The Dream Life

Well, Robert and I took off for Libby, MT on Monday. We had a week off of work to go celebrate my graduation. Monday I went shopping in Kalispell with my sisters Kira and Michelle and friend Leslie and got a few new clothes and some accessories for our Wii while Robert went through to Libby so This and That would not over heat in the car. I got us a second controller and a few games that we could play while here.

Tuesday we did nothing all day and then that evening we went to the movies and saw "The Dark Knight!" (Heath Ledger upheld the reputation that was created for him!)

Wednesday we did nothing again. For breakfast we went to the Amish store and got some of the most amazing cinnamon rolls! Then that night we had a small graduation party for me. We had a BBQ and it was great!

Thursday we took the day to hike to Leigh Lake. This is a glacier fed lake in a remote area. It is quite the hike, but well worth it every time! There are parts on this hike where we had to climb rocks and extremely steep switch backs; however we took our sweet time to enjoy the hike (okay really we are just in the worst physical shape we ever have been and that gave us a great excuse). We have tons of great pictures as shown here.

There were so many waterfalls that we could see from the trail and also at the top melting from glaciers into the lake. This one is part of Leigh Creek which is the creek that Leigh Lake drains into.

This is a waterfall going into the lake.



This is the backside of the lake and a gorgeous view of what most of the scenery looks like. You can tell why we love it!

In the past in going to Leigh Lake we liked to take a swim in the lake at the top to cool off and enjoy the solitude of the area. This time however this lake was not more than 32 degrees because there was still a glacier on one side of it. While we were up there we heard what sounded like thunder and we all turned to look at the other end of the lake. The glacier was cracking and breaking into the water. Robert and Michelle then spent the next several minutes yelling and trying to get the glacier to collapse again.

Each of us did eventually jump in the water, but it was only very briefly.

My dad made a wonderful BBQ dinner for us that night! Steak and potatoes with corn! I love my dad!

Friday, we went to lake Koocanusa and swam in warmer water. We were only able to be there for about 1 hour. But again well worth it! This is Robert's favorite place to go swimming and there was not better day because it was in the high 90's this day.

Later Friday night Kira threw a party and we stuck around for that. We had great food and enjoyed sitting around and chatting. When everyone had left that night we set of fireworks. There were some great ones and some that we will not buy again next year.

The title of this post is ideal because we are living a life that we could only dream of. We don't have work or school; we don't have any bills to pay here; we are in MT with no time schedule; and we are together!

(more to come at the end of the vacation)

Lois, the college graduate.

Well, I did it! At about 11:00 am Friday July 18, 2008 I finished my last test in my college career. I have been able to check my grades online and I passed. I will be getting a bachelors degree in Biology in about 6-8 weeks. I guess, that is suppose to be an accomplishment.

It does not feel any different, but it is nice when I get to thinking about what I need to do and school is not one of them. Maybe it will hit me when I don't have to registrar for classes this winter. On Friday Robert, Michelle, and I went to dinner at Da Pineapple Grill; was yummy! On Monday, we came to Libby, MT and will be staying a week here for vacation. It is going to be nice for both of us to have time to relax and enjoy family. Maybe, we will even get time to update our blog.

Our Independence Day!

This year was another year of the Biannual Draper-Young Family Reunion and it was frickin' sweet! For those who are unfamiliar with this amazing tradition I am gonna fill ya in on what goes down at these amazing gatherings.

It's war! A water battle between two families that always ends in peace due to laughter, priceless food, and a fireworks display that rivals the local show at the park by the lake. We go all out. Families plan for months even years in advance in order to make this legendary occasion.

This Pic is a small example of the arsenal used.

There is plenty of food to go around. Great BBQ (meat of every kind! LOVE IT) , salads, amazing desserts and drinks galore. There was even enough for Kwanzaa the dog to have a drink to cool off in the heat of the day.

As I was working on this, I hit a button and it erased all of the other photos that we were posting for this blog. Those are on our other computer and we don't have a way to get them on the blog until we get home. My bad! So, I guess you will have to wait until we get home sometime next week to see the rest of our 4th of July experience.

July 1st already?

Robert and I are getting excited as we get ready to go to Oregon this week and see family. We are going to a Draper/Young family reunion and going to have some of the best BBQ in the world! I am so excited! We are going to be seeing family from CA and also his siblings from Northern Oregon. Also, we are going to be have a water war between families! Oregon here we come and a nice surprise for everyone to see when we get there. We are planning on being there Thursday evening sometime. See you then! (pictures to come from this fun event)
Then when we get back, I will only have 2 weeks of school left! I still have not decided what to do for vacation, but you bet I am going to have fun!
This past week Kira, my sister was down here visiting and we had a blast. Robert and Kira played Super Mario on the Super Nintendo a lot and I enjoyed watching. Our friend Leslie also decided to visit more when Kira was here. On Thursday we went bowling and saw Indiana Jones and Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls all this for only 3 bucks! Thanks, Kira for coming down and visiting us before you leave for Connecticut in August. (ITS ABOUT TIME!) We took her home on Saturday and picked up some wonderful apple juice "hooch" for Robert and also a friend, Jon Norris, who is addicted to the juice. In all we bought 8 gallons of the stuff and just about cleaned out the little store in St. Ignatius, MT. We were able to get a pretty good deal on some MT fireworks too! YEAH!
Aundre came home with us and will be going to Oregon with us. (What a sucker!)
P.S. Kelsey, I wanted to talk to you, so if you read this before I got a hold of you give me a call.