Well after some sleep, I wake up at 4:30 am to my beautiful little girl. Nothing like hearing her bouncing around in her crib way too early in the morning. But when I open my eyes and looked up at Abby, I see her standing there, her little chin sitting on the side of her crib and then she says with a smile… “Hi”. My heart melted and of course it made only five hours of sleep worth it. The only issue I had was the fact that now I couldn’t get things in order BEFORE Abby woke up.

Thank goodness for PBS though. Even at 4:30 in the morning, there is childrens programming which was a great help to me. I know I know, using the TV as a babysitter! But when you need to shower and pack everything up, it helps a lot. Abby sat in her crib with her sippy cup and some Cheerios and was happy until it was time to go.

After packing the car up and a lovely breakfast at the hotel, Abby and I were back on the road again. Luckily the early wake up call for Abby caused her to take several good naps in the car, which helped mommy out immensely. The weather the entire way from Salt Lake City to Bozeman was gorgeous! It was cool but sunny and the roads were dry and clear. We always try to cut over in Idaho Falls through Targhee National Forest, which saves us nearly an hour of travel time. The only problem with that drive is it can be greatly affected by the weather. Lucky for us, it was warm and sunny. The drive through Targhee and Island Park was beautiful and gave me plenty to look at and enjoy. As we cut off from Norris over to Bozeman through the Madison River canyon, you could see green starting to peak through the brown grass. It was amazing! It also made the time go by quickly, especially as we got closer to Bozeman and the excitement was building.

Abby taking her second and longest nap. Such a sweet little face both asleep and awake.

Road through Targhee and Island and Park. Love this drive! And just over the mountains to my left is Yellowstone National Park, one of my two happy places!

Road through Henry’s Fork State Park in Idaho, just before our cut off towards Ennis and crossing over into Montana!

Once we arrived in Bozeman, Abby and I were greeted with a very warm reception from my parents and sister. DUH! I am not sure who was happier to see the other. I know Abby was excited to see Grandpa, who was cleaning out his car when we pulled up and even more excited when she was finally able to get out of the car.

After saying our hellos, unloading the car and settling in Abby had some presents to open for Easter, just a little belated. Auntie Jillian got Abby the cutest little monkey pj’s and an adorable stuffed monkey. The monkey has a belly button that Abby can poke and you can make it an inney or an outie. I know that sounds odd, but its super cute! Abby then opened her basket from Grandma and she seemed to enjoy all of her goodies. Inside were a few new outfits, a cute pail with chicks on them, a puzzle, a soft bunny (which was more for Shaun then Abby), and several books for Abby to read. Oddly enough she has spent a lot of time playing with the bucket and the ribbons used to decorate sme of the gifts inside, but she has played with everything else as well.

After settling in for a bit, we went to downtown Bozeman to the Mackenzie River Pizza COmpany for dinner and had a lovely time. Abby was super social and couldn’t stop talking to all of the kids that were there waiting with their families. Being a social butterfly certainly can make a girl hungry too, as she polished off most of a kids sized portion of Mac N Cheese. When they brought it out, the restaurant had topped with Goldfish, so Abby spent some time searching for the fish, but once she couldn’t find anymore… she shoveled it down. The dry, fresh air and the elevation will do that! It also helped her fall asleep early and fast too! Gotta love the mountains!