Last minute

road trips are so fun. They are for me anyways. Who would have thought this Mother of nine would have all her cards fall into place and actually be able to pull it off? They did, and I did. Thanks to an amazing husband who stayed home for 5 days a single father of 6 kids.  It was seamless, as though he never had a regular job he gets up and heads off to 5 out of seven days a week. I am lucky and I know it! My cousin had let my brother know that my Grandma who lives in a tiny spot in Idaho called Mud Lake was not doing so well and maybe we should come say hi. He was worried about her. I rallied my Sister's in town and in 24 hours or so we were packed and on the road. It was a crazy huge amount of time in the car. The three girls I took with me were amazing travelers. It was so fun to visit with my Sisters and stay up chatting in our hotel room like teenagers.

Better yet was just sitting with my Mom who got their before us, my sisters, and my Grandma hour after hour and not wanting for things to chat about. What a blessing. My Grandma talked more in those hours than I think I have ever heard her before. My Grandma is an amazing woman who raised 4 children and lost her 5th at Birth to a heart condition. She ran a dairy farm with my Grandpa until he passed away 26 years ago. She has spent that time serving others. She is no stranger to hard back breaking work. What a great example.I can remember spending long summer days milking cows and doing farm work with her in this barn of theirs that has not been used for a long, long, time and sits on property that she sold long ago.

It is weird to see it sitting dormant housing a boat instead of cows. So many of the outbuildings gone with the years. A bull lifted my brother Damon over that fence with his horns once. My sisters and I would feed the calf's out of huge bottles and then stick our arms in the their mouths and let them suck on them. Creepy huh? Try it sometime.... We would ride horses with my cousins from my Grandparents house to theirs just down the road.  This is place full of sweet childhood memories and it was so fun to visit again.

My Uncle Harvey still has horses and boy was uncle Damon a hit when  he drove us over to see them. My Haley loves everything horses, poor city girl. This Mom is never moving again if she can help it. We do live by people with horses so she can see them and even feed them sometimes on her way to and from school. That will have to do for now.

 

I am so grateful for almost every moment of this trip. (wink, wink, Cajsa)