My Daily Comings and Goings

2011 in picutres...

2012-01-01T03:39:00.006+01:00

Work never ends...

Team work

A grandfather and grand daughter who love each other dearly

A flying leap...

A precious boy running through a field

Our miracle boy who was so blessed this summer with a new heart

A new life learning to walk

An incredible man my father

A sight that always takes my breath away

A creative artist at work

A wonderful family

An adventure

My son and his favorite creature

An 80th Birthday man

My darling Niece

An New bed, which I love best night sleeps ever.

Im dreaming of a white christmas...

2011-12-25T20:11:00.005+01:00

Where are we living these days... What it is really going to snow on Christmas? Not here in Texas?!?!?!

Our sidewalk lights loved being surrounded by snow.

Rooster just loves it.

Our Texas star before it was completely covered up.

Looking out our front door towards our neighbors house of which I might add is our favorite Christmas House with all the lights always lite up and beautiful.

Our trip home...

2011-12-15T15:16:00.004+01:00

We decided to take a scenic route home and do some sight seeing. Alex and Brayden had never seen this part of the country. Enjoy the pictures.

He is so fun to travel with. As a matter of fact he is so fun to just have him in our home and living with us. He is an amazing young man.

Brayden made this climb, but Alex is afraid of heights so she viewed it from down lower.

I just love watching these two together. They have been good buddies from the time they were little babies. They are continually laughing, joking, teasing and just having fun. We came home the other night to them having a nerf gun war in our house with all the lights off, music blaring, glow sticks around their necks and wrists, and just loving life.

Mouse Pad

2011-12-10T20:08:00.001+01:00

  Mouse Pad

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View the entire collection of cards.

Gingerbread house...

2011-12-10T17:04:00.005+01:00

Brayden and Alex decided they wanted to make a Gingerbread house. They remembered making it when they were young. Here is Brayden putting together the house.

Each one doing their creating.

I think Alex was sneaking some of the candy!

Alex watching as Brayden added some details.

Brayden even made some roses for the flowered bed with some of the icing.

Of course Santa had to have a motor cycle which Brayden created.

Finished product with snowman, gingerbread man and yellow brick road.

The funniest thing about this house is...

we set it on the end table to display it and went to run an errand. When we returned there was a corner of the house gone and the gingerbread and snow man was gone. Alex thought Brayden had eaten it. Then we looked closer and there was teeth marks. ROOSTER loved the gingerbread treats!! So then the kids decided that was a great idea and have been munching on the house.

Highland cows...

2011-12-03T02:40:00.000+01:00

When we lived in Scotland we loved to look at the Highland cattle. We loved their hairy bodies, how cute the looked, and to us they just had cuter personalities or seemed to.

We took a drive a couple of days around and found this herd near out ranch. They reminded me of Scotland and of how grateful I am that my sister-in-law is home with us again. So I dedicate this blog to Loraine because she is our UK family member.

Aren't they just so cute.

Christmas Lights on Temple square...

2011-12-01T04:18:00.000+01:00

On our way home from the ranch we took a detour onto temple square to see the lights. I just loved it.

This is the reflection pool in front of the temple.

Lights reflecting in the reflection pool.

A nativity scene in the middle of the reflection pond.

Alex in front of the a light tree and the temple.

Bronze statues of Joseph Smith.

Brayden

Inside the old Tabernacle.

Just breathtaking.

This has always been my favorite temple. This is the temple I choose as a young girl to be married in. Steve and I were married in this temple almost 29 years ago. Where has the time gone. I am so grateful we took this little detour on our home trip to enjoy the light, but to also reflect on the importance of temples.

Most moving moment of wedding...

2011-11-29T02:04:00.001+01:00

This is Grandma Crawford. She has been in a wheel chair for some time. As we were all standing in the parking lot it was realized the wheelchair couldn't make it up the steep rocky path. Grandma said she would wait for all of us to come back down.

But many members of the families decided it there was a will there was a way. The next picture you see brought tears to my eyes as I was shooting the picture. It still brings tears to my eyes each time I look at the pictures. It shows, love, compassion, charity, strength and an incredible group of caring people. Grandma Crawford was going to come to the wedding.

They decided the only way she could come to the wedding and be part of it was to be carried in.

There were many that helped and many that followed waiting to take their turn. It was a very moving procession.

Once the steep part was made they tried to push the wheelchair but it didn't work.

So they turned her around and pulled her up to the great spot where she could view the wedding of her Grand daughter.

Here she is with her husband, her son and her grand daughter. There are many things I will remember about the wedding day. But the labor of love shown in getting Grandma Crawford there will always hold a very special place in my heart. Thank you to all of you who helped to make it possible for Grandma Crawford to be a part of that special time.

My niece's Wedding some fun highlights...

2011-11-27T23:06:00.003+01:00

This is John and Candice with John's parents.

Candice and John and Candice Grandparents. I hope you are looking at the beautiful view behind them!!

The couple before the wedding!!

Not sure what they are thinking about, but I am sure it is about the great and wonderful things that are head of them in a few short minutes and years and years to come.

This picture is very special to me because... This shows John's parents, brothers and sisters, and niece and nephew. They all traveled from back east to be here to share this special day with John and Candice. What a sacrifice they had to have made to come all this way. Not only that it was sure fun for me to get to know them.

Candice pinning on John's groom flowers. I think the expression on his face is saying Candice ouch!!! you just stuck me!! The evidence is the deadly weapon she is holding in her mouth.

John and his mom.

Here is John trying to pin the Mom's flowers on his mom. He looks pretty intense trying to get the job done!! I think she might be doing some coaching!!!

Here is both Candice and John with their moms.

Candice pinning the flowers on her Dad. Check out the look on Brayden's face I think he is trying to figure out why she handed him the flowers, what the heck it is made of and what is he supposed to do with it. Or Maybe he is worried he is going to have to wear it!! Who knows!!

It was such a great day. In looking through the pictures tonight I have decided I am going to have to do some more blogs in the next few days!!

Steve's Dad's 80th Birthday...

2011-11-26T19:26:00.004+01:00

It was Steve's Dad's 80th Birthday this year. His wife Dottie started planning in January for the big event that would take place in March. It was a big surprise party weekend. She did an incredible job. Here she is standing by Dad to cut his cake. We all secretly meet for dinner on Friday night at his favorite restaurant which was the first surprise

This was the second big surprise. The boys took him for breakfast Sunday morning after church all the girls rushed over to the place for the bigger party. This is dad walking in. He thought he was looking for a place that Greg wanted to buy. When he walked in a realized what was going on this was the expression on his face.

The big birthday cake with all the things that Dad loves to do as decorations.

Here he is with his three boys. David, Steve and Greg.

The last surprise was put together by Robin. She had written letters to everyone that she knew and asked them to write a letter, send a picture or a card. Then she put it altogether into a big picture book. She made it with love. He spent many hours just looking at it, shedding some tears, and remembering so many things. It was truly a very blessed weekend for all of us.

All in a Year or maybe a little more...

2011-11-26T19:12:00.004+01:00

It has now been almost 18 months on this journey of recovery. I am sitting here looking out at this beautiful place where our ranch is and reflecting on what an amazing 18 months is has been. There has been so many wonderful, fun, memorable things happen. Thanks heavens I took tons of pictures probably around 5000 or more so I could remember it!! Since this blog serves as my journal I am going to try and post some of the things before I publish my book into a hard back journal. I hope that each of you enjoy viewing these things as much I as have enjoy them being a part of life.

Our Thanksgiving day...

2011-11-25T16:17:00.010+01:00

My family gathered around our kitchen table for thanksgiving dinner. My kids and husband, my niece and husband, my brother and his wife. The biggest thing that all of us have to be thankful for today is that Loraine my brother's wife is with us being a part of all of our lives.

My niece and husband that was married this summer. He has received the name Harry Potter because he now has a scar on his forehead after a truck incident and with those glasses Alex just renamed him Harry Potter

After dinner it was relaxing and playing game time. There is Harry with Rooster keeping watch.

Matt examining his snowboard, Dan and Candice in a fierce checker game with Alex, Loraine and Brayden keeping watch.

Another fierce Chinese checker game going on. We really had to watch Steve and John they kept trying to jumping crazy ways. We decided they were really trying to cheat!! Not sure if Loraine is chuckling because we were catching her cheating or if she just thought the whole thing was crazy and funny.

Dessert Time!!

Matt tried to keep the whole pumpkin pie to himself, but Candice wouldn't let him. Others did get a small piece. There was 1/2 a pie left and this morning when I got up there wasn't any pumpkin pie left, only an empty pie dish. Wonder who the pie thief was in the night.

Dessert was pumpkin pie, apple pie, cherry pie, homemade ice cream, whip cream,. But the grande prize was a chocolate chip cake shipping all the was from New Jersey from John's mom. Dinner was delayed because ham and Turkey took longer to bake. But all turn out great.

What I was was most thankful for was to have my small family and extended family gathered around me on this very special day. I have many many things to be thankful for.

workin day on the ranch...

2011-11-23T22:18:00.008+01:00

Alex out in the middle of all of it trying to herd the cows into a pen.

Today was a preg test day at the ranch to help determine which cows to hold over and which ones to sell.Steve was a gate worker opening gates and sending the open cows ones not pregnant one way and the pregnant ones another direction.

Yes, those cows are finally getting which gate it is that they are supposed to go into to.

Matt trudging across the mucky manurey corral with Loraine in the background watch him make the move.

Loraine standing watch over those pesky cows.

Dan in the mist of them trying to figure out how to get those darn cows moving and not just milling around.

Dan with his apron and rubber sleeve on for preg checking the cows.

Brayden and Matt standing watch in the corral.

Thanksgiving snowmobile adventure...

2011-11-21T21:29:00.008+01:00

My Daughter and Nephew. He always takes her with him. Usually he has her in front and he is standing behind. They are headed to get her a helmet and knee pads because he loves to jump and it scares her. So much she usually screams!!

Equipment check.

Alex in Red, Brayden Nephew in yellow, Loraine sister in law bundled up, Dan my brother in Blue.

Dare Devil Dan.

This is so funny Brayden was out in my field and was trying to tip the snowmobile on its side and go for a long as he could.

But guess what happened!! I told him he was messin up my alfalfa hay field!!

Now he is trying to get Rooster to hop on and go for a ride. Rooster kept looking back at me as if he was asking do I really have to.

There is always so much work to do on the ranch. But when the work is done its time to play!!

What I love about coming to the ranch...

2011-11-21T04:38:00.004+01:00

Is Its Christmas Village Time!!

Is we get the other house ready for Christmas before we leave so that when I come home my home is beautifully decorated and ready for Christmas.

