Christmas, Past and Present

December 23, 2009

Last Friday I took Grandma to Billings. Her flight to Texas was Saturday morning. I stayed with Cari and Joey and his folks, Joe and Michele wanted to take us around to look at the Christmas lights. Grandma opted out but I am so glad the rest of us went. I have looked at lights in Billings before, but we went places I hadn't been. Of course I simply couldn't take all the pictures I wanted, but we got some. Our very favorite house had a silhouette of the nativity, but it just did not show up on the camera. Dusk would have been the best time for a picture, but it was beautiful. It just made us all stop and absorb the peace of it.
I think this house had over 20,000 lights. It was beautiful. Can you imagine stringing all those lights around and then having to take them down again???? There was another house that had thousands of lights and the owners had the lights rigged to the computer somehow and when the certain radio station played the music, the lights pulsed to the beat. It is beyond my realm of "computereze."

This yard was near the rims and lots of wooden decorations!

More of the same yard... My question to you, where in the world would one store that much stuff!!!!


This was a pretty yard also. There was one garish decoration that we saw at two different houses. It was a Santa Claus whose body waved--it was like a ghost and it was unnerving. None of us really liked it. Gaudy is the word...

We like our little tree. It fits us. Bill doesn't have to go cut one. There are no needles to clean up. It fits in our living room!

This decoration is very old. A friend's father made it many years ago. I keep gluing it back together when it comes apart. The lights are still working. It is made out of baby food jars and I don't think they put baby food in jars any more! It is very pretty when the lights are off or not many on.
This is my very favorite... The kids never broke it over the years. I broke a piece off of one of them after Bill and I were married and I cried over it, but I would have to look closely to remember which one it is. It was interesting at Cookie Day. I heard one of the girls ask where baby Jesus was. I said he wasn't here yet, but I put him out for the picture. May HE reside in your heart this Christmas and all through the year. He is a present to you for free taking.

Merry Christmas to you and yours from Cowboy and me.

A Little of This and a Little of That

December 22, 2009

Very original title! I have had several blogs bouncing through my head, so I am putting a few thoughts and pictures on the blog. Usually I read everyone else and then decide I don't want to write anything. I will do a reverse this time.

I got the baby blankets done for the two new babies in the family! Rhys William Stanaland (great nephew), was born November 16, and Kelli Leah Murnion (10th grand girl!), was born December 1o, so I was busy getting a couple of quilts done. My wish was to present them in person and then cuddle said baby!! But 'tis not to be! I am just glad they are here and healthy!
Okay, computer whizzes, how do I turn the picture because when picking it, it was the right way!! Anyway, you get the general idea and I just loved the prayer for each of them!!


What is not to love?! Javon was so good that day even though her nap was VERY short! Don't you wonder what they are thinking????


The bigger girls are getting one of these pillow cases. I just fell in love with the material and didn't have time to make quilts for them all, so I did the next best thing!!! They won't be reading this blog and the Moms won't tell. Besides, I have the pillow cases wrapped, and all are under our tree except the ones I mailed to Vancouver and Elko.

Cowboy has been waiting months to get a Ruddock shirt (or more than one!) made in the United States. Lou Taubert Ranch Outfitters was on it! They didn't have a fast track either. Finally they called and they had two!! One was black and the other was white! I picked them up and wrapped them and put them under the tree. AFTER Christmas I will tell you what Cari and I bought to go with them. Also the socks are made in the US of A. I am a big fan of Smart Wool, these are made out of wool and bamboo and the man who started Smart Wool started this Company too. They are wrapped up for Santa to give... I will let you know how they wear. Cari and I were in In Step (shoe store) and found the owners to be so nice. It is downtown Billings and we will go back.

Hope you are sipping hot chocolate and enjoying your Christmas cards!!

Cookie and Kid Day!

December 13, 2009

Oh, what fun was had! It is a toss up deciding who likes it more, the little kids to get together and play and decorate cookies or the adults who visit and cook a little and "wrangle" kids.

It is certainly a time for making memories, and I have to stop during the day and breath deeply and enjoy that moment...From telling me about the upcoming Christmas program to the monster dream. Also in a sweet voice (and from more than one voice) "could I please make them an apron too?" I promised them one for next cookie day.

Speaking of aprons...The Farmer's Wife had this wonderful idea last Christmas to make aprons for Cookie Day 2009. She had the material and the pattern. So I took down the number and said I would make the other aprons. I got it down to an assembly line and made them easily after a little "reverse sewing." ("Reverse sewing" is God's way to keep me humble and remind me He has a great sense of humor!) The first one I made I got one tie on the bottom edge. Like I said, Bill and I had a great laugh!! Back to Mary, I called to remind her to bring her apron and she told me she NEVER got it sewn. She did tell me she always has "good ideas" but maybe not always to follow through... So now we know!

