little brother visit

Frank was the first family member to come and visit me in Montana when I decided to move here in September 1997. He got here in May 1998 and I had barely had gotten myself settled into Missoula... He was 20 years old (I was 24) and we had SUCH a blast while he was here.






He came out here with his wife Katie (pregnant with their first child) for our wedding weekend June 2003...

Lots of things have happened since that first trip in 1998. We both got married, had kids (four between us - almost 5!), lost our father, started new lives, new businesses, etc...no matter what - even when we are old codgers Frank will always be my little brother.

The first thing we did was hike the "M" just after I picked him up from the airport. He met some of my friends. We took him to a local brewery for some local brew. He met Astrid's daycare lady (Astrid goes to daycare once a week). We stopped by the Good Food Store (one of my favorite go-to spots in town). He helped me fix my refrigerator (you gotta take help from a plumber when you have one staying with you!). We went to Rockin Rudy's. We stayed overnight at Big Sky Lake at the camp (we enjoyed watching a black bear 30 feet from the door - making himself comfortable eating on a deer carcass). We ate at our favorite restaurant - Sushi Hana. We saw "The Legend of Pale Male" at the Wilma - Best of Festival at the International Wildlife Film Festival. Excellent way to end the trip...

There are many more things that I wish we'd had the time to do... but my favorite part of the whole trip was just talking and catching when Astrid was in bed for the night. For a little while it was fun to imagine I was still free of any responsibility to anyone...footloose and fancy free - like I was in 1998.



How did I luck out and get the best brothers and sister in the whole world? Genevieve, David and Frank, I'd be lonely without you! I'm thankful I wasn't an only child. Life at the Smith house was much TOO fun with four mischievous kids!