Business day. We have a foundation meeting every quarter, and this one actually makes our spring session. Kat and Jason do the vast—I’m mean vast—bulk of the work. BW, Kayla and I vote on asks and discuss. Kayla also works on projects or finding them.
Griffin gives it up for a nap, and we get started. He’s up by the time we finish—these things take time—but we get it done. Now Jason and Kat will do the rest of the work.
Some packing and organizing. Two weeks is a long time for five adults and a toddler to spread out. There will be multiple Mom Checks of the entire house before we close the door.
But now it’s time to clean up for our last dinner.
We snag our usual pod, and Alaska John takes care of us. Horses graze in the field under sunny skies, and—for the moment—a warm breeze blows. Griffin takes off on an adventure with his parents switching off. He’s not much interested in dinner. Me either after some foundation meeting pizza. But it’s just lovely to sit out in the air, watch the boy, the horses, be with family.
It starts to cool, and we’ve still got gathering up and packing to do.
Back home, several of us are in or around the kitchen doing just that, and I happen to glance over as Griffin pulls open what was the cookie drawer. And pulls out—triumphantly, like Arthur pulling the sword from the stone—the 10-inch kitchen knife Kat sharpened. Housekeeping must have put it there during clean up.
I dive, grab the handle, surely shouted. Kat sees, dives, grabs. This boy is strong, and does his best to yank the knife back. I have an instant of terrible visions of blood and tragedy before we pry his fingers off—he’s even grabbed the blade.
Griffin keeps his fingers—no damage, no blood—and we put the knife way out of reach. It takes awhile for my heart to reach a level beat.
The last Montana Daddy Dance helps.
Cool this morning, and rain coming in. I expect we’ll take off in it—not my favorite thing. All packed up, and about time for those Mom Checks.
It’s been a great two weeks in a beautiful part of a beautiful state. A fun and happy time with family—and that’s so precious. We’ve packed up memories as well as our things, and can pull them out again any time at all.
Nora
And a kiss from Griffin to close the travelogue. ~Laura
Thank you for sharing. I loved reading about your Montana adventures. Kisses to Griffin!
My heart stopped at Griffin and the knife, it brought back times with my kids when *mom*was sloppy with kitchen stuff. Fortunately *mom* was the only one hurt by knives, lol. Sorry to see the vacation end, but look at all the pictures and memories. A fun time for sure.
Thanks for the wonderful 16 days of fun, adventure and gorgeous pictures.
Safe trip home❤️❤️
Has been a real treat to travel to Wyoming with Nora and the Family. A year without travel and this is my way to begin! Thanks for sharing!
Glad you and the family had a great trip, memories and experiences.
Sorry to see your vacation end. I had a wonderful time! Thanks for sharing. Safe trip home.
Those close calls with kids just stop your heart. Just imagine if you weren’t there in that moment. Thank Heavens there’s a God watching out for them.
I’ve looked forward to your posts daily. It’s great to get away, but for me there’s always conflicting emotions. Sorry to leave, but looking forward to the moment my head hits my pillow- in MY OWN bed. I never appreciate my bed enough as when i come home to it.
Love reading your blog feels like we are with you
Last photo is the best!
I almost asked where Nora got the bottle green top she was wearing in the second photo, until I realized it was an actual bottle. Oh goodness, I need new glasses!
Thank you for sharing your two weeks in Montana. All those pictures, all the memories made together for the future. Kisses back to Griffin.
Reading this everyday has been a joy, do happy for you all to have had such quality time together. Now it’s back to the real world.
Heartstopping moment with the knife for you all, thank goodness no one was hurt.
Safe travels home, and thank you for taking us along with you.
Looks like a great vacation! Wondering tho, why does Griffin always wear PJ’s when he goes outside? Not saying it’s wrong, just wonder why?
Good question! He has some eczema that never fully went away, and he scratches like crazy if he can get to his legs, and really hates being changed.
Thank you for sharing your adventures!!
Beautiful vacation..thank you for sharing!
So very glad you had a great family vacation, spent time with some of your grandchildren, took care of family business, and no one was hurt (especially Griffin)!
I do the “Mom Checks” when we vacation. I even check up behind my son-in-law, my daughter’s been trained to check, re-check and check again! My 13yr old granddaughter is only good for 1 check, so I check behind her as well! When my mother was alive, I not only checked behind her, I actually did her laundry, packing and checks! She didn’t care if she left something behind. Figured they’d send to her when I called about it! To save myself the trouble, I checked and rechecked!
I think it’s going to be a hot summer, so your garden is going to need extra water, but should be a quiet oasis against the heat.
