Home!

I think he is glad to be home!

The Kid Comes Home!

Today is the day that Smoke comes home! Smoke left here on August 1st a jumpy wide-eyed three year old. He has been at the trainers since - in this picture he is not sure he wants to place a hoof in the barn....

Hubby hooked up the trailer and left for work this morning. He will head over to pick Smoke up after he gets off work.

Smoke will return home to re-stake his position in the horse line-up which was at the very bottom and will still be at the very bottom. He will join the others back in our pasture (2 of which are 22 yrs old) - we will see what he knows. Check out my updates on my "Out West" blog - go to it in the upper right hand corner.

Giant Threesome!

A few years ago we attended the Red River Valley Fair in Fargo, North Dakota. We were there attending the hog show but there were plenty of these gentle giants around!



How beautiful they are - unfortunately this picture portrays a "a headless horseman" - my attention was directed to the size and beauty of these animals so didn't pay any attention to the little guy. The whites of their legs intrigue me - we give our horses wash downs with the outside hose but can you imagine the size of a bathtub these babes would need!



They (the three giants) look just as well from the back end. Stunning!

Memory Monday!

Celebrating my 9th Birthday - I and my little sister, Stephani, are in the front and the neighbor girls in the back! It looks like I hadn't had a growing spurt yet - I was only one year behind the older girls....

If I Could Talk to The Animals

This is "Custer" the first puppy we had after we got married along with my second Appaloosa horse - her name was Beavers Sunset or "Sunny" for short.

Watch the Leaves Turn....

Even if something is left undone,
everyone must take time to sit still
and watch the leaves turn.

by Elizabeth Lawrence


Fall is my favorite season of the year! I'm excited, I have some plans to venture out to enjoy some of this fall weather.... Capturing the fall color - takes perfect timing and some luck that it doesn't rain. Put your feet up and enjoy the COLOR!

2006 Fall Photo Shoot

Tamarac Refuge



This was the fall before graduation - we took our own graduation pictures - it was fun trying different themes!




Posing with Smoke (he is still just a baby here) - Oh, Smoke may be coming home from his schooling this Sunday - Just in time for another fall photo shoot!




Posing with Little Texas Jack "Jack" - he is her "somebody special"! Sometime I will post his story....

One Potato Two!

It is potato harvest time - and our peaceful little corner of the world is humming with activity!

We are not potato farmers but many of the fields around us are planted with potatoes. You will hear the hum of the tractors and trucks as they go about their work. The potatoes are picked and elevated up and into the trucks.





The trucks almost seem to be in a race - they want to keep the loads going out of the field and to the nearby warehouse.




The next time you have french fries they just may be from good ol' Minnesota!

Night-time Special!

Watching Odda!

Checking in on Odda - Odda is a big puppy! This day it wasn't what I expected. I teased that I should wear all kinds of padding and gloves to be ready for her. I'm Kidding Mom! I did wear my tennis shoes, jeans and a long sleeved shirt though! But today it was a piece of cake - she was most interested in the vehicle I drove since I suspect it smelled like our dogs and possibly smelled like her dog family member "Hooch" who is staying at our house.


She played with the ball in the yard - of course Hooch wasn't with so the ball was all hers! She grabbed onto the milk carton and wrestled around with that for moment and then on to the broom. She shook that broom just like she was really telling it "what for".








We took a little walk around the yard - I stopped to take some beautiful flower pictures and she must have thought she wasn't getting enough attention since she thought it was a good idea to just come up between my legs. We put a stop to that - it would be way to easy for her to knock somebody over. And I did get smarter and stood with my legs closer together!



Getting her back in the kennel was a bit interesting but before long we came to an understanding and she must have thought "this witch isn't changing her mind" and then she almost drug me to the kennel door!

The midweek duty will belong to Far Side - I'm sure she'll come up with an interesting story and maybe Chance will be with too!

See westsideofstraight.blogspot.com and farsideoffifty.blogspot.com for some interesting reading.

Emotions -

Today will be a mixed emotion day - (emotion is described as "intense feeling") in the dictionary.

Late morning we will be attending the funeral of my hubby's grandmother and my children's great-grandmother. She was to turn 99 years old in November and lived alone in her apartment till just a short time ago - family gathered last night to share in her memory. May she join all of the other Angels watching over us....

Then some time today my sister's baby, Renee, who was born prematurely last July will be baptized. She is a little blessing and I've been asked to be her nanny (or as we know it her "Godmother") and I am honored! But, the first duty of bringing her to be baptized I will not be there. I live in Minnesota and they live in Louisiana - It just didn't work out for me to travel there this time. Many blessings to you little girl...

Then in the evening, we will be attending yet another volleyball game - we will be cheering from the bleachers! Hubby spent the day Saturday watching the volleyball tournament - you wouldn't have known that he just had knee surgery on Friday. He was told to do whatever it would allow him to, he hasn't even taken pain medication since Friday. So I believe he is doing great - he just says he is "tougher than hell"...

Happy Monday.....

If I Could Talk To The Animals!

I would say, "Tigger, what are you doing?"

Busy Saturday!

What a busy day - Hanging out at the gym.




Volleyball was the name of the Game! It was a tournament - and it was a good one. Our team played in the "Finals" and it came down to the wire. The girls came in 2nd but boy did they play some awesome Volleyball today! Varsity watch out!

