oh.  my.  word.

you guys… there are no words for today.  it was amazing.  breathtaking.  stunning.  indescribable.

last sunday i blogged about the top thing on mom’s bucket list being seeing yellowstone.  for some reason i thought yellowstone was like 90 minutes away.  and i suppose it is.  well – the entry gate anyway.  old faithful – 60 minutes from the entry.  hotpots – another 60 minutes.  turn around and go back and you have been in the car for 10 hours.  :banghead:  impossible.  so – i walked up the stairs on sunday night completely defeated and kevin said, “uhhh, what’s wrong?”  and so i explained my dilemma and his reply was, “what about by helicopter?  it would be amazing to see yellowstone from the air.”

best. idea. EVER.

i called up rocky mountain rotors (mark taylor (owner and our pilot) was AMAZING.  super SUPER nice guy) and scheduled a tour.  (sidenote:  check their website here:  http://www.rockymountainrotors.com/ – it has the cooooolest video evah!).

before we hopped into the chopper i got my camera ready to roll and realized i had forgotten my mother-loving battery at home and only had my spare that had one bar left… and it was blinking.  GAH!  but alas – i saved as much as i could and took only the really amazing shots.  i had no choice but to make every. shot. count!

we left the bozeman airport this morning and 10 and is was by FAR one of the best most AMAZING things i’ve ever done in my life.

i asked mom’s hospice nurse, edye, to come along and after going through the proper channels she obliged.  and she was so much fun.

this helicopter tour was… seriously – there just aren’t any words.  we flew through hyliate canyon over the reservoir and saw mountain goats.  then we went down the devils slide outside of gardiner.  then we saw buffalo and thousands of dollars of horns in yellowstone.  then we saw the upper and lower falls and the most MAGNIFICENT geyers i’ve ever seen.  it is completely indescribable.  the things we were able to see from the air were just incredible!  then we searched yellowstone for elk and moose – no dice.  but on our search we encountered a small herd of buffalo and we came right down and looked in their eyes.  they were intimated – so they ran.  and we followed.  and then we saw a couple black wolves.  in the wild.  they got spooked too – but not before mark set me up in the most amazing photo op i’ve ever had.  we landed the chopper at the corral bar in big sky and had ourselves some burgers and beers.  (peace out number 9 – have a beer with clamato – on the bucket list).  nora had to go potty – so i took her into the bathroom where we looked this poster of this old granny with no teeth talking about if she can only stick around until friday.  irony.  then we went back up in the chopper and soared with a golden eagle.  we were ABOVE the eagle watching it fly around.  amazing.  then we did some crazy roller coaster helicopter turns and mom had the time. of. her. life.

that sparkle came back into her eyes and homegirl was SO at peace.  so happy.  so the lady she was 5 years ago.  man i missed her.  and it was glad to have her back.

it was amazing.  absolutely incredible.  it’s something i wish everyone i cared about had the opportunity to do.  edye said it best, “it’s so spiritual!  you can’t come back the same person you were when you left.  something inside you changes.”

and oh boy – did it.

i’m so thankful that i got to make this happen for mom.  she wanted to do this so badly.  and i SEARCHED everywhere for a hot air balloon – no one even remotely close to bozeman is flying this time of year.  she decided that going in the helicopter was better anyway and asked me to check off the hot air balloon ride too.

mark, our pilot, told her that if in one year she was still alive and kickin’ – he’d take her back up (for free – she’ll make sure you have this detail) and let her fly it.  she was grinning from ear to ear the rest of the day.  he made her whole life telling her that.  and – i wouldn’t be surprised if that stubborn old woman hangs on just to take him up on his word.  LOL.

when we came home from our helicopter excursion i dropped mom off, picked grant up (thanks abby!  you are the BEST!) and headed out to meet the movers at her house.  they got her all moved back into her old room in the manor and this has turned out to be one of the best days of mom’s life.

she’s happy.  she’s back to herself and i’m praying it lasts for awhile.

livin’ like you’re dyin’ is all it’s cracked up to be… and more.

until tomorrow.  🙂

*m