My dad went to the Princess store

I tried for a long time to protect Tess from Princesses. After all, you want your child to not care about Beauty, counting on her handsome prince, or those darn pumpkin carriages. Instead we talked alot about Thomas the Tank Engine, useful engines; Jack's Big Music Show, swing, scratch,blues! even Dora and Diego. But I knew the day would come when Disney would win.

To make matters worse, Eric spent the week with the National Guard in Orlando. Each night on the phone Tess would list until she was breathless all the Princess gear she needed to make her life complete. Needless to say, Dad made a stop at the Princess store.


evaluating the worthiness of her loyal subjects....

Shoes which are perfect for dancin'

All hail the Princess.

wait, wait, DONT take my picture!

Around and Round we go

Tess got a "coaster" for valentines day. She is a most excellent coaster rider and is able to go around and around and around on the hardwood floors here and at grandma and pop's. Coaster riding is the first thing we do in the morning with our jammies on.

Watch out Danika!

Finally, the pose at the end.

Close of up her new freckles, which she got helping her dad stain his new corral gate. We were able to get most of it off her hands, but the stuff on face, pants and boots is just going to have to get worn off. I think they managed to get some on the gate too.

Eric leaves at dark thirty tomorrow for a weeks worth of National Guard Training. More than 1/2 of the Wyoming Guard are being deployed next month, so I can deal with a week.

Sometimes a picture's worth a thousand words

Peanuts

Tess inherited a pony named Peanuts. She is thrilled. Here is Peanuts on his first afternoon on the place. We inherited him from the babysitter, Dana and her family.
After Eric got home from guard the other weekend, we went into Glendo and picked up Peanuts and brought him home. His prior masters came along to make sure his new set up was approved.
First photo is Maddy on Peanuts.

Brooke on Peanuts.







Finally, Tess looking very serious





This is just an old tree I saw and thought looked cool. It was only a few yards from where the fire was, so I figured there was a reason it avoided the flames.

We finally got a little snow and the crew went sledding this morning.

We have had a nice long Christmas break. Santa Clause came to our house and delivered some little cowboy boots with stars that light up when you walk. Of course any real cowgirl has to wear her hat too, and outfit her straw for cold weather conditions.

We did lots of napping.

And we made some Christmas decorations.

Eric woke up in the night to find the ridge to the west on fire. A power line had blown down and started a prairie fire. After a long night and morning of fire fighting with help from the rural fire districts of our county we got everything put out. But our hearts beat fast for a while.

Tess and her dad have been riding almost every weekend, especially when we have some decent weather. Every once in a while, mom joins them and for the first mile or so Tess lectures me on how to ride with my feet forward, to hold on tight, and to "never, ever walk behind a horse."

Tess has kept up busy recently with injuries. First, she fell and popped her elbow out of joint, then she fell up the trailer steps on Thankgiving eve and ended up with six stiches. But, she is fully recovered and back to going 100 miles per hour.

We had a nice Thanksgiving with Eric's folks and plenty of good food. My Oklahoma great aunt and uncle were here not so long ago and delivered plenty of fresh pecan so we enjoyed 2008 vintage pecan pie and snacks. We got a Christmas tree, if only I could get enough time to get it decorated.

I saw another badger last week, only this time he had two coyotes following him trying to steal his dinner.

Fall

This summer and fall we have seen several badgers around the place. Growing up I saw them once in a blue moon...once this summer I saw 4 of them at once. Spike and the badgers have lived a peaceful co-existence, so far, and while we don't appreciate them in the yard, we have seen them eating prairie dogs, so that makes them more tolerable. They certainly aren't scared of humans or beagles, but I have never gotten close enough to get a picture. This picture is courtesy of our hunting crew from Pennsylvania who visit each fall.

Tess and I went with our friends from Douglas to the Lingle corn maze and harvest home. Tess was a little small, and her mom was a little chicken, for the corn maze. But Tess loved the wagon box full of corn.

In the pumpkin patch.

It was hard to convince Tess to dress up for Halloween. She reported it was "too scary" but she did decide to wear her fairy dress at the last minute. She went into Glendo and went trick or treat for Unicef, then to the Cottonwood Hall for the 2nd annual Coleman, Collins, Hyche party. Then over to Phylis and Herb's where she cashed in on candy!

I think we are finished with the house, now I just have to remember where everything goes.

The Jelly Tour

We have finally gotten a freeze in the past week or two, and even a little snow last Friday. Tess insisted on finding her snow boots, snow suit and sled (which in all our chaos it harder than it sounds) and patiently waited for there to be two inches of snow on the roads so she could sled. For better or worse, she is still waiting, and of course I discovered that everything from last winter (except the snowsuit which I bought size huge) is too small.





