The Wild Wortley's Adventures!

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Go ahead and laugh!

Funny…I’m pregnant:

Have you ever walked past a mirror and freaked out cause your FAT…then you remember that it’s ok cause you are pregnant! Yeah…I’ve done that twice!

So…I was standing in the bathroom and I hear Keegan say, “Oh, there you are mom…I could see your tummy poking out the door!” THANKS Keeg!!

Ella says, “Mom…I’ve never seen you like this ever before, your tummy is getting SO big!”

It’s nice to know that at ONLY 16 weeks I’m being looked at as HUGE!! Nice…yeah, you’re welcome…SO glad I can be the reason for your laughter…yeah…it’s true, I CAN hear you from out here you know!

I’ve shared this with only a few people but now that Laurie’s home I’m hoping to share this with whoever I might be able to help or change a life. Laurie had fabulous family (sister) and friends who kept up-dates coming to the rest of us about Laurie’s progress. About 3 weeks before Laurie’s birthday they sent out a message: For Laurie’s Birthday…and in this message they asked all the rest of us to join them in doing something out of the ordinary/ special for someone around them to honor Laurie and her life. I talked this over with Mark and we decided on 3 different things.

Being in California we only had a few people we knew, so we decided to give Chase and Katherine (our young neighbors) Dave Ramsey’s Money Makeover and workbook (we’d been talking about budgets with them, etc.). We snuck a nice bill in the midst of this book in the hopes that it would bless them. For the neighbors who life under us we gave our sincere apologies (for having to life under us with 3 kids) I had a hard time wanting to do anything nice for them honestly…we have smelled all their smoking fumes from day 1 of living here and I wasn’t that interest in being nice to them, but Mark told me that God laid them on his heart as ones we needed to do something for…and that next night I dreamed about it…FINE! I said! I wasn’t sure what to get them…maybe a SMOKELESS ashtray? Or a fan to blow it out their window?? But we’d decided on Simply Romantic Nights (a dating game/thing) cause they’d been recently married and for their 2 year old daughter we got her the Bible Stories book that the kids and I ran through last year home schooling (this was Keegan’s idea!) Then we also decided to make a cake (we havne’t gotten to this one because we ran out of time before we left but this will be done soon!) and give it to the people who work in the apartment complexes office – we love them and they love us!! But the scary part is that with each and every gift we gave we had written out a nice long letter. Not only did I need them to know about Laurie and how great she was but I also needed them to know that she wasn’t afraid to die because she knew Jesus…I spent forever on these…not writing them but praying over them and worrying about what they would think (cause it’s always hard to share your heart esp. with strangers!) BOTH couples were ecstatic and so thankful…shocked really. The neighbors under us have even started going back to church…SHORELINE – the church we’ve been going to! I praise God for Laurie and ALL the people her life touched through just this event.

How sad I needed her wonderful life in order to find my bravery and share who Jesus is to me…grow me Lord!

Don’t feel like you have to read these letters, but I posted them JUST in CASE!!

Dear Damion and Ashley,

This is a little something for you from us. Let me tell you the what then I’ll get to the why. We want you to have Simply Romantic Nights cause dating when you are married is almost more important then before you were married. This is a fun and cheesy way to have some good times together and Mark and I have noticed that besides the movies and Cannery Row Bars there’s not much else to do to date. So we hope you enjoy this. The Bible Story is a great book that the kids and I read through this past year during our first year or home schooling. We home school so the kids and I can travel with Mark as he travels with his job…a lot! I love this Bible because the stories are fabulous and you can enjoy them while reading to your daughter. The stories are in chronological order and very easy to understand and fun to read cause they are separated into smaller sections.

Our family has a relationship with our Savior, Jesus Christ and well even though we don’t desire to suffocate anyone with what we believe to be true we do want to share it;

The GOOD news is that according to the Bible NO one is good enough for Heaven and eternal life. Romans 3:23 says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Which means no matter how we treat life we are still dirt sinners and no one is better then anyone else. The Bible also says that all we have to do is, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.” (in Acts 16:31). This seems much easier to us then trying to work our way to peace and heaven. God gave us Jesus who gives us heaven – He comes to us no matter where we are in life, and He loves us there! We believe this with all out heart – enough to risk looking completely insane to share it. We are not the born-again freaks that you may see on the news- we are real people with real struggles and we wanted you to know Jesus’ gift is FREE to you as well.

