Las Chicos Chicas

Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there---especially my own amazing mom, a living saint named Theresa, who continues to guide me and my 3 older brothers to the Lord through her advice and constant prayers.  Here's a fun "then and now" photo of us :)  I am one blessed girl to have a family like this!!!

I am also one blessed girl to have a husband who lets me go on a girls' getaway to recharge my soul with a couple of my best friends (he not only lets me go, but encourages me!).  We went to a nearby hot springs resort called Chico---thus the name we gave ourselves: "Las Chicos Chicas." :)  This is the first time that I've done an overnight trip just for fun, just for myself.  In the past I've always felt too guilty to leave my family behind.  I've always thought I have to be on full-time mom duty, full-time sacrificing, in order to be the best mom possible.  But I am just starting to realize that sometimes being the best mom requires putting aside my "mom hat" and putting on a swimsuit instead! :)  

Slowly I'm beginning to learn that I shouldn't feel guilty about soaking up some natural Vitamin D, laughing out load with my friends, or relaxing long enough to listen to the Lord and find myself again so that I can be a better wife and mom and woman of God.  After all, how can we pour ourselves out in service to others if the pitcher of our soul has run dry?  So, hopefully this girlfriend getaway has taught me to give myself permission to recharge from time to time.  I give you readers permission too!  And if you live nearby, perhaps you could just tag along with me and mis amigas and join Las Chicos Chicas!  :)

Here's me and mi amiga Laura.  

Mi otro amiga, Beth, refused to be in any of the pictures.

She chose to be the group photographer instead :}

(she's a muy loca chica, but we still love her)

We stayed at our own little private cabin at Chico, which was perfect---

especially because we learned that there is a "ghost" that lives in the main lodge.

We prayed a Chaplet of Divine Mercy for the resident ghost, 

so perhaps we helped her out (literally) :)

This was my first time to go to Chico.  I found it to be very Montana-esque---

rustic and lovely at the same time, very laid back and not too fancy...

perfecto para mi.

The food was MUY BIEN!!!

Spending time with my dearest friends without the stress of kiddos

was so good for all of our souls.

I think our husbands were worried that we wouldn't come back home :)

I have to admit it was hard to leave these hot springs--

they were like soaking in a hot bubble bath that never gets cold.

Ahhh...so nice.

Here is Laura saying, "What happens at Chico, stays at Chico!"

Here is the road that led to rejuvenation for Las Chicos Chicas.

I wonder what road we will take next year...

I wonder who else will join us...

What road is the right road for you to help you be the best version of yourself?

Take up My Cross (and Camera)

So, it's been awhile since I've posted.  Sorry about that.  I've discovered that when long periods of time go by without posting anything, it usually means I haven't been taking many pictures, which usually means I've been a bit depressed, a bit too focused on the negative.  Of course, part of my lag-time between posts is because life is just plain busy with 5 boys to take care of, but I learning that even if my life is busy I need to take the time to take pictures and blog because it brings me joy, it pulls me out of my cloudy thoughts and sheds light on all the gifts to be grateful for.

This reminds me of a story I heard awhile back about a professor who gave his students a pop quiz one day in class.  There was a sheet of paper lying on each of their desks with one small black dot in the middle of the page.  He told the students that their quiz was to describe with as much detail as possible what they observed on that piece of paper.  So the students diligently began to write about this black dot--it's size, it's color, it's distance from each side of the page, hypotheses of how it got there, and so on.  After handing in their quiz, the professor read each paper and said they all had failed.  They failed because no one in the class had mentioned what else was on the paper besides the black dot.  99.9% of the paper was a brilliant white, and the class chose to only focus on the .1% of darkness.  This story is an analogy of how many of us (myself especially) tend to focus on the one negative thing going on in our life, diligently obsessing over it to the point where we completely lose sight of the thousands of blessings in our life that would far out-way the one challenge that consumes our vision and steals our joy.  Does this sound familiar to anyone else?  For me, I've learned that one way to force myself to look beyond that one black dot is to pull out my camera.   So, here are some of the things that currently make up the 99.9% of my life's "page" that remind me that I am loved, I am blessed, and that the tiny black dot cannot steal the joy that God desires for me unless I allow it to.  Just as Scripture tells us to "Take up our cross and follow Christ," I'm learning I sometimes need to force myself to "take up my camera" which helps me to follow Christ and choose joy.  May these pictures bring you some joy too!  :)

Dominic having fun in the snow!

I love those two front teeth...I'm sure the orthodontist will like them too :)

Isaiah happy to be outside with his big brothers.

Dominic being tackled by his little--but tough--baby brother!

Natey waiting for a ride!

Joseph showing off his new skis.

His old ones broke when he crashed on a ski jump this winter...

We found out a few weeks later that he also broke some bones in his back!  OUCH!

But did that stop him from building a ski jump across our driveway?

NOPE.

At least his dad was there to supervise though...

BOYS!

Michael also bought himself a new pair of skis once they went on sale.

