GOODBYE 2008

So what am I doing while the last sands of the year trickle through the hourglass? I'm curled up in my bed with Sierra and we are watching the Project Runway marathon all day long. Yeah, I think I'll make my resolution list later, maybe tomorrow. Procrastination elimination should probably be at the top of the list. Aaahhh, we'll see.

OOOOOoooo!!! I forgot to tell you!! I got my boots!!! They are soooo comfortable, warm, soft, and woolly. I love sheepskin!

O Holy Night!

It is the night of our dear Saviors birth.

We Made It!!

I woke up this morning in my own bed! Finally! LOL! We drove like maniacs on Friday all the way from North Platte to Knoxville and arrived at 3:30am EST. Losing time zones while you travel doesn't help with the drive time. LOL Oh well, we made it. It was shocking how many cars were in the ditch along the way. But the funniest was the cop who lost control of his cruiser just behind us. He recovered control just fine. We fell into bed for about 4 hrs and then had to jump into the minivan to get Jon up to his duty station in Quantico, VA. It was an 8hr drive so we knew we had a few hours to spare and decided to make a stop at Monticello, Thomas Jeffersons home. It is amazingly beautiful and fascinating. If you are ever in the D.C. area it is a must see. We had Jon to his duty station by 8pm. We decided to make the best of the situation and stayed overnight to tour Washington D.C. the next day. Hey why not make lemons into lemonade, right? It was great to be able to show Hunter such rich history. Now we are back home again and happy to be together. Sierra flies in in about 3 hrs and then we can get this Christmas started. I'll be popping in the Canadian Brass Christmas CD in no time. And yes, it was all worth it to be together again.

The White House decorated for Christmas.

Attack of the Killer Squirrel. This thing climbed up my arm to get my hotdog.

Hunter in front of the National Christmas Tree.

Jon holding up the Washington Monument.

Hunter in front of the stands being errected for the Inauguration of Pres. Obama. He was not happy about pictures, the cold or the lack of bathrooms. Poor kid. LOL.

Update!! And it's good for once!

Ok, so I left you all hanging, I know. I haven't had an internet connection for a couple of days. My husband was able to pull some strings, after I went to bed in tears, early yesterday morning with our insurance company and miraculously got me a rental car out of Great Falls. I don't know how they found one. Priceline was telling me there was nothing available. They are even putting up most of the cost since they still hadn't decided what to do about my accident. By the way it is now officially TOTALLED. My very kind sister, Kali, the one with MS, drove me down to GF in her rental cause her car had been smashed up by a drunk. We left GF about 2pm and made it to my other sisters in Sandy by 11pm. Roads stunk but who cares? Jon is on his way out to his next duty station in Virgnia and has to be there by Sat at midnight so we decided to travel together. We left at 6am. By Parleys the roads were a nightmare and poor Jon had just bought the car he was driving. He bought a suped up, turbo charged, rear wheel drive. Ever tried to drive a rear wheel drive car in the ice and snow? Not an easy task. And when it has been suped up there is too much power for those kind of conditions. We chained him up in Coalville and I took off ahead to get to Evanston to buy him some snow tires or studded tires. Hard tires to find and when we did find them the techs at the tire store told him snow tires still wouldn't help him. Too much car for too much weather. The tires would cost about $1000. He as panicked after his 4 hour trip to Evanston (should have been just over and hour) and wasn't sure he could do it. I don't blame him. We looked at the Wyoming DOT cams and said 'scrap it'. We hired a transport company there and then. The kind boys at Plains Tire are letting him store it there for free until the transport comes. Too bad we left half the Christmas presents in it. Hope the get it to VA before the big day. Ok, so we grabbed what we could and stuffed a few of his necessaries into the little 2door Pontiac G5 that I am renting and headed out again. Well, lets just say that it's been a very long day. We have only made it to North Platte, NE. Not exactly very far along the road for the time spent on it. We travelled most of the way at 40mph but made it this far safely. I think poor Jon is about panic stricken at this point. We hit a lot of white outs and slick, snow covered roads but were blessed mightily along the way and had not one real problem.
Thank you all for your concern, love and prayers on our behalf. I know they made a huge difference in finding a way for us to be a family for Christmas. Thanks again!!!

