Montana - Part 4 - The Fam

We frequently talk to Gramma and Grandpa over Skype and Nat loves to talk to Uncle Mark on the phone, but was so neat for them to get to see each other face to face. Nat was happy to see her Grandparents, but was ELATED to hear they had a tire swing. You see, she (and her two cousins) used to LOVE to swing with Grandpa at his old house in PA. It was a special little thing they had together. Julsie got in on the fun for the first time too! It’s always nice to visit Amie. Neither of us are phone-talkers so we usually have a lot to catch up on =) Baby Garrett is so cute and a good little boy. I think he’s pretty strong too. I wanted my hands on him right away. (I have no good pics of Amie and I know she'd hate it if I stuck a stinky one up... and its not easy to get a pic of her, ask my MIL) My nephew Wyatt is 8 now. How time has flown. He has grown sooo much. I really noticed how tall he was on this trip. He’s a nice boy and well behaved. I just really enjoy him, always have… I mean, we ARE “buddies and jerks and pals!” (what he told me when he was 3). He’s into animals, hunting, four wheelers and all the regular boy stuff. And like most boys his age, his dad is probably his favorite person and role model. (It’s funny to see the change, from momma’s right hand man to daddy’s …from my best bud on our first trip to Toby’s pal on our third.)

He and Nat had fun together too. She couldn't wait for "the boy" to come home from school every day. They played hide and seek in the house quite a bit and almost every night they would walk to the pond and throw rocks. He was really good with her. (Julsie and I like to throw the rocks too =)

I think Mark liked the girls. I know they liked him. It's funny, Jules has been in a stage where she cries anytime anyone other than mom or dad pick her up. I mean anyone. She had absolutely NO trouble with Mark. She went with him right away. It was really cute. Oh, and Jules learned the word "No" just before the trip and mastered it while we were there. THAT was not cute. =)

Montana - Part 3 - The Hunt

We arrived on a Thursday so Mark took off work from Friday – Sunday for both weeks we were there. During the week, Toby was going to have to hunt on his own. He had Mark’s GPS, so the biggest thing he was worried about was being able to bugle. You see, finding an elk is like finding a needle in a hay stack. If you can get the needle to talk, it would be a little easier (especially since in archery you have to be sooo close to get a shot). So he practiced, and Oh Heavens! Sunday night he barely paid any attention to anyone. He sat outside and bugled. Wyatt, a great bugler according to the experts, bugled along with him. Oh, the cacophony! I was ready to shove that vacuum-hose-grunt-tube down his bronchial tube! But anyway, he went out on Monday and actually got one to call back. Tuesday he actually chased one around the canyon for hours but the bull never let Toby get closer than 50 yards. Wednesday it was pouring rain so he stayed home (elk don’t talk when it’s raining). Thursday, he had a lovely assistant and got within 30 yards. (I’ll tell you about that day in a later post.) Friday I prayed like a mad woman. In order to get meat back on the plane (my main objective), we really needed to get one no later than Saturday. I was on pins and needles until I heard news… and then I was devastated. They bugled, called him in and got within 20 yards. He was standing behind a Christmas tree type pine and Toby needed just one more step to get a good shot. With his bow a quarter of the way pulled back, they waited. Later, Toby said that he was pleased with how calm and focused he was. So, he and Mark are on baited breath. Toby was certain he was just going to take one more step….. but NO! All of a sudden he took off in the other direction, NO!, leaving Toby with nothing but a full quiver. This pic was taken from where Toby was standing to shoot. Can you see Wyatt in the center of the screen? That's where the elk was. That would be his best position of the entire 11 days. We came home with suitcases full of clothes instead of bricks of frozen meat. Oh, how I longed for a freezer full of a healthy, lean, (the original) “organic,” protein source.
However, we also came home with a ton of memories made with our family. We are so thankful to Gramma and Grandpa for transporting us everywhere and spoiling us, to Mark, Amie, Wyatt and Garrett for opening their home to us, providing meals, and just taking care of us. Not only do they put us up, but Toby gets a world-class hunt from an awesome guide for just the cost of his license. Mark could have worked or hunted himself on those days. Instead, he took his tag-along younger brother out to get one. We would never be able to afford to send even Toby out west on a hunt of this magnitude not to mention sending us girls too. We really appreciate it. Thanks Mark!

