Warning, this is going to be a picture filled post. We had such an incredible time on our trip to Montana for Amity and Billy's wedding. We flew out Tuesday morning at 6:30. It was supposed to be 5:30, but when we got up at 2:30, we saw it had been changed. I had all the kids get back into bed for another hour, and then we got ready to leave. The flights were all messed up that day for Southwest, and I think it was something to do with a weather system they use got hacked. We ended up flying to Chicago instead of Denver, and then on from there. We landed in Spokane, and met Lissy by the luggage area. We thankfully had a Suburban waiting for us, and were off. Andy saw a place in Coeur d'Alene that had good hamburgers so we stopped to get lunch. I don't know if I was just hungry, but it was one good hamburger. After that, we were on our way to Whitefish.
Once we got to town, we checked into our hotel, and then we went down to the Farmer's Market. Whitefish is such a cute little town, and as Lissy was taking a picture of Briley and Andy, someone else was taking a picture of them, and it ended up on the Farmer's Market Instagram page for Father's Day. We met everyone else at an Italian restaurant down the street, and the wedding festivities began.
The next day was a hectic one, and I'm so thankful Andy took the kids to do some bike riding, and up the ski lift to the top of the mountain while I helped Amity and Billy load up, and get groceries for our trip. We finally got everything ready and made our way to Izaak Walton Inn. This Inn is situated between East and West Glacier so it was perfect for people who came to the wedding, and could explore a little bit of the National Park. That night, we just settled into our place.
The next day, Andy got up early, and biked the Going to the Sun road. He made it up, and saw a grizzly bear along the way. I was so nervous about him doing this because there was no phone service so I had no idea if he was ok until he walked through the door. He said it was amazing, and was smiling from ear to ear. After he got home, we went on a hike to Stanton Lake, and Baylor went with Asa and Kelsey on another hike. I will say this hike had a steep incline at the beginning, and Lissy did a lot of complaining, but it was so worth it when we got to the lake.
That afternoon, we decorated the reception pavilion, and then it was off to the girl's night. Amity's friend Ashley and I, put together a little luau for all of her friends, and it was fun for them catch up.
The next day Amity's friends helped her with the flowers for the reception and bouquets. Andy, Lissy, and I took the kids to Glacier Highline for a fun day of treetops and ziplines. They were all so brave, and made it through the whole course. Atticus had a moment where he was done, but then he saw the zipline, and gained some courage to continue. After we finished that, they played in a water obstacle course, and we had some lunch.
We made it back for the rehearsal dinner, and waited for Asa, Kelsey, and Juan Carlos. Their car broke down on the way from the airport, and they had no service to tell us. They eventually got to the Inn about 30 minutes late. We had the rehearsal, and then dinner. It was a beautiful night, and was very low key with some great toasts to the couple. Amity and Billy gave some sweet gifts to each of us. The boys got soccer balls with their pictures on them along with pins that were made in Montana with animals from the area that represented each of them. Andy's was the bald eagle, Baylor was a bear, Atticus was a dinosaur. My Dad got a Cardinal along with a tie that had a picture of him holding Amity on the back that she stitched on. Billy also gave Dad a book called, Hondo, My Father written by his daughter because after my Dad spent the day with Billy's dad on his last trip, he said he reminded him so much of Hondo Crouch. The girls got Montana sapphire jewelry and my Mom got a clutch that had a picture on the inside of the two of them when she was a baby. That night, the kids all slept in the red caboose with Amity, and the boys were so excited.
On the big wedding day, we had breakfast at the Inn while Andy was off on another ride on the Going to the Sun road. A big group of us then went on a hike to see a couple of waterfalls. On the way back, we ran into Andy, Lissy, my Mom, and the kids so I did the hike again with them. Andy and I snuck off to lunch at the lodge while the others went back to the cabin. We celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary while we were out there. We were only there a short time before Baylor found us. The kids loved the freedom of roaming all over the area. They loved the old playground that was like Baring's, watching trains on the bridge, playing soccer in the lawn.
We then started getting ready for the wedding. One of Amity's friends came over and did our hair, and then we got dressed. I gave Amity our Grandma Sparks wedding ring to wear for the day, and then my Mom had sewn little flowers on Amity's bouquet wrap that was Grandma Van Gels wedding fabric. It started to rain right before the ceremony. Andy went to the lodge to get wifi service, and saw that it was supposed to clear up in 15 minutes. Sure enough, it did and the sun was shining when she walked down the aisle. Amity was beautiful and Billy was beaming. It was one of the sweetest weddings I have been to.
The night was filled with so much fun and laughter. I don't know if it was the people, or the fact that we all hadn't been to a celebration in so long, but the night was just special. There was some good dance moves, and lots of funny stories to tell long after. Some great memories were captured by Lissy through the night.
The next day we cleaned up the pavilion and then we went to East Glacier for a boat ride on Two Medicine Lake. The exciting part was having a grizzly bear run in front of the car while we were driving there. The ride was pretty, and I think some almost fell asleep after the night we had had. We then did another short hike to a waterfall, and then we went to Glacier Lodge. That night we grilled at our cabin, and packed up.
The next day we said our goodbyes to my parents, and then we went to Whitefish for lunch and souvenirs. We said goodbye to Amity and Billy and then drove to Spokane for our flight the next morning. While there was a lot of busyness on this trip, we had a lot of fun too. So many fun times and we have stories that will last a lifetime.
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