FINAL Idaho post...

Yes, you read that right! This is the last in the Idaho series! I bet you are happy! :O)

So here are the mama & baby moose that hung around my dads yard for a couple days! I was a bit concerned at first that the mom might be protective of her baby and feel the need to protect her baby. But this mama was so calm and relaxed, that I was able to relax as well.

Here is mama in between my dads house and the guest house...



Then she freaked me out a bit because she started up the hill to the guest house and we were on the porch. I made the girls stand in the door way so they could see her, but had them keep the door open just in case mama decided that she no longer felt so comfortable with our presence. But she was fine and just wanted to nibble on the plant right next to the porch. All I had to do was take 3 or 4 steps forward and I could've touched her!!!


I guess the little tree wasn't too tasty because she decided to find something else to nibble on along the driveway...


And here's baby. Baby wasn't quite as comfortable with us as mama and stayed a little further away from us. Then they both headed back down to the main house...


Once they headed back down Avyree went down for a nap and it started snowing. She was so tired and in need of a nap that I didn't bring her out. It was still a bit warm and the snow was a bit slushy. Now I say warm as in too warm to be full snow. But it was still freakin cold out there. So I wouldn't go out with Haylee at first. So here she is looking at me from outside while I'm sitting in the nice warm house. I love these 2 shots because she looks like a wet puppy locked outside in the rain! Ha...



But I could no longer stand the whining, begging and pleading through the window for me to come outside and play. So Haylee won and I braved the cold to watch her...


Snow drops keep fallin on my tongue...


Mama must've heard all the fun we were having and decided to come join us again. Baby kept it's distance...


And although I knew mama was pretty calm, I wasn't entirely comfortable playing in the drive way right next to her so we headed in while Avyree finished napping.

Then when she woke up we geared up to go down to the main house. The shot on the left was in the guest house before we headed down and the shot on the right is in the main house kitchen! There's G.G {we call her that short for great grandma but my dad calls her Nana No No...which may sound mean because after her stroke she can only say no...no...no. But it's actually a cute loving nick name and the girls were calling her it too and she loved it}...



We wanted to go back outside before it got too dark so both the girls could play in the snow. The bird bath had a good thick chunk of ice on top...


Little Daisy. Daisy actually has white fur but with the tonal edits I ran here, she looks yellow! She's beautiful either way...


Nugget lovin the snow fall. And don't even ask what she's doing in the bottom left shot. I stopped trying to figure out the little nut long ago and just giggle...


Haylee...lovin the snow fall just as much. She's got a mean wind up huh! And some frozen fingers. She just could not leave the ice chunk alone...


Then we headed inside to spend some more time with GG since we were leaving the next morning. I'm really mad at myself for these shots. I begged her to let me take some pics of her with the girls before we left. So she got dressed, brushed her hair and was all ready! But we stayed outside so late it was pretty dark in the house. I actually had to turn the overhead light on just to get more light. And if you know me and my pics, I HATE doing that and avoid it at all costs. But what I avoid even more is flash! I left my external flash and home and will not use the on board flash! But once I loaded them, I really wish I would've just put my pride and hate aside of my on board flash and just dialed it down and used it. Note to photogs...when you need the memory...when it's truly important to your heart to have the memory...put your photography feelings aside and just get it. So sadly the quality here is pretty bad but at least I have pics of the most special woman to my heart with the most special two little girls to my heart. And at the end of the day, that's really all that matters...


Please excuse how smooth this edit it. Not only was my ISO maxed out, my SS was only 1/100 and it was still pretty underexposed {hence fill flash..ugh}. So I did have to remove some noise which I rarely do anymore...


And my grandma...my sweet grandma. I have so much love and respect for her. I have no words that can truly express the amount of love I have for her. So I'll save you the 50 paragraph emotional breakdown of how much I love her and how hard it is to see what her stroke did to her. I will just say that her and I were one. We meshed so well together. Knew each other so well and we so very close. She was my guiding light my entire life and I would not be who I am today without everything she did for me, the love she showered on me and her wisdom...oh her wisdom.

I love you grandma...more than you will ever know. You changed me for the better and I"ll always be grateful that YOU are MY grandma. I am the LUCKIEST granddaughter in the WORLD!


Okay...so I lied and I got a little caught up and cried like a big fat baby writing that!

And that is it for our Idaho trip. It was our best trip yet. We all bonded even more and this trip will be special to me for all my days! I love you Dad, I miss you more than you know and grandma...I LOVE YOU!

So thanks for hanging in there til the end of the Idaho series. I hope I didn't make you blind! We can't wait to go visit again!