Surely this is a joke, right?

I was supposed to leave for TN first thing in the morning. Guess what? Not gonna happen. Imagine that! So, my car's totalled and I had planned to take Mom and Dad's instead. Well, the fates didn't like that idea. When I got home from taking Dad to Lethbridge to see Grandpa Q the car was making a funny noise. Not just a little noise either, but a banging, rattling noise. I turned off the engine and walked around the front and found a river of oil running out of the engine. Oh lovely! We've lost the engine. Yup, that's right. Engine kaput! So, there goes Christmas. All of my presents are down in TN cause that's where we were planning to be. We can't get them shipped up in time unless we lay out all sorts of dough and that may not even be enough to get here on time. But really that's not all that important. I wanted to see my husband. I wanted to sleep in my nice bed and play games with the kids. I wanted to walk my puppy and just be a family again.
I've checked the train, renting a car, and flights. The train is sold out. Renting a car is obscenely expensive, and the only flight out is tomorrow morning at 8 am and there is no way I can get there without a car. This is ridiculous! I give, already. I give! Just stop the insanity!
Ya, whatever!

Freakin' BBBRRRRR!!!!!

Holy, stinkin' pile of crap! It's soooooo cold outside! I mean really, really frigid. I just logged on to The Weather Network and it says we have a wind chill factor of -35C out there. Say what? It's not even Christmas yet! It normally isn't this cold this early in the season. I was so cold this morning I broke out the knitting needles and started on a cute wool scarf. I've gotten more than 2 ft done on it already. I'll need it. The forecast says we are going to get to a high of -16 all week! What?!?!?! No Chinook? Where is this again? Where is my nice warm if not blistering westerly wind? Hmmmmm?
UPDATE: as of 9am the weather warning states that Cardston is under a wind chill warning and many areas are currently reporting near or actual -40C wind chill. YIKES!!!!!

Hunting up a Christmas Tree

For 7 years now we have had a nice, pre-lit but fake Christmas tree. It's easy to decorate and looks good in no time. This year we don't have any of our belongings with us at our home in Canada so we had to go the old fashioned route. Hunter, Dad and I piled into the little Toyota truck and headed up to our ranch land in Beazer. Luckily we had a Chinook blow in the day before so the roads were nice and clear until we got to the dirt roads and fields. Four wheel drives are a must have up here. Otherwise we wouldn't have made it through the drifts. Once we made it to our property and the cabin we had a heck of a time getting to the saws and axe. The key to the tool shed was missing. But then, I'm a handy girl. Dad had tools and I had and idea. We had that lock off in a few minutes got the saw and popped the lock back on without a noticable trace of the B&E. Off we traipsed through the woods to find the perfect tree. When I was growing up the trees usually looked like they had come straight off the Charlie Brown Christmas Special. I kind of like the spindley look in an old fashioned Christmas but I wan't going to just jump on the first tree in my line of sight. We didn't have to hunt very long before we found one we really liked. Weeeelllll, that is, we really liked the top half of the tree. It was about 14 ft so we cut of the top 8. LOL! It looks pretty good decorated in our dollar store baubles and tinsel.

My feet are cold!

Winter finally showed up! It's been snowing off and on for more than a day now. The roads a slick and my toes are cold.
Last night I went out to Leavitt to do family photos for the ward Christmas party. The snow was deep enough that it kept getting into my shoes as I traipsed in and out with lighting equipment. I've decided I need some warm boots for my poor tootsies. I've scoured the internet for what I truly want and here they are. The Warmbat Flurry!

I want the these in Chestnut instead of Tan. I think it will show less dirt and wet. I love the look of these; stylish, warm, good grips for the bad weather and I love the extra swatch of leather on the toe and heel. These should hold up better than comparable boots. The other feature I really like is the fold down top. Wear them high or wear them lower and show off the fleece. Cute, eh?

I have wide, short feet so I need to order a larger size than I wear, wear 7 order 8, and that seems to sell out the fastest. So, Santa, please, bring me warm feet for Christmas but order them quickly!

Let Me OFF!

