Mountain Lions, Bobcats, and Bears, Oh my!

Last year, our son Michael ran into a young mountain lion on the trail around our house.

Two weeks ago, we had a bobcat on our back porch.

This week we found bear tracks underneath our bedroom window!

What is there possibly left for us to see?!  

It truly is wild and wonderful living out here.  

Thank you, God, for your continuous gifts!!!  

(We sure don't deserve them, but we accept them gladly) :)

WILD weekend!

What a WILD weekend we had...

It started with an unexpected snow storm that accumulated over a foot of snow!  It looked like Christmas in September!  It was gorgeous, but it did have some unexpected side effects, including many trees breaking on our property from the weight of the snow on the leaf-laden branches and also the loss of electricity for 10 hours from trees hitting the power lines in our area.  Thankfully though, God provided me with a "prepper" husband who had everything we needed to survive for months and also a wood burning fireplace to keep us warm :)  The boys had a blast making snowmen and having snowball fights.  All in all, it turned out to be a fun and beautiful adventure.  And the biggest blessing is that all the snow and rain in our area put out most of the wildfires that had been raging for the past month! God is good, all the time!

See how the aspen trees are bending way over?

Sadly we lost quite a few despite our efforts to brush the snow off of them during the storm.

This photo really shows the accumulation of snow.

Hard to believe this happened in September!

Then, the next day as our boys were watching baseball in the basement, Michael glanced out the window and said, "Hey look, a kitty-cat."  Joseph, looked and said, "That's no kitty, that's a bobcat!"  They ran upstairs to tell us and Michael ran for his camera.  By the time they got upstairs the bobcat was on our back porch, 10 feet from the door!  It ran off when Michael tried to get a picture, but we were able to watch it from our dining room window as it meandered off our property.  Michael was able to sneak outside to snap a quick photo before it was gone.  How wild was that!?  What will we see next on this amazing gift of land that God has given us?  We will keep you posted :)

Didn't Michael get an awesome picture?  

I wonder if he will be a wildlife photographer when he grows up :)

Happy Birthday Mother Mary

Today, September 8th, the Catholic Church celebrates the birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is exactly 9 months after the celebration of her Immaculate Conception.  What a joyous day!  Personally, I wish it was celebrated by the whole world with as much joy as Christmas (or at least with as much enthusiasm as St. Patrick's day); after all, Mary had (and continues to have) such an important role in the history of salvation.  But there I go being a crazy Catholic again! :} Anyway, it is on feast days like today that I just love being Catholic because I am reminded of the blessings God continues to give us through the saints---especially His Blessed Mother who intercedes for us constantly, loves us unconditionally, and longs to guide us closer to her Son so that all will be saved.  How I wish the whole world knew how much she loves us!  I am reminded of one of Mary's messages in Medjugorje when she said:  "If you knew how much I, your mother, love you, you would cry for joy."  And this message was confirmed in my heart when I was able to watch the visionary Mirijana have her apparition in Medjugorje a few summers ago...  As soon as the Blessed Mother appeared, Mirajana's whole countenance changed.  She was completely overcome with pure joy and tears silently slipped down her cheeks as she gazed at Our Lady and conversed with her.  Just seeing Mirijana's joy made me start to cry for joy!  How blessed we are to be loved so much by God our Father and Mary our heavenly Mother!  I pray for the grace to be able to love them back as much as my little heart is capable of!

The visionary Mirjana is 4th in from the right wearing a coral/pink shirt. 

Our tour group was blessed to have a private meeting with her to hear her testimony and ask her questions.  She seemed so full of peace and joy.  I recently read her autobiography called "My Heart with Triumph", which describes the history of the apparitions in Medjugorje and how they affected her personally. It was very inspiring and I highly recommend it!

Here is the latest message from Our Lady to Mirjana on September 2nd, 2017:

"Dear children, who could speak to you about the love and the pain of my Son better than I? I lived with Him; I suffered with Him. Living the earthly life I felt pain because I was a mother. My Son loved the thoughts and the works of the Heavenly Father, the true God. And, as He said to me, He came to redeem you. I hid my pain through love, but you, my children, you have numerous questions. You do not comprehend pain. You do not comprehend that through the love of God you need to accept pain and endure it. Every human being will experience it to a lesser or greater measure. But with peace in the soul and in a state of grace, hope exists; this is my Son, God, born of God. His words are the seed of eternal life. Sown in good souls it brings numerous fruits. My Son bore the pain because He took your sins upon Himself. Therefore, you, my children, apostles of my love, you who suffer, know that your pain will become light and glory. My children, while you are enduring pain, while you are suffering, Heaven enters in you and you give a piece of Heaven and much hope to all those around you. Thank you."​

Here is a fun recipe to make for this special Marian Feast day:  Rose-Shaped Cinnamon Rolls.  I have heard that every time we pray the rosary (which comes from the word "rosarium" which means rose garden or garland of roses) we are giving Mary a beautiful garland of roses.  Our family loves these rolls, and I hope yours does too!  They do take a bit of time and work, but they are SO worth it!  You could even pray a rosary while you do it, and then you'd be giving a gift to Our Lady AND your family :)

Sweet Roll Dough

1 pkg. dry yeast
½ c. warm water
1/2 c. lukewarm milk (scalded then cooled)
1/3 c. butter, margarine or shortening
1/3 c. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg
3 ½ to 4 c. flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water in large bowl. Stir in milk sugar, butter, salt, egg, and 2 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Mix in enough remaining flour to make dough easy to handle. Turn onto lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Place in greased bowl, turn greased side up. Cover and let rise in warm place until double, about 1 ½ hours.