Here is my daughter putting together the Christmas village. She and her friend have put the village together for the past couple of years. My husband started collecting the village for me years ago. But this past summer at an Estate sale we were able to pick up eight more houses to complete our village.

Little bits and pieces.

More bits and pieces. This picture of Christ has a very special meaning for us. You can see the young boy looking over Christ's shoulder that is actually a young man who served a mission in Norway. He ate at our table many times, spent Christmas with us and was one of our favorites. He is in this picture because his Dad painted it. His father is Del Parson. The missionary had his father sign it and he gave it to us to thank us for all the times we feed him.

Another picture of my daughter setting up the village.

My daughter and husband sprinkling snow through out the village now that is it set up.
I just love this time of the year.

I love the Ranch even when...

2011-11-18T19:22:00.004+01:00

It is snowing. I love the peaceful feeling I get. I love watching my nephew who is such a dare devil race around the field on his snowmobile knowing he is testing it out and will be over soon to get my daughter to go for an adventure.

Rooster looks back at me and says do I really have to go out! Its cold out here and no will come and play with me.

When the corrals beginning to sag and look sad because there won't be any horses in them until next spring. Actually theses corrals became the horse hospital this summer. We had on three different occasions horses staying there that needed to be doctored and taken care of.

This is out my front door these trees are beautiful in the summer, but look just a beautiful during the winter months.

My nephew is such an incredible athlete. He is 6 ft 4 inches we just measured him a couple of nights ago. He is a pencil if you were to turn sidewards he would look like a stick. He takes good care of me and I just love him to bits.

what summer is all about...

2011-10-28T01:29:00.009+02:00

I am back home in Texas, but I sure do miss my ranch. So I decided to do a few blogs on what the summer is really about...
It is about planting grain the fields. This is my brother planting barley. Of course Rooster king of the ranch is checking it out and making sure he makes his rows straight!! Unfortunately an early snow and rain made the harvest this fall not as good of a harvest as it could have been.

Its about getting cattle ready for summer pasture. Branding, Shots, fly tags and then getting them moved to their summer home. These babies are so cute. They love to go the wrong direction, buck and call for their moms. The moms know where they need to go but getting those babies to go there takes work not only on the moms part but the cowboys part also.

A son who is an amazing, gifted, creative builder of things he just happens to see on the internet. Then takes a piece of metal and makes a beauty piece of art.

And what would a summer be without a wedding!! My niece got married this summer with the Tetons being the backdrop. It was an awesome event. We love her Dear John. It was such a fun day. But more important I love the time I had with my niece through the whole summer.
I just love being at the ranch for the summer, but more important I love being with my family.

Life is so quiet now...

2011-10-10T04:20:00.003+02:00

But there are still many fun and neat things about this summer. It has been a tradition for me to put a wreath at my mom's grave on a shepherd hook each year. She always loved flowers along the side of her house so I decided that she needs to have a wreath next to her to remember her by and her beautiful flowers by. This year towards the end of the summer I put a fall one out. This is my mom's sister who I love a adore who came with me to put it out.

Talking to wreath trying to help it to understand that it needs to stay on the hook this time especially when the wind blows.

This is an amazing picture. These are two of my most favorite people in the whole world. My daughter has such a close relationship with her grandfather. They have a very special bond. She enjoys her time with him as much as I always enjoy my time with him.

I love how he always puts his arm around her and tells her special things or gives her special advise. He has always been a man who loves each of us with all of his heart.

I hated to see the summer at the ranch come to an end.

just fun pictures from summer...

2011-09-07T05:32:00.007+02:00

My Uncle's flooded road and cattle guard. I couldn't even get my pickup through to go see them.

Tractor pulling contest!! Big tractor actually pulling smaller one from being stuck the 4th time, because of wet fields.

Nephew killing his first sage grouse, skinning it and wearing a cocky smile.

Tractor being stuck first go around.

My favorite little buddy Ian who I have missed so much this summer. He is my church sitting buddy. I even bought him some new books for church. Can hardly wait to be with him on Sundays. He reminds me so much of my son, gifted and talented. Ian is so awesome, I love him to bits.

My son working with the famous horse that bucked me off and kicked me in the head. She sure did a number on me, but what a glorious recovery year it has been.

My son loves his horses. They have been such a great thing in his life.

My beautiful daughter with one of her funny faces. She is next to an awesome waterfall we stopped by one day on our way back from picking her up at University.

My back yard around the end of May or first of June. Yes that is snow.

My famous, incredible, loved, obedient, dog sitting on his famous throne as king of the ranch.

my motor cycle girl...

2011-09-03T05:03:00.005+02:00

Tonight we went for a four wheel and motor cycle ride. We had a blast. The above picture is my awesome daughter.

Here she is in her motor cycle outfit trying to get her motorbike started.

Here is my husband who surprised us last night by coming to the ranch to spend the weekend with us. My brother is in the blue, and my awesome nephew is in the red.

My nephew was so awesome. Today was my daughters first day of riding her motorcycle other than on the road. We rode some pretty rough country. My nephew coached my daughter, and kept and eye on her. It was so fun to watch how lovingly he instructed her and helped her to learn the best and most effective way to ride her bike. Ever since they were little kids he has been her protector and good friend.

Here is the star doing the cool motor cycle language sign. I was so proud of her and how awesome she rode and handled her motor cycle. Sometimes it was scary but she kept going and did great. She has had such a great couple of months here on the ranch. She has learned so much and done so many things. She has grown so much.

My working girl...

2011-08-18T21:45:00.003+02:00

Each year after the hay is put into stacks it needs to be covered with tarps to protect it from the winter elements. This photo shows Alex working on top of the stack to help spread the tarp out. She worked hard with her uncle Dan to get the stacks covered. Ill do a blog showing the whole process.

Alex learned how to drive the semi to help haul the hay. She would drive around the field so that the hay could be stacked on the trailer. Of course Rooster the trusty dog had to go with her in the semi and supervise everything.

Here she is in the driver's seat.

Here she is taking a break from driving the semi while her uncle unloads the hay. It has given her time to catch up with her grandpa. They have had some real quality time and talks.

This shows the semi being loaded with hay. It is quite a process.
Alex has been an awesome helper for her uncle and grandpa with jumping in and being the semi truck driver. It made hauling the hay go quicker and more efficient.

Finding Family from long ago...

2011-08-09T22:00:00.000+02:00

We were driving through a small town and my dad said he thought his Grandfather was buried in a cemetery there. So we decide to stop and see if we could find the headstone. We search for about 30 or 40 minutes and couldn't find it. My Dad kept saying that he thought it was some where near the Jones family headstones. Then my husband decided to say a prayer to find it. Within a few minutes his prayer was answered.

My Dad explaining to my husband who all of these people were and how they are related to us.

Not sure what they are saying... But these two are each others best friend. They have such an amazing relationship and love being together, visiting, and exploring.

This is my dad looking at the headstone and talking about his grandfather.

This is my Dad's grandfather's mothers grave.

This is a closeup .
I have always loved genealogy and search out information for years. It is really fun to see my dad getting excited about it.

My hero...a working man...

2011-08-01T16:23:00.000+02:00

Here is my Dad. He is an amazing man. He never stops teaching, working, and loving his family. Here he is teaching the grandsons about getting too many cows into the holding pen and that by crowding them you get into a mess.

All of these years this has been my dad's way of walking. He has his hand on his hips. We have always been able to look around rather into the field, at the fairground, in a crowd and recognize him because he always has his hands on his hips.

He has been a rancher for over fifty years. He still enjoys to being a part of anything that is going on at the ranch and is always right in there helping with everything. He is watching the branding and preg testing of the cows in this photo.

We went to fix fence one day and he hiked up the hill, pounded nails, put the stretchers in his hand and walk a good couple of miles, repairing the fence where it needed it. Here was a gate that was broken and he rebuilt the gate.

Here he is on his trusty four wheeler with the weed killer container hooked up. He is on the dry farm killing thistle.

There is that stance again. He is such an amazing man.

He had a tractor get stuck which is a blog in and of itself. But he is carrying those chains through the field with his buddy Rooster to chain his stuck tractor to the other one to pull it out.

He is an incredible man. He has taught us so much through the years. He has been patient with us, given us good sound advise, loved us unconditionally, sacrificed for us, and been an incredible example through his life and ours. How blessed we have been to be Worton children and to have been under his watchful eye all of our lives.

Horses, Horses, Horses...

2011-07-26T22:00:00.000+02:00

Horses are such a big part of our ranch. In this photo this is one of Alex's room mates loving on the horses.

These horses are up on the hill because they are not used as much. These are my sons and with him doing school and working he decided to let the horses graze on the hill ground property.

This is two incredible horses. Ghost is the white one and is about seven or eight years old. He is the friendliest and loves to have his face and nose rubbed. Leo is the light colored one and is just 3 or 4 years old.

Horses are always around with the cattle when they are run in the same pastures.

This is one of my brother's work horses. He is a belgium.

His is my brother's son riding one of the ranch horses tending the gate while cattle are moved from one field to another.

This is the animal on our ranch that is always herding the horses, bugging them and just making sure every animal is where it is supposed to be. Our faithful Rooster.

Spring time grooming. My Brother trimming up the bridle path on Paloma so it will be easier for the bridle to go on and stay on.

My son examining Leo. This horse got injured this spring and we have spent all summer long doctoring him. When I have to do it I put on my four wheeler helmet so he doesn't reach out and kick me with his foot that is hurt. I'm sure I am quite a sight.

I have always loved having the horses around and them being a part of our lives on the ranch. Next year when I am finally able to get back on a horse it will probably be this white one Ghost. He is the gentlest, surest footed, and oldest one that we have. I am really looking forward to that great fun next summer.

a momma bear and babies...

2011-07-23T03:14:00.006+02:00

We went into Grand Teton National Park for a fun day. At the end of the day we came across 20 or more cars parked along the road. They all had cameras with lenses that were long and huge and were all standing on top of their vehicles. They were shooting a grizzly bear and her two cubs. A guy invited Us to climb up on his suburban. But just as we did the mom went into the willows. Then the ranger came along and said this bears mother and her three cubs were about 10 miles away. So off we went on a bear hunt. This above picture is that bear. Wish I would have had a more powerful lens, I have an awesome camera, but it didn't do justice to see this bear.

Here she is again at this stage I was on top of another suburban and the bear was about 90 yards away from me.

You can barely see a herd of elk in this meadow. There is a grizzly bear trying to catch and kill a baby elk for her two babies. There is about a 3 week time period where the baby elk aren't fast enough to get away from the momma bear. So she kills a couple of baby elk a day to feed her cubs.

This was the momma grizzly they call 399. She has three cubs behind her. We are on the side of the road standing watching her. There are cameras going off constantly taking her picture.

