Montana

I have had a busy busy time since last Thursday when I posted last. I went to a quilt retreat Friday and Saturday. What a great time! I didn't get nearly as much accomplished as I wanted, but it was still great.


Sunday after church Matt, Emmitt, and I left for Montana. My mom came up and stayed with the girls so we could leave. Sunday we drove to Butte, Montana. Monday we slowly made our way to Missoula. We stopped at THE MOST AMAZING quilt shop in Deer Lodge, MT. No, I did not take pictures. But here is the website. http://www.quiltsinmontana.com/ It was truly great. Even Matt thought it was fabulous! He loved the old building it was in - tall tall ceilings, an upstairs loft, and a fancy basement full of fabric!

Monday we made it to Missoula in the early afternoon and went directly to the Missoula Cattle Exchange - in other words, the auction. Yep, that is the whole reason we made the trip - for an
Angus dispersion sale. Some sweet old Montana cattleman is done with his herd so he wanted to sell them all.
We ate at Famous Daves BBQ and I gained 4 pounds (not kidding) and spent the night Monday night in Missoula. The next morning I took Matt to the auction and then Emmitt and I went in search of every quilt shop and antique store in town. We also hit the mall. I am SO not a mall shopper, but I needed to kill a few more hours. Emmitt was a true sport. He is such a good boy.

The picture above is of a WONDERFUL antique store I spent a few hours in and could have very well spent a few paychecks in, but I held myself back. It used to be the Montana Hotel and it was so very cool. I know, lame adjective, but it was very cool. Antiques filled 4 levels, yes 4 -3 upstairs and one basement level. The stairwells we amazing and it had an old old elevator in it - old like ropes and pulleys and a huge wooden crate. Very cool. I could have spent many more hours there, but I thought Matt might be waiting on me, and Emmitt was done with being toted around. I WILL go back one day and I will be prepared for the goodness inside.

We left Missoula at 8:00 pm, the moment the auction was over and headed to Butte where we spent Tuesday night. Wednesday we motored home and made it home by 3:00. My mom was so good with the girls. Thanks so much mom! Our friends Ellis and Mandy stopped in for dinner. They are on their way from Phoenix, AZ to Bozeman, MT and it was great to see them.

What a crazy week it has been. Today I have been putting things back together and trying to find that old routine. I found out a few things on this trip and one is that the Missoula high school called Hellgate High School's mascot is the Knights, not the Hellions. Funny.