Cherry pie and my 37th birthday

My 37th birthday was great! I was able to spend the day with family, extended family that I don't usually get to see on my birthday.

Quent and I continued our Montana tour with a stop in Billings which meant we had to see my cousin Earleen (Quent calls her my aunt, and she kind of is), having never seen her house before today we had to make a stop there.  I believe it's been a good 15 years (probably more) since I've been to Billings.  After visiting with Earleen for awhile she mentioned that she had to tell her mom that I was stopping by and Aunt Jerry decided that she must take me out for a birthday brunch.

So off we went to "brunch", Aunt Jerry, Uncle Jim and Earleen .  Upon sitting down at our table Aunt Jerry promptly told the waitress that it was my birthday.  No singing involved but I did get free chocolate pie.

After a short visit we decided it was time to get on the road again as we had a two hour drive to my grandma's house. My grandma, who makes the best cherry pie in the world, had made me a cherry pie for my birthday and believe me it was great! She also cooked a great dinner which I was thankful for, we've been eating out a lot lately and it was good have a home cooked meal.

Quent will be heading home sometime this week, plans still unclear and I will be staying a little bit longer with my grandma.  Don't worry I'm sure I'll keep on the blog if anything exciting happens, so stay tuned for more fun and exciting adventures.

P.S. No pictures of the birthday girl.

Butte, Montana

Quent and I spent our second day in Butte touring the town and watching volleyball!  Megan's tournament ended today they won their first match in straight sets and lost their second match.  It was really fun to see her team play and spend some time with her. The team left Butte tonight and should return home to South Dakota sometime tomorrow morning.  Today's pictures didn't turn out so great but here are a few.

In between volleyball games Quent and took a tour of the World Mining Museum it was a lot of fun. They had original buildings from the old mining town, we were able to go into one of the mine shafts and check out all of the minerals/metals that are mined around the country.  Here are a few pictures of the tour.

We made it to Billings tonight after a beautiful drive through the mountains of Montana, and yes I'm being serious.  We checked into the Fairfield Inn (It's all about the Marriott points) where I was the guest of the night!  YEA ME!

Volleyball in Butte

Quent and I drove to Butte, Montana today to see his niece Megan play volleyball. She is a freshman at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology College in Rapid City, South Dakota. It was the opening tournament of the year for the team and it happened to be the closest one to our house.

After a five hour drive and Quent's short nap we drove over to Montana Tech University for Megan's second game of the day. Being a freshman she didn't play today and we're hoping that she'll get a chance to play while we're here. If not we understand, it's tough to be a freshman and one of eight doesn't help.  We've never had a chance to see her play before as she grew up in Peoria, Illinois.

 It's fun to see Megan, we haven't seen her since December of 2008.  Two more games tomorrow and then we're off to Billings.

Megan in pregame warmups (she's #13)

Warmups again

Hakuna Matata

Quent and I went to Lion King last night for my birthday. (A great early birthday present if you ask me!)  Joe and Joy ended up buying four tickets instead of just two so we happily took the other two off their hands. 

The play was at the Capitol Theater in Salt Lake City and was simply amazing. Joe and Quent had never been to Captiol Theater and were actually impressed with the building.  It was fun to sit by some of the other coaches from Riverton High School, loved all the comments during the play. 

We met Joe and Joy at Olive Garden prior to the play and had a great time chatting and hanging out.  The play was great, the costumes were beyond description and the cast was incredible.  It was a great night in downtown Salt Lake.

More from the Weekend!

You honestly didn't think I was going to drive to my grandma's house and not go through Yellowstone did you?  Quent and I went to Jackson on our way to Cody on Wednesday and we returned through West Yellowstone on Sunday.

We saw a bunch of buffalo, our favorite animal in the park, in addition, we saw a few dear, an elk or two ok more like 25, and a bunch of ducks.  We didn't stop to take too many pictures but what we did take was amazing (if I do say so myself).

Happy 40th Mom and Dad

We celebrated my parent's 40th birthday while we were in Cody for my grandfather's funeral.  We had previously planned a bbq at my mom and dad's house and had a few surprises for them that will just have to wait until the next family party!

Dinner was at the Sunset House (the best place in town for more than 10 people).  We had a great time at dinner and it was fun that we could all be together one last night before we all went our different directions home.

We took a bunch of pictures from dinner but unfortunately the camera was on a funky setting so they didn't turn out great.  I will have to see if I can salvage a few from the event.

August 21, 1970

August 11, 2007

***ok...I didn't have a more current picture on my laptop so this one was taken at my wedding, but they haven't changed much!***

Full Military Honors

My grandpa was laid to rest today in Cody, Wyoming.  The funeral was held at the Ballard Funeral home just a few blocks away from where my grandfather lived the last 34 years of his life.

Because of his military service in World War II he was laid to rest with full military honors including a police escort from the funeral home to the cemetery, a 21 gun salute and taps, my grandmother was also presented with a flag from the United States Government.  Each of the grandchildren were given a shell casing from the salute as were my mom, grandma and my grandpa's two daughters.