We have been celebrating fall and harvest. A few weeks ago, Tess, Pops and I went on a tour of our friend Dave's 14 Ranch up Horseshoe. He has done an incredible job of restoring all the old buildings, and it is indescribable the amount of work he has done in an effort to perserve the heritage of the place. Tess's favorite part however was the homemade jams and jellies which Dave had made from mint, apple, chokecherry, plums and rose hips on the place.





Of course, this inspired me to investigate orchards and jelly making. Continuing on our Horseshoe jams and jellies tour, the next week we went to Mrs. Chamber's place. I had actually made a date with her and Pat last spring to look at their chicken house (yet another tangent of mine) so along with checking out the chickens and geese we got to indulge in chokecherry and wild plum jelly and apple syrup. Plus chokecherry wine -- all the more reason for me to harvest those chokecherries next year.

Mrs. Chambers has the old slide from the Glendo school on her place now. My mother and I both remember sliding down it. Tess got to enjoy it too!

Not to be outdone by the Horseshoe folks I decided to make a feast that consisted of what I could find locally grown. So I made bierocks with cabbage and onions from our garden, and elk burger from Eric's elk last year. I used flour from Gaukel's in Keeline (they have awesome homemade wheat products www.gaukelwheat.com), and eggs from Cundall's. We had brussel spouts and corn from our garden and for dessert, pear cobbler made with pears from Wickam's, also up Horseshoe. (Those folks are good!) Now all I need is a milk cow and some bee hives! I have since read that there are chefs in Napa Valley who only serve things that are produced within 150 miles of the restaurant, who knew the Cassa Valley was as cool.

Tess went on her first solo ride. Sorry the photos are so small, but technology advances faster then me so this is the best I can do from my phone, horseback myself. She rode all the way over to Herb's and back.
Now there is some snow on the ground, but in warmer days we went to the River for some fun.

We are back to living in the house and except for a few details, we have finished! Now I just have to figure out where everything goes. Eric built a fire in the new fireplace last night and it was very cozy.

Brief History of Brief History

Breif History of the Dead - Interesting premise, disappointing ending.
On to Treasure Island, and a bottle of rum.

Gymnastics

There is a new, huge, gymnastics gym in Douglas so we decided we should take advantage of it. Tess is taking a gymnastics class named "rambunctious" on Monday nights.
Moms have to go sit in the balcony during class, but here are some photos after class is done. Her "mymnastics suit" is a big hit too. I'm having a hard time keeping it clean and have to hide it during the week so she doesn't wear it to check the sprinklers with pops.

Tess also rode behind my saddle for a mile or so this weekend on the way home from moving the heifers. She was very proud of herself and her dad was proud too.

The great owl rescue

Very early this morning Eric and Cooper found a barn owl with a broken wing right out side the trailer door (yes, we are STILL sleeping in the trailer!). Eric had to leave for national guard so Tess and I were in-charge. After going all morning and 1/2 the afternoon with no response from the Game Warden, we contacted the Northeast Wyoming Raptor Rescue, as I remembered seeing information about it at one time. Graciously, they gave me help! Our first job was to catch him to keep him from getting hurt and make sure he didn't get too cold. Needless to say, Tess and I waited for Pops to come along first. Pops put a blanket over him and we loaded him into a dog crate. Tess and I then drove him to Orin Junction where we met some more wonderful folks from the Murie Audubon Society in Casper, who were going to deliver him to a vet and hopefully be able to help him. Hats off to both those groups. This is not THE barn owl, but one I found on the web. What a beautiful bird. We hope he has a good journey.
Why the fuss over an owl? Tess has a bird book and declared a while back that owl's are her favorite bird. I recently bought her some owl pajamas, which she wears ALL the time. We have some burrowing owls living near by as well and we all like to watch them. We are always fond of raptors as they help us with the prairie dog population, and are much more agreeable than human prairie dog hunters.

I now pronounce you...

Eric says I report everything he and Tess do, but never what I do. A couple of Saturday's ago I officiated a wedding for our family friends Rowdy and Lacy. It was my first wedding, but theirs too, and it all went very well. Lacy did the hard work by choosing the vows and I just filled in the important stuff like "you may kiss the bride!" It was a very nice ceremony and I was honored to do it.
Me and the grooms party waiting for the beautiful girls.