I think somebody, somewhere, is having a great laugh over my cosmic roller coaster life. Maybe my Guardian Angel is bipolar and went off her meds. I finally had to just start laughing because otherwise I would be totally off the deep end.

Let's start off from the last entry. I was crying or on the verge of tears for about 36 hrs. Then I received an email from Getty Images accepting me as one of their photographers. I was thrilled to get a chance to work with the world's premier photography company. What a yank out of the dumps. I felt validated and worthwhile. My very kind friends had been sending me messages of love and support and that made a world of difference. Sierra came up from BYU and Jonny was here to make me laugh. So here I am on cloud 9. Feeling like my old invincible self, I was ready to hit the road running.

Jon and Sierra wanted to go to Waterton and I thought it might be some great opportunity for winter photos. Off we set. It was cold, and we had a tiny skiff of blowing snow but it was 10am and already melting. 10 miles to the west we ran into more snow. 3 more miles and I was just getting that feeling of 'turn around now'. We crossed the Belly River, going less than 45 mph,.started up the other side and hit snow covered ice. One of the wheels grabbed a tiny slice of traction and it threw us across the road. I did everything I was trained to to. Steered into the skid, let off the gas, didn't touch my brakes. All to no avail. We shot into the ditch, hit a hole with the drivers side tire, pitched toward and hit a pole on the passenger side and flipped onto our side. The windows shattered onto Sierra but we came away without a scratch. For which I am truly grateful. However, the SUV, well....... it needs some major help. People kindly tried to stop to help us but they kept skidding as they got to us so we just waved them on. I must say, I love cell phones. A few calls and we had a ride, a tow truck and went on our way. We made it to Waterton and got some cute pics after all. Check the other blog for pics later.

But I tell ya, I am beginning to wonder about the happenings in my life and who is having the big belly laugh as they manipulate things. I figure if I don't start looking at all this with humour instead of dread panic, I'll be jumping off the High Level bridge. So, on this day of American Thanksgiving, I am thankful for humour, no injuries, good people, kindness, and friendship. But I'm also praying for a money tree 'cause if things were ultra tight before, well now I have no words to describe the fun we are going to have trying to meet all our obligations. Hmmm. I've told the Lord it's His deal now. I can do only what I can do and the burden is now on His shoulders.

Just Done!!!

I've had it!! No, really. I'm worn right out.

Yesterday, I logged onto Facebook and saw my brothers status "hanging out in Oahu with a friend". It just put me over the edge. I crawled off to my bed, bawling. It's not his fault. It just pointed out the glaring differences in our lives. In the last month he has been on a beach in Egypt, Florida, and now Hawaii. He also visited the Ukraine in that time. He flew over to Hawaii on a whim to see a friend for the weekend. Yet here I am killing myself to get enough money together to keep Sierra at BYU. I'm trying to raise an autistic child, keep my mother somewhat sane (no she's not truly loopy, just not really accepting reality), and have been taking care of my parents for the last 2 years. They lost their employment at 60 yrs old and moved in with us. I left my beautiful, huge, comfortable home, to come back to Canada for my son. It's hard. I don't have my husband here. I know I am doing what's best for him and apparently for my mother but crap people, I'm completely worn down emotionally.
I thought long and hard last night about where my blessings are for working so stinking hard to do for everyone else. Why does my brother, who breaks every commandment known to man get the cush life? Hmmmm? I was on my knees thanking Heavenly Father for some poor alzheimer guys donated dressers we got for free 3 weeks ago for my parents and Hunter. I've sacrificed my career, my education, and my health for my family and yet I'm sleeping on a second hand bed in an icky old house and still can't afford to buy a dresser. That donated bookshelf will have to do for now. I'm complaining, I know. I don't normally. And I'm coveting too. So what punishment do I get for that? No more second hand, 60 yr old, furniture? No more butchering the deer Dad shot? Yes, I know, be grateful for what you have. Blah, blah, blah! I am! Believe me, I love not having to keep my clothes in a suitcase anymore. I am glad to have a roof over my head. And most of the time I'm just fine with my situation in life. I'm just done. That's all, done. Need to go cry somemore.