Momma and cubs again. One of the cubs was a light tan color. Many of the photographer spend most of the morning in the park watching and shooting photos and then return again in the evening to shoot more photos. They are truly professionals and do this for a living. There was also a professional video person.

The funniest thing about this whole thing was a gentleman was taking pictures and Steve introduced himself to him. They chatted for a few minutes. Steve viewed some of his pictures. Then a couple of days latter My niece was looking at our pictures she started to tell me about a famous photographer in Jackson. His originals sell around $10,000.00 and that he is a world famous photographer. Then she told me his name. That is the gentle man that Steve was visiting with and looking at his photos. His name is Thomas D Mangelsen. Look him up on google. His work is amazing.

Here is one of the cubs trying to jump down onto the mom's back. A few minutes latter one of the other cubs came and the two cubs were playing and fighting with each other. Then the upper on reached down and tried to pull the other up on the log.

I have had so many adventures and great things happen this summer. But this hour and one half was one of the most amazing, delightful, funny and interesting things that I have experienced this summer. What a great adventure it was.

An Evening with the Bob and Adell's Family...

2011-07-20T04:44:00.008+02:00

Ryan has an ice cream business so he brought over his ice cream maker and we all enjoyed ice cream after a wonderful dinner. This is Steve trying it out.

Gabe showing best way to eat the ice cream.

Steve getting another one. We teased him that he should just stick his mouth under and just push the crank and stop using cones.

Tyler skyping with her brother Coleman who is in the hospital ICU because he is waiting for a new heart through a tansplant.

Kids lined up for Ice cream. I bet youre thinking all we did was eat ice cream!! Well that is almost the truth.

All the cousins standing in the wagon. What a crew. Noah decided he wanted to try and pull them all. Notice the hair pulling thing going on at the front of the wagon.

Now the hair pulling fun got crazy!! The hair puller fell out of the wagon and took some hair with him. It was so funny to watch. These are such great kids.Trampoline time! We had such a great evening with my cousins and their kids.

Turn out time...

2011-07-11T14:35:00.005+02:00

After all the cows and calves have been branded and given their shots it is time to turn them out onto the summer range. This summer we were running late because of the weather it took the grass on the summer range longer to grow. But the day finally came. My Dad and Rooster started out by going ahead and making sure gates were closed on the way up the road, that the gate into the field was opened and driveways blocked.

The cattle drive up to the pasture.

The cattle have been without grass, they have been eating hay the past several months so for them the green grass is a temptation to stop moving, but we keep pushing them along.

For the first couple of weeks they are in a 100 acre field so they will mother up, get breed and get used to being out. That way we can also keep an eye on them. They live among the horses for that time.

Exploring their new area.

This was an awesome sight as the came up over the hill and stood on the horizon.

Once the cows are in the pasture the three horses that are in there stay with the cows. Where ever the cows move the horses move with them. Not sure why but that is how it was. It is always a relief for my Dad and Brother when the cows are finally out on grass. They will stay there until mid October.

A day in Yellowstone Park...

2011-07-07T21:55:00.004+02:00

We woke up yesterday morning and decided to go an adventure. We were going to go somewhere fishing but part of the way down the road we decided to go into Yellowstone Park. We had such a great day. Didn't see any wildlife, but saw so many amazing and beautiful things. The above picture is of Firehole. We usually swim in it. You jump into the stream and it carries you down stream. It is a blast, but right now the water is too high so there is not swimming. Steve was bummed!!

This is old Faithful going off. When I was a kid it went off every hour on the hour but now after some earthquakes it goes of between 60 and 90 minutes. Yesterday was a record high in many years and it lasted longer than it usually does. I think it did it just for us!!

This is the back of my dad!! What a great shot Old Faithful and my Dad.

We went into Old Faithful Lodge for an ice cream, we just sat and admired the amazness of this very old lodge. This is a block that is right in the middle of the lodge.

I took this picture to show two things the tall trees that are bare are from the fire that happened to yellowstone in about 1989. The thick new trees that you see are the new growth. When the pine cones fell to the ground the heat from the fire made them burst open and all the seeds eventually work their way up and produced new trees. It is a very healthy forest now. But will still be many many years before Yellowstone returns to all it's glory like it was before the fire.

Here is a picture of my traveling companions. Steve, Susan and my Dad. They are standing in front of Lewis Falls.

Another picture of tall trees still standing that got burned in 1989.

We had a great picnic around Jackson Lake.

Steve and I decided that when we ever build our dream home we want a scene like this out our picture window. This is mount Moran in Yellowstone park.

Steve and I standing in front of Lewis Falls. We had such a great day. We love to take sight seeing trips with Dad and Susan. They are always game for an adventure. My Dad loved being the co pilot because it could just look at everything and not have to worry about traffic, where to park, and just enjoyed the scenery.

Third of July Baby...

2011-07-04T17:13:00.004+02:00

Presenting the THIRD OF JULY BABY... We have been waiting for this baby colt for the past two and 1/2 weeks. The mom was here at my house until her owner came home. Then we moved her up to his house. Each day we have thought that today will be the day. Well it finally came at 3:00 am the morning of July 4th.

It is a female baby colt. Will be a register paint horse with chocolate spots. The owner hasn't named her yet.

She is so little and young. She hasn't figured out how to tuck those long legs under her to be able to lay down gracefully yet.

She was curious about us.

This is the owners grandson who saw the birth take place. He went out at about 5:00 and did what is called imprinting with the baby colt. That baby just loves to have him rub her little head she rolls on her back and just enjoys the attention.

She finally decided she was hungry.

Getting those legs to move insync with that body is a struggle.

She has mainly enjoyed eating and sleeping in the warm sun today.

It has been so much fun being here this summer with all the activity that goes on in connection the ranch. Each day seems to bring a different surprise, you never know what the next day will being.

Another Big Adventure...

2011-06-30T15:15:00.004+02:00

Yesterday we decide to head up to Jackson to go to some Art Galleries. But we got side track many times!! We never made it to the art galleries. This picture was taken of the Tetons just at sunset leaving Yellowstone Park.

We took a hike into a waterfall. We saw several little creatures. This is a rock chuck. He is a fat, friendly little character.

We ended up at Jenny's Lake for lunch. I had packed a picnic. We were just going to take a little walk around the lake. But then we saw a sign about a hidden water fall. So I suggested we hike to it. It was only 2.5 miles in. Little did I know it was up hills and down. The path was great it was right along side the lake. We took Rooster and of course everyone who came along wanted to say hello to Rooster!!. It was a glorious walk. The hard part was hiking the 2.5 miles back to the truck. This picture above shows Steve and I in front of the water fall. I post more latter on this beautiful falls.

The Tetons are Steve's favorite mountains. This year they still have so much snow on them. Usually you just see snow on the upper peaks. But this year the snow and was deep and it is lasting longer.

We passed this shed on the road. Either this guy really skis alot, works at the ski village, or just like to collect skis. They were all tacked to his garage.

This is the lake that we walked around. The water fall is between the two mountains coming out of the one with snow.

It was such an incredible day. We left our home at 10:00 and returned at 10:00. In the 12 hours we explored many places. Saw a bull moose, a momma grizzly bear with two cubs, another momma grizzly bear with three cubs, a herd of elk being chased by one momma grizzly because she needed food for her babies. I will do more posts to show the many pictures of all we saw!!

One Year Anniversary...

2011-06-29T05:24:00.005+02:00

Today was one year anniversary since my horse riding accident and brain jury. It was wonderful to have such an awesome feeling that I had made it through one year of struggles, blessings, hard times, great times, seeing my kids really grow up fast, and having many good friends and family who stepped up to being a part of me getting better.
SO TODAY I DID SOME THINGS to make it a fun, great day...
Above is Steve setting waiting for our special picnic. We went on a great drive up one of my most favorite canyons and had a picnic. I bought chicken strips, potato salad, crab salad, baked beans, salt and vinegar chips and celery with cream cheese. We had a feast!!!

I have this great little airstrip I love to visit, it is in the middle of an hay field. The guy has a strip that he and his friends use of a landing strip. Tonight he was mowing it. There was a small plane doing some touch and goes and then he landed his plane. Someday it would be my dream to get my license and have my own little plane.

You can see what a little plane it was.

Then we saw this entry to a big house. This was on one of his gates. It was great because one of our mottoes for our family has been soar like an eagle. It was a great reminder for me today because with help from many and my Heavenly Father I have soared like an eagle this year.

Today I saw this baby colt getting some milk from his mom. It reminded me of how great it is to a mom and the two awesome kids I have and how they have loved, helped, coached and taken care of me this year.

Then of course on my anniversary I have to be very thankful for the man who has done so many things for me this year. He has loved, taken care of me, oversaw my recovery and taken time to just help me. Then there is my Rooster. He has been my constant companion this past year. He has protected me, stayed with me during painful nights, licked my tears when I was crying, got between me and others if he didn't know them, and walked by my side for many hours.

SO YOU SEE I HAVE BEEN SO BLESSED! TODAY IS A DAY TO CELEBRATE THAT I WAS GIVEN A SECOND CHANCE AT LIVING A REALLY GREAT LIFE!!

My Ians...

2011-06-24T18:55:00.004+02:00

I want to introduce you to my ranch Ian. He was born just a couple of days ago. I didn't get to see him born, but I got to see him take his first steps and try to get milk from his mom. I just thought he was really special. So I decided to name him after my other Ian.

This is my other Ian. He is my little buddy. He is an amazing kid. He started to sit by me in church when I moved back to Texas. I have enjoyed being with him, listening to his primary talks, see him grow, and have fun listening to his stories, andwatching him draw special pictures for me.

Many times he reminds me so much of my son. This guy and his brother and sisters prayed for me constantly during my head injury recovery.

So since I am really missing my little buddy. Don't you just love that face. It makes you just want to smile!! As you compare these pictures you will see why I named my ranch Ian after my Texas Ian!! Love you Texas Ian and I really miss you!!!

This Ian was sure having a tough time walking. His mom had gone off to eat hay and he decided to adventure out on his own.

The gate was open but Ian decided to take the skinny way around.

I know you can see why both my Ian's are just darn handsome!!

A great day...

2011-06-22T06:19:00.004+02:00

Today was a great day. It started out with the sun shining and it promising to be a warm day. I got a wild hair and talked my Dad and Susan into going for a great lunch and drive. In reverse order Ill share my day...We stopped at where we used to have our hunting camp when I was a kid and teenager. I may share more pictures later. But this is my dad looking out in the woods for an old camp stove that they used to cook all of our meals on in the cook tent. The first time it got taken up it was decided it was to heavy to keep hauling up there so they used to hide it out in the trees and each year would dig it out and use it. Many years ago it disappear. But today we looked just in case. Didn't find it.

