pure joy

a small miracle took place this morning at 6:30am, when i groggily stumbled out of my cabin bed...i popped open my computer to upload some pictures and somehow connected to a public wifi.

we arrived to wolf creek ranch, and all it's glory, around lunch time on the 4th of july.  we have had no phone access...which took some getting used to.  i've learned that you go through a small withdrawal...getting used to a new lack of communication with the outside world.  i can get texts...but i can't respond to them.  i can't respond to anything on facebook or instagram...and up until this point, i couldn't even type a blog to record what we were doing.  these things had become a normal part of life.  and i realized that it's how i feel like i'm a part of things.  it's my communication.  it's how i know when soccer practice is and how i'm wished happy birthday and how i feel connected to the world.  and this is something that i don't necessarily like.  i don't like how important and necessary it seems.

so...i shut down everything until this morning...(with the exception of when we went into south fork to get groceries)...and decided that it was a good thing.  i didn't reeeeaaaalllly need to know when soccer practice was this week...because i wasn't going to be there.  and if i didn't get the picture posted to facebook...it was no big deal.  and if i didn't get to text back.......not an emergency.

instead...i adjusted to the feeling of being secluded and lost in the world...and started being a little more present.  instead of looking down at the instagram feed...i was looking up at the mountains.  instead of surfing facebook...i was nose deep in a good fiction book.

yesterday afternoon, UK pulled in.  and since timber is not allowed in the cabin, all the kids ended up in the back of his truck...where he has created a nice, little, living room space.

and last night...we all nestled into the living room of our cabin, in oversized sweats and sipped hot chocolate while we read, played old maid, and worked on a 1000 piece puzzle.

aiden caught the first trout of the trip (all by herself, she adds).  that girl can fish.  i'll tell you that much.

and then there are the horses.  flicka has fallen for a 2 month old foal.  truthfully...so have i.

well...since every picture takes a good 5 minutes to upload...i'm afraid there may be some rather lengthy posts upon our return to LC.  i am currently sitting on the back porch...watching the sun make it's appearance over the mountains.  and the smell of coffee and pancakes...plus the sound of small children who want to either fish or ride horses...are calling me home.

i have living to attend to.

and until we meet again...

joyful living to you all.