That’s the ‘What’ now here’s the ‘Why.’ This answer is simple, it’s because of Laurie. Laurie’s birthday is today, July 22^nd. She’s a beautiful wife to Corey and an outstanding mother to their daughter, Casey. She’s a dear friend to me as well as to many others, She’s a daughter and a sister too. We want to honor her as she fights cancer and has been now for 4 years. She’s been given 3-6 months to live which sends me to my knees often praying for her. So please accept these gifts to honor Laurie and her hard fight to stay with us. Laurie is super strong and is NOT afraid of death – she too has a faith to move mountains and her desire is for others to know Jesus like she does and to know all He has done for her!

So we may look (or in your case sound) crazy, we may not be the easiest family to live under but what you see is what you get – we are real and wanted you to understand our joy. May God bless your family as well because of who He is.
We’ve been attending Shoreline Community Church and love it…try it out or look around. Feel free to ask any questions as well!

“As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15

Blessings,

Mark, Stacie, Ella, Keegan, Grissom, & “to be announced” Wortley

Dear Chase and Catherine,

We got you a little something. First I’ll tell you what it is then I’ll tell you the why we are giving it to you. I know Catherine and I have had a few talks about life and who we are and about finances. So with that in mind Mark and I wanted to give you the tool we were told about after we’d been married. We’ve given you The Money Make Over as well as a workbook to go with it by Dave Ramsey. He is the man that gave us the steps to be where we are today. I’d love to tell you that we’ve saved over a million dollars, but I can’t. What I can tell you is that it’s because of Dave’s steps that Mark and I only have our house payment! I truly believe that God gave this material to us in the perfect time because we were in the midst of saving 6 months worth of money when Mark lost his job (for 2 years) and in that whole time we never missed a payment or bill and it’s ALL because we got out of debt when we did. This book also shows you true financial possibilities in life. He’s not at all a normal money guy. First off, he’s a believer in Christ so he uses all his principals straight out of the Bible. He was a millionaire more than once; he took his family into bankruptcy and back into financial bliss so he’s also ‘lived’ life. He’s got a website: www.daveramsey.com as well as a radio talk show. We hope you enjoy this – it’s actually an entertaining read!

Ok…so the why we are doing this is very simple; it’s because of Laurie. Laurie is a wife to Cory, and a mother to their 4 year old daughter, Casey. She’s also a dear friend of mine who is losing her long and hard fought fight against what started as breast cancer. She’s been given 3-6 months to live. Her birthday was July 22^nd, and so to Honor her and her life we wanted to give you something special. After I talking with Laurie I learned that she’s not afraid to die and her desire is for everyone to know why. I know Catherine’s told me a little about the Mormon faith so my desire is not to offend you, but to share with you some of the things Laurie and our family hold true.

          When Mark and I got married we had to look long and hard at what we knew to be the truth. Our religions were different and important to both of us. We also agreed that before we had children that we needed to come to an agreement to which church to attend and to truly search for the truth. Let me tell you that road starts rocky when your family is in a different place then you are, but the truth also shines and to this day we are mostly unified. Our prayer is not to turn you into what we are, no, our prayer is that you will step back from all you’ve been raised on and examine the truth to find where you two (as a family of your own) should go.
          The first truth we found is that that the Bible is ALL God and ALL true: 2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness…” So we take the Bible very seriously to heart.
          Another truth we came to is about God Himself: God is the Creator and Ruler of the universe. He has eternally existed in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three are co-equal, co-eternal, co-essential, and are one God and there are no other gods but Him, He is the one true God. (Genesis 1:1, 26, 27; 3:22; Psalm 90:2; Matthew 28:19; 1 Peter 1:2; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Isa 43:10,11; John 1:1)
          Which then lead us to Jesus and who He really is: Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He lived a sinless human life and offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all people by dying on the cross. He rose from the dead after three days to demonstrate His power over sin and death. He ascended to Heaven’s glory and will return again to earth to reign as King of Kings and Lord and Lords. (Matthew 1:22-23; Isaiah 9:6; John 1:1-5; 14:10-30; Hebrews 4:14-15; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Romans 1:3-4; Acts 1:9-11; 1 Timothy 6:14-15; Titus 2:13).
          We then took seriously when Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) and so we learned about salvation through Jesus Christ: God loves us so much that He has offered the greatest gift to humanity. Human beings can never make up for sin by self-improvement or good works. Only by God’s offer of forgiveness and grace that are received by trusting in Jesus Christ can men and women be saved from sin’s penalty. Eternal life with God begins the moment one receives Jesus Christ by faith. (Romans 5:1; 6:23; Ephesians 1:8-9; John 1:12; 14:6; Titus 3:5; Galatians 3:26). I understand this to be a big difference in what others believe – but to Mark and I it makes perfect sense. Jesus comes to us where we are in life not because of how many good things we do or how nice we are He comes to us and loves us in the dirty places. It’s also said that, “ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Roman 3:23 this is good news to us because it means we are all equal no one can be better or more righteous than another.   We all need saving and Acts 16:31 tells us how easy it is, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.”
   This is also what my friend Laurie believes which is why she’s not afraid of death because death is just the beginning of her eternal life. I tell you this to honor my dying friend on her birthday. Like I said earlier our prayer is for you two to go on a search together and find a faith you can stand firm on. Go ahead and challenge what you’ve always known to be true we did. God tells us to, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you…” Matt 7:7.
We hope you will be encouraged by this and not offended. We also wanted to help you start off your financial foundation as a strong one that will lead you to have MANY blessings on this earth! We are all adults and are all very capable of choosing what it is that we will believe. Good luck on your journey together. Much of where you are at, SO reminds us of where we started!
Sincerely,
Stacie, Mark, Ella, Keegan, Grissom, and ‘to be announced’ Wortley

