them! The last weekend in January we were able to meet up with my brother and his wife who were out here snowmobiling with her parents and brothers. It is always great when we have the chance to have time with family on our turf..or in this case their hotel room!

The kids thought that Uckie Uckie's helmet was a pretty neat hat!For some reason they think that going thrugh the 'bridge' is really fun...no matter where we are!Zachary was talking trails with my fabulous husband! Princess saw fit to take that time to make him a 'horsie'
Sunshine thought the best part of the night was playing with B & B (Christy's brothers). Some how they let him get ahold of one of their cell phones and Sunshine was sure that Grandma was on the other end, because isn't that the only person that is on the other end? My kids think so! But the funny thing was that they actually called my mom up and she didn't have B's # in her phone so she didn't know who it was all she heard was "Gwamma, GWAMMA?!?" Needless to say Sunshine had the boys in stitches! I think they had fun playing with him!

He had an audience!

We enjoyed our short time with Z & C, and we hope that we will be able to see them out this way again...and this time maybe get a chance to spend a little more time with them. Check out her blog here.