Bonfires and Sled Dogs

I am wondering if anyone is reading this.  We really do live for the comments.  But that is beside the point right now.  I am going to finish my story of "Cookie Day" and the weekend in general. 

After the cookies were divided up, it was time to load up with chain saws, mittens, coats, caps, and pile in the pickups.  I bought marshmallows, but Cowboy told me there wasn't any way to roast them as the wood would all burn, so I left them home...mistake number one!

 Before we got the "folks" loaded up, the kids had to have some fun in the snow with a calf sled that Mary and Wayland brought over.  They had a lots of fun going off the hill.

First tree for Wayland and Bill to cut...

Oops!  Mistake #2 or not.  The tree fell the wrong way.  Do you see why I was on the backside of the pickup??  There were plenty of dead trees.  They just went to another one.

It hung up in one of the other trees.  We did go back and get it later.  Well, not me, but I supervised!

TIMBER!!

Wayland had cut this piece of wood and BJ brought it over so Angus could get warm by the fire.  Children never really sit still, look at his hands.

It even has a backrest.  Perfect!  But Angus asked me where the marshmallows were...I was sad!!  I should have listened to the little girl inside of me and brought the marshmallows!

A blazing fire...pickups loaded with wood for Grandma Margaret...together...what fun.  We weren't even really cold.

What is more blessed that having grandies come and pile on your bed first thing in the morning!  Mary decided that she would like to be included in the sleepover so Wayland went home to take care of pets and chores.  Jennifer blew up the bed for the kids downstairs and Jen was on the couch to make sure ALL were safe.  Mary woke up really early as did we, but we thought everyone was sleeping.  We should have made early coffee!

I don't have pictures of the funniest happening of the day.  BJ finally told the kids to go outside and hook that husky (which was Tristin's dog, Trey) up to the sled.  Tristin did and the brave princess Maggie was the first to take a ride.  We are all in the living room looking out the picture and Whew! did that dog take off and Tristin did not put a lead on him so she could control him.  He flew.  Maggie was brave! Poor Angus was tailing up the girls and falling in the snow.  Even Tristin fell trying to catch the sled! Trey went to one hay stack and then another hay stack and then through the cattle guard (thankfully it wasn't a barbed wire fence).  By then we told Mary to jump in her car with a leash and she and Tristin better get that dog stopped!  It was hilarious to watch since no one got hurt and they all got rides.  I think that dog could have gone all day.  I told Tristin she ought to invest in an harness for that him.

Many days after the fact, I found some green frosting stuck to something.  Imagine that?!

Belated Cookie Day

I have had a couple of people ask me when I was going to post about Cookie Day that happened in December.  It has gotten so late, I did not know whether to or not. 

The long story is I bought a new computer from a suggestion by the Farmer's Wife (and she has since mentioned that "it really was a good idea, but...").  I bought it the end of October, 2010.  The "thing" crashed three times--first time viruses, second time new hard drive put in, third time I called the company direct (thanks to the Farmer's Wife who said go straight to the top!) and they sent me a new machine with a different antivirus installed.  That is the only thing we could come up with that could be wrong.  So far so good and that has been at least two weeks or more.  I was beginning to wonder if we would get our tax information sent to the accountant as all of it is in this machine.  Cowboy suggested I could do it on paper, long hand.  Fill in the blanks as to what I told him! Oh, it wasn't that bad.  I just told him I had done that and I didn't need the experience.

Cookie Day was fun and BJ was actually able to be here also as well as Meghan.

Here are the grandies that got to be here with their aprons, Tristin, Maggie, Angus, Kamryn, and Liv.  Angus called his "my cowboy thing".  He liked to wear it and they all had fun.

The Farmer's Wife was the one who had the idea for the aprons two years ago.  I insisted that she bring her material and I would make her apron.  She had two sets, so I made two and Khyrsten got one, but since Khyrsten didn't come Cari got to wear it as she forgot hers.  Look at the sacks of food on the floor behind Mary.  There was so much food to eat!

Cari... You go girl!

Do you think anyone could pick out their coat or boots??

Grandma Dutton--some multigenerational pictures.  Fun!

Granddad and Cari...

The "big" girls ( I don't dare say older do I, so what would you say?) were having just as much fun as the "little" ones.

BRING ON THE FROSTING!  Angus-Kamryn-Maggie-Liv-Tristin

There was precise work going on and lots of creativity.

We never get too old to decorate cookies...

This is serious...

Don't you just love the green lips?  Kissable!!

Wayland taking a turn...

This is the creation that Angus made for his Daddy.  Pretty special work for a four-year-old!

Jennifer is our candy making girl.  This is the second year for her caramels and they just get better every year!!  She is going to keep do this recipe.  I am the one coming up with new recipes for sugar cookies or the caramels.

Meghan, Maggie, Grammy Karen...

Cowboy PopPop is sure looking at something...