Random Blabbering

I found this card I had written in my scriptures this morning on my way to church.......

"We had the most bizarre request in RS today. The lesson was about Joseph's letters to his family, so the teacher asked u to write a letter to some loved one letting them know what we would say if we were never to see them again. Well, that was out of the blue. Morbid much? Not something I want to think about really. So there we sat for 15 min faithfully scrawling in our little cards. What do you say? How do you choose just one person to write to? Besides, I kind of did this before with my cancer diagnosis. When your own mortality smacks you in the face you try to cram a lot into your life, but most importantly you cram your love down your kids throats! LOL! Hey, you know they want it. But, here's the thing. I can't just turn on that sort of emotion just because my teacher tells me to. Especially when I have done so well living in my own reality of happy land. If and when you get a letter like that it well be well thought out and sincerely written in my own time. Believe me, if I have something to tell you, I'll do it. I'm not the shy girl I once was. If you have impacted me in a meaninful way, I'll find a way to share that with you. Maybe someday soon you'll feel a tap on your shoulder or recieve an email expressing my deepest appreciation for the time, words , or love you have shared. Be on the lookout!"

Should I?

With all the hype about Twilight I've broken down and decided to read the series. I hadn't even heard about it until Aug. A little out of the loop, I guess. I'll let you know what I think.

Rita's Answer

You asked so be prepared. The following is an explanation to the previous post's #87.

Most of you know I grew up on a farm so naturally we raised a lot of our own food. We grew a substantial garden but we also raised animals; chickens, rabbits, sheep, cows and horses. We often butchered our own chickens. These events were family affairs from Grandpa on down. However, these are not the only animals we ate. OK, we were really poor. If we ate beef it was often because we raised it and killed it ourselves.
When I was 5 we lived near Onaway, AB. My dad was into exotic cattle and one of the breeds we raised was called Chianina (Kee an ee na). These are Italian cattle and have really long legs, a little too long. We had a steer that would just step over the fences and get into the haystack. Dad tried everything to no avail. One day he got so mad at this steer he climbed up the haystack with his rifle and waited for him to step over the fence again. BANG! Dead beef. This animal was huge and we lived way out in the boonies. The only help he had was us. Now, remember, I am the oldest and I was 5. So mom, poor thing, had to help gut and skin this thing and carry it into the house. It was too big. They cut it into quarters and hauled them into the bathtub. It was then my job to pick off all the hair that remained. Don't want hair on a steak.
Unfortunately, the bottom dropped out of the cattle market and we no longer raised beef. Not only that, we were extremely poor now. So instead Dad started hunting deer and elk. Each year he would bring at least one of them home. Poor as we were we couldn't pay for someone else to butcher them. Dad would skin them and hang them in Grandma's garage for 10 days (all red meat is aged like this). Then he would bring it into the house where we would all participate in someway to butcher and wrap the meat. One year I got the fun job of mixing raw venison with pork and seasonings to make sausage, with my bare hands. MMMMM. Not really.
When I was 15 I went hunting with my dad. He and his best buddy Mark Walburger had hoped for a moose tag that year but only I got one. That year I got the joy of starting the entire process from live animal to table top.
So, Rita, does that fill in the blanks for you? 'Cause I'm not sure I can come out of my house now. I had serious social anxieties before. I may have to become an official hermit again.

Random List of Accomplishments if that's what you want to call it

Thanks Rebecca! I thought this was cute............. I've done the ones in blue.

Things I have done in my life:
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disney World
8. Climbed a mountain....does Bears Hump count?
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check (oops)
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chicken pox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Seen Mount Rushmore in person
101. Learned to play an instrument

I think my list says major redneck/ white trash. LOL I need a life!

Lest we forget........

Image by Heather Patterson and Ron Lightburn

IN FLANDERS FIELDS
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead.
Short days agoWe lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders Fields.
- John McCrae

Because this is Hunter's first Remembrance Day in Canada he was full of questions. His teacher asked them to write and essay for a contest at school concerning Remembrance Day and he had no idea what to do (see post below). He sat with us and asked about our family and what service they had given. That was the basis for his essay. I am going to post it here for you 'cause, dang I'm just too proud of him.

