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This weekend, hubby, Jay & I took a trip up north to visit my parents, little sister and her family. I so love the trip up their albeit a long one. The beauty one sees offered along the way is awe inspiring. It brings a certain peace to one's being. The majestic mountains; the constant changing of the land; the wildlife, farms, river, you name it; it's just all such a sight to see. Every trip we take, we see something different. Once there, you feel at home. Instant relaxation kicks in. It feels as if you are in paradise where nothing can touch you.
The warmth of being around family, the sound of laughter, being able to lean on one-another when needed, the peacefulness being away from the city. It's all such a wonderful experience. Of course our hearts were a bit heavy knowing what our other sister is going through, wishing we were "all" together and everyone was healthy.
But being there nestled in amongst the mountains, no busy roads, no sound of traffic, yelling, etc. It was awesome!!! Why did we have to leave? ;) We were able to watch four otter playing in the river this trip. They are so fun to watch. It makes you wonder why we all can't be more carefree like that. They were comical. They love to chase one another, fight over fish that they catch and just outright put on a show; or at least it seems that way. It's as though they know they are being watched and put on quite an act.
Unfortunately the baby goose my sister had rescued and nursed to an almost full grown goose has flown the coop so-to-speak. Was bummed not being able to meet George. It sounded as though he was a character. He is now with a shelter that works on taking care of the birds, teaching them to survive in the wilderness, which is where he belongs.
It was nice to see all the Bald Eagles along the way too, going both ways. As always we saw deer, and finally saw a herd of elk. No mountain goats or big-horned sheep this time. :( The mountain goats are fascinating with the way they move so easily on those almost shear cliffs. It's amazing how they can easily maneuver up there without falling. The weather turned nasty Sat. night. The winds picked up, lighting and thunder rolled in and it rained hard off and on. Was thankful for the rain, and as far as I know, no fires were started from the farm. That is always a blessing.

Mom & I were able to take time to go through old papers, photo's, books, etc. The memories that we shared was wonderful. Tears of joy over some of the memories that were brought back was so neat. We also went through boxes of art materials that were given to my sister to use for crafts at the senior home. Wow! what a mess, but what great items that were donated to the facility! Some of the items the people there would not be able to use, but a majority of it was usable. The end of the task of sorting through it all for her and organizing was tedious, but it allowed for some great conversation. Of course our hubby's weren't too thrilled with us, as it took time away from spending the day as a family. We tried to explain it was helping sis, but they still weren't thrilled--partly to do with the mess it made. We had beads upon beads upon beads and then these other things--do you think I can think of what they are called :( grrrr--they were little foil or plastic cutouts for decorating many different ways; such as hearts, squares, ovals, stars, moons, leaves, etc. Oh my gosh, the amount of this stuff to sort through to separate the colors of the beads, and some of the other stuff and designs. It took us half the morning and most the afternoon to get it done. The rest of the sorting of the boxes was done quickly. Mom had most the boxes done before I got there, thank heavens!
We had a lot of laughs though. Especially when we got down those little cutouts, as the static made it a pain in the rear to work with them. We drooped plenty, but oh well. I'm sure there are probably beads hiding on the floor somewhere. They would drop and bounce and away they would go. Jay and my nephew were getting them for us a little bit, then quickly grew tired of it. Then it was up to us to pick them up. Poor mom, had a rough time. She has problems with her left knee which makes it difficult for her to bend over.
Thankfully mom finally went to see a specialist to have her knee repaired. She has a bone spur growing in between here knee cap and joint. The spur pushes the knee cap out and makes it very painful for her to do anything basically. It made me cringe to watch her stand up. One time I thought she was going to pass out. I pray the Lord guides the physicians hands and repairs her knee completely and mends her quickly.
We had planned on taking food up there to fix, as we feel they should not have to feed us. Well, they had already bought a turkey and had it thawed. So sis, her hubby, two of her three boys, and their two grand daughters came over. It was nice to have almost all the family there for a nice meal set before us. It was like Thanksgiving early. Her grand daughters have grown so since being there the last time. It's nice to see with the baby, as she was so thin and tiny. Not no more. They are adorable.
Then came time to leave there. None of us wanted to leave. We enjoyed ourselves so. Now it's back to the grind, but it's all good. Get to take our daughters next to the oldest daughter to kindergarten tomorrow and the oldest. I pick the boys up after school, only to take them "all to school Tues. One boy gets dropped off at his moms at the bus stop, another gets dropped off at his school, and then back to pick up the girls and get them to their school. So I'll pretty much be spending Mon.'s, Tues.' and Fri.'s will be spent mostly driving. That should be interesting to say the least. But because of this, I must get my behind into bed, so I am wide awake tomorrow.
May the Lord walk with you, fill you with the Holy Spirit so that you are guided, may you be wrapped in His great love. Be safe, protected and peace brought over you. In Jesus Name, Amen!