After all, he couldn't be out-classed or out-skied by his older brother.

Our fireplace and new sitting room arrangement just make me happy.

This is probably my favorite place in the house.

It's where Paul and I pray together in the morning and lounge together in the evening.

We replaced our old pseudo-leather couches (which were flaking all over the place)

with these classy ones in our living room.

Michael (front row 3rd from the left) was installed as a "Senior Server" last weekend.

Such holy and handsome servers who are trained so well to have reverence for the Eucharist and the holy altar of the Lord!

Michael (3rd from the left) had been waiting and waiting to be asked to become a Senior Server, so he was SO happy it finally happened!

This was the 1st year Joseph's school did a boy's basketball team.

I was so proud of him for joining and doing his best, even though he'd never really played basketball before!  He's already looking forward to next year's basketball season.

I love that these boys now have land to go explore and play in all year round!

Michael loves to give crazy sled rides to his brothers.

His brothers love it too until they crash and get hurt :}

Nathanael happy to get a ride!

What a blessing to have a sledding hill right out our front door!!!

And what a blessing to have all sorts of wildlife out our front door too!!!

We got to watch these bucks spar for probably an hour or more right out our back door!

I'm not sure if they were really sparing or just having fun together

See what I mean?  I don't think they're really fighting.

I think they're buddies :)

There I go, personifying animals again.

A Red Crossbill.

These beauties with their crazy beaks seemed to stick around all winter--so fun to watch!

This adorable bunny was fun to watch all winter long.  He lives right out our back door by the pond, and almost every morning he would come out to sun himself in this spot.

The boys got this for Christmas, and we have been having a blast watching an episode each night.

It's the complete set (seasons 1-7), so it should keep us entertained for awhile!

I remember watching these with my brother Jon growing up, 

so it's special to me that my kids are liking them just like my brother and I did.

Every time the theme song comes on, it just makes me smile :)

Paul and I have been hosting a high school study called 

"YOU: Life love and the Theology of the Body".

It is an AWESOME study that helps teens and their parents navigate some of the tough issues of our times (like chastity, pornography, contraception, homosexuality) from a solid Catholic perspective.

We feel so blessed to be part of this group and we sure hope it will help these teens share Christ's light and truth in this seemingly darkened world!

Lastly, I came across a great quote that I am trying to embrace this week to help me find peace and to take my eyes off the "black dots" on my page.  Perhaps it will inspire you too and help you to keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, the Prince of Peace:

"Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit.  Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset."  

St. Francis de Sales

Highlights (and lowlights) from last week...

Life with 5 boys is always a bit crazy, but I'd say that last week was even a bit more so than usual...

The week started off with beautiful snowfall, which meant driving the kids to school extra cautiously and a bit earlier than usual on Monday morning.  Half way through town, my 3 year old started throwing up in the car (which I was totally unprepared for), and a few minutes later as we were waiting in the turn lane a car crashes into us due to the snow-packed/icy roads (totally unprepared for that too).  But God gave me extra graces to handle all of it with peace, and I was just abundantly thankful that no one was hurt and that the week could only get better, right?

Isaiah handled the flu like a champ.

With his puke bucket and his ipad at his side, he was content as can be.


Well, the next day another child started throwing up with the stomach flu...

But then the week did get better after that...

Our big Kindergartner pulled his first tooth (all by himself!) and the tooth fairy made a visit to our house (despite the frigid flying conditions outside) :)

Another highlight of the week was that the local deer have learned that even though there is less food available in the snowy winter weather, there are sympathetic (or just pathetic?) animal lovers who will feed them.  It's fun, but also a bit strange, to have deer run to greet us when we open the front door or follow us when we walk to and from the chicken coop!

Michael is our greatest animal enthusiast and loves to spend the day hanging out with the deer or hiking around our property with my camera to get pictures of all the wildlife.

The weekend got even better.  There was so much snowfall during the week that we were able to go skiing for the first time of the season on Friday night!  The two older boys invited some school friends, and I got to go skiing with my sweet son Dominic (who is still young enough to think that skiing with mom is cool) :)

And then over the weekend we got to go out into the wilderness with some awesome friends to go cut down a Christmas tree and have hot dogs over a bonfire while sipping on hot cocoa and eating cookies in the snowy mountains of Montana.  It just doesn't get any better than that.

Thank you, God, for all the highlights (and even the lowlights) that we experienced this week.  All is a gift.

I wonder what this week will bring? :)

WONDERLAND!