It must be important!  The kids love their Cowboy PopPop.

Tristin and Mary...

Jennifer helping Liv...

Some of the handiwork.  Beautiful!!

Pretty fancy work, wouldn't you say?

BJ did not do any decorating, he did take home the finished goods to Marsha, Baylee, and Kelli.  Yum!

The cookies are "divyed" and the aprons removed.  Whew!  What a fun day. Mary took 180 pictures and I took 87, so you see why I put so many on the blog.  There were so many pictures to choose from and of course they were all good ones!


Naturally there has to be a "rest of story" for the remainder of that weekend.  But that will be for another blog.  Stay tuned!

The Baking Has Begun

Cookie Day has been set for December 11, 2010.  Pray for good weather for all to travel.  I put the butter on the counter to soften and I did the treadmill this morning.  I like the treadmill as it is in front of a big window and I can listen to books on tape.  I listen to murder mysteries and it keeps me on my toes! Ha!  I have this monologue in my head just about every time I get on the treadmill.  "You only have to do 30 minutes."  After 30 minutes I say, "You can go a few more minutes."  Here lately I have been going 45-55 minutes.  I like how I feel when I am done and also the reason I walk more is the book is to a "good part."

I have the cutest cookie cutters and it seems like I don't use them near enough.  Naturally I have been trying different sugar cookie recipes since we started cookie day seven years ago, and this one is very soft.  I will do a different one next year.  We will have to drizzle these as the grandies will have them broken before they even start.  Of course, they could just eat them!

Even raw they look good enough to eat!

The finished product, ready to be put in the freezer awaiting decoration
.

Now this is the way to do cookies.  I was to make a log approximately six inches long and make it square and then chill for at least one hour and cut with a sharp knife.  Now girls, don't make fun of my tape measure.  I wanted to get my cookies cut about 1/4 inch and wanted a guide.  A couple of our girls are "just do it," right Jen, Mary, and Meghan?  Remember I am the girl that follows a pattern  and a recipe, although I "tweeked" the sugar cookie recipe.  It needed some flavoring...but they do have real butter in them.  That is an inside joke for those of you not reading Cohagen Chronicles.  The Farmer's Wife was told by her Aunt, Rosie O'Grady, to always use real butter.  So there you have it!

These are called Glazed Chai Shortbread Cookies.  They are very spicy and I had one little to try.  Cowboy told me they were good.  I always like cookies.  They have to be pretty bad for me not to like them.

I have some sewing projects done, but I haven't taken any pictures of them.  I will get to it. 

Don't forget to make some Christmas cookies for those loved ones.

Thankfulness and Life

I have been wanting to post, but it seems like there is always something else that gets in the way.  I am now waiting for a call from a granddaughter who is driving from Vancouver, WA, back to Bozeman, MT to school at MSU-Bozeman.  I called at 7 p.m. and she was almost to Butte.  I keep praying for God to have his arms around her.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Miles City with Cowboy's son and his wife, Barry and Jolene.  It was nice to go somewhere, take a salad and cranberries, the camera, and just us.  I didn't even have to clean our house.

  Here is Miss Javon getting her "pony" put back in her hair by Grandma Loretta.  She doesn't sit still very long and such a live wire with lots of smiles!

Jentry was working at going on over.  She is very agile.  The girls wanted to strut their stuff and show off for the grandparents!

Cowboy and I are so thankful for God, each other, our health, our families, our way of life here in rural Montana.  We are thankful for our freedom by those young men and and women who putting their lives on the line for America.  Cowboy says he is thankful for a warm house, plenty to eat, pets, good horses to ride, good equipment.  Pickups that run without having to work on them every morning!  Also, the blessing of friends.

When I was growing up,we usually went to my Aunt & Uncle's ranch out of Broadus for Thanksgiving and they came to Miles City for Christmas.  I remember skating the 100 miles on very icy roads!  My cousin Rachel is now staying in Miles City with my Aunt Belva and they had Thanksgiving dinner too.  Since Barry and Jolene had asked us first, we went there.  But Cowboy and Jentry, our dog Amy, and I walked the two blocks to stop in to say hello to family we haven't seen for some time.  (Rachel and Ed's two sons).

Rick and Mark.  It is terrible to take pictures of people eating...but I did it anyway.

My sweet Aunt Belva and her grandson, Loren on the right.

I have nothing but admiration for Rachel as she has been staying with my aunt for a couple of years now.  We did a short bit of reminiscencing...

I took more pictures there, but I wanted to get pictures of Rachel's boys!  They are grown, but you know how we are, they will always be boys!

I am also posting some pictures of deer.  I took them from the sliding glass door upstairs from the dining room.  And you wonder why I am jumping up and down during the summer months when they are in here eating my flowers.  They weren't very afraid of me!  They eat any scrap that might have fallen off of the pickup that was meant for the cows!

