Look what has happened to Scott!

The kids and I went into town to run a few errands. On the way, we heard the song "Time of Your Life" by Green Day and I just cannot get it out of my head. Those lyrics of "hope you had the time of your life," just keep playing over and over because we have! I think that in retrospect things will become even greater than they actually were this first year out.
I do wish in some ways that we would have given the kids more "jobs" to do. And they have had their "work" they have needed to do, but thought that really the "play" was so much more important that we let go of a lot. Besides, in thinking about it now, the most important thing is that they love it here as much as we do and they do!
Scott and I were talking the other night about all the things we will miss about Utah and the life we have been living here. He said that one of the things he would miss the most is watching the kids play together when they are all playing together so nicely, without all the junk but rather using their imaginations and the adventures that come forth from there. Katie said she will miss all the Nature, the deer walking through the field at dusk, along with the turkeys, the lizards and big sky and the mountains. I think for myself I would have to say that I will miss the whole peaceful atmosphere. The joy in walking down a dirt road and watching the kids run ahead looking for treasures along the way, the family hiking, watching the way the shadows move across the mountains and hillsides, just the freedom to have a full and entire completed experience without interruption.
I will also miss bedtime and the sleeping arrangements. The cabin is on two levels. The bedroom are on the lower level which is nice because they stay cool in these hot summer months. There are two bedrooms, decent size but on the small side. They are separated by a hallway, but the walls are so thin, we might as well all be sleeping in the same room. Katie and Ben share a room. Ben moved right out of his crib when we hit the road on the way out. He sleeps in a full bed and Katie is on a twin mattress on the floor next to him. The one thing I do have to say about Ben is he likes to stay up and twirl his blankies (yes, all four of them) around his head until he falls asleep. He really is not interested in having his back rubbed or being hummed to, just the twirling. But if you do not lay with him for a bit, the twirling gets crazy and he starts singing to himself and banging on the walls. So, we stay with him, but with our back to him otherwise he wants to smile and chat. Lately, I will be laying there wondering if he is finally sleeping or not and out of the corner of my eye, I can see a little hand rising up and then it rests on my shoulder for a while and then he begins to rub my shoulder!! It is so sweet.
Hunter sleeps on a twin mattress in our room. I should actually call it Scott and Hunter's room because although most nights I start in that room, I either end up on Hunter's mattress on the floor or sleeping with Ben. Hunter, although we thought he would be so exhausted by bedtime he would FINALLY sleep through the night out here, ends up crawling into bed with us. He has gotten so that in the night (which I should mention is pitch black out here short of the candle we leave burning in the bathroom all night)that he will, in a sweet little feeble voice say, "Somebody?? Somebody??" and then a little while later, we will hear, "Can I come and weep wif you?" And most times, between Hunter's foot on the back of my neck and Scott's snoring, I head into Ben's bed. It is really like all sharing the same sleeping space and I have gotten rather used to all of us being so close that when we get home, we will all seem so spread out in our house.
In the last couple of days, both Katie and Hunter have said they are ready to head home. Hunter was reminiscing about a little bridge we build in the fall over the ditch and said to Scott, "You member dat? Member dat ridge?" and Scott and laughed because he was saying it in a way that made it seem so far away. And Katie commented that she is missing "home". Scott and I feel this has been the perfect amount of time and although will be sad to go, are ready too.
The hummingbirds will miss us. They have gotten to be part of the scenery out on the deck. Actually, the other night Scott had refilled their feeder and was taking it back out and one came up, kinda attacked him (like "what are you doing with the feeder, dude?") and then landed on his hat! By the time I got there, he was wearing his baseball cap low and with the hood of his sweatshirt up telling the story of how he was attacked. Funny, because there is his picture with the shotgun!
As for the kittens, it is hard to leave them behind and it seems as though two have moved up to the cabin. They are outside all day and then stay in the mudroom at night. One of them even caught a mouse last night and left it by the door to show us! So, I think we might have expanded our family to two more. They are very sweet. Katie's just wakes up purring! And Hunter carries his around and she just loves it. He just cannot get over how much the cat loves him!
We are helping with another cattle drive tomorrow morning! So, that will be exciting again. I think the plan is to sell all the cattle so this will be the last time. We are moving them across the highway, that was where they decided to go the first time even though that was not the plan. So, hopefully the cattle will cooperate a bit better this time.
Other than that, it will be a lot of last minute things to fit in and a whole lotta packing!