Montana time

We arrived in Billings, Montana, the first of December and then we enjoyed an entire month there! Jed and Ryan worked during the day while Michel and I stayed home with the kids, and then we all got to spend time together in the evenings.
We took advantage of all the fun 'toys' Ryan and Michel have... playing with the two remote control monster trucks (I never could quite get the hang of the controls... apparently it requires someone with more coordination that I have!), their Wii (Jed and I spent many a late hour playing the tanks game and the matching game), Ryan's two 4-wheelers, their pool table (I never knew guys could play pool so much)... Anyway, it was fun!

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Ryan did a lot of feeding, dressing, and playing with Eliza, and a lot of sweeping up the floor when she was done eating... He's a master sweeper, in case you didn't know.

Here's Daddy and Eliza getting ready to go Ryan and Michel's church Christmas party. Eliza is saying, Yippee!

Oh, this was so cute! While we were at the party, Santa made a surprise appearance. They announced his arrival and opened the stage curtain, and I kid you not, Benjamin went racing between the tables, bounded up the stairs, and ran right up to Santa before any of the other children had even taken a step. He jumped right up on his lap without a qualm when Santa invited him up. It was the cutest thing! I got a picture of the two of them up there all alone - his arm around Santa and talking to him... So cute. The stage was swarming with kids within a few minutes. Benjamin definitely got the most time with St. Nick. And he was thrilled that he gave him a bag of goodies and a candy cane. :)

This was a big day for Benny - his first trip to the MOVIE THEATER! Ryan's work had a Christmas party at the movies, where we watched 'Bolt' in 3D. It was super fun! We even saw Santa in the foyer. Look at Benjamin's surprised and happy face- it's like he's saying, "Hi Santa! What are YOU doing here?!"