Thanksgiving & Snow Storm

So, we had our first Thanksgiving here in Montana which was awesome! 

We ate, then rested, then ate, then ate some more. Yeah, this was a wonderful Thanksgiving with much to be thankful for!

 

The snow here stopped melting, so we've had snow on the ground for a while now. It's beautiful and wonderful for taking pictures of!

We're still experiencing culture shock as well, or, as I like to call it, a culture "experience". 

Now, down to the good stuff!  Today a winter storm has hit us.  I woke up this morning to some beautiful scenery:

Later I went out, once the sun was higher up (The sun takes longer to go up now) and took some more pictures:

I didn't expect it to be so deep so when I walked towards a pile I took a face plant, went inside to warm up after hitting the snow, then went back out to trip again...in the same place.  I'm not clumsy, I swear! On top of it all, turned out we had a wind chill of -7. I think I deserve some hot cocoa.

What's scarier is that this is only day one of the storm...  Glad I took advantage of the warm day of 40 degrees a couple of days ago...  (Yes, I've adjusted enough to find 40 degrees warm)

 

What Is Freedom?

Last night I was at my youth group and the teacher asked, "What is freedom?"  The first thing that popped into my mind was sitting under the bleachers at Mission Serve.  Staring out at the grassy field with my bible, book, and journal.  It was the feeling of being on my own, but also the feeling of being with God.  Without God, I don't feel free, I feel scared.  With God, I feel safe.  I feel free.  It's when I'm away from others, away from electronics, that I feel free.

Weird, I know.  The answer I presented though, was different.  It was my second thought, one that is a little bit easier to explain.  My second thought was riding my bike through the trails here.  Going up the big hill and looking at the scenery.  Anything manmade (Besides the trail) is only a small black dot.  It's up there, standing under Big Sky Country, that I truly feel free. 

Of course, it's a bit too cold now, sadly, to ride my bike anymore. 

But anyways, most people find freedom to be "on your own" or "without parental supervision".  So my answer seems kind of weird.  But that is my answer.  Being free of manmade things and it just being me and God.  Which shows that when God calls us home, we will truly be free.  We will be free of sin.  Of everything. We will then be up in Heaven with God, singing praises and worshiping Him.  That, to me, is the ultimate freedom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, of course, I can't have a blog post without pictures and talking about some of the exciting things, so here they are.

Yesterday, we noticed that some cows got out and they were walking all over our driveway and yard.  It was very strange having twenty-seven cows in our yard.  ...Very strange.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A couple of days or so after our first snowfall we had another that actually stuck to the ground! Here are some pictures:

Then, of course, you must have hot chocolate after venturing out in the snow!!

 

 

 

 

 

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust.”

 

First Snow & Cows

We got our first snow! Not much, but hey, when you haven't seen snow in nearly three years, you take what you can get!

                                   The ground was so sparkly!! I thought it was really neat!

The snow was very, very soft this morning! It was fun to play with, except for the fact that only a couple of minutes outside right now makes my fingers go numb.

   (My dog was jumping on me while trying to pick up the snow, which resulted in mixing it with dirt)

Now, as for the cows! There is a fence outside our house that I didn't realize contained cows. Here, the cow pastures are much, MUCH bigger, so naturally there's no telling where they were before. But now they are hanging out around where we are, which is really cool! I've never been around cows much, so it's neat having them outside your window. BUT they get scared much more easily than the cows in GA. So it's hard for me to get close to them, but I happened to have snuck up on them today and got some cool pictures.

The last couple of pictures is of when they finally realized that I was the person they have been running from for the past few days. Before that, they just kept staring. And ignoring.

 

 

 

And then I also managed to get pictures of a "live" pheasant.

 

Anyways, that's about all. Trying to stay warm. I have never been this cold before and it's not even quite winter yet.

 

Pictures, Cows, & Food!

Boring part:
I made this hamburger casserole. Haven't tried it yet but I'm hoping it comes out good!! First time ever cooking for the family!

Update: I accidentally turned the oven off only minutes after putting it in...Luckily, Mom came up with some ideas to get it to cook quickly.  The recipe was vague so she was able to adjust things. I had a feeling my first time cooking for the family would be complicated...





Cool part!: We got an iPhone, (well, mom did, but I use it way more than she does, so it's hers by name and mine by use! XD). I had planned to get a small camera, but why do that when iPhone has awesome picture taking capabilities?

 

Frost! The camera took amazing pictures of it!

 

Pheasant! They have the most beautiful feathers! And they don't taste bad, either! ;)

^I loved the purple feathers!

Some pretty things Mom picked!

 

 

More cool things!! I was outside looking for our dogs when I heard a bunch of "mooing".  I got my phone and ran across the little road and found this:

 

 

^I feel like I'm in a western film

 ^ When I look at this picture with the "No Trespassing" sign, I can't help but think of God's beautiful creations and then put a No Trespassing sign in front of it.  It makes me think "Don't spoil God's creations."  Anyways, might sound weird, but that's what I think when I see this picture. :-)

 

I ran back to get my big photography camera and the sun was going down.  I was taking pictures when I heard what I thought to be Tiny barking.  I yell her name while she's barking, but then hear a howl at the end of it.  Coyotes.  I couldn't see them, but they were just as loud as the cows and I had just called to them.  I ran for my life. XD

 

 

In other cool news!  Mom went to a Music Teacher thingy-mic-jig and got some awesome pictures!

 

 

We're all sooo jealous!! Luckily we have a chance for snow Sat. Sun. and Mon.  Hope we get some!!

Anyways, been an interesting day!!