Last Day In Montana



The Beehive Basin Hike



Thursday, August 2, 2012     Our last day of "vacation" before our long drive home.



The boys were making some creative
weapons.



We all slept in again this morning and it was so nice. The kids all said that they didn't even want to go outside the cabin :)  There was plenty to keep them busy....playing cards, making creations out of strips of cut t-shirts, the making of "weapons", watching the Olympics, reading, writing blogs.  We all enjoyed greatly the day of not doing much.  Dave and I did get the car prepped for our long trip home and got the car packed up during the day.  I am sad to think that our amazing trip is almost over. It has been such an incredible treasure and I have mostly cherished the time with our children!!!!!!!!!  Thankful!  We are truly thankful!

Lin did talk me into doing a hike back at the Beehive Basin and I am so glad that I went.  It was just the two of us and it was so peaceful and serene....just what I needed.  WE both loved taking pictures of the flowers (and logs :).  I do imagine that heaven will be like this....meadows filled with flowers, wind rustling in the tree tops, long walks with no where to be, the incredible fresh pine smell air, just being completely amazed by God's creation....it will be "heavenly"!



I do like my log pictures!





This is where we turned around
to go home.  Isn't it inviting?



We decided to hike up one hour, we knew we could not make it to the basin but our goal was to just enjoy the outdoors, which we did thoroughly.  We stood for awhile where we stopped to turn around.  I just wanted to soak in the sounds, smells, feel of the breeze, the gorgeous field and inviting path to "Come further up and further in" (quote from The Last Battle- Narnia).  What a gift to be in creation and spend this time with Lin- Thanks Linda!!!! 



The mother moose, the baby
was lying in the long grass taking a nap.



Our trip down was quicker but just as enjoyable. We passed a family who asked if we had seen the mother moose and her baby.  No, we had not but we would keep our eyes open for her. That would just be a perfect ending to our day.  We watched as best we could considering the terrain.  At one point, Lin just stopped and said, "This would really be a perfect place for a moose".  And as I looked around, I spotted the moose and said, " And there she is!!!"  How exciting to see a mommy moose and her baby sleeping in the grass. They were not 50 feet away from us but the mother seemed to care less that we were there.  We briefly contemplated trying to get a little closer but then decided to just be thankful we saw them at all.  What an AWESOME hike!!!!

Dave and I made dinner tonight of lasagna, salad, bread and fruit.  Our last meal in Montana but a wonderful one.  We had a great time with all watching the Olympics and packing up last minute things.  We are planning on leaving at 3am to start our trek to Grampa and Grama's house, which will be about a 16 hour drive.  No one is ready to get back in the car but we are glad to have such a wonderful place to stop and rest in Iowa!!!!  Good night everyone, it will be a short night here!



This is just but a shadow of what will be!