Montana - Part 2 - Camp

When we got to Mark's Toby didn't even have much time to tour the new house. He was packing his hunting clothes into a duffle because he and Mark were immediately heading up to the mountains to camp a couple days (ie hunt during the day, but instead of coming home at night, sleep right there.... in amongst the bear and mountain lion and wolves and I was sure glad I wasn't there). The tent they slept in was about 2 ft high, 4 ft wide, and 6 ft long (if they were lucky). I saw it when they set it up to dry back at home. Good thing they are related. I don't even think Nat would have used that thing as a play house. I really wish I had a pic (Toby deleted it I think.)

They took food and supplies (ie. baby wipes) with them, but did manage to round up some fresh meat for dinner one night. Other than the brotherly camaraderie, the camping trip was sort-of a bust. The canyon was full of signs of wolves, but no sign of elk. They came home empty handed but had a new appreciation for their beds and their age.

Speaking of age, it really doesn't matter that Toby is 8 years younger and hits the gym most days of the week. It probably helped that Toby was training on the Stairmaster in prep for the trip, but Mark still just flies around those mountains like Tarzan did in the jungles. The way Toby talks, he'll literally run for yards across a downed log spanning a ravine 30 ft below. He'll glide down the face of a cliff 5o ft, just touching his feet to the ground at a couple points and swinging off snags along the way. I went out with Toby one day (you'll hear that story later) and I can really appreciate the sheer Craziness of that! Especially when Tob said, "you know how you trailed me at times? That's how far I trail Mark at times." Holy mackerel. You may not be able to tell here, but he's a fearless, high-flying mountain man.

Back to the Good Stuff - Montana

I know, I know, no one cares about the other blog, just get back to the good stuff - my kids. =)

So, we were in MT from Sept 4 - 15 visiting John's brother, wife and 2 boys and my in-laws. Oh yeah, and John was also there to try to bag a trophy elk. I was off-line out there, but wish I could have been writing every day. There were so many funny little things, I could have 10 pages of stuff. Here's my attempt at brevity:
Let's see - where to begin... We flew out of Philly very early on Thursday so we stayed in a hotel Wednesday night, taking the hotel shuttle to the airport. We checked in around 9PM. Why so late? Well, you see,
1. I babysat on Wednesday (but she actually helped to occupy Nat while I finished last minute chores)
2. I had to make dinner when John got home (If you've ever seen me cook you know I make such a mess it takes a while for me to clean up)
3. His suitcase broke as he was zipping it up to put in the car so we had to make a mad dash to the outlets on the way out of town.
4. We had to stop at Walmart (not on the way) to get him a stinkin' pad lock for his bow case. (The girls and I stayed in the car. He took the keys and it was stuffy. So there we were, like a bunch of hill billies, my shoes off, the kids climbing around the car and the door open for everyone to see. Oh well)

It took us a while to get settled. The girls were so wired. Plus we had to transfer John's clothes to the new bag, and unload all our junk. Nat started out in dad's bed but soon after he fell asleep, she crept over to my bed and snuggled in the crook of my leg behind my bent knees. Jules was snuggled in my arms. How cute. Then Nat touched Jules and Jules sat up and was excited and on and on!

Anyway, we slept a few hours, got ready, took the 4AM shuttle, schlepped 2 kids, 2 car seats, 2 carry-ons, a camera case and one bow case containing a firearm to the airport. Sigh

We were able to get seats together and flew our first leg without incident. Despite the early hour, and to daddy's dismay, the girls were too excited to sleep. Jules was a little loud (happy loud) and John and the others were struggling to get their cat nap in.

We landed in Minneapolis just fine and spent our lay-over in a kids play area. We ate snacks I'd packed, the girls played and John again tried to get some rest. Here are the little stinkers posing in the MSP airport.









The kids slept during the second leg of the flight and we landed in Missoula on time. Grammy and Grandpa came to pick us up (bearing cookies=) and we were all happy to see each other. We loaded up the truck, hooked up the car seats and off we went for the hour drive to Uncle Mark's house.