I had 17 pictures I wanted to post, so now I have to decide how to cut them down to a reasonable number and that wasn't even all the pictures I took yesterday and Mary took lots too!!
Jen is making caramels. "We" are trying a new recipe. I helped as I peeked over her shoulder from time to time. She made them last year too! Yum! Yum! Nothing like homemade caramels!

Jolene and I enjoying the "fruits" of our labor...

Here are the apron girls! Mary is modeling Meghan's who could not be here this year! We were going to have Tristin model it, but she was sick, studying, and sad she could not come. We tried to get Granddad to take our picture, but these new fangled cameras are hard to understand. He pushed the button down, and then he lowered the camera and then the picture "took." So I took this picture.

Bonnie was the one to discover that we have to be VERY careful going to the powder room because of the long ties on the aprons...AND then I forgot...

Here they are getting a good start...Moms giving guidance...


Cari helped out by taking care of Javon who had no interest in decorating cookies. A nap to both sounded good but it was so darned noisy!! Cari got Javon asleep and then tried dozing herself. That was nearly impossible!

Girls aren't quiet...











Look at those busy little hands!

The creativity just flowed and spilled out all over!

We threw a little yellow in the mix. This year I didn't get any angels made and they wondered where the angels were to decorate! Next year...











Here is an example of what one of the creators did. He shall remain unnamed, but after all he is the only one! He was pretty pleased with his decorating and what the heck, why not take a quick taste!

That is called pretested and ready for distribution. Mom kept his on a very special plate and we kept having to ward off takers. We told they had already been "licked!" He came back later and cleaned his plate and left the parts that weren't frosted!




Since Angus is the only grand boy, Cowboy PopPop figured Angus could have one of Cowboy's old felt hats.

Little Miss Javon came up the stairs sporting it after Angus took it off. She wants to be a cowgirl too!! Me thinks Cowboy better get busy and sweat up a few more hats!!!
Cari took over the supper menu and did meatballs and artichoke/spinach dip to go with all the other foodstuffs!

I am sure you noted no pictures of the menfolk! Barry had the good idea that they (the men) should cut wood for Grandma. Bill, Barry, Joey, and Wayland went and got her a load of wood. It was pretty darned chilly too. Cowboy said it was too bad we didn't bring Angus down because they built a big bonfire and enjoyed that. What with cell phones I wondered why there was no call... (Too many girls???? Then we would have wanted to roast marshmallows and what the heck, they decided this is really "our" time!!)

As you can see we have two grandies with Cowboy PopPop's hats. There was a melt down earlier when Maggie cried her heart out (sorry, I didn't get that on film) and went running up stairs to Cowboy PopPop crying that she didn't want to be a farmer, she wanted to be a COWGIRL! She had me in tears too! We told her that she could be a cowgirl at times and she could be a farmer too, that she could be whatever she wanted to be. She didn't have to be any one thing. The upshot of the story, she got her OWN hat! Like I said, Cowboy better get to sweating!!

Oh, earlier in the day the girls asked if they could get out the stick horses to play with. Being a Grandma who has been around the bend (more than once, dang!), I said sorry, no! Too many kids, too little stuff to break! Ha!

Talk about a QUIET house when everyone left! What a fun day!! We got lots of hugs and kisses and even a few sticky ones! For us this time is Christmas in that we are together (whomever can get here) and it leaves Christmas Day to plan what they wish. I heard from several that this was their Christmas celebration with us.

Another year of special memories...Thank you God!

Cookie Day and Kids Coming Soon!

December 7, 2009

I'm trying to just hit the high spots for cleaning. How is that possible? I dust one place. Move lanterns to another spot and it is REALLY dusty! Ugh! I am thinking of dusting only where people can see, but then I will have Darren and Joey and Barry who are VERY tall, so maybe I had better dust.

The cookies are finally getting baked!!!
The sugar cookies are in the freezer as I write this. They are waiting to be frosted, licked, and frosted again! Oh what pictures I have in my mind from last year! The Farmer's Wife is bringing a few more sugar cookies...we would not want to run out of decorating materials!!!

I am forever trying new recipes and this sugar cookie is one. Cowboy said they aren't as good as my "other" recipe, so I threw the new one away. I think I try a different sugar cookie recipe every year, he just doesn't know it! The first year I tried one and they were very crunchy. I like them "just right", what about you???

Note the candy canes in the back--Cowboy bought them for the grandies. I told him I thought we should just give them to them on their way out the door to go home! I am pretty smart at times... We get candy canes every year for Cowboy. He likes to put them on the tree and have one occasionally through the holidays.

These cranberry cookies are in the freezer now too. We had a very dear friend and teacher to all my kids, who made us shirt boxes full of cookies every Christmas when we lived at Melstone. That is no exaggeration and every kind imaginable. We ate our favorites and then took plates of cookies to other gatherings! This particular cookie was a favorite at our house, so in memory of Carolyn Tecca I have made this cookie for a couple of years. When we started "Cookie Day" I thought of Carolyn and all of her baking.