Thievery

I have a few friends who also have blogs. Most of them are much more sophisticated bloggers than me, but at least I am good at being a copy cat. Recently, my cousin Dahlene started a blog so I was able to steal these new music and books elements from her and her bloggin' friends.

On my bookshelf this week is Brief and Wonderous Life, which I believe won the Pulitzer this year. I finished this up and it gets a thumbs up. Funny, but makes you think. Told from an interesting perspective and has a compelling way with language, which in my mind is what pulitzer is all about, rewarding new treatment of words. Here it is a combination of English and Spanish. But even though Tess has a larger Spanish vocabularly than me, and all I know comes from Sesame Street and Dora, it all makes sense, trust me. Starting Brief History of the Dead tonight, which was my book club book for LAST month.

So if you are here for pictures of Tess and not book reviews, please be patient. I only get to read a few pages a night!

Breaking News

We have learned that Eric is a media star again. This time he is featured in the Casper Star Tribune on-line video story about the Mustang Challenge.
http://www.casperstartribune.net/
The video's are on the right hand side.

The Mustang Challenge

This weekend was the culmination of the mustang challenge. Chico and Eric loaded up on Thursday night and traveled to Douglas to get settled in. Then Friday afternoon and evening they participated in the preliminary event. Here they are in the "in-hand" groundwork portion. There is a huge new indoor horse center at the fairgrounds, but it was also hard to take pictures there.

There was also a riding-trail portion and a two minute free-style where Eric and Chico worked a cow. Eric ended up placing 13th. There were 35 people who picked up Mustangs in May. 26 showed up at the competition and 21 completed the competition. May of those guys were professional trainers, so we were very proud of Eric being so competitive considering he wears so many other hats too!
It was also fun to get to see all our friends who supported Eric show up to cheer him on. He had a large cheering section. Our neighbor Tim also had a mustang so there was a whole section of Glendo folks. Above are our friends Tori, Dan and Amanda and Cole who surprised us by coming from Laramie!
The best part of the competition was the reward of knowing Chico has a new home in Cody with an owner who will give him a job. He brought a good price at the sale. Tess was going to ride him in the sale portion, but she had drug grandma and I on so many carnival rides Friday and in the morning that she decided to take a nap instead.
Of course, today Eric was already busy with other projects. Here's yearling Clay with his first saddle and he is back down at the corral. After all, there is a ranch rodeo in two weeks.

Palen Olympics

What a great degree of difficulty in the mid beam maneuver!
The patent leather shoes add a nice touch to the team USA uniform
Preparing for the dismount with a wiggle that has never been attempted in world competition!
10! 10! 10!

Found it!

I found the camera AND the cord to go with it. Here's Tess enjoying cake at Amanda's party with Kade and Cole and Peyson.

Showing off the new "do."



Yesterday, it was too hot to do anything but go swimming.

I can hardly find the computer

We have moved again...this time only a few yards away, but it was still almost as much work and I am lucky to find a computer to post anything.
About 10 days ago we got the nod from the contractor that it was time to clear out the old part of the house so they could start tearing out that portion. So we were packing again. (Didn't I just DO this?) We were able to partially move into the addition. All but the countertops, sink and lights are done. I suppose this is my fault becuase it took me forever to decide on the countertops and lights. But we have a waterless, stoveless and dishwasherless kitchen in the addition. We moved a few clothes and other essentials and have been sleeping in the trailer (at least it has air-conditioning). Everything else is God-knows-where spread in the basement, addition, trailer and garages. I've been telling Tess this is like camping, some people actually enjoy living like this!
Two flatbeds full of salvage and daily trips to the dump with the dump truck later, we have basically gutted the old part of the house down to the orange and yellow walls, built a wall or two, poked a door or two and getting ready to finish that part up.
Tess has had a busy week. Friday she went with Eric and I to Cheyenne. While Eric had court, Tess and I checked out the new library in Cheyenne and then went to the slides at the park. Later we went to Frontier Days were Eric and Tess rode all the kiddy rides so many times the carnies were letting them go without tickets. I think their favorite was the huge slide. Saturday, Tess, Grandma and I went to Laramie for our friend Amanda's first birthday party. This morning Tess cut the left side of her hair off, so its off to the beauty parlor with grandma tomorrow for the new do.
Chico and Eric work together everyday. The state fair is getting closer.
I will try to post pictures of all this fun later (that is, if I can find the camera....)

Go Rockies!

For fathers day Tess got Eric tickets to the Rockies game on the fourth.

The Rockies actually won 18-17. Everytime we thought they were done for, they would rally and catch up. Grand Slam!