Home in Indy

Ok…so we are back in Monterey…back to the cold dreary fog…but most importantly we are back together as a family!! I can honestly say I ALMOST missed Cali…if it wasn’t holding my hubby hostage I would have been fine not coming back!

Our trip home to Indy was…well once we made it home FABULOUS!! It was everything I’d hope it would be and more!!

Mark checked in the night before we were flying home to see mostly where we’d be sitting on the plane and I kid you not, as I looked over at him I literally saw smoke coming out of his ear holes…he was SUPER mad! “What’s going on?” I asked thinking that maybe they didn’t end up getting one of us on the flight (I was thinking that would be the worst thing possible). The response didn’t come for awhile, he had to relax his mouth enough to allow the words to slip out. He said, “I booked this flight for you and the kids way back in June so this would not be an issue…they’ve got all 4 of you sitting at different places in the plane!”

Side note into my mind: I have to admit secretly I was almost delighted by this…’yea…I’m totally using the “village” to fly my kids home!! I can’t wait…I’ll sit each one down in their seats, buckle them in of course, give’em kisses and let whoever’s sitting next to them know that each child has a back pack full of funness to keep them busy, wish them good luck and go onto MY seat…alone!!’ BUT…I wasn’t getting the same kind of vibe from Mark! Ha!! So I changed my excitement to look more like total devastation and concern and really said, “They’ll fix it…there’s NO way they want to separate us!!”

That next morning as we approached our check in gate with good’ol Delta Mark was on a mission or so he thought. I prayed that calmness would be the theme of this day and all would be fine. There were 2 ladies totally taken by my children not sure how cause I thought irritation might have been what should have caught their attention cause my kids were running in circles screaming, “YEA…we are flying…we are flying!!” The ladies asked if we were all flying and I simply said, “just me and the kids…” and explained our problem. It was cute cause one of the ladies responses was, “uh-unh…oh-no they did not do that! We’ll fix it for you, no worries!”

Sweet! So these ladies were able to get us 2 and 2 across the isle. I was totally satisfied! We said our good-byes, prayed that the kids would make it home alive, and took off for our gate. Getting through security was such entertainment for those around us I had to laugh! But all the kids did great…now the toughest part was having to force all 3 kids to walk the .25 mile to get to our gate BEFORE the plane took off and I must say we were the VERY last ones on this flight! But by the time we’d gotten there the lady at the gate had managed to move a few people around and got us 3 seats on 1 side and 1 seat across that isle (I’m sure once they told the people about our family they had MANY volunteers to move! ha!). The boys sat by the window while Ella and I took the isle seats and held hands across the isle!!