The first time I saw a red poppy I was curious. I wondered what it meant; I asked my classmate what it was and what it meant. She stared at me oddly. I told her that I hadn't seen on before. She told me it was a sign of peace and a symbol to honour soldiers that fought in the wars. I went home and asked about my family in the war. My grandma said, "Your Great-Great Grandfather fought in the First World War. When he was a young man, he went to Normal School to learn to be a teacher. While he was there, he met the girl he wanted to marry. She was a teacher too. But then the war came along. He decided that he had to join the army to fight for Canada. So, they decided not to marry unless he came back from the war. He fought with the army in France (Vimy Ridge, and Passchendaele) and was gone for four years. When he came back he had to find a way to get back to living away from the war and support a family, so it was another two years before they could get married."
She also told me about what happened when WWII began, "When the second war started, my grandparents had six children and a fram. He joined the war, but this time, My Grandpa wasn't the only one fighting in the family. The oldest son, my dad, and his two sisters joined and they all fought for Canada."
Grandpa told me, "Three of my uncles and two of my aunt's joined the Armed Forces of Canada. Two uncles never came back."
The poppy reminds me of those in my family that did and those who are now. To honour all soldiers, we try to make Canada the best it can be and remember them by wearing a poppy on Remembrance Day and bowing our heads for 2 minutes of silence.

Isn't it a great essay? I have 2 brothers in the US military. My brother Jon is a Marine and my brother Carl is in the Army Reserves. He has just been called up to go to Afghanistan.

Because of Hunters questions we realized that we didn't know very much about my Great-Grands experience in the wars. He really didn't speak of it. With the internet as handy as it is we began to dig. We found a copy of his enlistment papers and what regiment he served with. We now know that he was among the amazing soldiers who fought at Vimy Ridge and Passchendaele. My grandpa helped his country win a battle that no other country was able to succeed at. If you don't know these stories you must read them. I did not know what he sacrificed until I read these accounts. It broke my heart, and made me so very proud and patriotic at the same time.

Proud Parents

Tomorrow is Remembrance Day. A day of pride, sorrow, joy and reverence. On the eleventh day of the eleventh month at the eleventh hour we pause for 2 minutes of silence. Because it is a holiday the elementary school held their assembly today and had the children participate more than I have ever seen before. The older children grades 4-6 were asked to write an essay or poem and the contest winners read their work. Hunter, has never had a Remembrance Day before and was a little surprised at all the effort and time put into this day. Veterans Day in the States is just not the same. The kids sang O Canada, watched a video on the importance of the day, sang again, recited poetry, ready essays, sang some more. Doug, who came to visit this week, was amazed at all that we do.

What we loved the most though, was that Hunter was selected as a flag attendant for the National Anthem and he read his essay as well. Tomorrow he is singing " The White Cliffs of Dover" with the school choir for the community program. He has really taken to his new community and they have taken to him. He fits in so well, which is a very new phenomenon for him. I'll post my official Remembrance Day info tomorrow

I HATE PINK!!!!!

No, that's not quite true..... I've come to hate what that color represents. Call me politically incorrect, I don't care. I am sick to death of the pink ribbon and all the pink fundraising. All sorts of businesses donate portions of their proceeds in Oct. to breast cancer but don't support any other cancer, ever. I have taken to confronting them. Someone needs to say something. Honestly, those of us who have had other forms of cancer no longer exist. Do people really think that women only get breast cancer? Why does it get all the attention? Are we still to chicken too talk about the really big taboo cancer? I'll say it GYNECOLOGICAL CANCER!!!!! Yup, ladies it happens. A lot more than you would like to think! On average, one woman in the United States is diagnosed with gynecologic cancer every seven minutes -- that’s more than 200 women diagnosed each and every day. And I'm tired of being invisible. Did you know that there is no test to screen for uterine cancer? Why are we giving more money to the boobs? Women who lose their breasts to cancer can get reconstructive surgery to make them feel more normal and its covered by insurance. I didn't get a replacement uterus and ovaries. And yes the transplant is possible. Support groups all over for the boobs but the other girlie bits have to hide in a corner because we can't get the help or recognition we need. There are special groups to help breast cancer victims with wigs, special make-up lessons, special camps and get -away weekends, grants to help with medical bills and on and on and on........ Know what kind of help there is for women who technically become eunichs because of their gyn. cancer? NADA!!!!!! I am tired of being invisible. I want to make a fake uterus and pin it to my lapel. Then will you notice me? Will you?
So, in honor of all GYNECOLOGICAL CANCERS, I have changed my blog to purple, their color of support. That's right all the vaginal, vulvular, endometrial, uterine, cervical, ovarian and clitoral cancers, I'm letting the world know we are here. We exist. We need support too!! You never know when it could happen to you. I had endometrial cancer almost 4 years ago. I'm alive and kicking and in 16 months I will be an offical survivor.

