Give Thanks

We spent Thanksgiving up in the beautiful hills above Lake Coeur d'Alene, and it was great, as usual. I no longer take photos with a real camera, so unfortunately, none of the inside shots turned out...but they are cute anyway.

Grandpa Dale, Kye, Uncle Bear

Kye and Amanda

Grandpa and Kye, with his new version of 'smiling'

Visiting the chicken coop

and driving Babe the 'tractor', with help from Brody doggy

Uncle Jon and Auntie Nicole, making us bread...yummy

To wrap the weekend up, we headed into Seattle for a date night. B told me we were going to the Christmas Carol play, which always puts you in the holiday spirit, but he had actually booked us tickets to see Brandi Carlile play with the Seattle Sympony. I have never missed her when she came into town so that was pretty awesome...and, of course, the music and experience was unforgettable. 

Red Ants Pants

When we learned that the Red Ants Pants Music Festival, was going to be held in a town not too far from Helena at the same time we were going to be there, we put it on our itinerary. And I'm so glad we did.

This music festival is AWESOME! There were enough people there to make it interesting, but not so many as to feel stuck in a massive crowd. People were having a good time, drinking a bit, but not getting angry and intoxicated. The music was great; we were only there for one day but had the pleasure of listening to Josh Ritter and, my all-time favorite, Brandi Carlile. There were little kids in wagons and digging in the dirt and passed out in daddy's arms. They had amazingly good food, free yoga in the field, a beard and mustache competition (seriously), and interesting demos (how to make your own biodiesel!).

'Mo Bowls' had several different varieties of mac-n-cheese. Need I say more?

The view from the food vendor area; 

just to give you a feel of the landscape: open, dirt cow pasture, basically

The camping was just a designated area of the field filled with campers, RVs, tents, etc.

Scenic and peaceful, it was not, but it was

just a 2-minute walk to the stage area

Kye and momma listening to Josh Ritter

Little man did great at his first concert; 

he fell asleep (later than normal, of course) in daddy's arms, looking up at the stars

In one of those 'it's a small world' moments, we ran into a coworker of B's, there with his wife and her family. They never talked about going to this festival, but somehow both ended up there at the same time. We enjoyed talking with them and getting to know them a bit. 

We are definitely going back to Red Ants Pants Music Festival; friends, let us know if you want to join and we'll make an adventure of it!

Brandi Carlile & the Seattle Symphony

Last Saturday, November 29th, I was very fortunate to see Brandi Carlile play with the Seattle Symphony. I saw her show at the Paramount last year and it was amazing...but this, this was absolutely incredible. Brandi & her twin band members were fantastic, and I was also very impressed with the Symphony's ability to mix with Rock-n-Roll.

If you haven't heard of Brandi Carlile yet (and no, this isn't 'Belinda Carlisle' from the 80's), check her out. She is a wonderfully talented musician but, more captivating is her passion for music. When she plays and sings, it is obvious that she loves music and the expression of her genuine self through her lyrics and voice.

Here is a link to a Seattle PI article about the show: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/pop/390074_carlile01q.html