S.A.Y.what?: Montana, birthdays, 2 weddings and a funeral

I haven't updated this in a little while because I'm not really sure where to begin! (That, and we were gone on vacation for a week!) I guess I'll start there....

So months and months ago Chris and I planned a week-long vacation to visit Shawn & Beth in MONTANA!!!!! So Thurs, June 25 we got up at 3:50 am (ouch, haha) to get ready for the cab to pick us up at 4:20 so we could get to the airport for our 6 am flight. ...and before we knew it, we were off! Just a quick stop in Montana before we arrived in Bozeman, Montana (AKA Pure Heaven!)

We made it to the airport and followed our directions to find their car. (We got in at noon and Shawn and Beth were still working, so we took their car and drove back to their house!) No problem - found the car, located the keys, got in and followed the next part of our "scavenger hunt": directions to their house. Well in Montana, there's not a whole lot of roads :) It was very easy. We made it and relaxed after a long day of travels! A few hours later, Beth returned from work followed a little while later by Shawn. YAY - mini family reunion :) It was SO great to see them again. It had been almost a year -- since our wedding! WOW!

However, this is where our story takes a little turn. We had instructions from dad to call home when we were all there and settled in. Both Shawn and I had a bad suspicion of where this was going to go, and boy were we right. Dad told us that our grandfather, Pa, passed away early that morning. So sad but we were so blessed that we were all together during that time. I highly doubt it was a coincidence... :) Thanks, Pa! So I'll take a pause from explaining our vacation and post a little bit about Pa :) Unfortunately, all of my most recent pics are hard copies, not digital, and of course our scanner is not working right now! Grr!

What an amazing person, father, and grandfather. Always so brave, understanding, and encouraging. He always found the good in people and looked at the bright side of things; such a great outlook on life and incredibly inspiring. We will all miss him so much and were so lucky to have him in our lives for so long. He was 85 years young and I learned so much from him. Not a day will go by when I don't think about him.

Mimi & Pa... married 61 years May 8, 2009! <3

Me, Mimi & Pa

One of my all-time favorite pictures of Pa! At our camp in Woodstock, Maine. My favorite place! I only wish I could get there more often!

Love you Pa :) They had a mass at home for him and I'm proud to say that over 300 people attended! I can't think of a better way to illustrate all the love so many people held for this incredible man! We will be going home later this summer for his burial and to celebrate his life with our family.

Pa, along with the rest of our family, insisted that we continue with vacation and enjoy it to the fullest extent. So we did, in his honor. We know it's what he would have wanted.

So... onward with vacation. We could not have asked for a more amazing trip. We went camping in Yellowstone... hiking... explored Bozeman... you name it, I think we did it!! I'll put just a few pics up (I have SO many!) You can check out more pics on FB. I'll probably continue to add more also.

On the drive to Yellowstone

Most beautiful rainbow EVER. So incredibly vivid; I couldn't get over it! You can see it's a double rainbow... then later on in the week we looked at all of our pics thru the TV and in some o fthe pics you can see it's actually a TRIPLE!!! amazing.

Entering Yellowstone! (Wyoming)

Old Faithful!

Hubs & me in Yellowstone (Yellowstone Lake)

I can't imagine many things more beautiful than Yellowstone!

Nope - not snow! Terrace Hot Springs! (yellowstone)

Bull Elk in Yellowstone!

Bison! We made lots of bison friends in our travels :) This was in Lamar Valley, Yellowstone

Shawn and Beth are in here.. we'll see how I can explain this! OK so just to the right of the middle are 2 chutes that come together and sort of looks like a "Y". Well they are in the right side of the Y coming down. It was really cool! But they are so small and the mountain is so big you can't even see them!!

The Mountain goats kept coming up over the cliff! By the time we left there were 23 :) It was really cool! They didn't care that we were there one bit! Beartooth Highway

After we got back from Yellowstone, we went on a hike to Lava Lake - Gallatin Canyon, Montana

Lava Lake

Pretty sunset on our last night in Bozeman - boooo! We didn't want to leave!!

Thank you guys so much for having us out there! We could not have asked for a better time. We did everything we wanted to do and saw everything we wanted to see! Can't wait to come back ;) (Oh, I'm hoping to get some videos posted at some point... so check back!)

SO then 2 days after we got back was my TWENTY FIFTH birthday! WOW The big 2-5 :) Officially in my mid-20's and so far I'm loving it! I had a great bday. Chris made me an amazing birthday cake and later in the day we went to DC and were lucky enough to stay at Meghan's apartment (just a few blocks from the White House) and watched the fireworks from her roof -- 12 stories up! Perfect view. Here's some pics from that day!

YUM

Meghan, Kevin, Cristobal

A little blurry but you get the idea. See the Washington Monument on the left? :) What a spot!

Happy Birthday, America! :)
And tomorrow we wish Mimi a very happy birthday! Love you!

AND more good news (in no particular order!)

United Airlines found our suitcase.. it has been MIA for 8 days - YAY!

One year until JL and Mike's wedding ... 7/10/10! Let the official countdown begin, it will be the fastest year of your life - mark my words! hehe Can't wait to be part of your special day!