The VFW and the Eagles lodge sponsored a meal for family and friends at the Eagles Lodge following the burial.  We were able to see a lot of extended family and friends that we hadn't seen for quite some time. 

It was a sad but joyous occasion, we know that grandpa is resting peacefully however life will never be the same without him.  Below are a few pictures of his burial.

James L. Gordon 1920-2010

James L. Gordon, 90, of Cody died peacefully at home Aug. 17, 2010.

Jim was born May 30, 1920, in Ashland, Wis., to Allan and Anne Halvorson Gordon. He grew up on the shores of Lake Superior. Jim and his brother Allan were raised by their grandparents Sarah and Edward Gordon due to the untimely death of their mother. The Gordon family owned and operated Gordon's Business College in Ashland during his youth and prior to World War II.

Jim enlisted in the Army Air Corps, now the Air Force, in 1941. He served in Australia and New Guinea during WWII. He was able to visit Washington D.C. on the Wyoming Honor Flight last September. Jim loved and fought for his country.

After the war he returned home and met and married Velma Novak. They raised daughters Linda, Debbie and Marilee. They later divorced.

Jim worked for Frontier Refining Co. in Denver and accepted a transfer to Cody in 1968 when Husky Oil purchased Frontier.

In 1975 he met and later married the love of his life and best friend Jo. They had 34 wonderful years together.
Jim retired in 1983 from Husky Oil and he and Jo were able to travel throughout most of their years together. Jim was an avid fisherman all his life. He loved camping, backpacking into the back country for fishing trips, and also fishing trips to Canada.

He took great pride in his home and dearly loved his family. He had a quick smile and always had a story to tell. Jim was a scholar, reading and learning every day. He was known as "The Answer Man" to his family because if you wanted to know something, just ask daddy or grandpa. Jim will be dearly missed by his family and friends.

He is survived by his wife Jo of 34 years, daughters Linda (Don) Tomasek of Johnstown, Colo., Marilee (Larry) Johnson of Cody and Marlene (Tom) Edman of Salt Lake City, 12 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents, brother Allan Gordon and daughter Debbie Gordon-Starkey.

A viewing will be 5-7 p.m. Aug. 19 at Ballard Funeral Home. Funeral services will be 1 p.m. Aug. 20 at Ballard's with burial to follow at Riverside Cemetery with military honors.

We love you Grandpa!

My sweet grandpa Jim passed away today, he was the best grandpa a kid could ask for.  He was the guy that would sneak you a piece of candy right before dinner, but don't tell grandma.  He was the grandpa that took all the grand kids fishing, he always had a smile on his face he was a great man!  He represented everything a person should be, he was fun, thoughtful, caring and loving.  He loved my grandma until the day he passed.

Grandpa was diagnosed with liver cancer on July 30 and was given three months to a year to live. Unfortunately for our family he lived just 18 days after we learned of the disease.

Quent and I were lucky enough to spend quite a bit of time with Grandpa this year, in January we surprised them by spending a few days with them  in Cody.  In May we celebrated his 90th birthday, the same day he and my grandma celebrated their 34th wedding anniversary. In June my grandparents spent a few days with us in Mantua. Quent, Ashley and Rick took grandpa on his final fishing trip in June and they caught some pretty big fish.  

We know he is in a better place now and not in any pain.  Life will not be the same without his energetic smile, however, we have memories that will last a lifetime.

Taken in Cody on Grandpa's 90th birthday.

Family picture taken on Grandpa's 90th birthday. 

Our wedding picture.

Crashing the Party

Joe and Joy went camping last weekend at the Box Elder Camp Ground (located in Mantua) and Quent and I crashed their party for awhile on Saturday. Here are some pictures from their camping trip.

Joe, Morgan and Joy having a good time

 I wish I could remember what Morgan said.

TJ and Morgan playing in the stream

Uncle Quent making a grilled cheese over the fire

Joy makes the perfect smore

TJ hangin' with Uncle Quent (TJ ate half a bag of mini-marshmellows)

The Fire

The sounds isn't good...which is disappointing. 

Three years and counting

Can you believe it's be three years since Quent and I got married? It seems like just yesterday we were planning out wedding and walking down the isle.

We had a low key day, Quent worked all day and I went to school. We went to dinner at Texas Road House in Logan followed by a walk through the Willow Creek Park Zoo.

A big thanks to all our family and friends who wished us well on our day. We had a great day and a fantastic year. We plan on many many more!

Catching up!

Quent and I have been pretty busy the last couple of weeks, I've finally returned to school after a much needed summer break (including a trip to Las Vegas). Quent continues to be busy with the Hatchery.

We were able to go to my family's annual summer party at my Uncle's house. It was a night full of swimming, a BBQ and visiting with cousins that I generally only see once a year. (of course we're all friends on facebook but we only actually see each other once a year)

We had a bbq with some of our neighbors last weekend it's always fun to hang out with good friends.

We are busy planning a shin-dig for my parent's 40th Wedding Anniversary and are planning a trip north in a couple of weeks to see Quent's niece play volleyball with her college team and then swing by my grandparents in Wyoming for a few days.

Of course our third wedding anniversary is coming up as is my birthday. August is fixing to be a busy month.