We saw about 25 head of deer. But this one was special. This mother had just had this baby. The fawn could hardly walk, but knew where to find the milk from mom.

This was a view today of the river, forest, and snow capped mountains.

My Dad and Susan for a scenic picture.

A field of wild sunflowers.

My Dad spraying thistle on a piece of ground he had just worked up with the tractor a few days ago.

Another scenic view with my dad and Rooster. Today was such a great day. But the 2nd best part about today was remembering how much fun my family used to have exploring, hunting, and camping in this area. The BEST part about today was the stories my Dad told about the sheep he used to herd in this area, the dudes he used to take out hunting, how people got some of the land through poker games, how the old timers used to trap and mine, and how different canyons and areas got their names. WHAT AN AWESOME DAY!!

Winters over...

2011-06-19T00:48:00.008+02:00

These big guys are used all winter long to pull a sleigh loaded with hay. Sometimes my brother hooks up four of them at one time. But now that it is summer it is time for them to be taken to the hill pasture for a rest.

My Brother Dan has become used to these big guys not wanting to be caught.

But he always seems to whisper to these big guys. I think he must tell them where they are going and how green the grass is and that they will just love it. Because they always let him finally catch them. But little do they know...

That they have to be wormed before they get to go out on summer pasture. The tube has a paste in it that kills off any worms that have grown in their system through the winter. It tastes uky and they are always trying to spit it out. But my brother prevails and gets it in the right spot so they then have to swallow it.

The long and finally walk after the long trailer ride. My dad standing by the trailer supervising the finally walk. My brother leading the team called Blaze. Rooster our faithful dog always making sure everything is herded and going in the right direction.

All four waiting to go through the gate. Some of the saddles horses waiting for the new arrivals.

Another job completed

Why is it that the grass always seems greener on the other side. A whole 100 acres to graze on and he decides not even 5 minutes into the field that it must be greener on the neighbors side of the fence.

Its Spring flower time...

2011-06-15T04:29:00.005+02:00

It is that time of year when the fields fill with these yellow flowers. They look so beautiful. Then they turn to a ball of white. As a kid I used to gather them up and blow all of the contents into the wind. I thought it was great fun. Now I am breaking out the chemicals to kill all of these beautiful flowers that are growing in my lawn. Age changes our perspective sometimes!!

When I was a child I would venture out into the field to pick these very special flowers. My Grandmother called them Rooster heads. I would pick a handful and bring them back to my Mom. They were her favorite spring time flower. I am not even sure if they are called Rooster heads for real, but that is what they have always been to me.

Rooster got really tired running behind the four wheelers today. He decided to lay down and take a break in a field of flowers and sage brush.

A close up of Rooster heads. They only bloom for a short time. You usually find them in meadows.

More Rooster heads and the beautiful yellow pest.

Not sure what these are called they are a beautiful purple flower that also grows wild this time of year.
On days like today I am just in awe of a loving Heavenly Father who gave us so much beauty to enjoy.

A day of work...fun...and water

2011-06-15T03:53:00.003+02:00

Pulling out of a sink hole. Story below

Road covered with water from snow melt run off. But wait he will disappear soon!!!

This is usually a field where cattle graze. But not this spring and early summer. The creek is over the bush and what is showing in this photo is extra run off water.

The water in the rivers and creeks is overflowing this year. It was a heavy snow winter and it has been a late spring. Today we went up onto the summer pastures to put out salt for the cattle. The creek you see in this photo was overflowing. The first picture shows Garrett right in the middle of the stream. The four wheeler was covered with water. It was almost coming over top of the four wheeler. It was really a tough and deep place to be crossing because the current was so strong, but that is the only place to cross. My four wheeler and my dad's started to drift down the stream. I only got my straightened out because of the willow bush that you see stopping me. Then I was able to gun it and get through it without being washed down stream. We laughed and joked about it after we got through but it was pretty scary crossing. We were sure glad the four wheelers didn't did being buried so deep.

This photo shows Garret just starting into the creek. You can see the swiftness of the current because of the whiteness water splashing up.

This is another part of a road we traveled down today. The huge water splash that you see it actually Garrett coming through the water. The creek has diverted itself onto the road because it is so full.

The wave died down and you can see Garrett again. It is just amazing the amount of water that is flowing from the snow melting run off.

This is one of the creeks. Usually this creek can be jumped by a horse. But not this year. The creek is diverting itself because the regular channel cant handle the stream of water. We didn't even try to cross this one today.

All and all it was a great day!! A great adventure!! We all made it home safe and sound!!

What Rooster loves to do at the ranch...

2011-06-11T05:54:00.006+02:00

Ride in his Uncle Dan's big semi. " My Uncle Dan let me sleep in his sleeper area"

Take an afternoon rest in Grandpa car port area.

When a guys thirst thank heavens there is a cow water trough saves time on me running to the house to get a drink from my bowl.

Went to the Snake River Ranch with Uncle Dan. Meet some country folk. But they didn't play fair. When a ball got thrown one would try and beat me to the ball and another would be biting me so I couldn't beat his friend. I just finally gave up and let them chase the ball. The biting hurt!

Janson you aren't getting that calf caught do you need me to step in and get him caught?

Ok Grandpa how many more miles of fence do we need to fix before we turn the cows out?

Please Uncle Dan let me ride in the tractor with you!!!

Ok I ready for my four wheeler ride. In my seat ready to go.

I know if they would let me get under this gate I could chase those calves and cows into where they need to be going. Why are they telling me to stay and lay here!!!

Is it really summer!!

2011-06-10T17:17:00.008+02:00

Spring time at the ranch. I have been here for a month and a half. It has rained, snowed, and hailed. There has only been a couple of days in the 60s. Mainly it has been in the low 40. The old timers are saying they have never seem such crazy weather.

Some beautiful low clouds this morning. After our snow storm yesterday.

Rooster loves being outside in the sun, rain, or snow. But what he really loves is just being on the ranch working cows, riding in the tractor with his Uncle Dan, going for drives to the check the flooding, and riding on the back of my four wheeler.

This time of the year these mountains usually have just a little bit of snow left on them. But the snow was so deep this year and the sun can't seem to find it way through the clouds. So the deep snow just keeps hanging on.

This is my step nephew, he is part of the fencing crew. Look at this snow drift.

I am usually riding my four wheeler along this ridge and dropping down off into the trees, it may be a while before I can make this run!!

My friend in Midland probably think I have deserted them, but I am here at my ranch resting, spending time with my dad, and my brother, having my kids come sometimes for week ends. I just taking in the scenery and the view!!

Our Turtle family...

2010-04-23T01:47:00.002+02:00

It is that time of year where the turtle are waking up from their long winter naps. Last year we had two out in the yard. We also have had two little babies one 2 years old and one 1 years old in doors all winter. We are trying to get the two little ones to wake up so we can transition them outside to learn to live, but they are just toooooooooo tired.

This guy is probably 4 or 5 years old and cruises everywhere. Tonight we found him eating the dog food on the back porch. But to his dismay the food was too big to eat so he moved onto greener pastures. Bugs, worms and flowers.

As you can see those two little ones just look like beaches turtles. The larger of the two moved a little, but he has been burrowed down in his winter home for so long he had a hard time getting his legs moving.

You know your eyes are bad...

2010-02-12T15:04:00.002+01:00

I haven't painted my fingernails in a long time. I saw a gal a couple of days ago and loved the color of her nail polish. Opi - cajun shrimp. So I went and bought a bottle. I just love the color. I very carefully painted my nails and was admiring them and the color. Then it came time for us to read scriptures and I put on my glasses. I quickly glanced at my nails and just about had a heart attack right then and there. There was nail polish all around the edges and under my nails. I wanted to fall to my knees and weep and say why me. Not really but I was faced with a tough decision. Do I leave this awful mess on, take off the glasses and pretend that they are as beautiful as I thought they were before the glasses came on. Or do I take the polish off completely. I choose the latter to safe me moments of deep regret and knashing of teeth. The thought came to my mind it looked like a 2 year old had painted my nails.

So the big question is how many other things have looked good in my life, but I didn't put the glasses on to see the mess that had been made.

Today...

2010-02-08T18:19:00.002+01:00

I am so grateful to wake this morning and have energy to clean the bathrooms, straighten the clutter in the house, do the breakfast dishes and a couple of loads of laundry.

Now yesterday and Saturday were different stories, but who cares they are in the past. I am just GRATEFUL for today and the energy I have.

NOW you are probably wondering why I haven't been posting any pictures lately. Well my laptop computer crashed and I don't want to load all my photos on my daughter's laptop.
Also my kids were complaining that my blogs were always about them!! Don't they realize that that is what my life is about well at least until next fall when we become empty nesters. That could be a whole blog in itself about my feeling about being any empty nester.

So for a while you are just stuck with me writing.

A saying...

2010-01-29T16:53:00.002+01:00

Now that my parasite is gone. (I have been battling it for about 4 years on and off, but this last bout is what cause my health to go down again.) But we are pretty sure it is gone. But now the real task is to repair my body of the damages that has been done by the parasite. (Those mean little things)
So I have over the last 4 years read a lot of nutrition books. A couple of years ago I picked up a book called Traci's Transformational
Health Principles by Traci J. Sellers.
A friend return this book a couple of days ago and I felt inspired to read it again.
I love her attitude about things. Some of her cooking methods are way out there, but I love how she looks at things. My most favorite piece of advise she gives with regards to changing things in our lives is...

Zero out the one negative thing
Add in the one positive thing
Allow time for the change to become permanent.

Boy can this go along way in many different areas of my life!!!

Weather fronts...

2010-01-27T15:48:00.002+01:00

When I taught school in south Louisiana I would come into the school in the morning and there would be a whole line of kids lined up who had already gotten into trouble!!! My principal used to say a weather front was coming through. Every time a front coming through the kids would get wild.

So this Texas town that I am living in has numerous auto accidents daily. After being here I year I credit these accidents to...
1. Teenager drivers trying to show off with their friends in the vehicle with them and driving fast and crazy.
2. These teenage drivers driving big vehicles with a huge metal guard (the kind you use if you are driving in deer or elk country all the time) on the front of their vehicle. A parent once said to me that they were putting their child in their pickup with the metal guard because they knew they would have an accident and they wanted them to be the one to walk away.