Cinnamon Filling
2 T. butter, melted
1/2 c. sugar
2 T. cinnamon 

Mix until all sugar and cinnamon is moistened. 

Make 4 small balls (golf ball size) of dough and roll them out into 3 1/2 inch diameter circles. Overlap dough circles as shown. Sprinkle some of the cinnamon sugar mixture across middle, leaving curved edges clear. 

Roll circles up into rolls as shown. You should end up with rolled dough with both ends fluted. Cut roll in half. 

Place dough in greased muffin tins. Cut/flat end should be down and the pretty, fluted/curved end up. 

Let rise until double (30-40 minutes). Bake in 350 degree oven 12-15 minutes. 

I found this recipe at the Catholic Cuisine website:  http://catholiccuisine.blogspot.com/2015/07/st-elizabeth-rose-bread.html

Feelin' Beachy?

Well, I never thought I'd call myself a beach-girl, but my recent trip to Pensacola Beach might have changed that.  I was born in Montana, lived most of my life in the flat Dakotas, and then moved back to the mountains of Montana where I thought I had found a piece of paradise and would live happily ever after.  But I have now discovered the aqua ocean and white sands of Florida.  Another piece of paradise exists on this earth?! Who knew? :) So I guess I'm happy to be a mountain-girl most of the time, but it sure is nice to be a beach-girl whenever the opportunity allows :)

Paul and I were so blessed to have such an opportunity this summer; we went to Pensacola to visit some dear friends from our Navy days.  My friend Jenny has been my kindred spirit ever since we were neighbors on a California Navy base nearly 16 years ago.  We had our first babies within a month of each other and our husbands were Navy pilots together, so we became fast friends who encouraged each other on the crazy rollercoaster ride of parenting and Navy life.  When we learned that Jenny's husband Ken was officially retiring from the Navy, we decided that attending his retirement ceremony would be the perfect excuse for visiting them and also a romantic get-away for the two of us.  It was all that we had hoped for...and more!  But I'll let the pictures tell the story...

The view from the Bozeman airport as we started our journey.

How blessed we are to be surrounded by these majestic mountains.

I was excited to go on this trip, but also happy knowing these mountains would greet me on my return, along with hugs from my 5 little men :)

This church, the Basicila of St. Michael's, was one of the highlights of our trip.

We were able to go to daily Mass a couple of the days on our trip, and I am so happy this is the church that we found!  Why?  Read on...

They had Eucharistic adoration an hour before Mass, as well as the opportunity to go to Confession.  What a gift!

Spending time with Jesus, my husband, and my best friend Jenny

---all in one trip---

it doesn't get much better than that!  :)

And here is our sweet, beachy condo that we found.

It was right on the beach, 

and "just right" in every way!

This made me smile and think of my dad who loves to fish (and loves a good "red beer")

How strange it was to not have all our kids around the table and to not have to cut anyone's food into small bites for a few days!  :)

This picture that was in our condo is one that I'd like to buy and put on my wall somewhere...

It reminds me of the carefree timelessness and peace that I felt at the beach with my husband.

Me---chillaxin'  :)

Paul---snorkeling.

He was a pro.

I was not.  

I had never snorkeled before and it took me almost an hour to get over this strange phobia of putting my face in the water and breathing.  But once I got over my fear, it was AWESOME!!!  

Truly, I could have snorkeled all day!

Maria in her happy place.  

I sincerely felt like a giddy little girl, 

filled with wonder at every sea shell I found, 

every fish that I saw, every step in the white sands...

I hope to go back someday with my whole family, 

or with a group of my best girlfriends, 

or a couple's getaway with some of our favorite couples...it all sounds lovely.  

I can dream, can't I?

Paul looking at a shell or crab that he found.  

It was so fun to watch fish, crabs, and even jellyfish swim right in front of our face.

Paul even saw a ray that he startled from its hiding spot under the sand!

One of the many crabs we caught.

It was so fun to watch them get washed up by the waves and then quickly bury themselves under the sand.  Then we would try to dig them up and they would start pinching like crazy.  

I screamed more than once :) 

My friend Jenny told us about this beach, which hardly had any people at it!  

We felt like we were on a tropical island all to ourselves--so incredible!

Even the afternoon thunderstorms were gorgeous.

...and the sunsets too.

This is the view from our condo balcony.

God is quite the master-painter.

The Pensacola Beach Pier.

View of the beach from the pier. 

We avoided this beach---too crowded.

But we tried about every single restaurant on the beach.

We recommend them ALL!  :)

A Spanish mackerel that a fisherman caught on the pier.

We also saw a guy hook a tarpon that jumped out of the water and got away.

Some rays we spotted off the pier.

A sea turtle swimming near the pier.

Ken giving a speech at his retirement ceremony.

He beautifully gave honor and glory to God,

and highlighted the many sacrifices Jenny and their 7 kids have made during his Naval career.

They are the most amazing family I have ever met, and we are blessed to be their friends.

May God abundantly bless their new adventure flying for the airlines!

Me and my sweet, Southern friend, Jenny!

Who knew that a Catholic and a Protestant could be so close?! :)

Despite our slight theological differences, I think we have succeeded in bringing each other closer to Christ and keeping each other sane and encouraged during life's ups and downs.

What a sweet friendship it has been and will continue to be until we are sipping a bushwacker together in heaven someday :)