I Corinthians 12:24-27

But God has put the body together.... that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Tuesday = Horse Day!


The kids enjoyed the horse ride so much, we were able to arrange a second ride.  This time, we went for a two hour ride!  Beautiful scenery and more memories made on horse back in Montana!

Grabbing a little Pepsi before our ride.  :)
We all got the same horses that we rode on Saturday.
 Amanda was on Buffy again!
Brandon and Lane, our guide for the ride.
Off we go!
We rode our horses across a frozen stream.  Scarey.
Those tracks in the snow were elk tracks.  Too bad we didn't see any!
Thank you Make a Wish!
Thank you Pepsi!






  
One happy girl.
 
How about that view....

My boys having a fun time on the ride.

Very hard to see, but there is a mother and baby moose on that hill...
Amanda saying goodbye to Buffy.
Tuesday night - Sleigh Ride Dinner
The horses were huge! Gentle giants.
What a great evening.  Everyone went out of their way to welcome us.  We got to go meet all the driving teams before the ride began.
We had some cowboy entertainment and Amanda even had a song dedicated to her.  It was a memorable evening.
This is Sheila Chapman. She works at Big Sky and coordinated with the Montana Make a Wish chapter to plan our trip.  We ended up in the same wagon for the dinner, with no prior planning. It was a privilege to have the opportunity to personally thank her for all the work she put in our trip.
Curly and Larry - our draft horse team for the sleigh ride.  They kept trying to nibble on the kids coats while we took this picture.
It seemed like every time we walked to our room, the kids had to play in the snow on the way there.
What an amazing day! She was exhausted.

Monday, December 16, 2013

Team Watson skiing

Amanda and I slept in late this morning while Thomas and Brandon hit the slopes.  Even though it has been nearly twenty years since he has skied, Tom said it was just like riding a bike.  Today was Brandon's first attempt at skiing, but before he was able to conquer the mountain, he hurt his knee. Even though it wasn't anything major, we didn't want to take the chance of injuring it further so his day ended early.

Amanda had an exciting opportunity today to experience a little skiing herself.  There is an organization in Bozeman called Eagle Mount whose website gives this mission statement:
Eagle Mount Bozeman is committed to provide quality therapeutic recreational opportunities for people with disabilities and young people with cancer, and to provide support for families of participants so that “they shall mount up with wings as eagles.” (Isaiah 40:31) 
Big Sky's program manager for Eagle Mount, Chad Biggerstaff, spoke with Thomas on Saturday about taking Amanda down in a special chair allowing her to experience the slopes even though she is not physically able to ski at this time.  Awesome.  I was wondering if my girl would be able to go up those ski lifts since she has a fear of heights, but Amanda never showed any signs of hesitation or fear.  She was strapped in a chair that Chad skied behind and controlled and Tom skied along right behind them. Pretty amazing. 

She was strapped in very securely. 
The seat she was in sits on the lift seat and she rides the lift up to get the full experience.

Off they went!
Here they come - Amanda enjoyed it so much, they went down the ski trail three times.
Chad skied behind and used the orange straps to control her chair.
A few pictures from the lift and the mountain:

This is actually where they hold Chapel services, on top of the mountain.  What an amazing place to gather and worship!

Another outstanding day for Team Watson in Montana.

Isaiah 40:28-31
Do you not know?
    Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
    and his understanding no one can fathom.

He gives strength to the weary
    and increases the power of the weak.

Even youths grow tired and weary,
    and young men stumble and fall;

but those who hope in the Lord
    will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint.

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Our Day in Pictures

All geared up and ready to go!
Brandon and I rode together and Tom and Amanda rode together.   I almost lost Brandon a few times due to my speed and the bumps along the trail, but don't let him fool you, he loved it!
In true Watson fashion, we experienced unexpected adventure.  Our guide's snowmobile broke down and he had to repair it on the trail.  That allowed us, however, time to play in the snow right there in the middle of the forest! 
I was up to my waist....I think Amanda got a kick out of that.
Snow Angel #1
Snow Angel #2
Snow Angel #3
He just couldn't help himself.
Taking a break, eating some snow.....
The views on the trail were fabulous.   We started on a trail through the forest trees ending up with wide open mountain views.
What an unbelievable day.  We were on Gallatin National Forest property for most of the ride.  We saw God's majesty revealed today in breathtaking fashion.
Amanda was cracking me up.  She just decided to lay down and chill out, taking a break.  The ride was very physical and quickly wore her out.  While she has been feeling a little poorly today due to a full day yesterday, she still enjoyed today's adventure.
We had another fantastic guide, Dennis with Canyon Adventures in Big Sky.   If you are ever up this way, be sure to stop by and take advantage of their guide services!  They were amazing and gracious to our family today.
The wind was blowing the snow so hard at this elevation it felt like sharp needles.  This was the highest we got and it was about 9100 feet. 
Funny what pictures you end up with!  Didn't realize I took this one.  Taking pictures on horse back was much easier than on the snowmobile.  :-/


Today reminded me of the Third Day song, Your Love Oh Lord. 

Your love, oh Lord
Reaches to the heavens
Your faithfulness stretches to the sky
 

Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains
Your justice flows like the ocean's tide
 

I will lift my voice
To worship You, my King
I will find my strength
In the shadow of your wings 

 
As we end this day, it was another unbelievable, joyful, memorable and lovely day.  Hard to believe we are on day two.  Much more adventures to come.

Ending the day with pizza, pepsi and football!  Happy, Happy, Happy.  (Or, as our new Grace Academy Latin club shirt says, Laeti, Laeti, Laeti)