"Relaxin" (Dec 26th)

The day after Christmas we split into two groups. Dave & T & the 2 Sarah's & Michael went with my mom traversing Bozeman and seeing the sites. Chris stayed home (& napped-the boys went to Bible Study with my dad at 6 am) with me, Auntie, Grandma, Ian, and John. I attempted to learn Pinochle. I was kind of getting the hang of it when the group returned. We all went to eat at Taco Time (similar to Taco Bell, but better!!) and then headed to the mall to "shop." Chris actually ended up getting some much needed jeans. John & I just looked. While the Sarah's were still shopping, Chris & Dave decided to take Ian & Michael mini golfing. I sat and caught up with Auntie and talked to a very unique lady. Montana is filled with interesting people. The granola/hippie type people love living there. This lady was in her 50's, with short gray hair, the layered clothing look, (you know the long johns under t-shirt, pants under a skirt...) and was sitting talking to herself at a table in the food court. John caught her attention and she began opening up. He just laughed and grinned and cooed at her. She seemed rather lonely. She talked a lot about how she missed her boys. They both lived far away. I wanted to give her a hug, but she randomly in a lull in the conversation, just stood up and left.
While they were playing putt putt, the boys decided they wanted to build a snow fort. Chris & Dave got the ball rolling while the two younger boys went to Walmart. Mind you, the snow is not the sticky kind that can easily roll into balls, but they still were determined. They actually made quite a fort, and when the two younger boys came home, they had an all out ambush. It was great.
Here's some pictures:


Chris decided, on a whim, after he woke up from his nap to shovel the patio


These are Chris's styling snow pants, army issued!! These things smelled nasty. Dave about threw up when he came near Chris in the house. They smelled like old wet rubber & throw up mixed together, but of course Chris wore them!


Preparing the way for the fort


Preparing the kids. Note: Plastic garbage bags work great if you don't have snow boots!!


Chris waiting to ambush


The attack from behind. I must say Michael was pretty smart. He grabbed a shovel, and started tearing down the walls. It was fun having an army guy play "war" b/c he was using tactical terms, and saying things, like, "Look, they are bringing the engineers..."

Peace!



This is how Johnbug spent the time while Daddy was out being crazy!

For more pictures see: http://picasaweb.google.com/armyforchrist/Relaxin