I WAS nervous for how it would work…but I wasn’t about to show fear…my kids can smell it! And the flying was great! Ella joined us after lunch and Grissom actually fell asleep on my lap. Now you might think wow…she’s good…but the problem came once he fell asleep. Not one but BOTH kids turned to me and said, “We have to go to the bathroom!” Even though I corrected them by saying no they didn’t, I could see the sit-down-potty dance going on and I had to do something. SO…I picked Grissom up, walked sideways to the bathroom while the other 2 ducks followed close behind. We got to the bathroom and I heard the flight attendant who we loved getting screamed at by the head lady who was rude anyway…so I knew they’d be NO help…so I got the door opened and sent Keeg in first…after hearing the LOUD flush the 2^nd time I knew he must be playing…so I opened the door (this time with my foot) and got him out and sent Ella in. At this point I had NO pride! It just so happened that we were closest to the bathroom in the front of the plane and it wasn’t until this point that I actually took a second to look back at all those riding in the plane with us…EVERY EYE was upon US!! Yet, NO one got up or even offered to help…so I smiled and got El out as soon as I could…don’t worry I let some air go as I walked back to my seat! Ha!! Take that Prego gas!! Once seated the lady behind us did commend my talents…so I felt better!

What a sight it must have been to watch us in the MINN airport heading to our final flight. We used the moving sidewalks every chance we had. But I couldn’t get my kids to walk on them…in fact they found it important to lay down on them. I didn’t mind as long as they left space for others to pass…cause I ALMOST joined them!

The second flight was a little more challenging but not by much. I let Ella and Keegan take a side while Grissom and I were across the isle. The only thing to report from that flight was Keegan. We are minutes from landing. Keeg didn’t like the sun in his eyes so he kept the shade down most of the time until of course the few minutes before landing. You know that time I’m talking about…everyone’s strapped in, trays are up, and you are just getting ready to hold on to the arm rests hoping for a smooth end…when the plane nicely leans forward just enough to make you think this could be it…yeah…that was the same time Keegan grabs the shade of the plane, throws it opens and yells, “AHHHHH…we’re ALL gonna die!!” He throws the shade back down and I yell (over a huge roar of laughter) SORRY…dramatic 5 year old!! As we were waiting to exit the plane we made MANY friends thanks to his assessment!

It was SO good to be on the ground…it was good to be picked up by Jamie…it was great to be back in Indy!! My favorite was pulling into my driveway, getting out of the car, and almost being taken down by Dana who’d run from across the street with Maria when they saw us pull in!

So…we had a little neighbor pow-wow…felt SO good!! I hadn’t missed out…Dana and Maria and even Teigha had come to chat!! It felt SO good to be home! Funny how you don’t really get just how much you miss it until it’s gone for awhile…and you don’t really understand what you have until you’ve missed it!

Our time at home was…ACTIVE! Note to self: when flying AHEAD in time by 3 hrs. try NOT to plan anything important for a least 2-3 days afterwards!! Ha! I had my first prenatal Dr. appointment that next morning! It's REAL...heard that beautiful heartbeat...wow 4...there's NO turning back now!! Then keegan had his 5 year Dr. appointment that next morning…and it went on and on…what I found to be sweet was that it was OK for my kids and I to sleep in until 10 a.m!! Yes, college I missed you! Too bad that didn’t last long either!

That first week was quite a blur, I saw people, ran here, ran there, and never really stopped and I was staying up super late as well – 3 hours…it’s a quiet killer. I was so relieved to know that we hadn’t missed ALL of summer…the neighbor kids quickly found their way over and my kids found their way to many houses each and everyday! I found it extremely cute that there was now a group of “just girls” and “just boys” Our little neighborhood gangs…or maybe more like the Buttercream Gang!!

That first Saturday we had a nice huge cook-out with the neighbors…I’d also had Mariah there all week to help me stay saine…and stay up late and chat! I really don’t know how I would have handled everything without all her help! It was also nice to have Jamie around when I got to see her…between me and my sneaking out to ‘mommy-play’ with the other gals and her working lots we didn’t have tons of time together. I got to see just about everyone I needed to see and let me tell you…a pedicure with girlfriends is SO much better then going alone...Chili’s taste better when you are laughing before, during, and after every bite with a great friend...there’s no place like the State Fair…or Mercy Me/3^rd Day @ the State Fair (too bad the Grandstand fell a few days later…how sad and tragic!)…family cook-outs or just pizza with family together is just heaven...coffee with the best neighbors…even FULL of tears is the best place to be (good thing we were able to have a non—teary one that next week!)...Mark coming home even for just a short few days felt so right...the pool – ahhh…the pool it feels better with a sister and 1,000 kids splashing all around!