I have Chocolate Drops in the refrigerator to bake tomorrow and the request I get the most is for Norwegian Berlinerkranser or Berlin Rings as they are sometimes called. I will blog them when I get them baked. They are a little more work and I have been asked to make a DOUBLE batch this year, which I have time to do. (Thank you God.) And the funny thing is, I don't know if any of us have any Norwegian in us--does it really matter where cookies are concerned? I didn't think so either.

We are getting excited!

Adventures and Pie Crusts

December 1, 2009

Yesterday morning was an adventure I could live without. I woke Cowboy at 2 a.m. with racing, irregular heart beat. When I am having it, it is scary! I got it calmed down but had an ache in my left arm... We got in the car at 2:30 and I said I was better and we came back to the house. Now I will do the abbreviated version as we women get pretty wordy. Ha!

Decide to go to emergency room because of arm thing.
Dan, P.A. (he was in M.C.) decided I should be checked out in Miles City.
Ambulance ride.
Convinced Cowboy I wouldn't die, let Candy go with me. (Cowboy was testing the last of the cows.)
Checked out okay with blood test--no heart attack.
Bonnie and Jennifer both offered rides. We had Bonnie bring us back to Jordan. I was released at 8:15.
Thank you God!!

So, waited for Cowboy to call which he did to see if I got home okay. He said they would be here for dinner in an hour and a half and not to worry, he would throw something together. The original plan was to serve some of our canned beef over spuds. I told him I could put the beef on to simmer. (They got bread instead of potatoes and pickled beets.)

I had made a pie crust Sunday night and decided since I wasn't going to my demise immediately, I could get that pie in the oven. I asked Grandma if she could peel apples with me and I could get the pie in the oven faster. She had a hair-do day, but she had a little time before she went.
Grandma is not a big smiler, but Cowboy and I know she was pleased with her "do." She has a big trip to Texas planned to see her latest Great-Grandchild, Rhys William Stanaland. She is going for two months.

Now to Pie Crusts!
It was interesting to read the story and comments about pie crusts. Rosie O'Grady's pies looked simply scrumptious!

I, too, have cried over pie crust making. The first time I was 16 years old and thought my Uncle Irvin was the only Cowboy in the world. I wanted to do something "special" and pretty much all men like pies. So I made him a pie. All I remember is crying over the darned crust and thinking this is a lot of work and not very easy!

My next memory is having to make pies for the Harvest Dinner in the fall when I lived in Jordan the first time. I gritted my teeth when I got "the call" that said I was to bring two pies. Ugh! It was a chore.

Then the family moved to Melstone (I was 34) and we were at a rancher's place visiting. His wife was a ranch cook and we must have been visiting about pies. She said that she had the "best" crust recipe that worked every time. She was a cook that shared, so the rest is history. I have used her pie crust recipe and have had good luck and haven't varied my crusts in all these years. My cousin, Roberta wants me to try her recipe and I will include it too, but it untried at this house as if yet.



Cowboy told me to tell The Farmer's Wife that he has eaten some beautiful looking pies that tasted terrible and some pies that were not the prettiest but were delicious. Take it from the pie expert, Mary.

As you can see, mine is not perfect and it ran over, but they ate it and made muffled words of umm, umm!

Pie Crust

2 cups flour
1 cup shortening
1/2 cup water
(1/2 teaspoon salt added to flour)
You know the drill on mixing and rolling. I use a little flour on the rolling pin if I need it.

The one rule I use is: use a light touch with crust and work as little as necessary.

Roberta Douglas Pie Recipe

3 cups flour
1/2 c. Crisco
1/2 c. cold butter (cut in small pieces)
1/2 t. salt
1/3 to 1/2 cup cold water
Same directions.

If you decide to try it-HAPPY BAKING!

Decorating, Baking, Quilting, and Shopping!

November 28, 2009

Jennifer and the girls came for the weekend and we did some decorating yesterday and baking today! What fun!! We threw in a DVD on quilting, gosh, how much better can it get!!

Yesterday the girls helped put lights up on the railing. Liv said, "OOH! Look at the lights!" She didn't notice them being on until it got a little darker. Then Jen and I got the tree down from the bunk house and the girls helped me put the ornaments on. It was such a blessing for me. I could tell them where some of them came from and they got to put them on "where ever" they wanted!!! Of course Liv is ready for Christmas to be tomorrow. I explained that we are getting ready for Cookie Day too and that it would be SOON! Ready or not here it comes. I am so GLAD Jennifer wanted to start baking cookies. We now have some in the freezer waiting for the big day. I also have some sugar cookie dough in the refrigerator ready to be rolled and cut tomorrow. I love the smell of them baking as well as tasting them. I'll try to refrain until the BIG day! I tried another sugar cookie recipe. Maybe it will be the best one yet...