I told Bill I love to look at them and they are beautiful, but they are so destructive.  Of course, I don't think I could shoot one, I just talk BIG when they eat my flowers...

Not just one buck, but three!!

I am sewing when I get a minute, but I haven't taken the pictures yet!

Cookie Day is coming.  I am reading posts of some who are dreading it.  Drat!

Sunrises and Cattle

My sunrise pictures are not as gorgeous as God makes them, but I keep trying to capture the beauty, especially with the clouds.  I took these with Bill's camera as mine was in the car on the "ready" for that special picture!  I found a couple of pictures that he took when they were gathering and thought that I would post them also. 

Do you think that the cows know that it is time, even though they bawl when the babies are gone?  Are we like that TOO!?!

Everyone at this house was in bed by 7:30 p.m. new time and even though I was up at 4:30 a.m. with everyone else, I DID NOT have to go out and work in the wind and the dust!  They were glad to get a reprieve at lunch time.  I left the soup out last night and forgot to put it in the refrigerator (beef soup) and Cowboy woke me at 1:45 a.m. to asked if I remembered.  I stumbled down the stairs, took the lid off, looked at it and put it in the refrigerator.  By then I was wide awake and told Cowboy I had better not serve that to the men.  I would not want to make anyone sick.  I think it was okay, but that was over six hours without refrigeration.  So we went to plan B for dinner/lunch and they got rib steaks, potatoes, tossed salad, garlic buns, cherry pie or lemon bars.  No one complained!

So here I am wide awake, but I will keep the blog short tonight and hit the hay myself.  We roll out early, doesn't matter whether it is Daylight Savings Time or Mountain Standard Time--it is "Rise and Shine" and I am taking a line from one of the members of our Sunday school class:  "Okay, Lord, I am making this choice today asking you to be in charge of me."  Sweet dreams!

A Day in the Life of...

It has been ages since I have posted anything!  I took my camera with me this morning and started taking pictures.  Cowboy was shipping a couple of loads of calves that they have been working to get gathered and weaned.  It was quilting day in Jordan which is pretty important!  Ha!  Also, our church in Jordan was having highway cleanup.  I was not able to help the last time, so decided that I could make it work this time!

Here are some pictures of the "crew" ready to go!

Young and old alike, or I should say--young and younger!  Note we had our fluorescent vests on and our rubber gloves.  They were waiting for the Head Crew Chief to get off of the phone and that picture of him was blurry!  Sorry!!  They were very fast on the two-mile cleanup!  We started at 10:30 a.m. and my partner and I stopped at 11:30 and I am sure the rest of them were done before noon.

Nadine on the left was chaperoning and working with the younger faster ones!  Mary was my partner and we were just steady!!

I grabbed some lunch and back to quilting I went.  I had two apron tops started when I left and I came back and worked on them and then started another two tops. You have heard the story, but I will tell it again.  The daughters got aprons last Cookie Day and the grand girls asked if I couldn't please make them aprons??  So, this cookie day I am hoping to have them done. 

Cowboy got to use the chute first!  They brought some steer calves here to be taken to pasture tomorrow.

More pictures of the corrals.  They are finally getting to use them!

more pictures...

Cowboy on Cash!  They are both very photogenic!  This is my picture of a working cowman!  Cowboy said, "An old working cowman!" 

Our weather has been so fantastic.  One day less of cold weather.  It was in the 70's today--November 6th!  Look at that blue sky, beautiful...one just cannot replicate God's handiwork...   And look closely, there is still some green grass, what a wonder.



And last but certainly not least are the heros for the day in the life of a computer "girl".  I got a new computer a couple of weeks ago and then the printer which was 8 years old decided to bite the dust, so I ordered a new one from HP online over the phone with a "person" in the Phillipines.  That wasn't so bad.  Then the machine came, I set it up and naturally it wouldn't work.  I got BACK on the phone to the Phillipines (80+ minutes worth) and I got someone who didn't know much more than I did and we tried several things.  He told me I should stay calm when I asked for his manager or at least an address for HP as I was going to send them a letter and the very least give lots of negative advertising.  I may still write the letter.  In the meantime, I am getting a new black ink cartridge, which he thought would fix my problem.  Enter K.J. and Sharon who know sooooo much more than I do about computers and printers!  Sharon ran the computer diagnostics while K.J. did the "hands on" with the printer.  He cleaned the ink cartridge holder.  That isn't the proper name, but that what it is!  Then he ran it through its paces!  The bottom line is that it works!!!!  Praise God!!  Thank you K.J. and Sharon.  Besides that we did some fast and furious visiting.  It was wonderful!  The up side of this is that I will have some extra ink coming!  Ha! 

It was a full day for everyone!  So now you see why I am not getting any blogging done.  It seems like it is first one thing and then another.

We are doing a Bible study on "Becoming a Woman of Excellence" and I slipped a little the other day with the Phillipino.  I will try harder next time...