Happy, happy birthday, Hunter!

(yes, i did forget to buy birthday candles)



This week Hunter turned 12! I still can't believe it has been so long since we were praying and yearning for another baby to join our family. We waited so long! But he was worth all the effort. He brought so much joy into our family. He is such a sweet loving boy with an amazing love of the gospel. We are so grateful that he came to live with us. Now he is about to become a deacon. Time flies! In some ways I can't wait to see what kind of man he becomes but yet, I want him to stay small, snuggly and mommy's little man. My luv bug has become my big handsome boy.


Now on to another picture of the day...........

Friday decided it couldn't be out done by Thursday morning's glory so it put on its own show.

Good Morning!

Early this morning I walked with Hunter part way to school. I turned around and this is what I saw..........

Bison, camera and cold weather

By now y'all have guessed that I am just a slight bit (maybe more) on the crazy side and a bit of an adrenaline junkie. Tuesday morning bright and early my dad suggested I go out and take a few pics of Terry and Steve loading up 40 Bison to sell. Hey, why not? I'm always up for pictures and a bit of adventure. Just so you know it was blowing up a hurricane and was cold enough for flurries. At first Terry and Steve tried moving the animals with a couple of quads. No luck. Those beasts are so unbelievably fast! Hey, lets use Deanna and Ronn. They can stand in there and try to push the bison down the corral to the gate. Yeah, that'll happen. LOL! I ran. I jumped. I fell in the muck, but most of all I tried not to get gored. All while wearing my camera slung under my arm. Lost my lens cap and UV filter somewhere in the mess. We tried for at least an hour. Again, no luck. Finally Dad had the brilliant idea to block off half the corral with the trucks and trailers. Not exactly a small corral. Fortunately it worked. Now we just had to cut the cows from the bulls and load them down the shoots into the trailers. Hah! Sounds so much easier than it was. As stated before, those animals are CRAZY WiLD! I can't even tell you how many of them were bleeding by the time we got them loaded. They would run full speed, head-long into a metal gate. They even broke down one and got in with the bull calves. Poor Terry almost lost his guts. A horn missed him by inches.

I learned two things from my adventure. First, stand completely still when being charged by a herd of bison if you can't get out of the way. Second, I need to buy a good pair of work boots. I keep finding myself in fields and corrals full of.......well you know.

Busy, busy, busy.......

too busy to write a real post in fact. check out my latest work at http://www.tennesseephotog.blogspot.com/

On the road again!

Yup, I do drive, a lot. I like driving. It makes me feel independent and I crave that feeling sometimes. I love to see the world around me and this is a wonderful way to appreciate the beauty and hard work of this world. Instead of my usual way driving hundreds of miles along I-80 I decided to drive along I-40 for hundreds of miles. LOL! It was great! I've now been to three states I hadn't set foot in before. Arkansas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. Here are a few of the sites I saw along the way...................


The Vermillion Cliffs


Rafting the Colorado at Navajo Bridge

Sheep dog on the Navajo Reserve

Woman and dog herding sheep and a goat

New Mexico night.

Blooming sagebrush

BLECH!!!!

