9 Months Old

 Little Maisy is not so little anymore. She is getting so big. Here are some of her 9 month stats.
-14 lbs. 15oz. (Or you could round up to 15lbs. even) Below the 5% but on the charts
-26 inches
-Maisy finally graduated to size 3 diapers.
-Maisy is wearing 6-9 month clothes pretty solidly.
- Maisy sleeps through the night
-Maisy loves regular food more than baby food, although I can get her to eat it occasionally.
-Maisy loves to climb like my other kids.
-Maisy was already crawling but is now a pro at climbing up stairs. She is on the cusp of knowing how to go down as well.
-Maisy pulls herself up on everything
-Maisy will snuggle right before or after a nap, but is almost always struggling when she is in our arms.
-Maisy still falls asleep in our arms at church.
-Maisy's hair is looking like it might be curly. This is how Gunner's hair started out.
-Still only 2 teeth
-Maisy is laughing a lot at everything and is very good natured.
- Maisy is waving and giving lots of hugs and kisses.
-Maisy loves to play with the big kids.
- Maisy noisily enjoys her food saying Mmmmmm loudly while she eats (Like Gunner)
-Maisy's scar is healing well. See the bottom picture.:)

The drive home

 I got the idea to bring a roll of tin foil from a travel website. We made crowns, rings, snakes, and other creations. The biggest hit were the boats we made and passed forward and back with snacks:) It was a long few days of driving, but we made it safely home.

 We already miss being with family and seeing all the great views. Montana really is beautiful! Thanks again for all the fun, Larry and Carol Ann.

So long, farewell

Enjoying time outside the carseat before the long drive home.

Maisy tamed this bear.

 This giant bear was in the lobby of our hotel. :)

 The whole group before we headed on our way.

 Kellie and Justin with the two miracle babies- Alex and Maisy (they are 5 1/2 months apart)


 The kids, about 5 minutes after we left. Do you think they were tired??

Many Glacier

 I love this view!! Our last stop was in Many Glacier. I wish we had had more time to explore here, but it was the end of the day and the kids were done.

 We got out for just a minute and hiked.

We stopped and were treated to some ice cream:) before we headed back. Addie and Gunner found a perfect spot to enjoy their treat.

St. Mary's Falls

Gunner got to ride in a backpack

 We saw a lot of people that had kayaks and all sorts of gear. We even saw a family trying to bike to the top of the mountain with a six year old.:) I was sitting there thinking that so many other people were hard core and we were just driving by for a view. But... this hike changed my mind. We took 9 kids on  a 2 or more mile hike. I decided that everyone else was probably looking at us thinking we were so brave (or crazy).

Maisy got to ride in a front pack.

Gracie and Spencer walked the whole way.

 These were the falls. Aren't they beautiful? Once again, anxiety that someone would fall.

 Gunner loved it. That pack was so comfy that he fell asleep on the way back.

 There was a second waterfall not too far up the path from the first.

Glacier

 We spent a day exploring Glacier National Park. Have you ever been there? It is gorgeous. I went with my parents and brother Bob about 9 years ago the summer before I went on my mission. I remembered its beauty and that was partly why I was motivated to take the kids on such a long road trip. :)

A quick family pic at our first stop.

 The water was gorgeous. I was so glad that this stop had a nice deck with rails. I have major anxiety about one of my kids falling in. Seriously. What would you do?

 The most photographed spot in all of Glacier.

A waterfall along the way.

Missoula's Carousel

 We met up with Kellie, Will and crew in Missoula and before we left town to go to Kalispell, we stopped by their cool carousel and dragon park. The carousel is one of the fastest in the country and it was made by volunteers. There is a dragon park next door that was also completely built by volunteers. It was really fun.

 Gunner heldl on tight and loved the ride. I was so worried that he would fall off because it was really going pretty fast.

 Gracie was really good at picking out the white horses or the horses with roses... a true princess.

Cute Maisy and Grandma

All the kids that were there

Chief Joseph Highway

One last tantrum before we got on the road again:)  Am I mean for taking a picture?

 Justin's parents have to do an insane amount of driving and I think they've probably driven every highway in Montana and in their corner of Wyoming. So... it  was exciting to drive the scenic Chief  Joseph Highway.

 There were some cute little chipmunks that were so used to the visitors that they would come right up and eat out of your hand. The kids loved it but were always to nervous to hold still.

 The sights were beautiful and I hope that we can return someday.And... Justin's parents had the two older kids on this leg of the journey so the drive felt especially peaceful and enjoyable.

Maisy, Maisy mouse

 Have you read the Maisy Mouse books or seen the Maisy cartoon? You can watch the theme song here. I didn't remember the cartoon, but my sister Mary even remembered the theme song by heart. Anyway, we didn't choose Maisy's name because of this cartoon but I thought of it when considering the spelling of her name.

Imagine my surprise when my cute aunt sent this adorable "Maisy" quilt in the mail. I am in love with it. One funny thing about this same aunt, Michelle, is that she also made Gracie a gorgeous baby quilt back when with some fabric for the back  that says Gracie all over and a picture of a little blonde girl (it has a vintage look). Michelle joked that I need to stop naming my girls names that gets printed on fabric because it is just too tempting :)

We love the west (Buffalo Bill Historic Center)

While in Cody, we went to the Buffalo Bill Historic Center. It is an amazing museum perfect for anyone wholoves the west. There was a lot of art, animal exhibits, Indian exhibits, a gun museum and a Buffalo Bill section. It really was a great place to go and they even had extra strollers to loan out (the lifesaver of the day).

They had a small movie room filled with all kinds of puppets. We had a good time playing with and enjoying the puppets. We were all chasing and teasing and poor Gunner ran and fell into a bench in all of the excitement. He got a cut to the side of his eyebrow so Justin and Larry rushed him to a clinic to make sure he didn't need stitches. A few steri-strips later, and we were back in business.

We found a kindred spirit among the animal puppets :)