July 7th, is Montana Mike’s birthday, obviously this year it is a painful reminder that Mike is no longer with us here on earth.  Yet, it is also a time to remember what a great life that Mike lived.  Tonight, we are having my Dad’s Spaghetti which was one of Mike’s favorite meals.  Last year I was lucky enough to be visiting while we celebrated Mike’s birthday last year.  It was a great week, I got to go on a ride along with Mike, and witness what a great Highway Patrolmen he was, and it was one of the rare times that Mike, Jo and I were together.  It was a fun time, we played Rock Band (Mike was insane good on guitar), zoom in on photo to see Mike in background rocking out.  Mike even took time out on his birthday to read Isaac a book, that was the kind of guy Mike was: selfless.  Lastly, Mike got to unwind and play some Battlefield Bad Company, the picture is of Mike pwning some newbs by calling in an artillery strike.  It hurts not to have Mike here today, but I feel lucky to have had a great brother, and friend for the 26 years that I knew him.  Today would have been Mikes 29th birthday…  Rest in Peace 159.

The 4th of July is a day to celebrate American Independence, which naturally leads to remembering all the men and women who have fought to keep our country that way.  The past week my father has been posting pictures and videos on face book of Mike in the military.  It has been good to remember the many different ways that my brother served his country.  My mother and sister placed American flags around Mike’s headstone, honoring an American hero that is fallen.  It is impossible to explain how much I miss my brother, but I will continue to remember and pay respect to this great man, that fought and died protecting our great nation.

This last week we took a family hike at Lone Pine State Park.  There are a few different trails that you can choose, and ours happened to be about a mile long.  There is a great lookout that gives  a great view to our new home the Flathead Valley.  I think you can see our house if you zoom in closely, just in the upper left corner.

We packed up a small lunch and headed out on the trail, the boys loved the hike and Isaac wants to come back and camp out.

The first part of the hike was pretty treacherous (as far as a 2 year old is concerned, or at least their parents).  Very steep inclines and a little bit of rock climbing.  As you can see though the boys conquered the trail and were very proud of themselves.