Unpacking

I am not a fan of unpacking. Everything is so unorganized and crazy. Apparently, I am not the only one in the family that dislikes it. Here is Chase the morning after we had worked all night to get the hallway and living room finally cleared out. He was just so happy that he could walk without tripping over things or having to climb over things.

Empty

After we left Billings we headed to our new home. We had planned on spending the next few weeks in an extened stay hotel until our apartment became available. I was thrilled when I found out that we could move into our apartment the next day. We ended up only having to spend one night in the hotel. The only problem...we didn't have our stuff. Yes, an empty apartment with 4 kids. We spent a lot of time at the park and apartment pool, and played lots and lots of go fish and UNO.

Caden in the empty livingroom.

Chase, Jordan, Kailyn and Caden in the empty master bedroom.

The kids found creative ways to stay entertained. One thing they loved was taking pictures with our old camera. There were tons of random pictures. Here are the 3 best pictures.

6 little kids

So after all of the reunions I stayed another week to watch my sister's kids so that my parents could go on a cruise. Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures. If you can imagine I had my hands a little full.

Chase and Makayla playing in the suitcase.

The other kids heard the babies laughing and thought it must be fun, so they all climbed in too.

Proof that I was still smiling at the end of the week and all of the kids were still alive.

Bassett Reunion Part 2

Don't worry, we got our camping fill by sleeping in the tents in Grandma and Grandpa's yard. The kids loved it, especially when their cousin Kyla got to sleep with them. Some things we did to keep ourselves busy....

Ken took the older 3 kids to fire some guns. They got to hold a 9mm handgun (which was not loaded and had the safety on) and a .22 rifle.

Caden with the handgun.

Jordan taking aim.

Kailyn trying out the handgun.

Kailyn learning about the .22 rifle.

Jordan taking aim.

Ken helping Caden.

All of those that went shooting. I was not there cause I had to run to Billings to get some clean clothes and a much needed shower.

The kids had so much fun with their cousins. I wish we didn't all live so far apart.

Bassett Reunion

The Bassett reunion took place up in the mountains. When we got to the camp ground it was chilly (our car said it was 50 when we arrived). There was a little stream next to our campground and the kids of course got wet almost immediately and soon regretted their decision as they huddled around the campfire to get warm.

We made dinner and were able to eat in a gazebo (it was a large building with 3 walls and a roof) as it rained. That night most people slept in a nearby hotel while our family and Ken's brother's family slept in tents inside the gazebo. Unfortunately, we were NOT prepared for such cold weather. We had packed light for our trip to Montana, since we had to fit stuff in our car for both reunions and for living 2 weeks without our stuff once we got to our new home. Thank goodness everyone was kind and shared their stuff since we only had jackets to keep us warm. It was a long night, it was cold and I heard a bear near our camp (Ken's brother heard it too and we had seen the bear earlier in the day). Once I heard that bear I could not sleep. In the morning this is what greeted us....

Yes that is snow!!

Look it even stuck to the roof of the gazebo and there were spots on the ground too. After breakfast it was decided that we should just head home. My reaction...

Yes, I was happy at the thought of getting out of the cold and wet and quickly worked to take down our tent.

I even think Grandma was happy to be leaving.

A few people took the kids to the hotel so that we could clean up faster. Though they did leave one behind. Can he make it over the puddle?

Once we were at Grandma and Grandpa's house it was a lot warmer. We took advantage of the nice weather and played a game of croquet.

Caden

Kailyn

Jordan with her buddy, Aunt Brenda.

Chase

Ken also took the kids for a ride on his old dirt bike. They LOVED it! I had to pry Chase off of it when we were done. He did not want to get off.

Reunion Part 2

The next day we went up to great grandma and grandpa's cabin.

Chase and Krew loved the dog.

Eating dinner with family.

Enjoying the campfire.

Caden

Kailyn

Jordan

Mom and Chase.

Then we watched fireworks. Mom's cousin Cameron put them on. They were amazing! They were NOT your typical backyard fireworks, they could have competed with the city's.