Thanks for sharing your family’s vacation with us!
Oh my goodness, I’ll bet you felt like you lost ten years of your life when Griffin pulled out that knife. Thank God for quick wits and quick grandmas. And I really appreciate your showing Kat’s Buffalo fur presentation.
Nora, you have a great family. Kay is a great MacGyver to have on any trip. I like the idea of saving snacks and the Buffalo fur decoration. I’m so glad Griffin didn’t get hurt with the knife! Wow, moments like those are just terrifying. Have a safe trip back. Thank you for sharing your vacation and family with us.
Hi Nora and family,
Thanks for sharing your vacation. Kay’s use of the buffalo hair reminds me of my mom. She cut our poodle to use the hair for spinning, but didn’t actually spin anything. Kudos to Kat for actually doing the spinning. How ingenious! Loved ALL the pictures.
Hope the trip home was smooth.
Oops the Y is next to the T and I have fat fingers…KAT
Oh my god! My daughter is 1.5yo and I felt that fear deep inside! I have trained her for the time being to be scared of sharp things ( see how it pokes, see… ouch!!) So now luckily if at all god forbid its lying around she comes and tells me .. mamma ..ouch ouch!
Griffin and the knife terrified me, too, as I could see it all so clearly. Thank God for Nana and Mom. The pictures are beautiful. Thank you for sharing your vacation with us.
Thank you for sharing your lovely family holiday with us. I have looked forward to reading about how you and your family spent your days and felt exhausted just reading about the antics of little Griffin.
Thanks, Nora, for sharing your family and your wonderful Montana vacation! Everyday I looked forward to reading your blog.
Best wishes to all!
That hanging of the buffalo hair is a one-of-a-kind and beautiful! Was amazed how Kat spun some hair on the bottle, very innovative. Using the straw-hole on the drink lid to close the snack sack was canny. Seeing Griffin with that blade must have been so frightening. I’m told I was about his age when I figured out how to unlatch the screen and crawl onto the ledge of the second-story window. My dad roared at me to stop, which you’d think would have startled me right off the ledge, but I froze. He was able to get across the room and pluck me off the window, which looked out on a concrete driveway. Babies must have the busiest of guardian angels. Safe trip home, and thank you so much for sharing your vacation!
Thank you for sharing. I’ve loved being taken away every evening. I’m going to miss this. Can’t wait for my own adventure coming up on Sunday.
How lovely. What an adventure you all had and breathing in that fresh air. You ladies have good reflexes with that knife. Thank you for sharing your family time with us. These little sneak peaks of another land make life fun. Safe journey home. Xx
Thanks for sharing your well deserved vacation with us. It looks like you had a wonderful time. So glad that Griffin didn’t get hurt.
Well, I cannot say that I have read every day but I have read when I have been able and it has been like enjoying a travel magazine. Feliz viaje de retorno a casa.
I usually binge on your books. I read every day and am an author binger. Libraries are my friend, and have been since I was in 1st grade. But I own all of the In Death series and used to own most of your trilogies (downsizing to 717 sq ft something had to go). I’m currently catching up with Eve and Rourke while at the same time re-reading from the beginning (I mentioned I binge?). I can’t say I’ve read every one of your books but probably close. Laura asked in a blog post once about the first of your books we ever read. I’m not positive but I think it was Taming Natasha (that was a lot of years ago!) and I was hooked. I remember your Time and Again and Nightshift books and I remember rereading when a new book in the series was published. Major happy dance when I discovered the In Death series was yours!! Where had I been??! How could I not know?! So thrilled and excited to binge on more Nora Roberts!! And the trilogies! How did you know it was so hard to have to say goodbye to these amazing characters? For the romance of course but the sisters and the brothers, of blood and of the heart. Thank you for so many years of awesome reads.
About a week ago, with In Death 50 patiently waiting, I decided to binge on your blog instead and as of this evening I’ve now shamelessly devoured your travelogues (I wanna go!), your gal pal trips (girls rule!), holiday gatherings, your love of all things gardening (In The Garden trilogy hello!!!!), your immense love for your craft and your family, and I feel a little like a voyeur. I’m just one of a long line of fans (I can’t recall ANY of your books I didn’t enjoy and anyone who ever accused you of using ghost writers isn’t even remotely familiar with your writing) and am so very thankful for your gift. As I make my way back to Eve and Rourke I just wanted to say thanks. Thank you for hours and hours of reading pleasure, for so many years, and for sharing these nuggets of your life. Just thanks.
Years ago I read your writing routine–I think it was some literary magazine. Holy mackerel, lady! You are a writing machine. I envy your dedication, because I get distracted all the time.
😉