SO what is my point...
This morning a weather front has been moving through. I got out to take my daughter to school. I came to the road that takes me out of the subdivision, stopped looked left and a car was many yards away. I pulled out onto the road, accelerated and got 30 yards down the road and the car comes speeding up onto my tail. (for it to have come on me that fast it had to have been going 60 mph or more in a 45 speed zone) The driver laid on the horn, and then barely zoomed out around me almost taking off my mirror. ( I might add here that this is a two lane street and there was no one in the other lane so the car could have easily moved over or just not been driving soooooooooooo fast. ) And you guessed it it was a teenage driver.
Then we move through two stop lights and see police lights flashing. Yup a fender bender, and Yup another teenage driver.
I then drop my daughter off to school, pull out of the school driveway and stop at the stop light. The light turns green and two cars from the opposite direction run the red light and turn right in front of me. Thank heavens I have learned to not be quick out of the stop light gate. And you guessed it teenage drivers.
I texted my daughter and told her and her reply back to me was... AND just why are you pushing me so hard to get my drivers license!!

BUT I am wondering with my vast (or not so vast) experience could there be a correlation between the storm front that is moving in and the driving this morning or is it just teenage drivers.

All In A Year...

2010-01-15T02:30:00.002+01:00

It is amazing the we have been back in the United States for a whole year and what a year it has been.
Our son had a horse riding accident fracturing his pelvis, breaking one big butterfly bone and cracking the other one. Then later finding out that he dislocated his jaw. He has had a successful year of healing. He is back to playing Rugby, riding horses, and snowboarding. We still have the upper jaw to get into place and allow it to heal. He took his GED and passed with flying colors. He has a semester of University behind him and is into his 2nd week of his 2nd semester.
Our daughter has adapted to being an American. Her heart still longs to be back across the pond in her beloved Scotland and Europe. But for now she is busy trying to choose universities, finishing up her last semester of high school, working hard as one of the leads in the school musical, and being Laurel president. We just watch her and are amazed how entrenched she has become with her friends here. She is always texting, phoning, and goofing off with them every weekend. She is hoping to be fluent in Spanish, French and trying to keep current on her Norwegian by the end of her school year. Can you guess she has decided to study languages at university.
It has been really fun watching both our children grow through their adjustments and challenges this past year.
My husband has loved his new job and continues to work really hard.
It has been a challenging year for me. I would honestly say that living in American has been the biggest and hardest adjustment for me. But I feel I am finally getting it. It amazes me how entrenched we became in the European life in the past 9 years. My health still continues to be my biggest challenge in my life. But I can only take it one day at a time. For each good day I have I thank my Heavenly Father, muddle through the bad days and try to set my sites on other good days to come. I seem to be knitting alot of things and watching alot of movies. I have a really strong support group here who check on me and offer tons of help. I am truly a blessed person.
For me the biggest highlight of the year was getting to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with my Dad. As we both grow older we seem to have more and more things to talk about and to share.
I am hoping to have the energy to keep up the blog, but we shall see. If it doesn't get done. Each of you need to know that you are in my thoughts often.
I hope that you have a wonderful New Year.

A Couple of Days Following My Brother...

2009-11-27T16:11:00.004+01:00

This time of year you would think that life would slow down for a rancher, but it is still crazy with getting critters ready to ship and sell, buying new stock, putting part of the ranch to bed for winter. His work is never done... (he is counting out cows to make sure we gathered all of them off of the range.)

After the shoes were pulled from the horses so they wouldn't slip and slide and get their feet full of snow balls they were mounted for a ride to collect the ones to be shipped.

This is his big rig that he uses to move the cows to where they need to go and to ship them to market.

Here he is hard at work, branding the new crop of cattle.

I had to throw this picture in. This is my brother old dog. He is blind in one eye and is deaf, but he still loves to help work cattle. He loves to catch them coming out of the shut to hustle them along.

This is the work crew. We worked almost 250 head of cattle that day, and yes we did it in the snow.

A better view of branding.

He has an electric chute you would think it would be easy, but you really have to be fast to catch the critters or they bolt through the chute.
He works hard to keep things going. It isn't an easy life, you have to get out in all kinds of weather, rather you want to or not because you have all kinds of critters depending on you.

Arches National Park...

2009-11-20T14:58:00.000+01:00

On our trip to the ranch we stopped to do some sightseeing. Mother Nature had decorated the park with a light layer of snow. I hope you enjoy the tour through the park!!

A Day with my Dad...

2009-11-19T14:43:00.003+01:00

I love being here on the Ranch with my Dad. This time of year there isn't much actions so we just have time to sit and visit, talk about everything and anything, catch up on everything, eat a lot of food. BUT my favorite thing is to just be with him. Above he has loaded some hay to feed the horses. I am the official gate opener!!

We drove down to check on the cow and saw a coyote in the field.

My brother has a baby colt and is he a cutie!! More on him later. But I had to show him in the blog because of course he had to be feed and watered.

My Dad just amazes me at how much he enjoys getting out and working.

We feed the cows.

My Dad didn't want to bother with hooking up the big tractor so he just hooked up the four wheeler onto the wagon. What would we ever do without the four wheelers around the ranch.

We also put out mice poison, raked some leaves, drove around and check out some cattle that are getting ready to be shipped, and went and visited my mom's grave.

We spotted a bald eagle. This was taken without a telephoto lens so could can see how close we got.

Saw a beautiful buck and his harem of does.

But the best part was just being with my DAD!!!!

What I love about FALL...

2009-11-09T00:33:00.003+01:00

I love this time of the year. The evening darkness is coming quicker. The home seems cozier. I like to burn cinnamon candles. The lamps shine dimly in the recesses of the house. The leaves are being to change. My most favorite memory of fall is driving the children home from school in Scotland and driving down a very narrow road with trees on both sides. The road looked like a carpet of red and orange leaves. As I would drive through it the leaves would fly everywhere feeling like we were having a shower of leaves. There is a real crispness to the air. The comforters come out to snuggle under at night.

The bushes get trimmed for the final time this summer. The trees seem bare, but you can tell they are anxiously waiting their Christmas light to dress them again.

The summer flowers in the flower beds have died and have been cleaned out. The beds are waiting for the pansies to be put into place to bring them back to life for the winter.

The trees seem like they are on fire. The air has a wood burning scent. BUT the best part is that...

Christmas is just around the corner and guess what I love that season more than FALL!!

A Night at the Oscars....

2009-11-05T17:20:00.004+01:00

We have the most awesome young women's presidency. They did the young women's in excellence program last night. It was called the night at the OSCARS. And what a night it was...
This is my daughter getting ready to walk the RED carpet...

Hamming it up on the red carpet. They had photographers there snapping pictures constantly.

Sending kisses to the crowd.

The leaders presented each young woman with an OSCAR (The statue presents the OSCAR) The leader would stand and call out the category and then of course with much anticipation would announce the winner. Then the recipient would come forward and share about her project.

This was our daughter's category. Her project was based upon her pillowcases for cancer kids sewing project that she did.

This is the whole group and they are an awesome group!!!

It was a black tie affair so of course our daughter talked her Dad into really making it a black tie affair. As soon as the young women saw him they cheered and shouted their approval of his black tie dress. They make a very beautiful and handsome pair even if I say so myself.

Why we went to DC... and the results...

2009-11-01T21:22:00.001+01:00

These two girls are second cousins. They have always really enjoyed each others company. This summer they spent 2 weeks together at my aunt's ranch.

They have alot of fun together.

They can talk and talk and talk and never run out of things to say. We only heard silence from them when one of them or both of them were sleeping.

SO why did we go to Washington DC...

1. Our daughter is taking American History this year for school. We have always tried to take our children to the places that they are studying so that they can experience it rather than just reading about it in books.

2. We went to Washington DC so that they (the girls) could spend some time together. Not to mention that my cousin and I went to Washington DC when we were young with our parents. It was such a great trip we decided to keep up the tradition and pass it onto our girls. It was supposed to be a girls trip, but when the Dads found out we were going they begged us and pleaded with us to come so finally after having them promise all the riches in the world we decided to let them come.

So what were the results...
The girls had a great week.
BUT what did our daughter take away from our week there...

I asked her at the end of the week to tell me what she was taking away from this week...
In her words, "I am so touched by how inspired our forefathers were, how creative they were and how much they sacrificed to make this a free country."

"I also have a better understanding of the sacrifices that have been made through the years by many people to keep us a free country."
She came away with a much stronger understanding of what it means to be an american. (that was one of the main reasons why we wanted her to make this trip)
BUT...
even after that great week and the deeper understanding she gain about America, that silly girl is still only talking about wanting to study at University abroad!!

Halloween Fun...

2009-11-01T08:00:00.001+01:00

For 9 years we haven't had a chance to truly celebrate Halloween with living out of the country so this year we did it in style (especially since this will be our daughter's last halloween as a high schooler!!) Our daughter talked her dad into dressing up this year and told him how much she loves a scotsmen in a kilt!!

Our daughter and her buddies. She has truly been blessed with some wonderful friends.

It has always been a tradition that my husband and daughter (and son when he was younger) have carved our pumpkin. So they didn't break with tradition this year. BUT they participated in a pumpkin carving contest at our church. My husband always carves the face.

Our daughter always seems to be in charge of cleaning the inside out. And always seems to pull this face year after year!!!

I dressed up as our son!! (Actually I snuck into his closet and borrowed his chincks, hat, shirt, scarf, boots and spurs)

These are some good friends. No one recognized them, it was great. They were by far the biggest hit of the evening.

Here we are in position for the trunk or treat event to begin. This is one of our other dear friends. She came as a witch. But warned us all that only this evening could we refer to her as a witch after that we had better never refer to her in those terms.

Then the youth came back to our home and hung out playing WII (I think they had 4 or 5 controllers going at one time)
eating pizza and ice cream, playing murder, and just having fun.

It was a great holiday for all of us!! Especially for our daughter to really and truly celebrate Halloween with so many good friends!!

What moved me the most...

2009-10-29T05:00:00.001+01:00

We actually visited this in the evening, so there was a real reverence as we stepped onto the path leading to the memorial.

History:

On June 25, 1950, the North Korean offensive started from four locations across the 38th parallel into South Korea. In 41 days the South Korean and American forces would be driven back into the Pusan perimeter, just a few miles from the southern shore of the tip of South Korea. In August reinforcements from the Eighth Army and Marine Corps would arrive.

By the end of September the Eighth Army would break out of the Pusan perimeter while Infantry and Marine Corps landed at Inchon and liberated Seoul, the capital of South Korea.

Three months later Marines, forward details from the Army and other British, French, Turkish, South Korean and other United Nations forces would stand at the Yalu River, the border between Korea and China, thinking the war was nearly over. Soon after reaching the border, a force of 300,000 Chinese troops who had moved into North Korea during the UN advance and concealed themselves in the mountainous terrain, attacked the UN forces from the rear. The UN forces would soon be fighting their way back to the coast to be taken off by the Navy or to secure positions in the south. The next 2½ years of the conflict would become trench warfare or battles for hilltops fought back and forth across the 38^th parallel.

