Beautiful

For Labor Day weekend we took a spontaneous family vacation to Glacier Park. To put it simply, it was beautiful. Beautiful because we were able to have some sweet time as a family. Beautiful because we were able to relax and recharge just as we were hoping to. Beautiful because we were able to inhale God's glorious creation & be held in awe by His majesty all around us. Beautiful because His abundant blessings to our family continue to be absolutely tangible.

I must confess that as a native Montanan, the "Montana Pride" runs deep within me. With that said, there are many beautiful places my little eyes have yet to behold but Montana, my state, my home, is stunning! I am regularly humbled & grateful for the many luxuries we have in this country & when I take a moment to lift my eyes as I walk out my back door & behold the beauty of God's creation, my breath is taken away. What did I do to deserve such a life? To have such an amazing family? To have such a lovely home? To have the privilege to worship my God freely without fear of persecution? Nothing! Absolutely nothing! I DO NOT deserve a single ounce of any of it!! Why are my children so blessed to have both a Mom & a Dad who love them & sacrifice themselves for them daily? Why do they get to feast on fresh homemade bread & warm chocolate chip cookies? Why do they get to pick through their toys & choose which ones to give away because they have way too many? I don't know. As children of Adam they most certainly DO NOT deserve any of it either. But I guess that's the point. That's the gospel being played out in our lives. We do not deserve these comforts & luxuries. I may even go so far as to say that we do not deserve to feel our lungs expand with that life sustaining air even one more time. All we deserve is death. Cold, black, death. It is only through Christ & His incomprehensible sacrifice & love for us that we are blessed. And because of this reality I am regularly convicted of my pride, my self righteousness, & selfishness. Throughout day to day life it's so easy to forget how very fortunate we are and how good we really have it. I start feeling sorry for myself because "I work so hard & never get a break" or "if I could only have more time to myself I would be so much more 'put together' " (& the list goes on). But those are all lies! Lies! LIES!! And praise be to my kind & merciful God, He does not let me carry on like that for too long before He opens my eyes to His truth & goodness & sets me straight again. Sometimes all it takes is lifting my eyes to the glory of His creation around me in this beautiful state of mine to see that I have it SOOO good. My God loves me & for whatever reason has chosen me & my family to be His faithful servants. And I am reminded of the promises He has given us... & filled with gratitude, I rest. 

"For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord.

"They are plans for good & not disaster, to give you a future & a hope."

Jeremiah 29:11

Our time at Glacier:

On our way up to Kalispel we stopped at Seeley Lake for a picnic lunch a refreshing swim. The kids had a ball!

This little squirrel found a little snack in Ben's Cheeto bag!

Next we stopped at some kind of "fun center" that had a huge maze made out of wooden fence. There were 4 different towers that you had to make it to in order to complete the maze. It was a lot of fun but at the end we were rushing around as quickly as we could "frantic" to find our way to the last tower before a huge storm hit in full force. We never did make it to the last tower before we had to quit due to heavy wind, lightening, & pouring rain. It was quite traumatic, & fun, & wet!

Just as we were getting started.

This was taken just as we safely arrived at our hotel.
The rain had stopped & everyone was calm, composed, & still rather wet!

The following day we spent in Glacier Park. We did lots of driving & some hiking.

Trail of the Cedars:

Ben's shorts had lost the adjustable elastic waistband & thus were too big & kept falling down throughout the hike. At one point as he started to run toward Brian in excitement, his drawers dropped completely to his ankles! Poor kid. A lady walking past him thought it was the funniest thing in the world... & so did I! He didn't seem to notice a wink. Just pulled them right back up & kept on going. After the hike we stopped for a picnic lunch & I let him take off his shorts because he was tired of the hassle. Oh to be little again!

Logan Pass:

 Apgar Village

We stopped at Apgar Village to stretch the legs but more importantly to get us some huckleberry ice cream!
Yum! Yum!

As I said before, STUNNING!

All the kids did great in the car!

Some of our stuff as we were packing up to head home.
Evie was a big helper!

We stopped at Woodland Park in Kalispel for yet another picnic lunch & to let the kids play a bit. It is a beautiful park & quite the surprise right in the middle of town!

On our last day in the area, we took a cruise around Flathead Lake. It was nice but perhaps a bit long for the kids. They really enjoyed it at first but toward the end all they wanted to do was get off the boat!

Our boat.

Ben got to drive the boat! He thought it was pretty cool.
Ricky had a chance to as well but the moment his butt hit the captain's chair he bolted off as fast as he could.  Was a little intimidated I think.

At this point, Ben was over it.
Not throwing a fit but completely pouty because he was "SO bored!". 

Life is pretty good, isn't it?!