Friday Night Football!

High School Football brings back memories of my sons' playing time. These are a couple of my favorite photos done in black and white.

God added another star to the sky this evening -- Grandma Grace passed away this evening just shy of turning 99 years old.

Perhaps they are not really stars in the sky. Perhaps they're openings in the heavens where our loved ones shine down to let us know they are happy!

Peaceful Ride!!

check out my other blog at www.livingitupoutwest.blogspot.com

The Carpenter!

My husband is a carpenter by trade - it is what he went to school for. He apparently had this dream back when he was just a boy.




Christmas one year he was very happy with his gift of tools and sawhorses.

After trade school he worked for a cabinet company making custom cabinets. This was his trade when we married. Times got tough for the cabinet company and they went out of business so it was on to different employment.

Years later his job as a law enforcement dispatcher gave him the opportunity to start doing carpentry work part-time. This eventually led to the big decision of taking it on again full-time and going bigger with a partner and a crew.




This home they built during that time period - it is a very large beautiful lakehome that he is very proud of. And he should be - it is just simply elegant! He built several additional homes all very unique working with each homeowner to make their dream home!

Then this past year when the economy began to struggle he began to think about other options. He did take on a working position doing weatherization audits - so he still works with the homeowner in regards to their homes but in a much different spectrum.

Once a carpenter always a carpenter. One of his last projects was re-roofing his parents home - it is a home that has been in the family for many years (this was also Grandma Grace's home).



He still gets calls to do jobs and some have been repeat customers. He has built not only a great reputation for his work but also has a tremendous amount of respect in the construction field.

Life is a Journey and Only You Hold the Map

Once again, our family is facing a roadblock. When Hubby and I married we each added more grandparents to our family - we had two sets of grandparents and Grandma Grace.

They joined us for many Christmases and as our children were born they joined us to celebrate many of their birthdays! As time went on it was more difficult for them to be with us.

Twenty-two years later things began to change. My grandmother, Arvilla, unexpectedly had some health issues and passed on in the spring of 2008 followed by my grandfather, Carl, who passed on Memorial Weekend 2009. They both lived very fulfilling lives, we celebrated their lives and their time with us.

Our present roadblock is that Grandma Grace (hubby's grandmother) is preparing for her next journey. Her life has been very fulfilling as she is 98 years old and lived in her own apartment until just recently. Grandma Grace fell last week and now has multiple breaks in her hip area - she is comfortable and resting.

I can't help but think that Grandma is preparing for her next journey - you see she became a widow 44 years ago when her husband passed away - she has lived most of her life without him.

My children were very lucky to have so many grandparents (5 greats) -

Grandma Grace has lived a wonderful long life - I feel honored to have been in "her family" - I can only imagine that her map will take her on the ultimate journey reuniting her with Grandpa Frank.




This is my Hubby and his Grandma Grace at the Family Reunion on August 16, 2009.

Remember when...

we went trick or treating at Great Grandma Graces! 1994

Official Start of Winter!

On Saturday, the men had planned on attending the "HAYDAYS" event in Lino Lakes-Columbus, Minnesota. They would be up early and on their way - each with a wish list in hand. The most popular item being snowpants - the kind that don't leave you with a wet hinder in the middle of a snowmobile ride. (A pair for me were also on that list - the hubby had my measurements - this could be interesting!)

At the last minute the traveling plans were changing and I could go! Yahoo! I'd never been there and I was told it was a lot of walking with no where to plunk yourself down and of course all about snowmobiles. Well I'm always willing to check it out once!

As we got closer to the event, the traffic began to backup and everybody and their neighbor (and strangers) had stuff for sale lined up in the driveways and ditches. We did take a walk down the highway to check out some sleds that our son found interesting.






First on the agenda was to find Klim snowpants, so we all stuck together. Success - we all found what we needed and mine fit perfectly.



Then I split off on my own (let the guys do their own thing) and I was going to see if I could find some interesting things. I watched the drag races "on the grass" for a few minutes. This is how HAYDAYS started back in 1967 when 6 snowmobile friends started a club. And it grew! Hubby's (aunt and uncle), Phil and Liz, are in the Sno Barons Hall of Fame and are still very involved.






Our group met at the "beer garden" - a place to sit and rest!




Then off to check out the "Spyder" a motorcycle like a snowmobile. That would be a great ride to Sturgis!



We continued to browse snowmobiles for sale.




And I found some interesting signs.



Along with the booths "for men" - Chick Calendars and autographs!

I did find one of the booths for women "for the girls that like to ride" - Sled B_____. I did make a small purchase! This is a Minnesota business - 2 girlfriends who decided to buy snowmobiles and made their own B word shirts. The idea took off for a business when many others wanted to purchase one. They also have "Sled Divas" for the younger ladies.


As we left, we looked up cousin, Chad, at the Forest Lake Fire and Rescue booth. They had the infamous new air boat on display -- We missed Chad but got this great picture.




This was a fun day - the only requisite is "be willing to walk and walk and not be afraid of getting dirty" -- I've already started my wish list for the 2010 Hay Days.

And by the way - this official start of winter it was some 90 degrees warm and I got a sunburn!