summer was gorgeous! Rainy and cool, not anything like the boiling summer months of Utah. We went with Jefferson's family and stayed with his grandparents, Grammy and Grandpa Harvey.
We did quite a few things while we were there, including visiting Yellowstone National Park, the Lewis and Clark Caverns, and Virginia City, going fishing and school shopping (There's no sales tax in Montana! What you see on the tag is what you pay at the register!), getting my ears pierced, and eating our hearts out at Famous Dave's on several occasions!
Just a couple funny stories before the pics:
1) About the whole ear-piercing thing, we were shopping at the mall in Bozeman, and we kept passing the Claire's Boutique. There was a little stand set up for ear-piercings and I guess you could say that spurred my imagination.
I kinda want to get my ears pierced...but I don't want to do it on a whim and without asking Jefferson first...maybe I'll do it...we'll see...
We continued shopping, and by "we" I mean the women-folk (The men-folk were shopping, too just in sporting goods stores. Boring!), and when we got to JCPenneys, Angie (Jefferson's mom) asked me which earrings I liked the most (she was shopping for a birthdya gift). I looked at all the earrings and pointed out a set of seven pearl studs, all different colors. They were so cute and little and they would look so good if my ears were pierced! I thought. I told Angie, pointing out the pearl studs, that I thought those were adorable.
After joining back up with the men, we had dinner and called it a day. That night, I asked Jefferson what he thought about my whole kind-of-wanting-to-get-my-ears-pierced idea. He totally supported it, which took me quite by surprise.
"I like to see you making your own decisions," he said.
The next day, I announced my desire to have a couple of holes punched through my ears. Angie and the girls were super excited for me. Grammy told me about her ear piercing story (She was at the same mall shopping for earrings for some friends with Harvey and their son, when Harvey saw the eir piercing stand. He asked Grammy if she had her ears pierced. She answered a negative and it just didn't make sense to Harvey for her to be buying all her friends earrings and not herself. So, with the help of the son, they plopped her in the chair and a few holes later, she could buy her own earrings!), and assured me that it doesn't hurt that bad.
We went back to the mall that day and I sat in the chair at the piercing stand, nervously clasping and un-clasping my hands in my lap. The girl from the counter came over and I started to seriously doubt my decision. She drew dots on my ears and had the others verify that yes, they were even....well...even enough...
Ahhh! What am I doing? I thought as she lined the little gun up to the dot. *pahunk* One ear down. Too late to turn back now! *pahunk* And with that, my ears were forever changed. Grammy and Angie had disappeared while the actual piercing was taking place, and when we met them at the car, Angie handed me a bag from JCPenneys. Wouldn't you know it? The seven sets of pearl earrings! I was so excited! Then I remembered I had to wait six weeks before I could change my earrings!
2) When we went fishing, my fishing pole didn't work, so Jefferson and I were taking turns with his. Neither of us have very good luck because we hadn't caught a single fish in the time it took Jefferson's little sister, Megan, to catch five! It was Jefferson's turn with the rod, so I was standing on the bank of the Yellowstone River, when Grandpa Harvey walks by and says, "Hold my rod for a minute." I took his rod and was surprised to feel a jerk on the line: there was a fish! I thought that was so sweet of Grandpa, even though we lost the fish (Grandpa's line got tangled with Jefferson's and it snapped under the weight of this huge, I kid you not, HUGE fish!), to give me his line right when he caught a fish!
Anyway, here are some pics:
the gateway to Yellowstone
moving right along...
...footloose...
...and fancy-free!
getting there is half the fun...
...come share it with me!
sulfer hot springs
stinky!
elk! deer! moose!
(whatever it was, it just sat there and let people
get really, REALLY close to it.
This was as close as I let Jefferson push me!)
waiting for ole' faithful
the big moment
the wind was blowing....
...and people were running!
the Palmer brood
(With my dark hair, I look like an Indian Squaw!)
oh the barmaid and the cowhand should be friends!
We drove home after having extended our trip by several days, and the last stop (at 11:00 pm, the first stop was around 2) was my parents house. I'd tried to cover my ears with my hair, but it didn't work and my sisters and my mom noticed the piercings right off the bat! In that moment I planted a seed: if Genny can pierce her ears, so can I seemed to be written on all of their faces. We'll just have to see what happens!
i heard about your ears! your mom said all the kids wanted their ears pierced afterward! Ha! At least the girl that did your ears didn't mess up. Mine did on one of my ears and had to do it twice. yuck.
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