During the war several decisions were made that would set the course of World history. Prior to the conflict America was disarming from World War II, ignoring the communist threat. After the North Korean invasion, President Truman set the doctrine that no country would fall to communism. It marked the beginning of the end of the Soviet Union and established our industrial base for the next 50 years.

There are 19 statues. They are approximately 7’3" tall, heroic scale and consist of 14 Army, 3 Marines, 1 Navy, 1 Air Force. They represent an ethnic cross section of America with 12 Caucasian, 3 African American, 2 Hispanic, 1 Oriental, 1 Indian (Native American).

The juniper bushes are meant to be symbolic of the rough terrain encountered in Korea, and the granite stripes of the obstacles overcome in war.

To me this is an amazing saying

The mural depicts Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard personnel and their equipment. The etchings are arranged to give a wavy appearance in harmony with the layout of the statues. The reflective quality of the Academy Black Granite creates the image of a total 38 statues, symbolic of the 38th Parallel and the 38 months of the war. When viewed from afar, it also creates the appearance of the mountain ranges of Korea.

"OUR NATION HONORS HER SONS AND DAUGHTERS WHO ANSWERED THE CALL TO DEFEND A COUNTRY THEY NEVER KNEW AND A PEOPLE THEY NEVER MET"

As I stood there that evening looking at this memorial tears filled my eyes because my Dad served in the Korean war. As I read the statistic of those who died, missing in action or were wounded, I silently thank my Heavenly Father that my father made it back home. I then called my Dad on the phone and shared with him through words how moving and beautiful the memorial was. It was definitely a very special moment for both of us.
Me understanding and him recalling.

Washington DC Trip

2009-10-27T14:21:00.004+01:00

First I decided we had better air our dirty laundry about our trip to get everything out in the open right up front!!
The two men were always taking naps!!

Every spare minute this guy was on his blackberry!! We were almost ready to throw it in the river.

This one just curled up in a ball and slept, this is what happens after a red eye flight!!

Our tour guide and chauffeur really did deserve a nap she worked so hard to get us where we needed to be and fought the city traffic in our 12 passenger van.( It was almost $400.00 cheaper to rent that than a mini van, so we went for it and had plenty of room and a lot of fun laughing and joking about it!!)

Sure glad she had a soft shoulder to snooze on. I think it was the warm afternoon coming through the window that finally got her.

As fast and as furious as we went all week we all deserved the nippy naps we took!
More to come on our great holiday. I feel so much better having aired the dirty laundry now we can move onto bigger and better things. Notice there wasn't any pictures of me napping that is the blessing of having the camera in your hands!!

More Conference Weekend...

2009-10-05T01:59:00.002+02:00

This weekend listening to conference was a bittersweet weekend for us. It was sweet because of the things that we learned, the testimonies that we heard, the love that was expressed, and getting to hear our beloved prophet. BUT... we all agreed that even thought it was nice being able to watch it on our TV, in our own home, and stuff our selves with conference food.

It was BITTER because...

we really missed our Norwegian families.
Every conference we would go to the church and gather with the saints in Norway. There we would listen to conference. Saturday morning session was Saturday night. Priesthood session was Sunday morning and then Saturday afternoon session was Sunday afternoon, then Sunday morning session was Sunday Evening for us.
What made conference so different you ask other than the times being different. The main broadcast was in Norwegian and in the chapel. The Relief Society Room or the Primary room downstairs was set up with a TV and was broadcast in English. Most of our friends joined us in the English speaking room because they wanted to hear their prophets' own voice.
The part that we missed the most was that each of us would bring a dinner for ourselves or sometimes we would work together with a theme. During the break we would all gather in the cultural hall and share our dinner. The visits were so fun!! It gave us time to just sit, eat, talk and be together. Then Kent Smith would be on the dish duty.
How my little family has missed that this past couple of conferences. In fact as I write it now it brings tears to my eyes and I can picture each family sitting around the tables visiting in my mind.
We all cheered as Elder Perry referred to the Norwegian people that worked on the Manti temple. Our hearts were full as he talked of their efforts, ideas, craftiness, and hard work.
I guess there will always be a very large part of us that will always be Norwegian no matter where we go or what we do.
We decided today that we attend 4 seesions of conference because of the example of our Norwegian families. Thank you for being steadfast and strong and an example to us all those years. We sure miss you guys!!

Conference Weekend...

2009-10-05T01:46:00.003+02:00

It was conference weekend and we all really enjoyed it especially Rooster, because he got to have his family just sitting around and being with just him. I am sure that he really and truly thought he was the center of this whole weekend. Which is Ok because he is a big part of our lives

Don't worry there is no druel there!! We have trained him better than that!! But he did snored a few times.

I am so inspired again...

2009-09-29T14:59:00.002+02:00

I know I have referred you to this blog before... I thought he had closed down the blog, but this morning I went onto it again and read about Paul coming home and his message.
http://mytricuspidatresia.blogspot.com/
I think that when you go through what he has that you gain a real perspective on life. I am so grateful that he had felt inspired to to share that perspective with all of us. As I sit here this morning with tears in my eyes I am silently thanking my Heavenly Father for my family and home. But for the trials that we seem to be going through. I only hope that my heart may turn as soft and more toward my Heavenly Father's as Paul's has.
There are some things that have inspired me, but I can honestly say that he has had the greatest impact of inspiration on me. That impact being to live every minute and to love everything deeply most importantly my family and Heavenly Father.

A quiet Night at home...

2009-09-27T03:25:00.006+02:00

My family has been going so hard lately that we never seem to have time together. So tonight I said enough. I asked my husband and daughter to please plan on staying home. I even skipped out on the Woman's broadcast. I also asked my son but chuckled as I asked him because I knew he already had plans, but I love to see him sputter and trying and be nice about saying no to me wanting a family night!!
Anyway I fixed a mexican dinner of Enchiladas (pictures above)

Bean dip

and the best peach cobbler I have ever tasted. I make my family eat the really weird healthy stuff that I have to eat all week so I take pity on them and go all out for them on the weekends. But keep in mind that I only took a small taste of each of these as my main meal these days is salad. My family ranted and raved about the meal. (Where do you ask did I get these recipes www.pioneerwoman.com.) I have started to use her recipes more and more and not once have I ever been disappointed with the ranting and raving of my family. I also copied her pictures so you could see how good it looks although my pictures don't do it justice!!
Our favorite tradition for family video night is to eat our dinner on TV trays and watch a good movie. Our daughter picked this one for the evening and it was great!! It was a great family video and I would recommend it to anyone.

We started our family video nights many years ago when the kids were little. It was pizza video night, but we are all sick of pizza so we have turned it to mexican night. But more than anything I just love having my family together and spending some quiet, down time.

A fun family home evening...

2009-09-24T00:44:00.000+02:00

I heard about this game one morning watching the early morning news. I went to store that day and say it displayed and bought it. It has become one of our favorite family games.

Sorry this is sidewards. My husband was so proud of this one. Especially the looooong word vegetable.

You each play your own game of scrabble against each other. My husband even broke out the dictionary as some of our words were questionable. It made it fun also because there were some Scottish words, and Norwegian words. My brain has been so dead lately that I struggle to make the words and of course came in last every time, but we sure had fun!!

Craziness has invaded my home...

2009-09-23T03:26:00.001+02:00

Just to remind you that our daughter likes to dress up in crazy outfits!!
So...

A few weekends ago some good friends took their son away to school in a far away land. For that block of time our daughter had two little sisters and boy did she had a blast. They went window shopping at the mall trying on crazy outfits, they talked, painted toenails and fingernails, stay up late and talked, went swimming and...
You guessed it they dressed up in crazy outfits.

They were even brave enough to dress up as we went to some other friends home for a BBQ

I just love how fun my daughter is... She truly is my best girlfriend!!

A Touching Video...

2009-09-23T02:32:00.004+02:00

This year again I am teaching early morning seminary to the youth. I have the 15-16 year olds or sophomores as they call themselves. I am constantly out looking for things that will maybe touch their lives. I got an email today for the new Reflections of Christ video and cried all the way through it. I just wanted to share it with all of you.
Enjoy...
http://www.anothertestamentofchrist.com/

A weekend full of blessings...

2009-09-21T00:17:00.002+02:00

I have had a restful weekend and it has been wonderful. If someone would have told me nine months ago that...
I would have a daughter who was so excited to go to a youth dance that was an hour away and who danced most of the dances and talked for an hour after she got home I would have said you were crazy!!
or that
I would have a son who jumped into a suburban with a group of young single adult on Friday and drove 5 hours for a young single adult conference for the weekend with the concluding speaker being President Uchtdorf and then will drive back another five hours I would have said you were crazy!!
But how grateful I am that my children have made such good friends with such good people and are enjoying doing good, fun things.
I am truly a blessed mother!!

I am so touched...

2009-09-17T15:12:00.002+02:00

This past couple of weeks I have really been struggling with my health again. Through this struggle I have daily checked in on a blog of someone whose health struggles are much more serious. He has truly been an inspiration to me. I am amazed and so touched by his words, attitude and thoughts. I prayed desperately for him that he would receive his new heart, and just sobbed when I read that he did. I have tried to take his words into my heart and to have an understanding of our trials and that they are a blessing in our lives. It amazes me how sometimes we come across someone in our lives who we don't even know personally, and yet they can have such an impact on our lives, our thoughts, and attitudes.
Enjoy spending some time on his blog http://mytricuspidatresia.blogspot.com/
and then his website of music. http://www.paulcardall.com/
May who he is and what he create be as much of an inspiration to you as it has been to me.

prickly situation...

2009-09-05T04:16:00.004+02:00

We went out to the horses tonight to check the water tank and we came out of the pasture with some extras. The pasture a few weeks ago was really green, now everything has died and this is what the weeds left behind.

We went out into the pasture to pet the horses and love on them a little. The soles of the flip flops, crock and gym shoes were covered.

When we realized it we immediately sat down and scrapped them off with the truck keys. Note to ourselves wear leather soled boots or else take a scraper next time.

As promised...

2009-08-14T21:54:00.006+02:00

A year or so I came across a great website: www.conkerrcancer.org. It is an organization that makes pillowcases for kids that have cancer. It is one of the best organizations I have come across that works really hard for the kids. Having had both our moms pass away with cancer and numerous friends and relatives, we are always trying to give back to help those that are fighting for their lives. Our daughter has really wanted to reach out and help some of these organizations. So she decided that she would use this organization and their project to complete one of her personal progress value projects. (Service)

There is a wonderful woman in our ward that was moving. She had a large (and I mean large box) of fabric that she didn't want to have to move. So when she heard about our daughter's project she donated enough fabric for about 50 or more pillowcases. We are very grateful to her for this donation.

Our daughter, cut, sewed, pressed, washed, dried, folded and put them into bags.