The Farmer's Wife came up with the idea of Cookie Day. She wanted us to make some memories together with the kids and this will be our 7th year. Not everyone has been able to come to each one, but we have done well. We have taken lots of pictures and there is lots of decorating of sugar cookies! A little candy is made. It is mostly visiting and eating and laughing. It is really Cowboy and my Christmas with the kids. Weather permitting, this will be Tristin's first Cookie Day.
Liv is hard at chopping the nuts finer. She was a BIG help to Jennifer! She stirred and shaped cookies and was ready for something else to do. Kamy was Cowboy's shotgun today. Actually Amy was shotgun and Kamy rode in the middle. They had a big time and Cowboy said she didn't say anything. I told him she was taking it all in. It will all spill out later!

Liv takes the best pictures! She is happy and smiling and ready for ...

Kamyrn got the garland put up and it will look "shiny" and bright for awhile. That is the last of the garland from Christmases past! All us kids like this! Look at her two helpers in the background.

I am sorry I don't have "shopping" pictures, but look in any paper or online. Cari and Joey went shopping yesterday morning. I didn't realize people were "driven" to get up at 3:30 or earlier to get to the shops which open at 4 a.m. Yikes!! It really takes Cari to tell the story. I was truly laughing. I told her she needs a blog and she asked me to blog for her, BUT it loses something in the translation from her to me to you. She said their destination was Best Buy for a new laptop for Cari and a router. She had the number and name of what she wanted. They waited in line and then they sat in the car and they she got in when the crowd rushed through the doors instead of going to the back of the line (at almost 6 ft. she can cut if she wants!). She made a "beeline" for the laptops, got the one she wanted and then had to swim through the crowd to find a clerk to find out where the routers were and then back to the same spot.

Joey had given her the pep talk in the car that it was to be a fun outing and if they didn't get what they wanted it would be okay and just enjoy it. He was farther back in the line, so when he got through the door, he grabbed a laptop and didn't even know what he had, thinking Cari maybe didn't get one!! They had a big laugh together about just enjoying the shopping and not getting in a panic! It sounds like the best part of the morning was when they met up with Joey's folks and went to breakfast at the Muzzle Loader. Cari said the cops were out in force early this morning... She said I would have to come up next year and we could go shopping. What could I possibly want at 4 a.m.??? and in cold weather where I would have to stand in line? I will have to give that some thought. Well, on second thinking--if it were fabric at 75 or 80% off...hummm.

And the best part was we got up to a skiff of snow. We girls were delighted. As Liv said, It looks like Christmas!!!

Real Cowboy Etiquette cont.

November 22, 2009

This picture has always been a favorite--the detail on the saddle is so clear.

"Holding Herd"

There are so many rules with holding herd but I will list a couple of them and just continue with the numbers I started.

Rule #4: The BOSS works the herd unless he specifies someone else.

Rule #5: As a rider do not let any cattle run out of the herd unless they are "worked out."

Rule #6: All riders outside of the herd are not to ride in front of another rider when keeping the cattle in a bunch. These cattle are not to be bunched too closely, just held in a "loose" circle. (They are not really circles in a true sense of the word either.)

AND, Cowboy reminded me that there is to be NO POINTING. I just started laughing because you see, when I first "held herd" I was the POINTER! My first REALLY big mistake! (Or maybe the first of many...) There were three of us which included Cowboy working this bunch of cattle. This was probably my maiden voyage as they say! I was watching cowboy and watching the cows and their calves and soon I spotted one pair right in front of me...this is hard to write! So being the dutifully organized person that I am, I wanted to help, so I waved my arm and pointed to the cow and calf. Oops!!!! Here came Cowboy and told me why not to point! It distracts the man working the cattle. He will eventually get to the ones you saw and his concentration is not broken by POINTING FINGERS. Another thing, don't help by trying to get the pair out yourself, pretty soon the herd has run every direction under your watchful eye. (I knew better, but sure wanted to slip in and get them out real "quick.")

Rule #6: It not polite to ride in front of another rider at any time. You are to ride around behind them.

Rule #7: You don't swap places around the herd. If you start on the left of the boss you stay there.

I prefer to work against the fence. It feels like I have more control of cattle trying to sneak by me.


Here are some top hands from Roscoe: John, Jason, and Jacob.

Here is a bunch of cattle and probably some chilled-down cowboys and they are
"holding herd."

I remember a cold day when they had me help. We were bundled up and there were several of us. I was cold and trying to stay warm while not moving. It seemed dreadfully slow and I got to day dreaming and watching traffic instead of "cattle." I got the big wave and got the message to "pay attention." Ah, the days of a working cowgirl!