Foto-story Friday #8-- my bestest bud

I think for this Foto-Story I will not dig quite as deep in history.....  only to Halloween 2001
2001 was the year we moved back to MT.  It was rough having left our new home in Vegas, but we were up to the challenge.  We really wanted a small town to raise our kids in, we weren't excited about having them attend school in that vast city, self named "Sin City".  Shortly after we moved to this little map dot, another family moved in.  They had one daughter Shantel's age and were expecting another in a few months.  I wanted very much to become friends with them. I just looked like we could be good friends.  We lived out of town on the farm {about 25 miles out}.  So I didn't get into town on a regular basis.  A few times we chatted on the phone, but that was long distance and ran up the bill.  She invited us in to go trick-or-treating with them.  In case you live in a balmy place, you should know that MT in late Oct. is COLD and often SNOWY!  It was not warm and we drug this crew all over!  Poor Robby was miserable. {and this was before we even got started!}

I think that was the night that sealed Wendy's fate!  She was stuck with me whether or not she liked it!  About a month later we moved into town and I'm an outgoing kinda gal, so I just started inviting myself over.  We spent many a late night together with all the kids.  The summers were crazy we would be over there till almost midnight.  We fixed appliances, put in her kitchen floor, shared meals, built rabbit cages, scrapbooked, watched each others kids, shared exciting news of babies -- hers and mine.  We spent countless hours together.  She is my "bestest bud"! {aside from my husband}  Then, in late 2004, they moved all the way across the country from me, it was hard.  We spent many hours on the phone bridging the gap.  Wendy started school and the time to talk became harder to find, with schedules and the time difference.  We went from daily to weekly to monthly calls.  

In 2006, her daughter came and spent a week or so with us.  It was nice for Shantel.  It was a surprise for her, all she was told was that Grandma and Grandpa were picking up something for her in Billings!  Wendy and I wished there was a way we could get together, but with life, kids and school there didn't seem to be a way.

Then in June 2008 she and the girls came to stay for a month!  She is training to  become a P.A. and in order to have the summer months serve 2 purposes, she setup her rotations in places she could stay with friends and family so a little visiting could get done as well as her training. 

I kept her up way too late visiting and playing Wii.  Truly, it felt like they had never left.  Her girls had grown and changed SO much! 

Ever try to get 9 kids to sit still long enough to get a photo with them ALL looking in the same direction?  Not an easy task!  I took about 5 shots and then gave up!  This was the best one of the crew!
She HATED every photo we took while she was here!
Self Portraits --- we may look silly but at least we were having a good time!
My birthday was June 28th and I was a bit bummed since my husband was going to be working
and Wendy was having to leave for her next rotation.  She spent a lot of time planning out a surprise birthday party for me the day before.  It was a wonderful idea, and they did a great job keeping it from me, I honestly had no idea until about an hour beforehand.  That day was crazy and the poor kids were trying to do everything while Wendy kept me out of the house.  It turned out good in the end but it was a bit hairy there for awhile!  
The cake was designed by Cody and fixed up by Wendy.All too soon the time was up.


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