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State Champs, again…
Bridger won the MCAA Soccer State Championship with Stillwater for the second year in a row.
Tessa’s Final Marching Band Performance
Tessa concluded her senior season of Marching Band as the Drum Major for Flathead High School with a performance in the school theater. The band put on an amazing show, it was awesome to see how much they improved in such a short time. Tessa won several awards, two of which puts her name on a plaque outside the band room. She split both the Outstanding Senior and the National High School Marching Award with her buddy Chollman, in addition to making Montan’s All State Band for the second year in a row. This was a perfect ending to a great marching band career at Flathead High School.
Bridger’s Freshman Homecoming @ Stillwater
Most of the Freshman class at Stillwater met up at Game & Taps prior to their homecoming dance to play some pool and hangout. Here are a few photos of everyone dressed up.
2024 MSU Showcase of Bands
On Saturday, September 28th we made the trip down to Bozeman for the next installment of the Montana State University Showcase of Bands. This is an annual event hosted by the Spirit of the West Marching Band where they invite about 10 high school marching bands from across the state to present their performances. This is an amazing event complete with custom graphics and displays on the stadium scoreboard and the in stadium announcer. This is such a fun event and of course this year was special as Tessa is the head Drum Major for the Flathead Marching Band. Flathead looked and sounded amazing this year.
Tessa Homecoming
Tessa got dressed up and ready for the Flathead High School homecoming dance, we took a few portraits before she headed out for the night.
Flathead H.S. Homecoming Parade
For the first time in a few years, Flathead High School held their Homecoming Parade on Main Street in Kalispell Montana. The parade was led by the marching band. Tessa is the head Drum Major for the band, they looked great and had a blast.
Glass Animals @ the Gorge
We went to the Gorge Amphitheater to see the Glass Animals in early September. This was an amazing show, but the highlight was getting to hang out with some of our longest and best friends for the first time in a long time. Ford and Jo flew in from Colorado and we picked them up on our way in Coeur d’Alene. We then met Carl and his son Jasper who drove over from Portland in the parking lot of the Gorge. We were one of the first cars into the plus parking lot with a direct entrance into the venue. We had an open grassy area available where we setup Carl’s shade tent and hung out for a few hours before the show. The weather was perfect and the show was amazint as always by the Glass Animals. This was such a fun time hanging out with old friends.
Labor Day on the Flathead
We got up early on Saturday morning of Labor Day weekend to head up the Flathead River. We spend the first hour motoring across the lake and up the river. We then spent the rest of the day puttering back down the river and enjoying the peaceful water and fewer boats than we encounter on the lake. We went all the way to the mouth of the Half Moon Slough before turning back. We went for a swim in Fennon Slough before re-entering Flathead Lake.
A Day in Bonners Ferry
We spent a short day in Bonners Ferry checking out the downtown area before Bridger’s Soccer game at the high schoo. The downtown is small but fun to visit as it is nesteled between the Kootenai River, the BNSF train line and the Union Pacific train line. This makes for a fun place to take some photographs.
New E-Bikes on the Rail Trail
We purchase some new bikes this summer and have been exploring some of the bike trails in the Flathead Valley. These things are so much fun, they give you some extra help when you need it, but don’t do everything for you. So far we love them. We went for a ride on the Great Northern Historical Trail from Somer’s to a little spot where we often see Bald Eagles hanging out along Alternate 93. No Baldies today but that just means we have to ride it again. We did stop and take a few photos of a couple abandoned structures on our way back.
The Silver Anniversary
It’s hard to believe we have been married 25 years already, they have flown by. A little something for the love of my life!
Wildlife on Flathead
We spent the day boating on Flathead Lake and River as a family. We started off by boating past a Bald Eagle hanging out on a piece of driftwood in the middle of the lake. We saw several more Bald Eagles along the Flathead River. We anchored up at the mouth of Fennon Slough for some swimming where we released our wildlife into the river.
Sunset over Mission View Bay
We had some amazing light after one of the largest thunderstorms we have experienced living here.
Up the Flathead River
We spent a few hours boating on Flathead Lake and decided to travel up the river into the Flathead Valley. We visited the Somer’s Bay and old railroad facilities before turning north. The river was very calm and peaceful and turned into one of our favorite new spots. Throughout the day we saw 4 to 5 Bald Eagles, what a great way to spend a summer day.
Olympic National Park
For our summer vacation this year, we decided to drive to Olympic National Park and spend a week exploring the Olympic Peninsula. We went all the way the first day and stayed at the Log Cabin Resort on Lake Crescent in Olympic National Park for the first three nights. On the fourth day, we took the ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria, British Columbia, for the day. In Victoria, we had tea at the Empress and revisited Abigail’s Hotel, where we had honeymooned 25 years earlier and enjoyed shopping. For the next three nights, we stayed in the Lake View building at the Lake Quinault Lodge. Here, we took a boat tour of Lake Quinalt and explored the Lake Quinalt Rain Forest and the coast around Kalaloch. Finally, we drove through Mount Ranier on our way home.
Revisiting Victoria
Twenty Five years after our honeymoon in Victoria.
Montana Cup Champions
An Evening in Helena
We were in Helena for the Montana Cup soccer tournament. The first night, we walked the historic downtown area before heading back to the hotel.
Bridger’s 8th Grade Promotion
Stillwater Christian held their 8th Grade Promotion ceremony on the evening of June 4th. Bridger was awarded the President’s Award for Educational Excellence!