How great was our time at home you ask? I can truly say there’s NO place like home! I can’t wait to be back…my heart hurts to know that I will more then likely have to live there without Mark for bits and pieces of time again. How do you live a life with someone who HAS to be so far away constantly? This is only OUR life struggle. Everyone has them our family is really no different from anyone else: the traveling hubby who comes home every night but after bedtime…the medical student far off trying hard to finish up so he can provide for his family…the father who takes a new job in a close by state to be able to spend time with his family but takes them all away from everything else they know and love…the hubby that stays up all night working trying to help his family make ends meet while mom has to work her tail off as well…or the Dad who has to raise his daughter now without the love of his life because Jesus took her home…life is hard: God tells us that trouble WILL come (not might) it’s how we hold each other up and encourage each other to keep moving that makes life what it is.

We can do this…we can do life…together! I am looking forward to my pride falling down and getting the help that I will need to live a great life. I miss ‘home.’

P.S. In case you didn’t know my dear friend Laurie Burnett who had fought with cancer for 4 years was taken home to be with Jesus while we were in Indy. I’m only sad for her family she left behind. Laurie loved them SO much and they were the ONLY thing keeping her fighting. But the flesh is weak and Jesus healed her and she’ll NEVER look back…Way to go my friend I will miss you - you fought well!

Monday, August 1, 2011

Wortley vs. the Wild: Last Day PICTURES

Yes...these pictures are from my cell phone...sorry...the camera ran out of batteries on us! AND I checked it before we left! Oh, well, they are still good pictures!

Beauty on our way down to the great valley...

more neatness...

the raging river...

down by the creek bank...wild...

Mommy's turn...

My big boy...

My big girl...

and my baby...

from the bottom...

the water fall...

Us by the waterfall...

take 2...

My boys...

my monkeys...

Our first almost good lookin snake...

Fun and cute pic with the kids...

You can barley see it's tail...up by the green and next to that rock in the middle of the picture...THE RATTLER!!!

This is that PERFECT picture I HAD to have!!

And of course they HAD to walk through the water...Mommy and Grissom did it too...

Good Bye River...

The same river...just 1000's of feet higher...

WOW...breathless...and very memorable!

Wortleys vs. the Wild: Our Last Day...

We slept in until oh, about 8 or so…well I should say everyone else was up by then…Mark had started a new fire and a new breakfast! He's SO on top of things! Everyone snuck around our camp as if a bear were sleeping in the tent…I think they were pretending I WAS A BEAR! I got to sleep until 9!! YEAH!!!!!!!!

After the beast…I mean after I got up we hung out and played a little then packed up camp and took off for a few more sights before we left. Our only concern at this point was now ALL our left over food was IN the van (in the cooler but still smellable by bears). So we knew if we’d stopped for too long it all had to come out and go into a bear box in the parking lots.

Mark’s plans today consisted of heading ALL the way down to the valley to see a few things as well as a waterfall. But his plans included mostly driving and viewing not much in and out of the van type doing. We were all tired, dirty, and just a little grumpy at this point.

As we drove down the mountain our breath was gone by ALL the beauty we passed. How amazing! And yes, I was still quoting my verse! We found the river and followed it, how angry it looked! Talk about violent rapids and total roughness as it rushed across the huge boulders in the middle. We stopped for lunch in another village…wow these villages make money! It only cost $60 for all of us to have a cheeseburger…at least they were BIG and really yummy!

After lunch we went down by this river for a few pictures! We drove onto the waterfall. Once we got there we reluctantly left our van – there weren’t any bear boxes at this stop – and walked back on the trail to the falls. We could hear it from the parking lot which told us it wasn’t that far away, but still we wanted to hurry. Oh, did I tell you it was a heaping 98 degrees at the bottom of the valley? So there IS a heatwave going on! Again we were very thankful we stayed up in the camp sight that we did…we were good with being a little cold at night – cause for cuddles!! OK…so the walk was short and the falls were gorgeous!

Excitement however can’t be far from the Wortleys for as we walked back to the van I spotted a snake not far from the path. So we stopped and told the kids to come check it out…too bad Keegan about stepped on the thing! Mark grabbed him as the little snake pulled back in fear! But this snake was not only little and almost cute, but it was beautiful with color; black and white strips covered its whole body with 1 red strip at its head and one red one at its tail. If it was without the red we know it’d be a California King Snake which is harmless, but when you add the touch of red it becomes a snake we can NOT find anywhere to identify. We are sending our picture to the park so they can tell us what type of snake it was. We watched it for a little while as this little guy went to seek shade. Then I sweetly told mark I was done with adventure and we got back into the van.