This Fall we took a trip to Yellowstone National Park.  We only live a few hours away from America's 1st National Park, and yet we had only been there once in the ten years that we've lived in Montana.  That's pretty pathetic considering that thousands of people fly from all over the world to visit this amazing place every year. So we decided it was time to go again.  With our kids older now and more able to hike longer distances, it was a much more exciting experience than the last time we went (which basically involved touring the park by car with the other million tourists).  This time we were able to hike and explore some of the roads less traveled, and we even braved tent-camping for two nights!  It was cold, but so worth it as we laid in our toasty sleeping bags and listened to the mystical melody of bugling elks all through the night.  The trip was certainly an adventure and by no means picture-perfect. Mixed in with the menagerie of wildlife and geothermal marvels there were moments of stress and tears and bad attitudes, but overall, it was full of wonder nonetheless.  In fact, we aren't the first people to describe it using the word "wonder."   General William Strong, an early explorer of Yellowstone coined the title "Wonderland" to aptly describe Yellowstone:

"Wonderland.  Grand, glorious, and magnificent.  No pen can write it--no language describe it."

Yellowstone truly is unlike any other place on earth with it's plethora of wildlife and geothermal features nearly everywhere you look.  To be honest, it not only filled us with wonder, but also with a bit of trepidation as we pondered the reality of where were were at.  We were smack in the middle of the worlds largest caldera, where "fiery clouds of dense ash...rushed across the countyside at speeds of over 100 miles an hour, vaporizing forest, animals, birds, and streams into varicolored puffs of steam." (Good and Pierce, Interpreting the Landscape:  Recent and Ongoing Geology of Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks).  As we drove to Yellowstone, we listened to Tim Cahill's entertaining book called, "Lost in my own Backyard:  A Walk in Yellowstone National Park."  His humorous history lesson on the park stuck with us as we hiked and took in the wonder of the park for three days.  Here's a brief excerpt from his book:

"What this means is that when you walk around the park today, you are, in effect, standing atop the largest active supervolcano on earth.  Is there a chance that it will blow again anytime soon, causing a volcanic winter that would decimate crops worldwide and bring unimaginable famine to the world?  An eruption that would bury Nebraska in 8 feet of ash, as it did 640,000 years ago?  A blast that would turn me and everyone I know living in proximity to the park into "varicolored puffs of steam"?  Could that happen?   Oh yeah.

...Considering that there have been 3 cataclysmic supervolcanic eruptions in Yellowstone and vicinity in the recent geological past. [The first] happened about 2.1 million years ago.  [The second] one was 1.3 million years ago, and the third one was 640,000 years ago.  That means there are 800,000 years between the first two, 650,000 years between the next two.  You don't have to be especially handy with numbers to see that these eruptions are getting closer together in time.  Some texts are willing to say that there's a cataclysmic supervolocanic eruption in Yellowstone every 600,000 years or so...  Which means that we're about due."

Yikes.  That's a bit eerie to think about as you watch Old Faithful faithfully blow up right before your eyes, but it also serves as a reminder at how awesome and powerful our God is to have created such a Wonderland.  A reminder that God is big and we are not.  But we need not be afraid because His love for us is bigger than all the geothermal features and herds of bison, elk and wolves combined!  We also need not be afraid because God is all-good, all the time. We are held in the palm of His hand, and even if the supervolcano blows, I trust that He will take care of us or hand-deliver us to Heaven faster than we could say "varicolored puffs of steam."  :)

So on that happy note, here's the collection of photos from our trip to Wonderland:

The boys with a small herd of cow elk in the distance.  

These were the first animals we saw as we entered the park, so it was an exciting start to our camping adventure.

One of many buffalo---oops, I mean "bison"---herds that we saw.

The boys kept correcting me because they learned in our Yellowstone Trivia book that real buffalo only live in South Asia and Africa, but bison live in America.

The boys with a bison behind them.  

After this photo opp we decided to take a different path rather than become a "gore-y" statistic.

The boys waiting for the "Solitary Geyser" to blow.

This was a peaceful and solitary place to sit, far away from the bustle of other tourists.

Peaceful, that is, until....

There she blows!

Watching Old Faithful up-close while eating our lunch.

A distant view of Old Faithful--more majestic than up-close, I think.

Yep, still faithful.

Castle Geyser---our favorite geyser of them all.  

Castle Geyser was so fun to watch because it continuously erupted for over 20 minutes!

Me and the boys by Castle Geyser

Dominic--our tree hugger!

Paul and the boys by Sapphire Pool

Paul and the boys at Osprey Falls

Nathanael found a big bug

Nathanael and Dominic were fascinated by the mud pots and mud volcanoes

(or perhaps they were simply fascinated with the farting sounds that they made!)  :)

Dragon's Mouth Spring was cool  no matter how old you are.

The boys at Inspiration Point which shows a gorgeous view of Yellowstone Falls and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

The boys sitting on the edge of the Canyon of the Yellowstone.

It was a bit scary to be this close to the edge with no fences to protect people from falling.

The Canyon of the Yellowstone with the Yellowstone River waaaayyy down below!

Cow crossing

The boys at the nearly all wooden Old Faithful Inn.

The Old Faithful Inn is not only famous for its wooden structure, 

but also for its delicious ice cream

(and their lattes weren't too bad either)  :)

Happy Fall Y'all,

from our crazy family to yours!

Enjoy it while it lasts!

(or until the supervolcano blows) :}