I've been sick in bed for 4 days! 4 days! I feel so lazy. My house is getting dusty. The laundry is piling up and I'm not well enough to do a thing about it. I got brave and ventured out of the house yesterday. Ha! Big mistake. I got all dressed up and went to get my hair cut. It was all I could do to get myself back home and in bed. That's all I've done since Saturday. Poor Doug! What a bore I've been. He only gets to see me for 9 more days and I've spent a third of our time together in the bedroom and not in a fun way! Thankfully, I am on the road to improvement. Finally my throat isn't on fire and my head hurts less. Sorry for the complaining post and no pics but really you wouldn't want to see what I've been seeing lately. Bedcovers and a view of the sitting area in my bedroom. BoriNG!!!

Just a bit of a hiking trend lately

Wednesday afternoon after finally getting my minivan completely repaired, I took off for TN. 32 hrs of driving later, I arrived home to the husband and dogs and a very sweet welcome. Saturday I had a wedding to shoot up the mountain at The Preserve Resort. Since this is one of the companies under Doug's IT direction he went with me to do a little work. Secretly I think he just didn't want to see me drive off without him again, even if it was only for a few hours. He is being so adorable and solicitous. LOL! Must have missed me, eh? Anyway, after working we wanted food. Duh! We decided to take something of a shortcut through Great Smoky Mountain National Park into Gatlinburg to go to Bubba Gump Shrimp. MMMMMM Coconut shrimp! Along the way we stopped at the Laurel Falls hike. Doug said it was really pretty and not a bad hike. Hmmm. After driving for 32 hrs and working on my feet for the last 3 no hike is easy. Ok maybe I'm my feet are just out of shape, 'cause DANG they hurt!

Ya, like I was going to put up a post without pics! Here ya go!

P.S. The wedding pics will be on the other blog

Got Moose?

Hey, look what I found driving out near Beazer / Police Lake today!

Hiking with the Grade 6 kids

Hunter and the rest of the Grade 6 kids had a field trip to Waterton where we hiked to Bertha Falls and studied trees and habitats for their science unit. I thought I would be the good volunteer mom in a new school and go along. I mean, how hard could it be if the teachers and all the kids were doing this hike, right? I did it as a kid, I'm sure, and I'm not that out of shape. Holy Crap! I forgot to take into account that we are at a different elevation than TN and that I have been really sick lately. I thought those falls would never come. I made it just fine but by the time we were done I knew I needed to do this more often. I am sooooo tired. Hunter is too. Poor little one laid down and was out like a light. Most of the kids were saying they were exhausted as they climbed onto the bus to go home.

A weekend full of family

These people are crazy!

Dad's family: Jana, Jamie, Coralee, Terry, Maureen, Dad

Mom's family: John, Mom, Jane second row: Carla, Grandma, Margaret

Mom's family: John, Carla, Jane, Margaret, Mom and Grandpa Spencer

Busy, busy, busy! That was our weekend! We had two family parties to attend in Lethbridge besides our other commitments. Aunt Margarita had come from Israel and Aunt Esther had come from Kentucky so Mom's family had a gathering at Grandpa Spencer's care facility. We had quite the showing , a lot of singing and some lovely Chinese food.

On Sunday, Dad's family got together because Jana had come up from Florida. We met for a potluck dinner at Henderson Lake park. What a bunch of goofballs! Of course each family wanted me to take a couple of pictures and that means you end up on the blog!

You can take the girl out of the country but you can't take the country out of the girl!

This morning at about 8:30 I hopped in the bath after getting Hunter of to school expecting a nice leisurely soak. The phone rang and I could hear Dad saying he'd be right there to help move the cows. CATTLE DRIVE!!! Yeeehaaawww! I was out of that tub in record time. Threw on some old jeans and a ball cap to cover up my wet hair and ran out to the pickup before Dad could leave me. I love working cattle. But now that we are modern cowpokes we use mechanical horses. Heck, we can have the cows rounded up and in the corral before we could catch and saddle the horses. So quads it was.
Wow, those were some wild cows! I fell once trying to head off a big beast of a wild cow. She beat me into the woods and got away. She came back later. These wiley animals didn't want anything to do with us until they realized we were taking them home. Then they were on the high run through the fields. Trouble was we had to keep them from mixing with the herds in the fields we had to drive them through. Oh that was difficult and I have the aches and pains to prove it. I am so dirty but it was so worth it! I missed this sooooooo much.