The neatest thing has happened, we were going to drop them off at a hospital a couple of hours away, but we got an email telling us about a fundraiser that was being held for a 3 year old little guy right here in our home town. His grandmother is know by several people who attend our church. We made the contact and our daughter is going to be able to send some of the
pillowcases to this little guy.

You wonder why I am posting this blog. It is not to really tell about our daughter and her service. It is to let each of you know that this is an ongoing project and...
IF ANY OF YOU KNOW OF SOME LITTLE PERSON WHO IS FIGHTING CANCER PLEASE LET US KNOW AND WE WILL SEND THEM SOME FLANNEL PILLOWCASES MADE OF FUN COLORS TO TAKE WITH THEM WHEN THEY TAKE CHEMO!!
We are hoping that they will help bring them some comfort.
We are hoping that through this blog we will be able to give some more pillowcases out. So pass the word along!! We have plenty of fabric thanks to our dear friend!!

All in a day...

2009-08-14T00:19:00.004+02:00

Somedays it just seem like we are having the ride of our lives!!! Up early to work on seminary, rehem two pair of pants, resew a skirt, listen to the kids banter back and forth, laughing and joking (the best part was my son was hasseling his sister which she absolutely loves (I might add he is also really weird about germs and she know it so to get him to leave her )she licked his hand and you guessed it he freaked!!!), answer an email of a very sick cancer child how would like some of our daughter's pillowcases while he takes chemo (I forgot I haven't told you about that yet, tomorrow's blog), run to Kinkos to make copies of seminary stuff (went quickly thanks to son's help boy is he efficent), did my laundry since I have no clean clothes, looked at my house and just sighed!!, listen to service project in progress by my son and friend, taking several kids (of family whose son just passed away) swimming, looked at my house again and signed!! Said a silent thank heavens that I made spagetti sauce yesterday for dinner tonight, taught daughter one hour of driver's ed course, listen to daughter tell me about plans for tonight to hang out with good buddy!! Is it bedtime yet!!!
BUT...
I am so thankful I now have the health to do all of this an am enjoying every minute of it and thanking my Heavenly Father for my health to be able to do it!

I am thankful for...

2009-08-13T01:08:00.002+02:00

This week as we have heard of a young friend diagnosed with colon cancer, and another family of friends who just lost their 18 year old son to unusual circumstances, another friend whose father has grown very ill at a very young age and needs a lung transplant. I have paused this afternoon to count my many blessings. Sometimes our struggles seem hard, but we only have to look at our neighbor to then thank our Heavenly Father for the trials he has sent our way.
I am touched as I talk to and watch these families go through their trials.
I am also touched by their faith to know that there is a bigger plan and that they just have to be faithful and all will be well.
So today I am thankful for so many things one of which is the example my friends are to me in my life.

A watermelon bust...

2009-08-09T04:13:00.003+02:00

What is this...? a dinosaur egg, a giant pickle, a torpedo or what...
My friend and I hit a farmer's market this morning at 7:30 am. A farmer had three giant and I mean giant watermelons.

I knew we had a ward BBQ tonight. I had signed up for a salad. So my friend said you should just take this.

My husband thinks it weighed about 100 pounds...Check out those muscles, no not his arms those calves. He has the best calves ever... it is from all of the biking all of these years!!

Did I mention that I only paid $10.00 for this thing!!

We took it to the party and it was a hit. Everyone loved the watermelon. We just kept cutting and cutting. By the end of the party there was only a small cake pan left!! It was a swimming party and BBQ. The kids would hop out of the pool and eat a piece of melon then hop back in!!

A Night out...

2009-08-01T15:32:00.005+02:00

We decided to load up at the last minute and head to the Drive-Inn Movie. Our daughter called our West Texas Grandma and of course she was game to go. (She always is and we love having her come along)

This is blurry but they are getting the home theater seats in place and ready to go. Notice how light it is.

Now notice the light this is just within a few minutes!! Still arrange the home theater seats.

Ok we are still arranging. There were some technical difficulties with the seats!!

In place and ready to go. They fun part is they play music and you just sit and visit until they start the movie. The mosquitoes were just starting to come out, but then a breeze kick up and they vanished!! Yeah!! You would think in the West Texas that sitting outside at the theater would be miserable, but that is the great thing about the desert as soon as the sun goes a breeze kicks in and it cools right off. Well most nights anyway!

This is a fun picture!! Our daughter watching the movie, the sunset in the background, and the picture screen just right there.

This is even better. Oh by the way we went to see Ice Age 3. It was a really fun night and we have decided that we need to go more often. Especially since it is getting darker earlier!! But we decided to head home after the first feature. (They play two features) Our daughter had already seen Harry Potter, I don't really like those movies, My husband and West Texas Grandma haven't seen the others so they would have been lost. Not to mention is was already about 11:00pm and remember I turn into a pumpkin by 11:15!!

What is happening on the ranch...

2009-07-16T00:23:00.003+02:00

My nephew riding his motorbike. Our daughter riding the 4-wheeler, although this year she bought a motorbike and is learning how to ride it.

Salting cattle up on the hill, and making sure they are doing well, and that the babies are growing.

My husband having and allergy attack. He forgot to start his drops a couple of weeks ago. He started them yesterday and his eyes were almost swollen shut last night and itchy so he will have a few miserable days on the ranch.

Our daughter reading a book and just relaxing.

Our daughter cleaning the house to get ready for her dad and his friend coming, but wait those don't look like cleaning utensils!! They look more like toys. Ok what is going on is she deceiving us. Knowing our daughter she already has the work done and it just having fun.

My other nephew riding his motorbike. Although a couple of weeks ago he took a tumble and I am not sure if he is back on his bike.

My dad on his trusty 4-wheeler!!

And of course it is that time of year when all the hay needs to come down, be bailed, hauled and tucked away for winter.
You know as I write this I realize that the same thing always happens every summer on the ranch. I guess what changes is that each year I am a year old, wiser probably not, but definitely a year older!!

OH YEAH...

2009-07-15T00:17:00.003+02:00

In the past 7 months I have...
moved to a new country, took care of son, helped a daughter adjust, bought a new house, bought a new car, bought new appliances, fixed a new broken tv, fixed a new broken frig, loved a husband, taught a relief society lesson, dragged because of my health, worked hard to get healthy, BUT...

I TOOK 9 hours of UNIVERSITY COURSES in 7 months. I know I am crazy!!
( I had to in order to keep my teaching certificate current because who knows when I may need to go to work (husband could loose job, kids going to college, I am bored out of my mind and need something to do...)
AND TODAY with the help of my very special little friend KARMEN I finished them!!! It has been so stressful, but the work is all completed and turned in. Now I just have to take the finals in the next 10 days. (they will be much easier!! Thank heavens!!!) and once again I will continue to be certified. What ever that means!!
But darn it now I have to clean my house, do laundry and try and unpack the several boxes that have been hanging out in the so called office.

What summer has brought...

2009-07-14T15:54:00.005+02:00

This summer has been so different from my past 9 summers. The biggest difference is not being at the ranch. BUT this summer has brought many wonderful things...

Having our daughter spread her wings and go by herself to the ranch, listening to how happy she is there, and thankful she is having special time with Grandpa and Grandma, Auntie and Unc and of course the cousins.

My husband to be able to fly up to the ranch and have a fun week with his childhood friend catching up on the last 9 years.

Time to just concentrate on my health and eating right and for the first time in years feeling pretty normal.

Having one on one time with my son and getting to know him again and loving every minute of the time we spend together. Realizing once again how blessed I am to be his mom.

The sunshine that west Texas bring into my life everyday.

Getting up early in the mornings and walking with Rooster before the sun comes up while there is still a coolness to the air.

Living so close to a temple (2 hours) and being able to pop up on a Saturday for a date with my husband.

Finding turtle after turtle (ok I am not going there on the livestock thing)

Having time to sew a skirt for my daughter.

But more than anything JUST BREATHING and enjoying every minute because I know that soon when school starts it will all change. Our son will once again be on his own at University, our daughter will be a senior and busy with all of her doings, my husband will be busy at work, and then it will be my time to go to the ranch here and there to enjoy all the ranch brings into our lives. (horses, 4-wheelers, my family, the mountains etc.)
Life is about a time and a season.

The saga...

2009-07-10T08:40:00.001+02:00

In January we had the challenges of our son and his horse riding accident. He had a fractures pelvis and broke the big butterfly bone in his hip. At first they said 3-6 months, BUT he was cleared from the Doctor at just three months. He has enjoyed riding almost everyday for the past couple of months, but of course now it is getting really hot so he is doing less. BUT now

We are finding out that his injuries weren't just contained to his pelvis and hip. He also suffered a jaw injury along with it, but we were so into the other injuries that we didn't realize that the jaw injury had taken place. He was complaining about his jaw but we just thought it was because he was clamping down on his teeth hard at night.

So now we are doing xrays and cat scans to determine what is really wrong with his jaw and what will need to be done. The big problem is that...
He is headed off to University in the fall and ... well you can guess the rest of story or if not you shall just have to wait and see what the next chapter of the jaw and university brings... I know I can hardly wait!!!

Turtle Quiz...

2009-07-08T16:53:00.005+02:00

Ok so I tried to recruit one turtle to move to the ranch and asked him to talk to his buddies. Well I didn't hear from any of them for a couple of days. So I guess that things are dead in the water and that is is no deal.
SO we are having a turtle quiz instead. (I know I know you are so excited you can hardly stand it you are jumping up and down and going straight to the internet to figure it all out!!)

So here is the question.
Just what kind of turtle is this?
Is it male or female?
(You know you are going to have to figure it out because I really don't have any answers and there aren't any prizes either!!)

Now notice the color his his head, legs and shell because...

Hey Stormy what are doing sneaking into the turtle quiz. That horse is always right in the middle of things!! Including the only horse it the pasture that will eat the watermelon my friend throws over the fence.

Now look at this one. He is definitely a different kind. He was in the back yard this morning. I haven't seen him crusin around here before. But I am guessing he has been but we just haven't meet him yet.

Check out those freckles or are they spots.

His head almost looked like a snake head as it would turn.

So what kind is this guy? Do you think he is male or female. But the big question is do I try and talk him into moving to the ranch? Different kind different ideas of what might be the adventure of his life???

I love...

2009-07-08T16:01:00.006+02:00

When we moved here in January, I had forgotten how desolate it was in west Texas. It was such a shock coming from such a rugged and beautiful country like Norway. I went through withdrawal (for many other reasons also). This past few weeks we have had a fair amount of rain and along with it the desert has come into full bloom.

These are called purple sage. I was going to pop out a few days ago and get some pictures, but got busy doing other things. When the last rain storm came through it took most of the blossoms off. As you can see by the blanket of flowers on the ground. But these are such a beautiful site.

