early rise...

a sense of disorientation as the first morning approached....a million different birds were chirping at the park we camped in the first night

albeit, the tents were set up at 12midnight and a scurry of sleeping bags and pj's flying everywhere

an owl called in the tree above us at to say "ssshhh" - a wonderful distraction for the four year old excited with loud voice (per usual) as I sat there and held onto his shoulders while nursing Daniel and said "listen to mother owl...she's talking........shhh"

as the sun rose and the birds chatter started, we too started chattering and making that beloved hot cocoa and coffee and took a walk amongst the tall trees and the chattering birds.....down at the water there were fish bones and shells and a stillness to the water

being still sounded appealing to me instead of packing up the gear and into the "unknown wilderness"

i felt on this trip like 1/2 pioneer and 1/2 gypsy.......

i wouldn't change the views we had for anything.......but neither would i have changed the experience......

the trip wasn't perfect........such as life......it was like God knew what I needed......what Jason needed....what all the kids needed......

all eight of us had a different experience but interconnected from living outdoors......working together with meal preparation, camp setups, calming the young ones in the car, listening to stories......


a very real experience that was so life changing it's quite difficult for me to even share it the way I would like.......
besides, all the photographs I took would constitute a large coffee table book that you could literally use as a table due to the thickness it would be

i felt like the 'nature paparazzi' - and at times, 'mother moose' got her fair share of the limelight

so much is still sinking in

and as much as I would like to just write and sit and contemplate, I have school books neatly arranged on the dining room table and am very anxiously awaiting the school bell to ring "officially" (though, I would say the children learned more from our spelunking guide in the caverns then they possibly did the last two years of studying rock/natural formations in science with me)

with the barn sale fast approaching (one month away) that is a whole other set of distractions from the camping experience/journey

the early rise in the mountains will hopefully stick with me for some time......as will the giving of my whole self to my children and husband, even when 8,564 feet above sea level while kayaking on the lake in the Big Horn Mountains.....

peace + early rise blessings,