But silly me as we were driving back I noticed a fun sign that would be a great picture for our adventure and we stopped again. We had to cross the road to get to the sign, and when we got there the picture was cute as can be with just the kids! But as we were heading back across the road to the van Ella screams at the top of her lungs, then says, “SNAKE!!” Sure enough cameo-ed into the rocky ground was a nice RATTLE snake making his way towards our van…but when he heard us screaming he must have gotten scared (I think our kids can scare anything!) And made his way the other direction into the brush…so I tried to take its picture, not sure if you can see it, but look close. After the snake disappeared I noticed again ONE last PERFECT picture spot…in fact I was thinking CHRISTMAS CARD perfect! So…we followed the snake path (not totally) and threw the kids on this log and left them to take the cutest picture!! Then I was told ENOUGH! So…we got into the van and let for home…or should I say back to the shoe box!! What a weekend of Adventure!

THE BEAR NIGHT...night #2

So we are all passed out and sometime in the middle of the night we were awakened suddenly by screaming. And it was very clear to what this person was screaming, “Bear!” It was up the hill not too far from us. After the first scream Mark and I sat right up. I said, “Tell me what to do?” Mark said, “stay here but get ready to grab the kids and get to the van, I’m taking the hatchet and going out there.” He got his pants on and started out the tent. I’m thinking I can’t let him go out there alone…what if something happens? If the bear eats him, then it's up to me to protect the kids...and GO HOME! So I came out close behind. Not a second after I stand up and start flashing my light does this GIGANTIC Mule deer jump out from behind this big tree in our site. I didn’t know what it was, I’d never in my life seen a deer as big as this one. And I’ve never in my life felt like I was going to puke from fear until this moment. Mark jumped almost as much as I did. That stupid thing froliced on through when we shined our lights on it, but holy sacredness!!

At this point we heard the screaming again and Mark said in his I’m super serious tone, "Get the kids and get to the car we’ll just take a drive." I grab Grissom, telling Ella to get up, I also grabbed Keegan’s arm to try to stir him…nothing, he was dead weight. So I did the thing that ALL mothers protecting their young would have done. I dragged him to the door ran out of the tent without him and yelled for Mark to get Keegan! Ha!! What a great mother, I know! Hey I had 2 out of the 3…I knew Keeg would be close behind so really everyone was covered.

We are all in the car except Mark. The screaming is still happening here and there. Mark’s still hanging out around out tent trying to look for any movement. My thoughts were totally racing. Mark had super tented all the back windows of the van so really we could see nothing at all through them so I naturally envisioned this bear coming up and breaking one of them and we have no clue until after it takes place…see we DID skip a step when following all the directions on the bear box rules…oops…and that SO was stuck in my mind at this point in time. The rule we skipped was taking out all infant seats from the car so there was no food smells to lead the bears to the cars…we felt that because the kids had shared the food/snacks with the van floor as well as their seats that there was really no reason to take the seat out…cause there would still be food smells in the van.

But this step was hunting me.

Mark finally came to the van and said, “We’re just going to drive around for a few minutes even thought I think we are all clear. I haven’t heard any more yelling in awhile so I bet the bear was scared back into the woods.” I think he knew that wasn’t calming enough for me so we drove around the sight and thankfully saw nothing. I was amazed though at the amount of people and campers who paid NO attention to the bear steps/rules!! Didn’t they know they were putting MY family in Bear harms way?!? Stupid people!

Anyway, I have to tell you my fear really got the best of me, I had so much adrenalin running through my body I couldn't even hold a flashlight steady…and to add to all the fuss I HAD to go to the bathroom again! I could tell Mark was worried too because he pulled up as close to the bathroom door as he could possibly get the van and told me to go in and right out…RUN! So…I obeyed!

We came back to our tent and saw another family had done the same thing and was in their car. So My Protecting Muscle man went to talk to the man of this group and they did a walk around together as well. That family freaked out when they saw that mule deer run past – except they didn’t know it was a deer they’d assumed it was the bear! They saw the shadow and heard us moving to our van so they moved too! Better safe then sorry!

Anyway, we’d finally gotten the, “it’s clear to come out” and we all trudged back to bed. I’m SO proud of my children because they fell right back asleep. I didn’t take much longer, but Mark…my sweet hubby wasn’t satisfied at the time to let everyone go back to sleep so he made a fire and sat outside by the fire for awhile just to make sure his family was safe. I think he was trying to show Bear (from the show) up a little!

Night was quite until morning! Thank YOU Jesus!!