These bushes were just loaded with blossoms. So just image that the blossoms that you see laying on the ground are actually on the tree and if you really use your imagination you can see what I have seen this past couple of weeks.

This of course is someones yard. But can you believe there are yards this beautiful in west Texas. It is amazing what a little sprinkler system and water will do. But you really ought to know!! This is out by where some good friends of ours live and they see rattlesnakes all the time. Of course their house backs up to a wide open field. But they put moth balls out and it keeps the snakes out of their yard. Now they just have to worry about a bobcat and her babies jumping the fence to drink from their pool.

The desert is really a beautiful place. BUT along with the beautiful comes the sun also, which I love but today it is supposed to be 104 which is about 40 C. Thank heavens my frig makes ice cubes!!

The creature...

2009-07-02T14:21:00.005+02:00

I know you were all very disappointed that yesterday's post was about our daughter's birthday. But I am sure that is was worth the wait!! This guy is UGLY!!! hairy, scary, creepy, wiggly etc. It is that time of year here in west Texas. They have arrived and are taking over. No not really don't panic.

They are Tarantula spiders. Thank heavens they are NOT poisonous well their bite might hurt and you might get some side effects from it, BUT you will not die or lose a chunk out of your arm. This is the time of year when they migrate. Migrate from where to where I haven't any idea. They just seem to pass through west Texas this time of year. When we lived here before and lived out in the country you could see them moving across the grass and all over the houses. But I haven't seen any in the city this year.

Our son found this one when we went to water the horses a couple of days ago. He was just hanging out on our friend's house. I thought about recruiting him and his buddies along with the turtles for the ranch livestock, but this guy wouldn't negotiate a deal either! What is it with these west Texas critter and not wanting to relocate. I mean this guy is migrating from where to where and won't even consider going to the Rocky Mountains. I am almost ready to give up on the this livestock thing!!

They are just such amazing and fascinating creatures.

She's 17...

2009-07-01T18:32:00.005+02:00

Our daughter turned 17 yesterday!! Where have the years gone? My husband took the day off to help celebrate her birthday. This is the first time in 9 years that he has been there for her birthday because (I bet you are thinking what a bad father... DONT it was because we were always at the ranch and he was in Scotland and then Norway) So to start off her birthday day we served her breakfast in bed.

Then we went for pedicures!!

The girls loved the massage chairs, foot massages, and leg massages.

Our daughter decided she wanted tiger stripes for added decoration.

Isn't she corrdinated!! Her toes match her flip flops.

We then all gathered around the table for a great lunch of burger, corn, veggies and chips.

Then off the bowling alley for a couple of rounds.

This is a good friend of our daughters. They have just meet this summer and are really enjoying each other's company.

Our daughter in action.

In was such a fun day. Our daughter really enjoyed her friend. Her birthday present was to fly to the ranch by her self and hang with her grandpa and grandma. Then she is off to girl's camp for a week. Yes yet another girl's camp!! Is it the camping or the fun time they have that has her doing two camps this summer???

OH NO.!.!.!

2009-06-30T01:33:00.005+02:00

Oh no! It rained here in west Texas again. Actually we had a down pour. Today we went out to check on the horses and OH NO Ghost, (White Guy) shrunk in the rain. What will our son ever do!! No more roping, goodness at this stage his stirrups will drag the ground. He actually will have to probably pick the horse up and carry him. Ghost is now shetland size. I am just heartsick how could this happen.

Boy and did his mane grew over night. I guess because he shrunk sooooooo much.

Look he doesn't even come up to the 2nd rail on the fence anymore! I am just heartsick!!

Fooled ya!! I bet I really had you going?!?!? That is the shetland that keeps our son's horses company.

Oh, and this is the preview for tomorrow!! Exciting huh!!

Ranch Livestock...

2009-06-26T14:20:00.005+02:00

Over the years we have dreamed about what we will do with the ranch. It has always been a dream that the whole family would be involved some how and that it would provide a safe haven for everyone...

My nephew likes that idea!! He loves being on the ranch. Actually he just loves hanging with the cousins, and checking out what's in the pantry.

We need to do something with it that will allow me to be able to ride everyday if I want.

So we have thought of making it a deer ranch, but realized that those things are so wild that we wouldn't be able to contain them. But then we realized that are all over the ranch anyway so that wouldn't work. Part of a working ranch is in the fall being willing to go up into the woods and rustle around in the underbrush and trees looking for your livestock.
Well...
Two days ago our daughter went rustling through the underbrush of our backyard and located...

yes, another turtle. So then the idea struck us, maybe our livestock could be turtles! They are really plentiful here is west Texas. Oh yeah, we are onto something roundups would be easy, the cost of feeding would be minimal, a few grubs here or there, some fruit chopped up. Are you getting my picture?

The BLM would allow us to be in the government ground longer during the summer since there wouldn't be a chance of over grazing. So I approached this guy and have a conversation with him about rounding up all his friends and signing a contract to be a part of the ranch. I explained all of the benefits, the pros and cons, the biggest con being the ride in the horse trailer from here to the ranch. And he just

walked away from the deal. Wait I asked "are you going back to your buddies to get their opinion and come back at us with a deal. Or are you just walking away from the deal?" No response. I was ready to offer him a deal of a life time. Of course I didn't mention the hours it would take to cover acreage, that the winter's were cold, he must have seem the deception is my eyes. That was it. I should have worn a mask to present the deal!!

So I chatted him up again trying to swing a deal. Hoping this time he would listen. I even put the biggest smile on my face.

I really am getting the picture now. This definitely means no deal!!
I guess we will puzzle for few more years so what to do with the ranch!!

The troll cake...

2009-06-25T04:20:00.002+02:00

For young women's tonight my daughter's group decorated cakes. This is my daughter's masterpiece. She did Norwegian cake. It is a troll face. Can you see it??!?!?! She is so talented. Actually the lady who helped made the flowers and our daughter did the rest.

Have you ever seen such a beautiful troll face!!

The Desert in bloom...

2009-06-22T14:53:00.004+02:00

There is a plant here in the desert call the century plant. I remember seeing them outside of my grandmother's drive way. Her's were huge, but then I was a little girl so maybe they weren't as big as they seemed. Above is a century plant that has already bloomed.

Here is one that has been in bloom for almost 2 weeks. Everyday when I take my husband to work and drive by it I think to myself I should take a picture of that!! So this morning I toted my camera along and snapped some shots. The plant dies after flowering, but produces suckers from the base, which continue its growth. The average life-span is around 28 years. (this is according to wikipedia)

I would love to pop over and try to feel what the flowers feel like, but...

1. It is at a very busy intersection in town

2. It is really tall, I thought about climbing it but decided that it wouldn't hold me to get up to the top so, it will remain a mystery as to what the flowers feels like.

The Wee Tortoise

2009-06-20T22:37:00.006+02:00

Today we decide to measure the wee tortoise. We took him outside and boy did he love the sunshine. He stretched one way

and then the other

He measured in at a whoppin 1 1/2 inches wide spread eagle.

One inch wide partial spread eagle

Two inches only in length. Spread eagle he is almost as wide as he is long. We had a tough time measuring him this way. He kept curising away from Alex. Every time she would sit him down he would take off like he was running a race. The best part was one time she let him go and there was a bowl sitting on the table. He cruised directly to the bowl and hid under the edge. It is amazing how fast he can boogie.

You can't really see it clearly but his skin goes completely back into the shell. Our daughter said this little guy has on a wet suit and is completely protected.

It is fun having this little guy as part of the family. Everyone who comes to visit like to check him out. He has actually become quite shy. He runs, digs a hole in the corner of his digs and tries to disappear. I just realized that all through this post I refer to the wee thing as a he. So go back and read the post and put she in each place where I put he.

To petsmart...

2009-06-19T02:03:00.007+02:00

We took the turtle for his first ride. We broke out the design carrier (old cereal bowl with straw) to take him on his first ride. We ventured to Petsmart to find out what we needed. Actually we went to Petsmart first and after a length conversation with the sales person she decided we had better know what kind of a turtle it is. Aqua vs land, Box vs Snapper. So we cruised back home and loaded the little guy up in his designer carrier.

The sales person is showing our daughter some characteristics of the snapper turtle. She was the one who thought it was female and only about 2 months old. It will double it's size this first year. Double it's size the second year, and then from then it will slow down and you will hardly be able to tell that it has grown each year.

We are loaded up. The daughter bought a terrarium, sand that contains calcium, turtle food (which contains a container of grubs. That are in my frig. Hopefully it is cold enough they won't turn into bugs, and cold enough they won't decide to go hunting for better digs than a plastic container), a log home, and a wee little swimming pool.

Here is the girl getting ready to put together the home!! She didn't want to do it by herself and her favorite person to help her is her dad. (Because he had turtles when he was little and loved them) So she got everything ready to go and...
Waited and waited because the yard man was hard at work and it was getting hot outside and he wanted to finish the project before it go tooooooooooo hot which it does here in west Texas. WE ARE TALKING 103 this week!!
So you will have to wait to be able to check out the turtles new digs until another post!!

A Weekend Treat

2009-06-16T15:08:00.000+02:00

As a kid I remember my mom and my aunt making homemade ice cream. It was always so creamy and delicious. Ice cream wasn't really a big treat for us because my uncle worked for an ice cream company and we always had 2 or 5 five gallon containers in our freezer. But when mom and auntie made homemade ice cream it was special. They were always experimenting with what they put in it. Fruit, chocolate, mint candy etc. (sometimes I don't think we dared asked what they put into it!! But it was always delicious!!!) It was almost as special as the homemade rootbeer they used to make. (that is another story for another day)

With living out of the country I could never find an ice cream maker. When my aunt and uncle visited one time I mentioned it in passing. That year for Christmas we got an awesome ice cream maker in the mail.

It was hard to make ice cream in Norway because a secret ingredient was missing. (Or maybe I just could never figure out what it was!!!) But here is the secret ingredient...

Can you guess which one it might be... Well vanilla is a good try but no we could get what we called vanilla sugar over there. Actually now that I have cooked with Norwegian vanilla sugar I preferred it to the liquid vanilla. The missing ingredient was Half and Half!!!!! I tried to make the ice cream with watered down cream in Norway but it just didn't taste right.

We have some fun traditions in our family. Friday night is pizza, video night. So this Saturday I decided that I would start a new tradition. Saturday night ice cream!! I actually made two batches. One for us and one for my son's friends family.

I made vanilla. That is what my family loves the most. But next week LOOK OUT!! It was enjoyed by all of my family. I am already thinking of what crazy kind I can come up with next week. Maybe cantaloupe, peppermint, cookies and cream...
Hey if you are thinking about storming our house for some... come on over we can make plenty!!!

2009-06-15T15:56:00.000+02:00