Allow us to introduce you...

To Cody, a remote but charming tourist town just 50 miles outside of Yellowstone National Park. What was once a dismal job prospect is now a wildly successful relocation for our family. I anticipated it being a purely professional relationship, but to my surprise, I find myself crushing big time on Cody. So let me show you some of it's best features. 

Brandon and I have seen LOTS of pretty country in our lifetime, from Idaho to Colorado to upstate New York, but Cody has introduced me to some of the most diverse and beautiful nature yet. We have loved exploring here. 

 Cody has 16 public parks, give or take because some I wouldn't actually count. We have seen all of them, and find that our favorites/cleanest ones are within our neighborhood.

With exception to this one up South Fork. It rests on one of the highest residential points in the city and has some incredible views of the mountains. 

Cody also has the BEST school colors and mascot. Gold and blue Broncs. It's kind of like the Boise Broncos collided with Notre Dame into this perfect world where I get to dress in gold and pretend Kellen Moore is still a high schooler. Friday night lights quickly became a favorite activity in our family. 

Tori taking pictures of the cheerleaders.  

Brandon and Brighton finally found their common ground. 

Being a tourist town, Cody knows how to throw a party. From parades for every occasion to street fairs with live demos of wood sculpting and jewelers selling earrings made of fishing tackle. So, we probably won't do a lot of shopping here, but we Deans are suckers for a good community event. 

Tori had to get close to check out the competition. They are with the "other" dance studio. 

Cody is also overrun by deer. I can't think of a day I haven't seen a deer in town. We have a buck that I guess nests behind our town home. The excitement of seeing a deer is about as exciting as seeing cattle for us now.

If the deer aren't enough to tickle your fancy than the Cody Mural might just do the job. It's a stunning piece of art done by a non-member artist depicting the history of the church. It's no modern NYC street art, but it's beautiful nonetheless. 

There's also other exhibits in the same church building where I discovered that Byron Sessions was a distinct figure in the settling of the Cody area. Small world, but not so much when you're a Sessions. 

My absolute favorite thing about Cody is their museum. It takes all the museums we were so lucky to experience in New York and smashes it into a smaller scale western themed one. It also has the Gun Museum which I thought sounded ridiculous until I saw it. The museum also features a Natural History portion as well as an art gallery, so there's just enough culture to pacify the whole family. 

The "smoke guy." Otherwise none as Buffalo Bill.  

Natural History Museum. 

And I love the Buffalo Bill hall. It's full of character, history, creative exhibits, and flat out good stories about the west. 

Our sanity through what will most likely be a long and cold winter will come through our Recreational Center. It is awesome!! And what I love most about it, is that it provides smaller communities more extra-curricular for high school kids. I would have loved to have a swim team. They also have ice hockey. It's so great!! And the swimming area for the kids is just incredible complete with a giant water slide not pictured below. 

Outside of Cody is a reserve for the wild mustangs. This was something I didn't realize I was so interested in until we went to see if we could spot some wild mustangs, but it's pretty cool to able to say we have seen a wild horse in it's element.

The dining isn't to die for in Cody, but of course, we got pretty spoiled in New York. However, we do have this ever so charming coffee shop with a fresh bakery and some amazing sandwiches and soup, which if you know me at all, a good sandwich and soup is like Christmas day for me. 

Against all odds, I have really come to love Cody. We have met some great people and done some great things in such a short amount of time that it sometimes feels weird to think we've only been here a little over a month or so. We feel beyond blessed to have gotten a job right out of school and that Brandon really loves going to work everyday. I've learned from this that the Lord can provide you with things that are better than you can imagine or believe possible. I feel strongly that we were meant to be here and I'm grateful that we answered the call, and that Cody continues to treat us so well.