10/09/2026
🏔️🇺🇸 THE KYLE FAMILY | WHERE THE MONTANA FAMILY EXPERIENCE BEGAN
“Better than Christmas.”
That’s how 6-year-old Joey and 4-year-old Sophia Kyle described their family’s time in Montana. ♥️
And we’re not sure there could be a better review.
The Kyle family was selected for the Swayze Veteran Foundation’s inaugural Montana Family Experience—a fully funded opportunity created to give veterans, first responders, and their families something incredibly valuable:
Uninterrupted time together.
Christopher Kyle honorably retired from the U.S. Army after 22 years of service as a Chief Warrant Officer 2, including an extraordinary 10 combat deployments.
His wife, Lieutenant Colonel Christina Kyle, continues to serve on active duty in the U.S. Army.
For Chris, Christina, Joey and Sophia, military service has meant years of deployments, separations, obligations and sacrifices made by the entire family.
So in Montana, we wanted them to simply be a family.
They explored the mountains by side-by-side, hiked and visited mountain lakes, explored Garnet Ghost Town, rode horses, went fly fishing, sifted for gems—and made the kind of memories we created this program to provide.
Chris later described the experience in his after-action report as an “exceptional, high-impact experience” that created genuine rest and family reconnection.
That is the mission. 🇺🇸
And none of it happens alone.
Our deepest thanks to Anderson Ford and Kyle White for sponsoring this experience, and to Derrick, Ashley and Sutton Popham, whose extraordinary hospitality and coordination made the Kyle family feel at home in Montana.
We are also incredibly grateful to David Babiracki and Babb’s Outdoors for the guided fly-fishing experience; Doug and Jeannie Swain and Boulder Creek Lodge for providing a beautiful home base for the family; Tom Spencer and Flint Creek Quarter Horses for their horseback adventure; and Frank Zavala, Philipsburg Coffee Roasters & Flint Creek Rentals for keeping the family supplied with local coffee and helping make their unforgettable side-by-side adventure possible.
And to every business, outfitter, volunteer, donor and supporter who continues to believe in this mission: you make moments like these possible.
Twenty-two years of service.
Ten combat deployments.
A family that continues to serve today.
And for a few days in Montana, four people simply got to be Chris, Christina, Joey and Sophia. ♥️
Apparently, it was even better than Christmas. 🎄🏔️🇺🇸
